New England's authors aren't idle for long - what's new

With the October release of the much-anticipated sequel to Maine author Stephen King’s “The Shining,” namely, “Dr. Sleep,” readers welcome the first in a raft of pending releases from favorite authors. I’m not referencing the umpteen new releases by self-published authors, but those who are traditionally published, as book clubs tend to prefer. Scribner published this one, in which Danny is a middle-age alcoholic working at a hospice in New England. But, dear us, he’s in for some trouble with a caravan of weirdo human parasites seeking children with “the shining.” Gulp.

Others with New England ties are busy publishing, or preparing, new work:

Andre Dubus III, who grew up along the Merrimack River (read “Townie”) and teaches at UMass Lowell, has just released “Dirty Love.” He can write heartrendingly about emotional loss, and in this series of linked novellas he explores our deepest, most painful needs and weaknesses.

Longtime Massachusetts resident and Dedham native Anita Shreve releases a new novel, “Stella Bain,” in November. The title character suffers from shell shock (we call it post-traumatic stress disorder) and is taken in by a London surgeon’s family during World War I. An American nurse, she has no recollection of what happened to her on a French battlefield.

Jenna Blum, of “Those Who Save Us” and “Storm Chasers” fame is a Boston regular now living in the Midwest. She says she just finished a novella called “The Lucky One” for an anthology to be released next summer. All of the contributors to “Grand Central” are women writing about World War II, with the action in each set within Grand Central Station on the same day in 1945. Pretty cool sounding. “I had the joyous surprise of falling in love with my own story while writing it,” Jenna said. “I hope you’ll enjoy it too.”

Hank Phillippi Ryan—yes, the indefatigable journalist and mystery writer who ferrets out the dirt in consumer fraud for WHDH TV, Boston—is on a book tour now for “The Wrong Girl.” Her latest in the new Jane Ryland series, ‘Wrong Girl’ is winning kudos among reviewers. You can meet and greet her at a reading on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. in Southboro Public Library. This “nerve-wracking” thriller (mystery writers love to hear that!) delves into an adoption agency scandal.

On tour lately as well is Chris Bohjalian, Vermont columnist and author of numerous novels, including “Midwives” and “The Sandcastle Girls.” His latest, released three months ago, is “The Light in the Ruins.” I flew through this World War II-era mystery, which includes a little romance, thank you. He’s unpredictable in his book topics, and this one’s a thriller which takes place on an Italian estate during the Nazi “collaboration.” Be prepared for romance and murder.

When Jodi Picoult addressed a packed Hanover Theatre in 2012, she was speaking about “Lone Wolf,” a new novel. Now, a year later, she has been touring for a newer novel—“The Storyteller”—which is about the Holocaust (paperback will be out in February). Picoult, of Hanover, N.H., is already at work on another book for release next year, “Leaving Time.” It’s a novel about grief, loss and, umm … elephants.

Concord resident and presidential biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin releases her latest, “The Bully Pulpit,” next week. This history explores the friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft leading up to their battle for the presidential nomination in 1912. Their fight divided the progressive wing of the Republican party and resulted in Woodrow Wilson’s election. Kearns Goodwin also writes about the legendary “muckraking” press, which gave birth to a spirit of reform supporting Roosevelt. On the side, she writes about baseball.

Speaking of history, Cape Cod resident and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (twice) David McCullough completed his French fixation with “The Greater Journey” (about American artists who lived in Paris) and is researching a work on early aviation history by reading dozens of books on the subject. Expect it in a year or two! On his own, though, he’s an avid Ruth Rendell mystery fan.

Book groups in the region

NOW Book Group in Worcester will discuss “At Home in the World” by Joyce Maynard on Nov. 11. Maynard was only 18 when she received a letter from author J. D. Salinger, who claimed that they were soul mates—although they’d never met. After a few visits, Salinger persuaded her to leave college and move in with him. This is a memoir of their relationship and Maynard’s struggle to move beyond it.

The Douglas Library Book Group reports, through member Ellie Chesebrough: “We're reading ‘And the Mountains Echoed’ by Khaled Hosseini, for discussion on Nov. 12, 6:30 p.m., a novel about how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations.” Call the library 508-476-2695 to reserve a copy of the book. New members are welcome, and homemade refreshments inspired by the title will be served.

The C.S. Lewis Society Book Club meets Nov. 2 to discuss the second part of Edith Nesbit’s “Five Children and It.”Meeting is at 9 a.m. in Auburn public Library. A second session, “Fifty Years On: Reflections on the Life and Legacy of C.S. Lewis,” is slated for 9 a.m., Nov. 16. Members also plan to watch and discuss the film, “The Life and Faith of C.S. Lewis: The Magic Never Ends.”

The Pearle L. Crawford Library in Dudley has begun a book group, reports Karen Wall, director. On Nov. 7, at 6 p.m., members (readers welcome) will discuss Jenna Blum’s “Those Who Save Us,” an absorbing novel about a mother’s courage in tragic circumstances during World War II. Coming up on Dec. 5 is “Clara and Mr. Tiffany,” by Susan Vreeland.

More bookstores around New England

So many bookstores ...

As promised, here are suggestions from readers and others for good bookstores to visit, this time in Massachusetts and Connecticut. There’s quite a range among these independents—some are cozy and specialized while others are bigger and well-established among book collectors and fans. Quite often, they have cafés, or are next door to one.

Take a gander, and if you’re nearby, make it a point to stop in. Independent bookstores need your support. Too often, in following up someone’s tip, I find a bookstore already out of business. Most of the following shops have websites, to help you find what you’re seeking.

In Massachusetts:

Acton’s Willow Books & Café at 279 Great Road (Route 2A) is a terrific bookstore at a small strip mall. There’s a good-size collection of books and a café with sandwiches and several different coffee roasts. Great place to meet a friend or take a child.

The granddaddy of Worcester area indies, Tatnuck Bookseller, lives and breathes now at the Westborough Shopping Center, Route 9 and Lyman Street. Check www.tatnuck.com for details, as this is a big, lively store and café, with much activity. The store has added free wi-fi, a plus for writers and other computer fiends.

To explore a used books mecca, try The Book Bear at 80 West Main St. in West Brookfield (Route 9, just west of town center). This store has about 5,000 kids’ books and 100,000 more for adults; used, rare and out-of-print books are bought, traded and sold. The store is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There’s no café, but Dunkin’ Donuts is next door. Call (508) 867-8705 for more information.

The Shire Book Shop, at 305 Union St., Franklin, is open from 10 to 5 Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 on Sunday. Since it’s located in a turn-of-the-century mill building, store owners try to keep its atmosphere as old timey as possible. There are reading areas where one may enjoy a cup of complimentary tea while browsing the store’s 100,000-plus group of collectible and used books. The store also offers book repair service.
While you’re in town, check out Franklin Public Library (1778), considered the nation’s oldest. It houses a collection of Ben Franklin’s own books.

I’ve always “meant” to stop at the Montague Bookmill, 440 Greenfield Road, Montague, which boasts of itself: “Books you don’t need, in a place you can’t find.” (Gotta love that.) Montague is another mill store—this one a sawmill—located in a crafty location; check out the arts center, music and movies, and the Lady Killigrew Café. It’s a beautiful drive any time of year, but check the website for directions, as it is a bit hard to find otherwise (next time, I will trust the GPS).

Bookstore fan Richard Wright (www.richard-wright.blogspot.com) contacted me to say he writes about his favorite independent bookstores around New England at his blog—a good place to check before traveling. He’s also the author of “A Vacationer’s Guide to Rural New England Bookstores.” In its January issue, Yankee magazine invited Wright to list his favorite five bookstores, which he wouldn’t do without the proviso that he be allowed to include 10 runners-up.

Lorraine Ostrokolowicz wrote in about the Booklovers’ Gourmet in Webster, owned by Deb Horan. Nearly 20 years old, says Ostrokolowicz, “it’s much more than a bookstore.” Judith Ferrara and John Gaumond of Worcester also recommended the shop, calling it “a true-blue arts and community-oriented bookstore—with great coffees too!” Check www.er3.com/book for details. Its book group meets at 6:30 Wednesday (July 31) to discuss “The Good Sisters” by Joyce Maynard. There is a lot going on, relating to books and living. Hours are listed at www.bookloversgourmet.com.

In Connecticut:

Amy Brenner-Fricke, a former associate at the T&G—also an avid reader—sent in a roundup of some Connecticut favorites, since she hails from that state.

“If you’re looking for quirky, definitely The Book Barn in Niantic. It’s … hard to describe,” says Amy. The set-up is amazing—500,000 books in three locations. “The main location is a sprawling area of barns and sheds and lean-tos, all of which have books stashed in them,” she said. “The various sheds and barns are called The Main Barn (history, military, anthropology, children's books, politics, firefighting, espionage, erotica, true crime, art, etc.); The Annex (fiction); Hades (vampires, paranormal romances, chick lit, and the beginning of the alphabetic section of mysteries and thrillers); The Haunted Bookshop (mysteries and thrillers); The Last Page (agriculture, animal sciences, biology and genetics, canoeing/kayaking, ecology and conservationism, firearms, gardening, geology, nature, natural history/sciences, outdoors, sports, weather and climate, zoology); and Ellis Island (otherwise known as the ‘Book Immigration’ spot, where the newest arrivals live until they are sorted and stocked in their appropriate building).” With 13 cats wandering around, and a goat, the place qualifies as folksy. By the way, complimentary beverages and snacks are available. And remember: there are two more locations down the street. (www.bookbarnniantic.com)

Amy also lists these places, defined as “less quirky and perhaps more traditional”:

* Bank Square Books in downtown Mystic, with new books, literary journals and an author luncheon series;
* Monte Cristo Bookshop in the downtown waterfront district of New London, which opened in December after conducting a social media funding campaign. Here’s an interesting note: James O’Neill funded the building in 1910—he was the father of playwright Eugene O’Neill. He also portrayed the “Count” over 6,000 times in theaters around the world. Cool connection.
* RJ Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road in Madison, has a very active series of author visits throughout the year and adjoins an independent café full of sinfully rich goodies.
* Breakwater Books, 81 Whitfield St., Guilford, offers bestsellers as well as old favorites. Its website lists staff picks.

“Read It and Reap” is published the last Sunday of each month in the Worcester, Mass. Telegram & Gazette. Write me at ann.frantz@gmail.com with ideas, comments or questions. 

 

How to have a good author visit to your book club

William Morrow publishers this month offers a video chat with Lacy Crawford, a college admissions officer-turned-novelist. “Early Decision” opens up the world of college preparation in a dramatic setting, illustrating how the increasingly frantic effort to get into the college of choice is “getting in the way of growing up.” Publishers are increasingly supporting book club interest in authors.

GalleyCat, a lively, up-to-the-minute website about books, maintains a listing of authors willing to travel, use Skype or communicate via speakerphone with a book group. There isn’t a simple URL for this one; you’ll have to find it by going through www.mediabistro.com/galleycat, and typing in a search for: authors who visit book clubs.

An author’s website is usually the easiest way to make contact, since many authors invite clubs to contact them online for an interview. Some have a clearly marked “book clubs” link right on the site. In the absence of that, a well-constructed personal email might generate a response. You have nothing to lose by trying.

They’ll also consider a personal visit, weighing time and location. Writers enjoy talking about their book with readers, and an author—particularly a new one—can slowly rack up sales with enough visits, and word of mouth. That’s no exaggeration. Some enterprising writers take their marketing role seriously and visit hundreds of book clubs. Since publishers’ promotion money these days goes to already well-read, top-of-the-list authors, the newcomers and less recognized authors have grown increasingly creative in self-marketing. And, as I’ve noted before, the more famous, or sought-after, may charge a fee, or limit their visits to Skype and such. No problem; plenty of others are out there, clawing their way up the book sales charts and anxious for your love.

If you’re inviting an author, do your homework. I asked Vermont’s Chris Bohjalian what he needs from a book club, to make the experience work for everyone. Chris is a longtime Burlington, Vt. “Free Press” columnist and author of the recently released “The Light in the Ruins” and “The Sandcastle Girls,” as well as several other wonderful novels. His answer was straight-forward:

"As long as the book groups have read the novel, I'm a pretty happy camper. One safety tip? Don't spin the laptop on a lazy susan like it's the teacups ride at Disney World. I had a book group do that last week and I was in serious need of Dramamine by the time we were finished.” He enjoys the one-on-one contact that visits afford. “I usually have fun. I hope the book groups do too. And maybe that's the key: Don't take the group too seriously and feel you need to write a thesis about the novelist."

Jenna Blum, author of “Storm Chasers” and “Those Who Save Us,” says “I've had nothing but good experiences, whether in person, by phone, or by Skype! And I've had the privilege of talking to literally over a thousand book clubs.”

But I’d asked for a tip, so she added, “My best advice for book clubs I visit with via Skype is to schedule 10 to 15 minutes of tech time before we actually get started—and to be prepared to be "Skyebombed" by my boyfriend (who often wears a Viking helmet) and my black Lab jumping around behind me in my study.”

Jenna, familiar to attendees at Grub Street’s Marketplace and the Muse—a three-day workshop in Boston for writers, will appear with other authors Sept. 25 at the Providence, R.I., Public Library. See www.lovecarol.org for details on this benefit. She travels frequently on author visits.”

Claire Cook, Massachusetts author of “Must Love Dogs” and several other terrific books, is also enthusiastic. “I love book clubs and Skype with them often, and I also visit in person I'm going to be in the area,” she said. “If they're interested, they should go to http://ClaireCook.com and click on Book Clubs and we can take it from there.

“One thing I like to do is have everyone in the book club ask me one question, so that each member gets some one-on-one time with me. I also suggest that they find me on Facebook (http://facebook.com/ClaireCookauthorpage) afterward and post a photo of their meeting on my page—it’s a great way for us to stay in touch.

“Book clubs usually choose one of my novels after they've just finished something dark and depressing and are ready to have some fun, so I love hearing all about the thematically related food and activities they come up with. My biggest advice is to not worry about preparation, and just think of me as someone who's coming to the party! In over a decade of visiting with book clubs, we've always had a blast and never once run out of things to say!”

Around the area:

The Charlton Public Library Book Club meets the third Tuesday of each month in the library’s Local History Room. Cheryl Hansen, library director, said, “In September, we will be discussing ‘The End of the Point’ by Elizabeth Graver.”

The Douglas Library Book Group will consider Barbara Kingsolver’s “Flight Behavior” at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 10, in Simon Fairfield Public Library. Kingsolver’s book is about Dellarobia Turnbow, who—tired of living on a failing farm and suffering oppressive Appalachian poverty—leaves to meet with a potential lover but is detoured by a miraculous event that ignites a media and religious firestorm which changes her life forever. Call 508-476-2695 for a copy of the book. New members are welcome. Homemade refreshments, inspired by the title being discussed, will be served.

“Flight Behavior” is also on the menu for the Worcester-area group, Books, Brews & Banter, which meets Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in O’Connor’s Restaurant, 

Arthur Miller’s famed drama, “The Crucible,” is slated for Audio Journal’s next call-in book group, “Speaking Volumes.” The session is at 8 p.m., Sept. 3, at www.audiojournal.net. Upcoming books are listed at that site.

Reading, Sharing and Laughing takes on Khaled Hosseini (“The Kite Runners”) newest, “And the Mountains Echoed,” at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 26 in Fitchburg’s Chaibo restaurant. To join in, look up www.meetup.com/Reading-Sharing-and-Laughing.

The Women’s Issues Book Group of Worcester meets Sept. 9 to discuss Kris Holloway’s “Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali,” a Peace Corps volunteer’s memoirs. The group meets at 7 p.m., second Monday monthly, in Barnes & Noble, 541 Lincoln St. To get on the mailing list contact jkmiller@wpi.edu.

 Under the subject heading of great bookstores, here’s one that is not an independent, but is affiliated with a library. The Food for Thought Bookstore and Café is inside Worcester Public Library at Salem Square, downtown. Friends unveiled a new, enlarged facility in June, relocated to the center of the first floor. “The bookstore carefully selects the best of donated materials and de-accessed library books to put on its shelves, and sells them at very reasonable prices.  The ‘grab and go’ cafe serves coffee, tea, lemonade, etc., and sandwiches and baked goods supplied by Eric's La Patisserie,” said Christine Weinrobe, Friends president. Volunteers run the store and café open during library hours. Proceeds go toward adult and children’s programming materials.

Fall signals new vigor among book groups as members return from their travels. Be sure to send fall reading schedules by the third week of each month to Read It and Reap at: ann.frantz@gmail.com. 

Review: The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife -- by Paula McLain

Ernest Hemingway was an Esquire magazine kind of writer. A pin-up boy for machismo. (Esquire, this month asking writers everywhere to define what makes a man a man, is asking what manliness is in this decade, and the writers have answers for all to chew on, in print and online.)
But let us return to Ernest, whose harshest angst mainly seems to have involved himself, and which wife would best accommodate his needs--laced, at least in the early days, with worries about money. But I am too cruel. He was a good writer. I like much of his work. Ernest was good. And Ernest was a man. But maybe not a good man. And perhaps I digress again, as I mimic his terse style.
In McLain's narrative, a novel meant to spin out some of the emotional turnpoints in what is already a pretty well-researched life, she paints a portrait of Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. Mostly, we get Hadley's point of view. She is with him five years, during which the first baby Hemingway is born and graced with one of the silly nicknames their crowd of friends seemed to have in great supply.
In what is a variation on an age-old story, the adventurous, hard-drinking writer continues to seek fame and good drinking spots in a frivolous world while his less-adventuresome, equally hard-drinking and slightly maternal wife Hadley slowly gives up her interests for his happiness. Thank God they paid a nanny to step in when that required accompanying him on binges and expeditions. That seems archaic now, but this was the 1920s, when gaiety and women's lib were not co-existent. (Unless one was Gertrude Stein.)
I'm not sure I buy all of this tale, but there is a large body of research behind Hemingway's much-married life, and that supports at least the basics. Married four times, he ended his life in suicide when it all became too much, leaving a small fortune to his cats--dozens of whom still lounge about his old Florida Keys home.
But that was in the 60s, not in the rip-roaring '20s.
There is fascinating detail, too, about Hemingway's insecurity as a young writer, unproven and unknown, and his efforts to stick to writing despite the despair of rejection after rejection. Any writer can identify with that. The Hemingways were a celebrated couple, living the fast life among the disenchanted. Hemingway added it to his short stories while the idea simmered for a novel about matadors and disconnected, disenchanted American ex-pats. It would become "The Sun Also Rises," perhaps his greatest novel. For many nights, and some days on end, they caroused with the likes of other noted writers who drank between the lines: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein. That he produced it in such uncomfortable circumstances as the couple were inhabiting is a tribute to focus and dedication. Remember, he was a top-notch foreign correspondent in the days when that was a real profession. When he wrote, he wrote hard. When he drank, he drank harder. (It would all become part of "A Moveable Feast," published after his 1961 death.)
Hemingway the writer--sharp as a tack. Hemingway the man--watch out! He stomped all over Hadley's pitiful heart, and she forgave him. He was self-absorbed, drunk quite often, and terribly depressed when things weren't going well. He was also a brilliant writer and journalist. Ah, the creative life.
I grabbed his short stories from my bookshelf and found that reading them as they were mentioned in Hadley's narrative (only brief segments are in Ernest's voice) gave me insight into his life. This added a dimension to the reading that elevates the story as well.
McLain's writing is light, conversational -- as if poor Hadley is confiding in the reader as she shares the passion and despair of her time with him. Being older, wiser (and having the benefit of knowing the outcome), the reader will sympathize with her naivete and her dedication to being a good wife to a demanding man.
"The Paris Wife" is an interesting story. It doesn't tell us anything new about Ernest Hemingway, but it does bring him to life in a new way, through Hadley's perception.

Review, "Letters from Skye"

Letters from Skye, by Jessica Brochmole
Ballantine Books, to be published in July 2013

“Letters from Skye” is an epistolary novel – revealed completely through letters. But it has a twist, in that the letters are exchanged during two separate wars, by two couples linked by a mother-daughter relationship.

Elspeth Dunn, 24, married and lonely, is a young poet living on Scotland’s Isle of Skye in 1912. Her work has been published and has met with some success when she receives a fan letter from a young American, David Graham. Their friendship in letters deepens with time and becomes love when Elspeth realizes she shares more of an emotional bond with David than her own distant, gruff soldier-husband. David’s subsequent enrollment in the war, as an ambulance driver, brings him closer to Elspeth’s world.

But another voice—and another exchange of letters—enters the story with Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, in 1940. Margaret is in love with her childhood friend Paul, a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Their letters begin to document a love story from another generation, unencumbered by some of the societal constrictions Elspeth and David faced, and undiluted by the Elspeth’s warnings to her daughter that a relationship during wartime is troubled from the start.

Margaret is unaffected by her mother’s dire predictions, but when Elspeth disappears after Margaret has read one of a collection of letters found in her mother’s belongings, Margaret sets out to find her—and discover her mother’s secrets.

The intertwined letters of mother and daughter, against the love stories woven between lovers during two world wars, reveal no villains or tragic flaws. More, they reflect the tragedies that occur in a world shaken by war. Hunger, suspicion, betrayal, deception, and grief all wrap themselves around Elspeth when she falls in love with David, risking her family’s approval. In the 1940s, however, we find these deathly courtiers mostly absent from Margaret’s life. Her fears for Paul’s safety, and terror at his silences, are met with her lover’s reassurance, his support, his unfailing love.

Reading Elspeth’s story, as we are drawn deeper into the exchange of letters she shares with David, we wonder what has happened since the first war to leave Elspeth alone, or nearly so, and deeply saddened by her life. How, we wonder, could someone as devoted to her as David seems to be have left? Or did he die?

Brockmole’s upcoming novel, being published in July, explores this mystery patiently, as time passes and lovers are lost, regained, and lost again. With the unraveling comes the tension created by a skilled storyteller, teasing the reader with allusions to the present decade and World War II, played against the very different love story of Elspeth. Will she and her daughter shared the same fate—and what, in truth, was that fate? We won’t know until, like voyeurs exploring an attic box of letters, we come upon the last letter.

  “Letters from Skye” is a good read, one that brings to life the fears and losses of wartime in any generation—but especially during these two seminal wars. Brockmole’s writing style is simple and light, unfettered by plot confusion or too much time travel between scenes. The lack of much complexity in the characters is a disappointment, but not a deal breaker. There is insight into their hearts and minds, revealing courage and allowing the reader to watch as they weigh their options and make their choices, for better or worse.

This format is a little unusual, but not unique: Wilkie Collins and Bram Stroker employed it in their novels, and Mary Shelley dramatized “Frankenstein” through letters. It’s a little hard to embark without the aid of a narrator, but one soon learns enough through the letters to feel close to the characters and their trials.