"HOUSES" ~ by Cynthia Rogers Parks ~ Breathtaking Novel & Nostalgic 20th c.

"Houses" is about the many beautiful, enduring and literally earth-shattering epidodes that women and men experience in life.  It's how the locust-like numbers of "baby boomers"...in our gusto for living, for challenge and change, helped bring about impassioned awareness, and long standing, meaningful new ways of living in our generation...not just social unrest, mindless war, entitlements and greed.  And, we continue to effect social, spiritual, political and cultural change even today.

Ms Parks processes the conflicts of being a woman during the turbulent years of the mid-to end of the 20th century. Specifically, we follow the life story of Lacey, a girl whose growing up years to current "golden years" will leave a lasting impression on readers of all ages.

Readers are taken on a nostalgic trip through childhood days of playing outside with neighborhood friends, the Kennedy and Martin Luther King days, civil and women's rights, the Viet Nam War, the bliss of first love, and the self-affirming conviction of being politically active for the first time. We come to know and love her family members, her friends both male and female and her loved ones.

We relive Lacey's agonies, [the agonies we, ourselves, may have endured, possibly still do!] to be a "good Mom" while minding the house and budget, working for a pittance at a boring/stagnant job, and trying to take one or two classes at a time to finish a college degree so that some day it might be possible to become what she "is."  All of this only to find herself alone and most of those she loved gone by the time she "got there."

Ultimately, Lacey does find a satisfaction from things fought for and won, and they give some consolation keeping her in the game, though the questions and conflicts of the nature of being a nurturer and/or a concerned parent still linger even to our childrens' generation.

In chosing the title, "Houses," Ms Parks chooses a metaphor relating to the different houses either lived in, toured, loved or hated, by Lacey to define the stages of her life, and the expressions of her "self." This brilliant symbol leaves an indelible mark, causing us to examine ourselves in the same context.  Parks is a powerful writer.

I want to leave these quotes of so many brilliant ones in this novel:

"Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hopeful that our daughters and granddaughters will find it easier.  The internet and telecommunicating now offer the promise, not just of a greener way of working, but of an avenue, for both men and women, to productive and fulfilling work that doesn't require abandoning the home, especially the children, whose needs don't always correspond to nine to five scheduling. We have the Family Leave Act now and the notion of daycare in the workplace seems less radical.  The stay-at-home dad is not such a joke."

and this:

"This, chickadees, is (sic) the things about happiness.  You must take it where you find it.  Don't question or second guess or wish for minor modifications.  Laugh, eat, joke.  Bounce the baby on your knee.  Don't look forward or back.  Keep your eyes focused on the faces around you.  One of them may be missing come next year. Come next year everything may be entirely different.  Memory may have to darken your perfect day with its tincture of melancholy and the happiness will never seem so clear and real again...Should you find yourself happy, as happy as I was that Thanksgiving Day, don't even think. Just be....Eat all you want."

This book is for everyone of this mid-to-late 20th century generation and even those of us at the dawn of the 21st century.  There's beauty and wisdom for you here.

If you think those battles of life and liberty are all over, please, think again.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Blue" ~ Another Interview with a Polio Survivor

This is another interview with my mother in connection with Joyce Moyer Hostetter's book "Blue," which I've reviewed below.  "Blue," recounts the story of the Great Hickory, NC Polio Epidemic of 1944, during WWII, of which my mother was a victim as a child.

Mom, you want to say more about the time you got home from the Polio Hospital?

Yes, we lived near the Cotton Mill in Whitnel, NC.  We lived in a big house, sharing with my aunt and uncle.  We lived in 3 rooms, large rooms...a 2-story new house...pretty, white and yellow house.  My friend and I played in the field behind the house.

My friends would come visit me after the Quarantine was put up on our front door.  The Quarntine notice was big, as big as my television is now...."Warning!"  It was against the law to come into the house.  My neighborhood friends would sit in my window while our mothers were at work.  I had a large, first floor window, and the kids would sit in the window, a bunch of them.  They loved the danger!  It was forbidden, and they loved that it was sneaking!  It was in the summer.

A health nurse would come in about every week and would check for bed sores, and to see if the polio had spread.  She would put salve and powder on me.  She showed my mother how to take care of me.  Because you couldn't go back to the doctor anymore. 

Why couldn't you go back to the doctor?

Because they were afraid a germ could spread from the doctor's office to other people of the town.  If you went home, you were not allowed to leave your home  If you were in an iron lung, the iron lung went home with you, too.  Families were just left to care for it themselves.  A friend of mine, a teenager about 18, had one in his house.  In those days, even babies were born in the houses with midwives.  So, alot of medical attention took place in houses.

What else do you remember about coming home?

We had a potty chair by the bed.  Mother had to work, so I was alone.  At first my legs were like a new, wobbly baby.  The neighborhood kids would visit and sometimes they would slide down into my bed.  I was pretty sick after I went home.  I was nauseous and it was hard to eat. 

Were you still hurting when you went home?

Not really, not in my legs, but I did have most of the trouble with my thighs and left arm.  I always have had trouble with my left arm.  Weak and aching in my arm.  I've always leaned to my right arm because it.  My mother would wrap me in hot water, wrung out towels like they had in the hospital.  That's all we knew to do.  That's all the hospital had done.

My mother always worked for the March of Dimes.  Every year she worked so hard door-to-door for March of Dimes.  Her story was because they had saved her daughter's life.   She also collected votes for political campaigns!

What else do you remember about coming home?

My aunt and uncle and 3 little cousins left our house because they were afraid of the polio.  But we just mostly lived in the two big rooms.  I lost school time, too.  When I got better I just went back.  They didn't hold me back, but I just went back and fit into the middle of the school year.

Do you think you're affected in any way now by the polio's residual?

I have alot of pain and weakness in my left shoulder and arm.  I have nerve problems in my face on the left side.  My toes are numb on the left side.  I remember my shoulder hurting back then, when I was a polio child.  I've not told my doctors about it before, but I'm going to now that I'm more aware of it.  I've recently read that polio survivors are having new problems associated with the disease.  I never even thought of it before now.

So, Ms Hostetter's book "Blue," has made you more aware of the residuals of the polio, and has reminded you of your polio experiences...

Yes it has. 

Are you aware of what they've found causes polio, Mom?  Did you know it comes from a virus from infected water?  It may have come from water infected by animal feces or something like that.

No, I didn't know exactly what caused it.  I haven't known that.
I told my mother when I got it, "I know where we got it, Mother!  I got it from the water and vines and the farm.  I went with my Uncle Coy to the dairy with the cows and cutting tobacco.  There were mosquitos and things."  Nobody in town where I lived with my mother, got it.  Just my friends and I from the farm.  So, I knew where I got it.  When I went to the farm, I was considered "the city girl" from Whitnel in the eyes of the farm children. 

So, when you went back to school you thought you were cured?  When did you feel you were all well?

I don't know.  I just went back when I felt like it. I didn't hurt anymore. Well, you just "leaned to it."  (Which I take to mean that she learned to use it sparingly...to "favor" that side...)  Kept it to yourself.  For years my mother put those hot towels on me.  When there was recess or games, I would just watch.  I was never expected to play.  I couldn't do that.   I was very free.  But, I was limited by leaning to the polio.  I just didn't think about it much after a while.

Did you hear about President Roosevelt's Georgia Warm Springs Foundation?

He lived there sometimes, I think.  I heard of it.  I think there were springs that came off the mountain.  They were not polluted.  The idea was that they were so pure and you could soak in the water because of that. They were thought to have healing powers for their purity. 

In school they would turn the radio up really loud in the cafeteria and we would listen to the President's speeches or any news about him.  I remember them talking about his Georgia Warm Springs trips.  I also remember the train coming through NC a couple of times. 

My mother was very political.  She and her friends loved Roosevelt and they would sit in the evenings around the radio and would talk.  I just remember the comfort and security of those nights in dimly lighted rooms around that radio...her friends talking politics.  They were cotton mill workers, but intelligent and interested and involved.

Well, thanks, Mom.  I'll send you Ms Hostetter's 2nd book in this series called, "Comfort."  It's about Ann Fay going to President Roosevelt's Georgia Warm Springs.

Oh, I really want to read that!  I want to read both of the books! 

By the way, Mom, Ms Hostetter has let me know that she recently spoke in the Whitnel, NC, school district to children in the 4th grades about the Epidemic!  She just realized you were from Whitnel and wants to see if you would want to be interviewed for the children.  She and one of the school personnel in Whitnel are making a media presentation for the children and she thinks your being from there and being a polio survivor would be a great contribution.  What do you think?

I would love to be a part of that!  I could even go there and talk to the children.  I'm sure I know some of their grandmothers or great grandmothers.  I could tell them so much about the Epidemic and Whitnel of those times.

Okay, good, thanks, Mom.  I know you're tired and your Soap is on!!  LOL   We have to find out what "Victor" is doing on YARestless!   Thank you.

I look forward to hearing from Ms Hostetter. 


So ends my interview.....    Thanks for reading this continued information on the Hickory, NC, Polio Epidemic of 1944.

Deb/TheBookishDame

PS:  I hope you'll leave your comments and suggestions!!  I miss hearing from you!!

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"Rescue" by Anita Shreve ~ Can One Rescue Come Full Circle?

In "Rescue," Ms Shreve offers up a cautionary tale, writing a moral story and a reminder to us that sometimes those who are our best equipped, and most professional "rescuers," are not always the ones capable of saving their own families in crisis.

Anita Shreve is the consummate storyteller. She never fails to provide the well-written, well-constructed, relavent novel to which her thousands of readers can relate. Her books are timeless. They are filled with grains of truth that surely 90% of her readers will understand on a profoundly personal level. I found this book no exception, although it was lighter than some of her previous books.

Characterization is strong and believable throughout, with people we love to champion, as well as those who will challenge our sense of right and wrong, and fairness. The characters are so well developed that the line between fantasy and reality come close to fading.

Ms Shreve's book extolls the benefits and warns of the consequences of rash decisions made in youth. It's this flipside of the coin that contributes to the story and the meanings of "rescue." These questions of consequence, family problems and moral obligations should make this book hit home for nearly everyone.

I highly recommend "Rescue," not only to fans of Anita Shreve, but also to those who want a contemporary novel with timeless, thought-provoking qualities...and, of course, beautiful writing.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"She's My Dad" ~~ Astonishing~Clever and Timely Book

Astonishing clever book~~entertaining, interesting, shocking and an easy read. It's no wonder "She's My Dad" was chosen as a "Finalist - Next Generation Indie Book Awards."  Iolanthe Woulff gives a shadowy window into the little-known world of a transsexual in the most liberal of environments, a college created by a gay man for "alternate lifestyle" learners and educaters.

With honesty and no-uncertain-terms storytelling, Ms Woulff  shares what appears to be her personal experiences with both the homosexual lifestyle and the challenges of life as a transsexual.

While her writing is sound and intelligent with characters believable for the most part, I found the main character, transsexual professor, Nickie Farrell, somewhat flat and lacking. We do get her reactions and relationships to the college people around her, but Nickie's personal background...the hows and whys of how she made the choice for her transformation and the challenges of that journey, are glaringly absent. I was left wanting more. Her swift dismissal of emotional "hits" and her oddly superficial reactions of running away for a few days and having brief talks with her friend leave Nickie rather an empty shell.

"She's My Dad" contains strong language and imagery that seems geared toward those who are familiar with a darker side of life, or have experienced it personally. There is much having to do with the downside of homosexuality and violence surrounding it. However, here is where Ms Woulff's strongest and most realistic writing emerges! And, in my humble opinion, I think she has the makings of a fabulous Stephen Kingish author.

In conclusion, though I would not recommend this book for all readers, I have to applaud Ms Woulff for her courage in bringing us this book about the life of a transsexual. It is a timely and important story. It carries the hope of understanding, acceptance and love for all kinds of people no matter what they are inside and out.

The Bookish Dame/Deborah P.

PS:  Thanks for reading my reviews and for emailing me, too!

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"Blue" ~ Great Hickory NC Polio Epidemic of 1944

"Blue" is a lovely, small book that is both heart-warming and historic.  Written about the great Hickory, NC Polio Epidemic of 1944, during WWII, the novel involves a sweet, naive family whose father has left for war and who are left to carry on in a harsh and unprotected environment.  The little band consists of a young mother, her 13 yr. old daughter, Ann Fay, twin elementery-aged girls, and a pre-school little boy.

Just barely a teen-ager, Ann Fay, is given a set of overalls and instructions by her dad to be the "man of the house" while he's away...a daunting task for any child.  It is Ann Fay who takes on the burden of guilt when her baby brother is struck down with polio, and when she is also taken with polio and removed from her family.

"Blue" has won a bushelful of awards for children's literature.  It is a very special book.  However, its beauty also makes it a most worthy read for adults and those who enjoy YA fiction, as well. 

Having a mother who was a polio patient in Hickory, NC, at this epidemic in 1944, made me very interested in this book! (See my earlier interviews and mentions of this book on my blog) 

 Although it's a fiction novel, Ms Hostetter recounts the particulars of the disease, the hospital-like facilities, and the therapies as my own mother recalls them.  So, there is much truth to her fiction.

The book is also a moral tale.  So much of the simple values and morality of a common way of living in the South are protrayed in "Blue," and the faith that uplifts all of her friends and relatives in Ann Fay's community are deeply moving.

I recommend this book without reservation to my friends and all readers of  YA fiction, historic fiction and medical history.

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"Great House," by Nicole Krauss ~ Extraordinary but Illusive

Frankly speaking, I found this book completely confusing in structure.  The author does way too much skipping around in a disjointed manner..leaving the reader wondering who on earth she's talking about!  It spoiled the book in great part for me!

On a happier note, Ms Krauss had some moments of beautiful writing and clarity.  Her original concept of a desk that was a "house" unto itself and that linked several people and families in their writing and angst, was a  "great" one.  It just was so scattered and confusing in presentation that it missed being a fantastic novel.

I also became mind-boggled and frustrated by the author's switching from ordinary prose and descriptive writing to a sort of James Joyceian stream-of-consiousness at a couple of points.  Again, it was irritating and disrupted the reader's train of thought.

All in all, I would find it difficult to recommend this book to my friends or anyone.  I gave it 4-stars only because when she hits it right, Ms Krauss writes beautifully and with great heart.

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