Go Set a Watchman

Although written roughly 60 years ago, Harper Lee's novel, Go Set a Watchman, could not be more relevant to the world in which we live.

You can read the plot synopsis below in "From the Publisher." Suffice it to say that this is the story of a young woman coming to terms with the fact that her idol is a human being; that she is her own person; and that the world operates in terms of murky grey areas rather than clearly defined black/white rules.

As I scan my Facebook page I see a plethora of memes offering up the idea that the world is black and white. This is courage. This is not. This is right. This is wrong. This is good. This is bad. Taken at face value, it's a very polarizing world on social media. Sadly, this is the world in which many people are immersed. It's no wonder that people find themselves feeling isolated and afraid.

Go Set a Watchman presents the notion that sometimes things are not as clearly "black and white" as they appear. We live in a world that daily offers us not simply "either/or" choices, but "both/and" options. How we choose to navigate in such a world speaks volumes to our character and beliefs.

I have been sitting with Lee's words for a couple of days now. I plan to go back and re-read the book. It will join my list of books that must be re-read every couple of years or so. As I do, I hope that I will be inspired to work towards those causes which seem to me to be to the betterment of humanity while at the same time maintaining tolerance and an openness to dialogue and learning from others.

From the Publisher . . .

From Harper Lee comes a landmark new novel set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—"Scout"—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can only be guided by one's own conscience.

Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor, and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context, and new meaning to an American classic.

About the Author . . .

Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She attended Huntingdon College and studied law at the University of Alabama. She is the author of two novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. Harper Lee has been awarded numerous literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

We Never Asked For Wings

What I love about Vanessa Diffenbaugh's books is that she exposes me to people who could be living next door or just down the street, people I'd likely never meet or know.

My book club read her first novel, The Language of Flowers, which was a great book which offered up a lot of discussion. I found it interesting to read at the end of this novel Diffenbaugh's struggle with writing the dreaded second book. In my opinion, her efforts shine through another great story of struggles overcome and the triumph of the human spirit.

Set in southern California, the novel deals with issues of illegal immigration, motherhood, ramifications from teen/young pregnancy, class struggles, family, and more. Diffenbaugh draws well-defined characters who draw you in from the get-go. At the beginning I thought the main character, Letty Espinosa, was a self-centered person who had managed to get herself pregnant by two separate men and foisted her kids off onto her mother to raise so she could keep on living life on her own terms. What I discovered, however, was a person who had fewer choices because of the decisions she had made as a young person (i.e. getting pregnant at 18 and not wanting her boyfriend to feel obligated or trapped, she did not tell him about the child.) She was not unwilling to raise her children; she was simply young, afraid, inexperienced, and had a mother willing to step in and help. (Unlike her counterpart in the story, Carmen, who had no support system and even fewer choices as an illegal immigrant.)

If you are looking for a book with great characters and a lot of potential talking points for discussion, you will definitely want to get your hands on We Never Asked For Wings. It will give you pause to consider the people around you in a new light and with more compassion. For that, I say thanks Vanessa!

I received an Advance Reader Copy of Diffenbaugh's novel from Shelf Awareness in exchange for this review. Thank you!

From the Publisher . . .

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Language of Flowers comes her much-anticipated new novel about young love, hard choices, and hope against all odds.

For fourteen years, Letty Espinosa has worked three jobs around San Francisco to make ends meet while her mother raised her children—Alex, now fifteen, and Luna, six—in their tiny apartment on a forgotten spit of wetlands near the bay. But now Letty’s parents are returning to Mexico, and Letty must step up and become a mother for the first time in her life.

Navigating this new terrain is challenging for Letty, especially as Luna desperately misses her grandparents and Alex, who is falling in love with a classmate, is unwilling to give his mother a chance. Letty comes up with a plan to help the family escape the dangerous neighborhood and heartbreaking injustice that have marked their lives, but one wrong move could jeopardize everything she’s worked for and her family’s fragile hopes for the future.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh blends gorgeous prose with compelling themes of motherhood, undocumented immigration, and the American Dream in a powerful and prescient story about family.

About the Author . . .

Vanessa Diffenbaugh is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Language of Flowers, which was translated into more than forty languages. A mother of four, she lives with her husband in Monterey, California. In addition to being a writer, Vanessa Diffenbaugh is a passionate foster care advocate and sits on the board of Youth Villages, where she supports their mission to radically improve outcomes for America’s most vulnerable children and families.

Whistling Past the Graveyard

On vacation I finished the book I packed so quickly that I had to visit Book World in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to pick up another. Whistling Past the Graveyard had been on my "To Read" list for a while, so I grabbed it. It's funny how the universe presents a person with connections!

Told from 9 year old Starla Claudelle's perspective, Whistling Past the Graveyard is a coming-of-age story set in Cayuga Springs, Mississippi in the summer of 1963. Starla lives with her paternal grandmother because her mother ran off to Nashville in hopes of a singing career while her father works on an off-shore oil rig. Life with Mamie is tough on a feisty 9 year old girl with a mind of her own! Starla manages to get herself on "restriction" (or "grounded" to some of us) just as her beloved Fourth of July festivities are set to take place. She decides to sneak out and enjoy what she can anyway. When she gets caught, Starla is panic-stricken that Mamie will make good on threats to send her off to reform school so she runs away.

Walking the road leaving town and heading to Nashville, Starla is offered a ride by Eula, a black woman on her way home from work in town. When Starla accepts, she is in for more of a ride than she bargained for!

Eula has taken a white baby she calls James who she plans to raise as her own. (In this I found the tie-in to Isabel Sherbourne in The Light Between Oceans!) She is married to an abusive man who turns murderous at the idea of Eula bringing home two white kids.

What ensues is the story of Starla and Eula's journey of discovery on their way to Nashville and eventually back home to Cayuga Springs, Mississippi. The pair explore the realities of segregation, abuse, divorce, teen pregnancy, empowerment, and the fact that sometimes family has less to do with blood connections than it does with those who love and support you.

I'm not sure I agree with the blurbs I read that suggested Whistling Past the Graveyard is destined to become the next To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee's novel is my favorite book and I don't think Crandall's novel is quite on the same level for me. It is, however, a very good read full of interesting and realistic characters. It feels like a very authentic portrayal of the period and place in which it is set. I thought it was cute how Starla kept referring to the racial issues in terms of "regular bears" and "polar bears." Crandall does not sugar coat the racial tensions which existed, however, and Starla is allowed to contemplate the sometimes horrific treatment of African Americans in the south.

I'm glad I read this novel. If you get the chance, I hope you'll read it!