April Bookclub News

 

 

 

Sargent's Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife

 

Dear Bookclub,

Lunching at a cozy Cafe Luna table on a chilly April afternoon to discuss Camille Peri's "A Wilder Shore", we were gratefully distanced from the discomfort of the many locales and ordeals Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife, Fanny, experienced in their quest for a healthy and peaceful life together.

not Samoa

"The Romantic Odyssey" subtitle mystified while notice of Louis' maladies and Fanny's dedication illuminated an offbeat emphasis. Disease lurked in Louis and Fanny's contributions were minimized yet their colorful world beamed. Peri's introduction states her desire to inspire "anyone seeking a freer, more unconventional life".  The magic and magnetism of the circle of writers and artists in this odyssey would be quite impossible to conjure up with even the most exquisite amount of inspiration from Peri's research. We were duly amazed and impressed by RSL and Fanny, recognizing unique.

John Singer Sargent's portrait fascinates. It is currently in Steve Wynn's private collection. Please enjoy this essay from a JSS virtual gallery:

https://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/Robert_Louis_Stevenson_and_His_Wife.htm 

19th century laudanum

 

Laudanum and other outdated toxic remedies jumped from the pages alerting our present day sensibilities. Check out this piece, interesting not only for its content but also for its existence - the Museum of Health Care at Kingston Blog:

https://museumofhealthcare.blog/laudanum-freedom-from-pain-for-the-price-of-addiction/ 

 

Val's suggestions for an upcoming read:

 "Wild Dark Shore" Charlotte McConaghy *chosen

"Rabbit Moon" Jennifer Haigh

"Medicine River: The Story of Survival and the Legacy of the Indian Boarding Schools" Mary Annette Pember

 

 

Up next:

 Happy reading,

LK

March Bookclub News

 

Dear Bookclub,

Discussion of Purnell's Pamela took a backseat to hours of catching up and reminiscing. Nostalgia lingered on our bookclub day-drinking from years-gone-by.  Consuming tea and water, we finally got down to business to decipher the "Kingmaker". 

Astounded by the finesse of Pamela Churchill Harriman, her long list of conquests, and her 'involvement' in many historic events, I wonder if the enchantment came naturally. Her attraction to the naughty great-great Aunt Jane Digby, certainly suggests an inherited gene or emulation or both. 

Jane Digby is amazing and naughty or not, you decide:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/clips/around-the-world-in-80-days-s1-who-is-jane-digby/#

 PBS Masterpiece Series!
 

Four centuries of Digby fortune welcomed Pamela at birth. A minor naval engagement, 'Action of 16 October 1799', part of the French Revolutionary Wars, involved British and Spanish forces and resulted in the acquistion of the wealth by  Sir Henry Digby, an Admiral. Please enjoy this description:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_16_October_1799 

 

HMS Ethalion in action with the Spanish frigate Thetis off Cape Finisterre, 16th October 1799, Thomas Whicombe. 

The wealth waned yet Pamela's launch was impressive. Perhaps the poster child for Helen Gurley Brown tactics, who once famously quipped, "Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere.", Pamela did indeed get around. Remember these??

 

 

 

My suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Sargent's Women" Donna M. Lucey

"Mutinous Women" Joan DeJean* chosen

"Be Ready When the Luck Happens" Ina Garten

 

 

 

Up next:

 

 Happy reading,

LK

 

February 2025 Bookclub News

 

 

King Bird-of-paradise feathers. Photo: Blickwinkel/Alamy

Dear Bookclub,

Mama Cella's welcomed us for our chatty lunch to discuss Kirk Wallace Johnson's "The Feather Thief". Well-liked, we pondered the similarities to "The Art Thief" and wondered about the plausibility of Edwin Rist lugging his loot single-handedly. Not only does the story seem incomplete, the damage of the theft will never be fully understood. 

Walter

 

Intrigued by Walter Rothschild's natural-specimen collecting obsession, which ultimately became the Museum at Tring, I found a bit of fascinating history... be sure to check out the man working in the shed:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/walter-rothschild-a-curious-life.html 

 

Minna B. Hall

Harriet Hemenway

 

Marveling at the history of the "feather-fever" in fashion, which resulted in the slaughtering of birds world-wide, we learned that Audubon Society was founded by two very long-lived cousins, in response with preservation and protection in mind:

https://www.massaudubon.org/about/history

The King Bird-of-paradise feather above is also from the Audubon website, illustrating an article about Johnson's book complete with excerpt:

https://www.audubon.org/news/on-hunt-hundreds-rare-birds-stolen-museum 

The path forward is strange as any feathers recovered would be scientifically useless and Rist, now Reinhard lives on as a professional flutist. Edwin Reinhard. The researching of Rist/Reinhard is not very rewarding. I am lame with Facebook but this fun info popped up while googling. Be sure to read the comments on the sidebar:

https://www.facebook.com/MontserratArtsCouncil/photos/edwin-rist-fluteedwin-rist-was-born-in-new-york-city-and-completed-his-bachelor-/1649151885126470/?_rdr 

Thief

And hear is a video of his playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO80dgra5C0 

 

Terry's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Memorial Days" Geraldine Brooks *chosen

"Playground" Richard Powers

"Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love" David Talbot

 

Up next:

 

 Happy reading,

LK

January 2025 Bookclub News

 

 

Dear Bookclub,

Dining by the floor to ceiling windows at Vintana, we were treated to an osprey's circular soar and contemplated the possible lure. Awestruck by nature's display, we were mesmerized but unable to explain the Lexus dealership attraction. Inconclusive, we quickly moved onto matters at hand: lunch and discussion of Kiran Millwood Hargrave's novel, "The Mercies".

Nature's humbling power to disarm the delicate balance of life in early 17th century Vardø set the stage for this beautifully written work. We appreciated Hargrave's poetic prose which delivered the ugliness of human fallibility amidst harsh obstacles. Realizing the story is a re-imagining of true events, and that witch trials were not uncommon during this time in history, we could only wonder how today's 'witch trials' present.

 

Steilineset in Vardø, Finnmark, Norway, commemorating the trial and execution in 1621 of 91 people for witchcraft. Installation by Louise Bourgeois.

 

Please read more about the Vardø witch trails:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vard%C3%B8_witch_trials_(1621)

Are you yearning for just a little more info on '10 Little Known Witch Trials From History"? It's your lucky day:

https://historycollection.com/10-little-known-witch-trials-from-history/ 

 

Trudy's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"All The Colors of the Dark" Chris Whitaker *chosen

"An American Beauty: A Novel of the Gilded Age inspired by Arianna Huntington" Shana Abe

"I Cheerfully Refuse" Leif Enger

 

Up next:

 

Happy reading,

LK

 

 

December 2024 Bookclub News

 

Hollywood!

Dear Bookclub,

Our LBC getaway to Griffith Park kicked off the holiday season while entertaining us with camaraderie, escapism and exposure to L.A. funk, literally and figuratively. Air quality alerts, 4 minute Uber rides, rubbing elbows with hip Gen X/Y'ers at the Everly and Tao, a smattering of cultural diversity - all intangible delights.

Discussion of Daniel Mason's "The North Woods" drew our readers' passion with the appreciation of the clever genius his writing evoked. Hollywood, North Wood(s) .... the wood analogy stops there. The patch of Massachusetts land, with its imagined histories, holds no relation to the California craggy terrain. Toyon, is the holly-like bush that gave Hollywood its name; please read more about the 1886 entrepreneurial couple behind that, Harvey and Daeida Wilcox:

 https://treepeople.org/2012/12/31/hollywood-name/

 

Meanwhile, Mason's north wood was the site of captivating tale after tale and could have been named Applewood. In doing research about old apple trees in Massachusetts, I found a fascinating interview with Mark Richardson, New England Botanic Garden’s Director of Horticulture. 

fireblight

He is overseeing an apple orchard restoration project and this interview discusses the historic collection being salvaged - some trees from the 1600's. Climate change is impacting disease like fireblight and the efforts to reproduce trees with scionwood is nothing short of miraculous. The interview:

https://awaytogarden.com/historic-apples-get-a-new-start-with-mark-richardson/ 

I recognize the New England Botanic Garden as a place we visited with my parents a few short years ago:

my mum

https://nebg.org/orchard/

Back to the darker side of the novel,  the cover girl is explained as "the ghostly catamount watching over the house" in a charming interview with Daniel in the June 2024 issue of the also charming publication, "The Northern Woodlands".

https://northernwoodlands.org/blog/article/north-woods-daniel-mason

Why you wonder, has it taken me so long to write this? I keep stumbling down rabbit holes and have mercifully edited out a dozen of them but will share just a few more.

Mountain lions in Massachusetts - Fact or Fiction??? Tracking, DNA, preservation of tracks for further study, natural history and great photos....enjoy:

https://www.mass.gov/doc/mountain-lions-in-massachusetts-distinguishing-fiction-from-the-facts/download 

Sadly, while writing this, the Los Angeles fires are burning and our elusive Hollywood sign (hidden behind the veil of darkness or smog) is now shrouded in smoke:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/us/hollywood-hills-landmarks-california-fire.html

Missing Wanda and Ginger, our subset managed to talk, walk, eat and drink away 48 hours with exuberance, refueled for part 2 of the holidays. Hopefully we will reunite en masse again soon.

Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:

 "There are Rivers in the Sky" Elif Shafak *chosen

"Daughters of Shandong" Eve J. Chung

"The Elements of Madame Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science" Dava Sobel

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

November 2024 Bookclub News

 

 

Tempest's great, great, great, great.....

Dear Bookclub,

Seven ingenious minds gleefully gathered round a table at Poway's Brigantine restaurant to discuss Ariel Lawhon's "The Frozen River" and not a one thought to have the moment immortalized  with a cellphone image. The silver fox will have to do. 

And it more than did for Margaret Ballard, symbolizing feminine strength and individuality, according to Lawhon, who characterized Margaret's fox as Tempest. Powerfully portraying a source of inspiration and awe, midwife Ballard's Tempest drew me into the mystique of the main character's life and energy. We all enjoyed the book, well-written and teeming with discussion points. Noting the justice system, the treatment of women, the state of medicine, and real-life Margaret Ballard, we appreciated the author's notes at the end of the book for further enlightenment about the story behind the story. "A Midwife's Tale" by Laura Thatcher Ulrich, took the 1991 Pulitzer Prize in History, with the story of Margaret Ballard based on her diaries. The diaries themselves were difficult to decipher, according to Lawhon, but fascinating:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/midwife-gallery-diary/

Please check out Hallowell, ME - historic and now:

https://hallowell.govoffice.com/

Hallowell, ME circa 1905

Terrie's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"A Wilder Shore" Camille Peri *chosen

"Creation Lake" Rachel Kushner

"Tell Me Everything" Elizabeth Strout

Up next:

Happy reading!

LK

October 2024 Bookclub News

 

Dear Bookclub,

The layered genius of Percival Everett was evident in his portrayal of Mark Twain's Jim. We were entertained by the clever perspective presented through the power of language, history of attitude towards slaves, and survival instincts. We were also horrified with the clever depiction of the reality of the power of language, the history of slavery and survival. Everett is as fascinating as his work.

Hoping you can access this article from The New Yorker  entitled "Percival Everett Can't Say What His Novels Mean":

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/18/percival-everett-profile?_sp=7ae194c5-910d-4839-b502-570c83f8e414.1728842427090

And here is the great link from Terrie to the PBS News Hour interview:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/percival-everett-on-his-novel-retelling-huckleberry-finn-from-jims-point-of-view

 Researching Everett on the ever-entertaining Wikipedia here are some insightful nuggets:

* named after his father, Percival Everett was an Army sergeant and later a dentist

*his great-great grandmother was once enslaved

*born in Georgia, raised in South Carolina, moved to the "American West", schooled in FL and RI (University of Miami and Brown), settled in Los Angeles

*wrote Seattle, Wyoming (Viertnam Vet), contemporary American West, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, D.C., Mississippi, etc., etc. - the man is a rich tapestry

*brilliantly matched with Danzy Senna, his wife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danzy_Senna

 I am so appreciative of learning about Everett and reading more of his work.

US!

 

 

Val's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Kingmaker" Sonia Purnell *chosen

"Playground" Richard Powers

"The Border Between Us" Rudy Ruiz

 Up next:

 

Happy reading,

LK