My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante ***

Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo are two exceptionally bright girls growing up in a poor section of Naples in the 1950s. Elena, our narrator, suffers from impostor syndrome—no amount of success is sufficient. In spite of her understanding everyone—peers, teachers, parents—she never can reconcile her place in the community. Elena (Lenù) is obsessed with herself and her smarter friend Lila. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante is the first in a series. Book one ends with Lila’s marriage, a sad culmination to the coming-of-age of Elena and her peers.

In the beginning, Elena’s friend Lila inspires her. When Lila wants, she can be the smartest person in the class and win all the academic competitions. Even though Lila does not go to middle school, she learns the curriculum better than Elena from library books and tutors Elena.

Lila is strong and confident. She designs shoes for her father and brother to manufacture. When she is attacked by two brothers who drive around the neighborhood and pull girls into their car, she pulls out a knife and scares them off, even cutting one of them. She is a force to be reckoned with until she hits puberty when she changes.

All the girls changed when they reached puberty.

 “What had happened? On the street the men looked at all of us, pretty, less pretty, ugly, and not so much the youths as the grown men. If was like that in the neighborhood and outside of it, and Ada, Carmela, I myself—especially after the incident with the Solaras [the brothers above]—had learned instinctively to lower our eyes.”

Eventually, Elena went to high school. Very few students from her neighborhood attended, and she was still one of the best students. Her confidence from this accomplishment faded when she understood that she attended a poor school. As her experience expanded beyond her neighborhood, her understanding of her poverty and disadvantage increased and her sense of accomplishment and opportunity decreased.

 “I remembered what Pasquale had once said: that my high school, even if it was a classical high school, was surely not one of the best. I concluded he was right.”

This book, a fable of poverty vs intelligence and sensitivity where poverty wins, was not for me. Misogyny and patriarchy also win. The writing and characterization were excellent.

Echoes

Lila Cerullo teaches herself to read. Throughout the story Lila effortlessly (from Elena’s point of view) also learns math, formal Italian, writing, Greek, and Latin. Another book where someone independently learns how to read is Matilda by Roald Dahl. Both books feature strong support from the girl’s teacher against the parents. This talent helps Matilda, but not Lila, nor Elena.

The closing wedding scene (1960) is similar to the opening wedding scene (1900) in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. In both cases, there is a tension between to social demands of the occasion and the poverty of the celebrants. The guests cannot afford to participate but do their best.

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Danger! Danger! Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen just stole a day of my life. I could not stop reading it. The story starts with Boston Medical Examiner Maura Isles getting lost in the Grand Teton Mountains outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She and her companions seek shelter in a deserted cult village. As clues accumulate, it becomes clear that something awful happened, and help is not on the way. Will Maura fall victim to the cult, crooked police, armed neighbors, or the weather before her friend Boston detective Jane Rizzoli can save her?

Note: Part of the plot deals with a misogynistic cult where the men are violently in control, women are subservient, and young girls are taken as brides. The violence and abuse happen outside the narrative. The cult behavior is discussed often but in general terms.

A crowd of people works to rescue Maura, including Rizzoli, Rizzoli’s FBI husband, Maura’s lover Daniel Brophy (also a Catholic priest), and her rich friend Anthony Sansone. However, the real hero is a teenage foster child who goes by the name Rat.

There might be two themes to this story. The first is that the intermountain west (aka the Rockies Mountains) is a populated with isolated groups of dangerous, xenophobic people. This included the cult, armed people, and corrupt officials. The second theme is that if you are in trouble, you need important, powerful friends. In the end, Maura is not rescued by her own cleverness or Jane’s derring-do. Key to the happy ending is Jane’s FBI husband and Maura’s rich friend.

If you are looking for a tightly written mystery with plenty of twists and turns, this is your book. Just be certain you have cleared your calendar before you start. You’ve been warned.

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War of the Worlds by H G Wells *****

“I was a battleground of fear and curiosity,” explains the narrator of War of the Worlds by H G Wells when he observes the first cylinder from Mars. Set in the English countryside, this 19^th-century tale holds up very well. With small changes, like rockets and atomic weapons instead of cavalry and field artillery, the story could have been written in the 21^st century.

Social commentary

Wells compares the humans to rats, ants, and rabbits, the Martians viewing the human population as annoying pests. This analogy also applies to the Europeans and their treatment of native populations across the rest of the planet. The reader is encouraged to empathize with the indigenous people overrun by the Europeans, especially the British.

Another human behavior Wells employs is the tendency to be optimistic based on feelings of superiority. The authorities, soldiers, and citizens all underestimate the capability of the Martians.

Eternal Science

The narrator correctly deduces that the Martians will have difficulty because the gravity on earth is so much greater than on Mars. On the other side of the balance, Earth has more available oxygen and the Martians have machines so their personal strength is less of an issue.

The Martian accidentally bring plants to earth. These red weeds become an invasive species and out-compete Terrestrial plants.

19^th Century Science

The Martians have two weapons. One is deadly gas that kills everything in its vicinity. Here Wells foresees the gas warfare fifteen years in the future (WWI), but misses the horrors of this weapon. The second is a Heat Ray (aka Death Ray) which is a staple of Science Fiction that never quite makes its appearance in real life.

A 19^th-century artifact is a meat safe. A meat safe stores meat and other perishables before refrigeration. The meat safe is a screened box that allows ventilation to keep its contents as cool as possible while protecting it from insects. It seems like an appliance worth reviving for picnics and barbeques.

Whether you are looking for an exciting story of interplanetary warfare or commentary on human society, this book is well worth reading even 120 years after its first publication.

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The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen ****

The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen is the seventh book in the Rizzoli and Isles series. The series pairs Boston PD detective Rizzoli with Medical Examiner Isles. Isles has a minor role in this gruesome story. The crime involves anthropologists and the villain is a serial killer who preserves their victims in various historical ways.

This book might be subtitled, women versus psychopaths. There is no shortage of either. Much of the plot will be familiar to many mystery/thriller readers. We have killers who, in the absence of their obsession, will accept targets with a similar appearance. We have a powerful parent who will do anything to protect their child. We have victims who convince themselves not to go to the police. Even with some much familiar territory, Gerritsen manages to spin an exciting tale.

The archeology is interesting. One victim us mummified. Another is turned into a shrunken head, and a third is preserved in a bog. Unfortunately, the preservations frustrate most ME techniques. Thus, ME Isles and science have a minor role in this story.

The victims are brutalized prior to preservation. Most of this violence is told not shown, but still, this is not recommended for the squeamish.

If you expect a lot of ME science, you might be disappointed. Otherwise, this book delivers a complex plot of psychopaths and women in jeopardy.

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The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde *****

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde is the first novel in the Thursday Next series. Thursday is a literary detective in the (British) Special Operations Network (SO-27). This fantasy includes supernatural villains and time travelers (SO-12). Are you wondering about literary detectives? In this world, characters can leave their novel, and real people can enter novels and change the story. For example, when Jane Eyre is kidnapped, the story stops at that point. Thursday’s job is to set everything straight.

The following gives some sense of the tone and style of the book:

I was born on a Thursday, hence the name…. My mother was called Wednesday but was born on Sunday—I don’t know why—and my father had no name at all… He was always Dad to me…

Another example is Aunt Polly’s discussion with Wordsworth when visiting one of his poems:

“How long since I died?” he asked abruptly.

“Over one hundred and fifty years.”

“Really? Tell me, how did the revolution in France turn out?”

“It’s a little early to tell.”

The names are also interesting: Acheron Hades (the villain), Braxton Hicks, Jack Schitt… Mrs. Nakijima from Osaka guides tourists to Thornfield. Rochester leads tours, careful to avoid Jane. The book is written in the first person, so as long as Jane doesn’t see the tourists, the book is safe.

 Trivia (humorous speculation)

A subplot posits a 130-year war between England and Russia over the occupation of Crimea. This book was published in 2001, thirteen years before the Russian invasion of Crimea. I am not suggesting that Russia got the idea for the invasion from this book, but stranger things are suggested.

One of the important locations is Merthyr Tydfil (the f is pronounced like a v). In 1993 my daughter lost her sweatshirt at an adventure park in Merthyr Tydfil. I am also not suggesting this event contributed to the author choice of setting.

If you think you might be interested in literary humor and mystery, join Thursday on her adventure with Currier Bell, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare, who may or may not have written some plays.

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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott ****

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is a sweet and innocent Civil War novel about four sisters ages 12 to 16. The girls and their mother are concerned with virtue and sin, taking care of those less fortunate, and avoiding pride. Their favorite book is Pilgrim’s Progress, a 1678 Christian allegory by John Bunyan.

This is an interesting book to compare to another 19^th century classic, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen about five sisters ages 15 to 22. Even considering age differences, the American March sisters seem so much more naïve than the British Bennet sisters.

In the end, Elizabeth Bennet (20) is in love with (rich) Mr. Darcy and Meg March (almost 17) is in love with (poor) Mr. Brooke. Both novels raise the issue of marrying a rich husband as opposed to marrying for love. While Miss Bennet does both, Miss March chooses the virtues of poverty.

To spite their differences, both families live in similar social settings. They both are poorer than those that socialize with. Both sets of girls/women are interested in reading, music, sewing, and caring for the less fortunate. Both families are challenged with serious illnesses. In both families, the daughters are free to turn down proposals from well-matched suitors. However, the Bennets are worldlier, while the Marches live in a world of innocent Sunday sermons.

I feel Pride and Prejudice holds up better into the 21^st century than Little Women.

If you went an idyllic story about celebrating poverty while living amongst the rich, and the simple joys hard work, this is the book for you. Recommended for young children.

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