REVIEW: The Family Roe by Joshua Pager

 

I was skulking around Gibson's Bookstore on a Monday, as I usually do, and I saw this one on the shelf. I remember consciously thinking to myself that right now was a good time to actually read this and remember that there were actual people, including a plaintiff, behind one of, if not *the* most controversial Supreme Court decisions in this country. Joshua Prager was also nominated for the Pulitzer as a result of this book as well. 

Joshua Prager delves into the lives of all of the protagonists surrounding this case from Norma McCorvey to the lawyers and the doctors who were providing abortions as well as those members of the public who were absolutely fighting against it. In rigorously reporting and meticulously researching the people involved, he animated them and then to look at them in a different light.  I was fascinated by the lives of the people involved and in particular I was curious about the lives of the children that Norma had given birth to, including the child that was the catalyst for the lawsuit that was such a lightening rod in our society. Norma McCorvey had two other children as well and Prager introduces us to them as well. 

I was very impressed by how deep his research was as well as how sensitively he portrays everyone involved. I was worried that the book would be heavy handed, but it was anything but that.  I loved that he seemingly urgently asked his readers to consider the lives of the protagonists before making judgments about the lives of the people involved. McCorvey came froma poor family with a history of unintended pregnancies.  Dr. Jefferson, a lightening rod Black female from the segregated south who was extremely anti-choice grew up in the segregated South and then was further constrained by the white misogynistic medical society in Boston when she became a doctor in the northeast.  She could be severe in her positions on abortion but was also suffering in her private life: she was a hoarder and sadly died without anyone by her side. She remained childless for her entire life and felt the need to lie about the reasons why. I found myself really feeling for her and wondering about the circumstances that led her on the path that she was on.  

In the end, we are given neither heroes nor villains: just people that are flawed but people nonetheless and the book reminds that we should treat them as they are: humans who we should be kind to. He does this brilliantly and easily, which in and of itself is a challenge. I highly recommend this book. It's an important one in this day and age. 

Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson

 

I picked up this novel because one of the reading challenges I'm doing is the Southern Reading Challenge. It's also helpful that I'm flying out to Alabama for about a week on Sunday morning, so this is a timely one too.  

In this novel, date rape and murder are primary characters, as much as the actual people themselves, so please be forewarned. Arlene Fleet - called Lena, Arlene and various other names by the people in her family - was a sophomore when she promised God to not lie, to not fornicate and to leave town after she graduated with an eye towards never returning. When we meet her, she's kept those promises - she left for Chicago in 1987 and is getting an advanced degree and in a relationship with Burr - a black lawyer (Lena is white). Ten years later, a former high school classmate (and former girlfriend of Jim Beverly - the antagonist here) shows up randomly at her door asking questions about Jim, who disappeared mysteriously his senior year. At the same time, Burr, who is quite ready to get serious with Arlene, asks for some indication that she's also ready for serious - as in marriage - by taking him back to Alabama to meet her family. Arlene realizes that she needs to go back to do damage control - not only regarding Jim but to salvage her relationship with a really good man.  This novel is about both Jim and Arlene's family, including Burr.

I loved this book. First and foremost, I loved the characters - they made this memorable for me, especially Arlene. I could see, hear and picture her. She's so perfectly imperfect and relatable - just like someone you'd meet anywhere and that was a huge hook for me. Her heart is big and good and in the right place and she has just the right amount of craziness to be believable. ANd Arlene's backstory from childhood through high school is something else. I loved her Aunt Flo as well - again I could see, hear and picture her - and she's a force to be reckoned with. Aunt Flo has had to be strong for the entire family, including Arlene's mother who suffered greatly after the death of Arlene's father and that caused her to put on a tough face to conceal the big heart underneath. 

I enjoyed the plot development as well. The book is told in chapters  that alternate between the present and the past that Arlene is trying to deal with.  I thought that I had it pegged but I absolutely did not.  At all. That's pretty unusual for me lately so kudos to Ms. Jackson for being able to do that. Definitely recommend.

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

I read Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings years ago - I think that I was in fifth or sixth grade.  I had a hankering to read it again now because I'm sort of laid up with a broken ankle that's healing and the thought of re-reading past books that I had enjoyed was comforting to me.  So I picked up this. I actually got the editions that are shown below the top one, because I fully intend to just plow right through the Belgariad and the Mallorean. So far, I've only gotten through Pawn of Prophecy and but I'm nearly done with Queen of Sorcery too, so be prepared for a review coming of that one shortly.

The novel focuses on Garion, a young boy in a world that has been around for thousands of years. He's a simple, normal boy at first blush - he plays with his friends on the farm, hurts himself occasionally, begins to notice girls and gets himself into the trouble that most young boys often do. We are introduced to his earliest memories - his Aunt Pol and the kitchen at the farm (she was the cook), his friendship with the smithy, Durnik, Erastide holidays with Faldor (the owner of the farm) and visits from the storyteller, Old Wolf. One day, Old Wolf (also affectionately known as Mr. Wolf by Garion), arrives at the farm and informs Aunt Pol that a mysterious item has been stolen by an unnamed thief, Mr. Wolf and Pol leave to find that thief, reluctantly taking Durnik and Garion with them. The group is later joined by Silk, a spy from the country of Drasnia and Barak, a Cherek warrior. Garion is dragged along and kept in the dark as he visits lots of different cities, and multiple countries. As the party meets more and more royalty, Garion's confusion increases, especially because, as things begin to speed up, he is left more and more to his own devices. At their last destination in this book, Garion becomes the central player in assisting the leaders in defusing various plans that arise during the course of their meetings, even though he is barely 15.

The plot isn't, perhaps, the most original plot to ever be put onto paper by an author, but the characters are memorable and the dialogue makes it all worth it.  There isn't a lot of flowery prose, so the novels go by fairly quickly and the dialogue itself is especially witty at points. There are often periods of political discourse and history that fill people in on the background, without spending pages and pages of prose to it.  I loved how his characters were very realistic - they all have their good points and bad points. I found myself loving them all, regardless!

Love this book.

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells

Rebecca Wells is, perhaps, best known for The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which was made into a movie starring Ashley Judd.

The Crowing Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is Wells' latest novel. It follows the life of Calla Lilly Ponder, a girl born in the small, rural town of La Luna, Louisiana. Calla Lily is followed from her adolescence, through her teen and college years and ends around her thirtieth birthday.  It documents her relationships, her struggles and her career choices.

This book was nowhere near how good Ya-Ya Sisterhood was, because, mostly, the cast of characters was forgettable, including the book's namesake. They weren't sassy or fun. They were flat and two dimensional and utterly boring. The only thing that I liked about the characters was that Calla Lily was all heart and earnest, but even that got boring, frustrating and tenuous at times. There has to be more to someone than their heart right?! The story was utterly predictable and the writing was just plain awful in parts. The dialog seemed to drag.  That being said, I did appreciate how Wells developed the relationships between the women in her novel - that seems to be her strongest skill. And the skill showed here - it was the only grace in this novel.

This is a book that Wells fans should skip.

The Lost City of Z by David Grann

The Lost City of Z is a non-fiction book by David Grann. It tells the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett.

Percy Fawcett disappeared in the 1920's with his son and his son's friend while looking for an ancient city in the Amazon, a city that he had named Z. For decades, explorers then went in search for Fawcett in the hopes of finding either him or what had happened to him, often without much luck (often disappearing themselves). Grann, a journalist who never did ANYTHING in the outdoors (and took the elevator up two flights to his apartment instead of walking it) decided to go in search of Fawcett himself AND he was able to reveal new evidence how Fawcett died and whether he had really found his city or not.

I found this book to be alternatively captivating and then quite boring. There were parts that were absolutely fascinating. I found the parts about Fawcett's early life and the author's life and motivations to be really, interesting. Oftentimes, the parts about the various explorations that Fawcett went on before his latest and greatest were boring. They were all the same and they all ran into each other. There was nothing to distinguish them and I found my attention lagging at those parts. I would have to put the book down and then come back to it later on. The book itself was very well written and very well researched. I was very impressed about the depth of information that was presented - Grann went all out.

I walked away generally liking the book, in spite of its slow points.