Fiction | Book Chatter

Strangers
By Anita Brookner
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780307472601, July 2010, 256pp.)

The Short of It:

Amusing, sharp and unusually accommodating… these characters give meaning to the term, “growing old gracefully.”

The Rest of It:

Paul Sturgis is a 70-something bachelor living in a quiet, London flat. Never married, and having only one living relative, a distant cousin named Helena, Paul finds himself wandering about looking for something but he’s not sure what. To avoid the dreaded Christmas invitation from Helena, he decides to take holiday in Venice.

In Venice, he meets Vicky Gardner. Vicky is an interesting sort. She is pretty, recently divorced and essentially homeless since she has no permanent place to call home. She flits from place to place, seemingly happy in her travels. Paul, unusually reserved gives his number to Vicky and then immediately regrets it. How lonely does one have to be to finally realize that at the age of 72, being with someone might be better than being alone?

This was my first Brookner and I enjoyed it immensely. These characters are proper, polite and exceedingly friendly, but utterly lonely. They are “strangers” in that they have no idea how to co-exist with one another. Innocent conversations turn into something else and then before you know it, in walks awkwardness. It’s all incredibly entertaining but in a quiet, understated way.

I understand that Strangers is Brookner’s 23rd novel. I can’t believe it took me this long to read one of her books but now I want to read them all. It’s not as if there was a lot going on in this one, or that it was even a page-turner, but it’s the type of writing that I enjoy. When I writer can take every day things and make them interesting, then he/she has my attention.

Brookner fans, which of her books shall I read next?

Source: Borrowed

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Wench
By Dolen Perkins-Valdez
(Amistad, Paperback, 9780061706561, February 2011, 320pp.)

The Short of It:

With sharp, clean prose, Perkins-Valdez delivers a story that’s sometimes tragic, at times hopeful and thoroughly compelling.

The Rest of It:

wench \’wench\ n. from Middle English “wenchel,” 1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.

It’s a little known fact, but back in the mid-1800’s, there was a resort in Ohio called Tawawa House. It was a summer resort, frequented by slave owners and their slave mistresses. When Perkins-Valdez learned of this, she was amazed that such a place existed. Intrigued by the idea, she crafted a tale about four women, all friends, and how their roles as mistresses were not always clear-cut.

This is Lizzie’s story. Drayle purchased her as a young girl. Gave her books, treated her as if she mattered and as she grew into a young woman, her love of Drayle grew as well. It doesn’t matter that he is married to Fran. Lizzie knows that he holds a special place in his heart for her and when she gives him the children that Fran can’t, she feels that her position in the house is secure.

To confirm this, Drayle takes her to Tawana House each summer. There, they sleep in the same room. She cooks for him, cleans for him, yet in her head, she is the one he loves. At first, she is happy playing this role, but as she becomes close friends with the other women, Reenie, Sweet and Mawu, she begins to question her importance and as her own children get older, she is often reminded that they are in fact, slaves.

This is a wonderful, complex story about a slave and her white master but it’s also a story about friendship. It’s difficult to understand how a slave could ever love her master, but to Lizzie, Drayle is everything to her. And although she knows she is tied to him because of the children, she really can’t imagine life any other way.

Lizzie’s story is tragic, because as a reader you can clearly see the master/slave lines but Lizzie can’t. Not at first. But somehow, I wasn’t frustrated with Lizzie. I wanted her to make different choices, sure, but I didn’t fault her for the ones she made. What’s strange is that I felt sorry for Fran as well. She knows full well what is going on in her house, but she doesn’t have the power to do much about it. Oh yes, she tries, but she too, learns a thing or two in the end.

I’ve read a few books dealing with slave/master relations, but none of them were quite like this one. This story was unique and it left me thinking about things long after I finished it. I highly recommend it.

Source: Borrowed

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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