Hello Everyone,
Unless you are lucky enough to have planned your island vacation this week, like me, you are probably tucked inside a mountain of white snow reading our next book, Help by Kathryn Stockett. This book is a perfect transition from the southern setting of our January read Adriana Trigiani’s Big Stone Gap, the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, to the deeper southern roots of our country, Jackson, Mississippi. The story takes place at the onset of the volatile civil rights movement of the Kennedy years. With that in mind, the next discussion will be invariably enlightening; so if you missed the last meeting held at Panera Bread on Thursday, January 22, you may try to make it to the next “Panera” meeting slated for Thursday, February 25 at 6:30 P.M. Members who were present at our January discussion were Barb, Becky, Cheryl, Ginnie, Jody, Lori, and me.
All of the book reviews on Big Stone Gap were right on the nose. No one lost on this one. “Funny, charming, and original.” – Fannie Flagg; “One of my all time favorite novels.” – Whoopi Goldberg; “As comforting as a mug of chamomile tea on a rainy Sunday.” – New York Times; and “Readers would do well to fall into the nearest easy chair and savor the story.” – USA Today.
If I were approached by the publisher for my own personal review, I would not digress far from the words of these esteemed celebrities. In my imaginary sought after review, I would say and I quote me, “Cuddle up and return to an era where women like ‘sweet Iva Lou’ can teach us that it is okay to be sexy and to make loving a man a priority not an afterthought.”
From the exposition, I bonded with the main character of Big Stone Gap, Ave Maria. When she referred to Maureen O’Hara as her inspiration, I connected by remembering the beautiful star and one of her many movies with John Wayne, in particular The Quiet Man. Tim and I had been watching the movie the night of his heart attack. We were eating popcorn and he started complaining of painful indigestion. Needless to say, we didn’t get to finish the movie, however, for us it will forever be a film we will never forget.
Only a few pages later at the first mention of the term “ferener” (foreigner), I felt wholly connected to Ave. You see, my mother raised us as fereners in our small town of Chicora. Like Ave Maria’s mother who migrated from Italy, my mother was not a native of our community. She was the daughter of two Austrian-Hungarian immigrants whose families settled in Homestead. My mother could never let herself be accepted in Chicora. As a result of her insecurities, she instilled in us the same anxieties. In many ways, I still view myself as a ferener in the town where I was born and raised. As I thought more about fereners and we discussed our own feren insecurities at our meeting, I concluded that all of us are fereners somewhere at sometime in our lives.
As I leaf through my notes from Big Stone Gap, several quotes stand out as keepers, so I’ll end my response to Trigiani’s work with a few as sort of a Valentine’s Day sentiment <3 br="">
“The best thing a man can do for his son is to love his mother.”
“It is soothing to laugh before sleep.”
“No one worries about you like your mother…There is no one on earth who knew you from the day you were born… When that layer goes, whatever is left of your childhood goes with her.”
After our discussion of Trigiani’s book, we went on to choose books for the remainder of the year. With the help of Barb’s new “Kindle,” we were able to access quick book recommendations from a variety of sources and map out a variety of notable titles. Although the long term selections are tentative, we will come together in February to confirm the list.
February 25: The Help by Kathyrn Stockett
March: The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli
April: The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman
May: Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber
June: Love and Summer by William Trevor
July: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
August: Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
September: The Blue Notebook by James A Levine
October: Walden by Henry David Thorough
November: Man of Color by Barbara Hambley
December: No book - Christmas Party!
In planning for our next meeting, I do have one homework assignment. Don’t complain; I haven’t assigned homework in a long time! All you have to do is think of one of your best cleaning tips. If you have a particular cleaning product that does the job, bring the product with you. We will swap our own “Heloise” helpful household tips.
Yours in reading,
Tammy
No comments:
Post a Comment