May Reads

Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell.  Historical fiction, telling Shakespeare's story leading up to the writing of Hamlet.  The following passages hit incredibly close to the bone...

"...He carried with him, always, the sensation of his father's calloused hand enclosing the soft skin of his upper arm, the inescapable grip that kept him there so his father could rain down blows with his other, stronger hand.  The shock of a slap landing, sudden and sharp, from above; the flensing sting of a wooden instrument on the back of the legs.  How hard were the bones in the hand of an adult, how tender and soft the flesh of a child, how easy to bend and strain those young unfinished bones.  The doused, drenched feeling of fury, of impotent humiliation, in the long minutes of a beating.

His father's rages arrived from nowhere, like a gale, then blew quickly on.  There was no pattern, no warning, no rationale; it was never the same thing twice that tipped him over.  The son learnt, at a young age, to sense the onset of these eruptions and a series of feints and dodges to avoid his father's fists.  As an astronomer reads the minuscule shifts and alterations in the alignment of the planets and spheres, to see what lies in store, this eldest son became an expert in reading his father's moods and expressions.  He could tell, from the sound the front door made when his father entered from the street, from the rhythm of his footsteps on the flagstones, whether or not he was in for a beating."

"...He is, he prides himself, adept at dissembling, at reading the thoughts of others, at guessing which way they will jump, what they will do next.  Life with a quick tempered parent will hone these skills at an early age...."

Very few changes would be needed to make that story one I experienced and observed.  Damn.  At any rate - while Shakespeare's life and experiences are the bones of the story - the heart is built on the history, daily life and experiences as a mother, of his wife, Anne Hathaway.  I was incredibly touched by her strength, free spirit and depth of maternal love.  Highly, highly recommend.

Bark - Lorrie Moore.  This volume of short stories had been recommended by multiple sources.  Chose to try it as Hamnet was so powerful that I wanted something rather small and light.   Sorry.  Not a fan.  I didn't like a single character in this collection; always a problem for me.  Almost didn't finish it - but I did!  

INTRO to Marie Benedict's (aka Heather Terrell) work:   First and foremost, though her books tend to be a bit contrived and juvenile in presentation, wordy with a penchant to use "frisson" far too often, I have been most pleased to find them.  The women she writes of have certainly not been given their due in so many ways.  It was interesting to do a bit a of research on each woman and her life independent of these books - which - in one interview - was exactly what Ms. Benedict said she most wanted her writing to achieve.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie - Marie Benedict.  Having read several biographies of Agatha Christie, there were no astonishing revelations in this one, though the premise of a letter left to her husband, found by him after she vanished, and the unraveling of both her mysterious disappearance and her husband's affair told through his eyes was fun to entertain.

Lady Clementine - Marie Benedict. Perhaps the best written of the lot, I learned a great deal about Churchill and his wife, Clemmie, that I did not know or had never really thought through.  Most impressive were her efforts on behalf of women in particular and Britons generally, during the war.  Their relationship. at least in this telling, was more mutually respectful and appreciative than some of the others of which she wrote.  In addition to reading about Churchill and his wife, I was led to watch Darkest Hour.  While good, it was disappointing how little light it shed on Clementine especially given who she was, the role she played in Churchill's life, and the fact that Kristin Scott Thomas was playing her!!!  Oh well.  You can't have everything.

Carnegie's Maid - Marie Benedict.  Despite the Carnegie name being associated with everything from innumerable libraries, colleges, the discovery of insulin, the dismantling of nuclear weapons and even Sesame Street - I knew little about the man.  An immigrant from Scotland, Andrew Carnegie, was one impressive dude. Brilliant and at times ruthless in his business ventures (telegraph, railroads, steel, bridges) he was an incredible and dedicated philanthropist.  Often directed toward education and libraries. he gave away 90% of his incredible wealth in his lifetime and at his death additional funds were dispersed to individuals, charities and various foundations.  At the age of 33 he wrote, 

"... The amassing of wealth is one of the worst species of idolatry. No idol more debasing than the worship of money."  In order to avoid degrading himself, he wrote in the same memo he would retire at age 35 to pursue the practice of philanthropic giving for "... the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced." 

The book is based on a premise that a relationship and unrequited love for his mother's maid led to this mantra; a possible but unlikely scenario?  Either way, it was used to good effect as a vehicle to tell the story of this complicated and generous man and is the only book that does not feature a woman known to actually exist.

The Other Einstein - Marie Benedict.  The story of Einstein's first wife and brilliant physicist, Mitza Maric.  Soooo - spoiler alert ~  Einstein was an ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!!  Damn!  They had a daughter together - prior to their marriage - who was either put up for adoption or lost to scarlet fever.  (Further reading seems to favor the later.)  An entire experience that Albert was insensitive to at best.  Marriage did eventually follow along with the birth of two sons.  Despite her assistance with a great deal of his work, through his direct manipulation, Mitza's name was never credited on any of Albert's publications or in connection with any of his other recognitions.  I guess you could say she got the last laugh as his Nobel Prize money was placed in trust, and later in property, to provide income for her and their sons, one of whom required institutionalized care due to schizophrenia, after he left her for his cousin.  That would be his first cousin on his mother's side and second cousin on his father's!  Yes, one of the equations Mitza helped him develop is required to figure that one out! What the tub???!!!!

The Personal Librarian - Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.  Perhaps the most tediously written of the group, describes the life of Bella da Costa Greene, who was JP Morgan's personal librarian from 1905, continuing even after his death in that role, working for his son until 1948.  She was a black woman 'passing' for white in a man's world.  I can't even imagine how it felt to face the challenges or the choices she made.  As glad as I am to know of Ms. Greene, the book itself is a bland shadow compared to Passing by Nella Larsen.  Then again, I don't think its authors were trying to reach those heights.  

Her Hidden Genius - Marie Benedict.  The story of Rosalind Franklin who, through her use of crystalline X-ray techniques, led to the understanding of the helix formation of DNA.  Sexism, underhanded stealing, and her death from ovarian cancer, likely caused or at least exacerbated by her excessive exposure to radiation at the age of 38, precluded her being awarded the Nobel Prize for that discovery, which was instead awarded to Watson and Crick in 1962.  She also worked on unraveling the mystery of RNA, learning things that enabled Doudna and Charpentier to attain the Nobel prize in 2020 for their work on CRISPR genome editing technology - paving their way as a researcher on the subject and woman in the field.  Sadly, this book may have been the most poorly written of the series, standing in sad relief when compared to The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson.

The Aviator's Wife - Melanie Benjamin.  Another spoiler alert!  Ready?  Charles Lindberg was an ASSHOLE!!!  Much like, Einstein, he never gave ample credit to his wife Anne Morrow Lindberg who, though they met and married after his historic transatlantic flight, was his copilot and cowriter for many years.  He was a cold man who never seemed to really appreciate his children or wife, or the toll exacted on Anne after the abduction and murder of their first child, and was a Nazi sympathizer to boot!  If that wasn't enough, turns out he had three additional families through three women in Germany (two of whom were sisters!!!!) and a total of 7 children with those women from 1958 to 1967 in addition to the 6 he had with Anne.  Additional reading indicates that DNA testing demonstrated that those 7 were indeed his.  The children he had with Anne became aware of their existence after his and her death.  The book presumes that Anne learned of those "families" through letters he did actually write to the women imploring them to keep his secret even after his death, upon his death bed.  My reading indicates that finding the letters led to the aforementioned DNA testing and those children reaching out to their American siblings.  Hmmm....  Benjamin has written her story in a style and manner similar to those by Benedict - but it is worth reading.

When Crickets Cry - Charles Martin.  Though utterly predictable and more than a little romanticized (from someone who is a pediatric medical person) and not as good as Unwritten - Martin has a way of holding your attention.

Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng.  I couldn't have read this at a more pivotal time.  Abortion, adoption (from both sides - those who wish to adopt and those who for myriad reasons are compelled to give their baby up), socioeconomic/class distinctions, race, cultural issues, raising children who are and aren't of your ethnicity, surrogacy -  motherhood in all its forms - it's here. Heart rending issues. Fairly well addressed - making one think.  Not sure the book lived up to all its hype - but that's not really the fault of the book nor the author.  If these issues of motherhood interest you - one of the more recent pod casts by Haptic and Hue - Fabric and Foundlings is definitely worth a listen as it addresses babies left, most often, by mothers who could not afford to feed and care for them, but were not lacking in love.  Because the foundling hospital - begun by a sea captain who wanted to improve the lives of those women and the children they could not keep, as a safe place, with accommodations to care for feed the children who previously were being left on the streets of 1720's London, required anonymity - most babies were left with bits of cloth attached to their blankets, which the mother could later describe and often had a matching piece of, so that should her plight improve, she could return and reclaim her child.  Records of these bits of cloth as well as the clothing the children were left in were meticulously kept.  This anonymous poem was left with one child ~

Hard is my Lot in Deep Distress

To Have No Help where most should find.

Sure nature meant her sacred laws

Should men as strong as women bind.

Regardless he, Unable I,

To keep this image of my heart.

‘Tis Vile to Murder! Hard to Starve,

And death almost to me to part.

If fortune should her favours give

That I in better plight might live

I’d try to have my boy again

And train him up the best of men.

I didn't plan to read predominantly of women and motherhood this month - but it seems I did and it was good.  "Sure nature meant her sacred laws should men as strong as women bind."  That says so much as we face determinations by the Supreme Court regarding women's health - having been placed in circumstances women did not - could not - attain alone.

Read chaotically!  - les