fiction - Kate Degelau-Pierce

Amuse Bouche

What’s it about?
The Pursuit of Love is about people who are foolish enough to want to always be falling in love without ever being in love. They only want that first flush of excitement and attraction. As soon as it settles down, starts deepening into a more robust relationship, they get bored and flee. both Linda and the Bolter – Fanny’s mother – are constantly flitting from one relationship to another.

Why should you read it?
It’s a bit slow by today’s standards – again. Life moved at a slower pace before radio and television and the internet. But it is delicious. You probably know (or knew) someone who flitted from relationship to relationship, never settling down, always convinced that the next person would be The One. Is it a quest for perfection? Perhaps. Does it ultimately lead to happiness? It depends on how you define happiness. The Pursuit of Love is amusing and fun to read, sympathetic to all its characters, while endorsing none.

A witty woman

What’s it about?
Love in a Cold Climate is ostensibly about a young woman who falls in love with the wrong man and lives to regret it. Really, it’s about ogling the upper classes and their love affairs in Interwar Britain. Nancy Mitford was of the upper class, one of the famous Mitford sisters; many people read her books to learn more about them. The houses are lovely, the people are scheming and beautiful and witty.

Why should you read it?
Because Nancy Mitford is, in fact, a good writer. Forget learning about her life growing up, revel in Polly’s idiocy in her choice of husband. Or in Lady Montdore’s grasping of a new image. Or at Cedric’s flamboyance. This book is funny, if a bit slow-moving by modern standards. If you like P.G. Wodehouse, this might be for you.

We’re all so perfectly perfect

What’s it about?
The Princesses of Iowa is about teenagers, growing up. Isn’t that the core of most YA? Paige, our main character, is a princess, has always been a princess, and if her parents and friends have their way, will always be a princess. She will always look perfect and she will always get straight As. She will marry her similarly perfect boyfriend – after they finish college of course – and they will go on living perfectly perfect lives. Except of course that’s not how life works. There’s a car accident before the book even starts; The Princesses of Iowa deals with the fallout. One of the princesses ends up with a permanent limp, another becomes a bit of a crusader, and our Paige somehow manages to escape almost all the consequences. Except that she’s not happy and she doesn’t see what everyone else has been going through. You really don’t like her – and I don’t think you’re supposed to – for most of the book. But there is character growth at the end, and she does grow up and figure things out.

Why should you read it?
It’s a lovely little meditation on what growing up means. It’s not gaining power or responsibilities or being the most popular. It’s knowing who you are and how your actions affect other people. Growing up is an ongoing process. It never finishes. We’re always changing and learning more about ourselves and the people around us. I think that’s why well-written YA appeals to all ages – these are changes we all go through, at one point or another. Sometimes, it’s nice to reflect on it.

A state of grace

What’s it about?
Ostensibly, it’s about a woman in a small town in Iowa, falling in love with a preacher who is much older than her, getting married, and having a baby. But it’s also about so much more. It’s about loneliness and how you connect with other people. It’s about why things happen in the first place. It’s about a very practical, and very loving, version of Calvinism – religion is everywhere in Lila but it’s quiet and practical and encourages everyone to get along. It’s a version of church that’s about fellowship, not ideology. And yes, the baby being born is very symbolic of Jesus’ birth to be a savior. Even if the little boy is only saving Lila.

Why should you read it?
Because Marilynn Robinson is easily one of the best writers ever. She writes both intimately and expansively. The little town of Gilead could be the biggest city in the world because it has everything she needs to tell her story. Her characters remind me of my grandparents, who lived in rural Iowa: loving but reserved, deeply but not outwardly religious. I love them all. I loved Lila.

When you just don’t care

What’s it about?
I don’t even know. It’s about a boy, Theo who steals a painting and loses a mother; psychologically, he’s a mess. His father’s a professional gambler and he alternates between a nerd genius and the son of a Russian mobster for a best friend. Theo grows up. And then I put the book down, fully intending to come back to it. That was many, many months ago. I finally called it last week, looking at The Goldfinch yet again and yet again passing it over for a different story.

Why should you read it?
I have a lot of respect and admiration for Donna Tartt because I loved Secret History that much. You should read it if you feel the same way about one of her other books. But there’s a casual cruelty to some of the characters that I found off-putting, not to mention there’s at least one sub-plot that could be resolved if the characters would just talk to each other. At the end of the day, I didn’t care enough to finish it. You might like it better.

Finishing up

What’s it about?
The Blood of Olympus is the last one of the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, he of the Percy Jackson fame. It was a pretty standard Rick Riordan book – mythical creatures, snarky teenagers, two heroes that it’s maybe kind of hard to tell the difference between. There are battles, one of which happens in Greece, the other of which happens at Camp Half-Blood. The prophecy was fulfilled. Nothing was surprising – it was comforting that way.

Why should you read it?
You should read it if you’ve read the first four books. If you’ve made it this far, why not finish up the series?

(Un)necessary sequel

What’s it about?
Split Second is a sequel to Pivot Point. Which means that it’s about the choice that Addie makes in Pivot Point and its fallout. It’s also about her best friend, Laila. It finally makes her into a full character with quirks and foibles instead of just a good-hearted rebel. Also, the author begins to dip her toes into exploring some of the more societal questions when you live in a world where everyone can manipulate everyone else’s perceptions. What is real? How could “reality” be used and abused by those in power?

Should you read it?
Yes, if you want to get closure on Addie’s & Trevor’s relationship, and if you want to see Laila become a full person – she’s pretty awesome. The world-building political questions kind of felt like they were explored because the author thought she should instead of really wanting to. If that makes sense. It was an ok book, not particularly good or bad. That’s ok too – I enjoyed what it delivered. I am glad there’s not a third book. I don’t think the story could be stretched that far.

World building without a point

What’s it about?
I’m mildly embarrassed to like Pivot Point. The premise is that a group of people with special mental powers – think telekinesis or mind-erasing or healing – exist. They live in a special compound by choice, where life is better for them than for the Norms outside. (I know.) Addie, our heroine, has to make a choice when her parents divorce: will she stay in the compound with her mother, or go out into the real world with her dad? Luckily, her ability is to Search – to go down two different paths in her head to see how everything will play out, depending on who she chooses. The book alternates between the two plot lines, eventually coming back to the beginning of the story once she’s seen her choices play out.

Should you read it?
Maybe? It’s not as interesting as it could be – I mean, keeping the mentally gifted in a compound? By whose choice? How does that come about? And if you can manipulate the world around you with your mind, do you ever experience the real world? If others can manipulate the world around you, how do you ever know what’s real? There are a lot of issues to explore, but Pivot Point concentrates on the romance. Seriously. It’s a fun book, but the world could lead to way more interesting stories/ideas.

A lesson in graciousness

What’s it about?
The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B is the first book in a trilogy that encompasses Empress Josephine’s entire life. This particular volume is about her childhood, first marriage, and life during the French Revolution. It’s told from her point of view – her diaries in fact, and the occasional letter. I knew little about her going into the series: I didn’t know she was from Martinique or that she’d been married before Napoleon. Josephine – called Rose in this volume – is charming and gracious and constantly fighting to help individuals, both her family and people she barely knows.

Why should you read it?
Rose is so sweet and charming and gracious, that she will naturally infect you. It’s also an intimate look into the French Revolution, which is so often treated grandly. It’s a big subject, so that’s understandable. But this book shows the human side of it. What was it like to live during such interesting times? Josephine will get swept into those grand events, but this volume is immediate and human. Which is probably why it was a bestseller when it came out.

Men and Women, living together

What’s it about?
The Paris Wife is a fictionalized account about Ernest Hemingway’s first wife Hadley and their marriage from her point of view. It’s a counterpoint to A Moveable Feast – Hemingway’s own account of those years. The Paris Wife isn’t written as well – how could it be – but it does bring Hemingway’s life into view. We know about his writing and who he wanted to be, his projection of himself. We have less insight into his thoughts and very little information (at least from A Moveable Feast) of how he affected people around him. This posits how his first wife might have dealt with Hemingway, the man vs Hemingway, the author. Ms McLain goes to great pains, the afterword assures us, to be historically accurate.

Why should you read it?
Because Hemingway is both a brilliant writer and kind of an asshole. The Paris Wife documents his magnetism, but also his infidelities. Hadley was a naive, unworldly girl; she grew up because of him. Hemingway turned 20th century literature into a man’s man’s world – so much of the literary establishment after him was men obsessed with themselves. I like to think The Paris Wife shows what happens to other people, particularly the women, in atmospheres like that. Perspective is important.