The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride *****

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride begins in 1972 with the discovery of a skeleton in an abandoned well along with a pendant and some red threads. The murder investigation had barely started when Hurricane Agnes wiped away everything, thus closing the case. Still, the reader can’t help wondering about the skeleton’s identity and its murderer…who will not be apprehended.

The rest of the book goes back to 1925, to Chicken Hill, Pottstown, PA, the place where the Negroes, Jews, and immigrants are isolated from the white families who most claim to be descendants from the Mayflower. The book explores the subtle ways Pottstown’s underclass is marginalized, but it also celebrates their spirit, community, and ingenuity.

This is a book of many unforgettable characters. The is Chona, the Jewish proprietor of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. She extends credit to the people of Chicken Hill and friendship to their children. Her husband runs dances with Black and Jewish music and uses the profits to underwrite his wife’s generosity. Dodo is a twelve-year-old boy who is deaf, but brilliant. Paper, short for newspaper, was the source of news for the mostly illiterate residents of Chicken Hill. “Her beauty, her easy laughter, glimmering eyes, and instant smile for every stranger she met, made her a magnet for men. Men spilled their guts to her.”

Pottstown was run by and for powerful white men. The town closed for the annual KKK parade. “They forgot all the behaviors that, back home, could have you seeing your life flashing before your eyes as a noose was lowered around your neck—or worse, staring at iron bars for twenty years with your hopes flatter than yesterday’s beer, dreaming about old junk that you should’ve sold, or deer you should’ve shot but missed, or women you should have married and didn’t, having wandered face-first into the five-fingered karate chop of the white man’s laws. A colored person couldn’t survive in the white man’s world being ignorant. They had to know the news. That’s why Paper was so important. She was a Pottstown special.”

Warnings: Racism, antisemitism, rape, and abuse of inmates of a mental institution.

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I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy ****

I'm Glad My Mom Died is Jennette McCurdy’s memoir of growing up as a child actor in a dysfunctional family that included sexual abuse. While the author had family issues and, later, alcoholism and codependency, her main challenges were eating disorders--anorexia and bulimia. Jennette is best known for playing Samantha Puckett on Nickelodeon. This memoir ends before her issues are resolved. A memoir about dysfunctional families and eating disorders.

The author reveals an interesting point: growing up in a dysfunctional family developed her as an actor. As a child, Jennette did her codependent best to be the person needed to bring peace to her chaotic family. At any moment, she acted happy or sympathetic or whatever was required. She was the consummate people pleaser. This prepared her to act and assume whatever role the script and the director required. “I’m nothing without direction.”

Her life was difficult. Her mother was dying from breast cancer. Until she became a successful actor, her family couldn’t pay their bills. Her mother was a hoarder. Until she was eight, her mother wiped her after she went to the bathroom, and until she was eighteen, her mother bathed her. However, despite all this, a major part of the book is about anorexia and bulimia.

If you are triggered by binging and purging, this might not be the book for you.

The internet reveals how McCurdy’s life improved following this memoir, but sadly the book was published before the happy ending.

WOW! Amazon offers over a dozen different summaries of this book.

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Pachinko by Min Jin Lee ****

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee follows matriarch Sunja’s Korean family from the 1930s to 1989 through the Japanese occupation, World War II, the Cold War, and the Korean War. In the 1930s Sunja became pregnant with Hansu’s child. When he revealed that he had a wife and three daughters in Osaka, she spurned him. It later turned out that he was a rich yakuza (gangster). Instead, she married Isak (a Christian minister). With her new husband, she moved to Osaka as things were dire in Korea (because of the Japanese occupation). She suffered from racism and poverty in Japan even though Hansu stayed in touch and offered support. The book follows her family, her son with Hansu (Noa), her son with Isak (Mozasu), and Mozasu’s son (Solomon). A story of living with racism and poverty (not from the United States).

The poor and disadvantaged Korean families that lived in Japan were maintained by the women. This is a parallel to the situation of black families in the United States. There are many other parallels. More than poverty and prejudice, this is a book about strong women.

Do not let the almost 500 pages discourage you from this book. It reads very quickly.

During the period of this book, Japan was superior to Korea, but this has changed, and Japan’s oppression of Koreans has somewhat abated.

The end of the book (1989) and the Seoul Olympics (1988) marked a turning point for Koreans in Japan and Koreans, in general. In 1991 Japan created a Special Permanent Resident classification for Koreans which improved their legal position.

When the book ended South Korea had a per capita GDP of under $6,000, but since then it has risen to over $30,000. During the same period, total GDP rose from under 250 billion to over 1.5 trillion. Compared to Korea, in 1989 Japan was 12 times larger, but today, that comparison is just over 3. On a per capita basis, Korea has gone from ¼ of Japan to near parity.

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The Patriarchs (The origins of inequality) by Angela Saini ***

The Patriarch by Angela Saini explores the history of patriarchy (misogyny and subjugation of women) from 7400 BCE to the present. She asks two questions. First is there a biological basis for patriarchy (Is it inevitable)? Second, what is the cause of patriarchy (Is it inevitable)? Her first answer is a resounding, No! To quote, Betty Hutton in Annie Get Your Gun, “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better.” Unfortunately, the second question is unanswered. Contemporary history does not recognize universal progressions but sees each society or culture as unique. Regardless, the author shows that each society or culture returns to patriarchy. I found this disconcerting, depressing, and frightening.

The book opens with, and often returns to, Çatalhöyük in Southern Anatolia, sometimes described as the first city in the world—before Harappans, Sumerians, Skara Brae, Stonehenge, pyramids, and Olmecs, but not predating the Yang-Shao. I suspect that the reason for passing over the Yang-Shao is that this book is distinctly Eurocentric. Çatalhöyük is an interesting place to start because all the evidence suggests that it was gender-blind. There were no distinctions between men and women. The author teases us with the thought that we might find the genesis of patriarchy. We never do.

This pattern is repeated throughout the book. The author finds a society/culture where there is equality (Çatalhöyük, Minoans, Sparta, Soviet Union, Tehran in 1976, United States before 2016) and attempts to explain how the patriarchy returned. By my reading, she is never successful.

It is a shame that patriarchy can’t be blamed on a fundamental (biological) difference between men and women, because history shows it reappearing repeatedly. If patriarchy is not innate, why does it continue?

P.S. The book tends to repeat itself. Regularly throughout my reading, I found myself wishing for a good editor.

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The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder *****

When much of the country is celebrating the harvest, solstice, and new year and year-end, I am in Southern California wishing for colorful leaves and snow. Fortunately, I can vanquish my jealousy by reading The Long Winterby Laura Ingalls Wilder. The long winter lasted for seven months on the Dakota prairie in 1880-81. During this winter Laura’s family faced the risks of freezing or starving. Laura worried that her father would be lost in a snowstorm and grew tired of brown bread made from wheat milled in a coffee grinder and froze her hands twisting straw into fuel to heat their home. This book was enough for me to forgo autumn leaves and fields of sparkling white snow.

From 2018:

 After reading the biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Prairie Fires), I read her book The Long Winter. The biography included most of the plot of this book from the large events like the train getting stuck in the snow and Almanzo Wilder risking his life to get wheat to prevent starvation, to small events like the Christmas Turkey, frost on the nails, and twisting straw for fuel.

The original title was “Hard Winter,” and this phrase is used many times in the book.

I was interested in how the book might reflect the authors’ (LIW and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane) far-right Libertarian politics. They invested money and energy opposing FDR’s New Deal and supporting subsequent Libertarian causes.

Generally, the book was anti-government and anti-Easterners.

“But the politicians far away in Washington could not know the settlers.”

”If’n there’s a worst pest than grasshoppers it surely is politicians.”

The train superintendent was a buffoon who said things like, “Snowstorms don’t stop us from running trains in the east.”

Generally, everyone was expected to be self-sufficient. The children were regularly castigated for complaining or using bad language. They memorized Bible verses and prayed. When Almanzo Wilder was lost in the snow, they prayed for him.

Everyone took care of themselves. Only one person in the book expressed empathy for others, and no one was encouraged to care for their fellows.

“Nobody’s responsible for other folks that haven’t got enough forethought to take care of themselves.” The response? “Nobody thinks you are.”

If there were ever people in a situation where outside support would be helpful and justified, this was it. They didn’t ask for help and didn’t get it.

This is a book with a strong message about self-sufficiency and none about compassion.

It is interesting that Laura married the one compassionate person in the book, but even his selfless heroism is characterized as a way to save his seed.

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A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George ****

A Great Deliverance is the first of 21 books in the Inspector Lynley (and DS Havers) series. The book opens with the discovery of William Teys decapitated in his barn. Beneath him, is his dog, Whiskers, also dead. Sitting beside Teys is his daughter Roberta, who immediately confesses to the murder. The New Scotland Yard sends Inspector Thomas Lynley, Eighth Earl of Asherton, and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers to the village of Keldale in Yorkshire to investigate. They soon discover that Roberta’s mother, Tessa, and her older sister, Gillian, are missing, along with the mystery of a dead infant found by the ruins of Keldale Abbey. Elizabeth George writes an intricately constructed mystery.

Inspector Lynley Mysteries were aired on BBC One from 2001 to 2008. Twenty-four episodes total. If this book is representative, the TV shows censored the book. Incidents of incest and child abuse were watered down in the TV version. The priest’s complicity is also watered down. Other small changes include putting Lynley in a more modest car than the Bentley he drives in the book.

While the books and TV shows are named for Inspector Lynley, he and DS Barbara Havers are partners throughout the series.

The author includes many characters, but one of her strengths is creating fascinating characters.

A bit too much evil for me.

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Girl Waits With Gun (Kopp Sisters #1/7) by Amy Stewart ****

Set in 1914, Girl Waits with Gun (Kopp Sisters #1/7) by Amy Stewart opens with Henry Kaufman driving his motor car into Constance Kopp and her two sisters’ buggy. Constance demands $50 for the damages.  Instead of paying, Mr. Kaufman and his thugs harass the sisters who live alone on an isolated farm. With the help of Sheriff Heath, the sisters are armed. They defend themselves. A historical novel about a strong woman.

Interesting note: This is the third book in a row with female protagonists who are armed. The Litter of the Law by Rita Mae Brown and Queen Anne's Lace by Susan Wittig Albert.

Miss Constance Kopp is six feet tall. When Mr. Kaufman doesn’t have his thugs to back him up, he is intimidated by Miss Constance Kopp. From Mr. Kaufman’s trial: “Coerced?” said Attorney Lynch with a smile. “By what means were you coerced?” Mr. Kaufman looked around until he found me. “She was there!” he said, rising and pointing at me. “She trapped me and forced me…”

“THIS IS A WORK OF HISTORICAL FICTION based on real events and real people. … All of the major events described in the novel actually happened, with a few notable exceptions…”

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Queen Anne's Lace by Susan Wittig Albert ****

Queen Anne's Lace by Susan Wittig Albert tells the 19^th-century story of Annie Duncan Hunt and the contemporary ghost story of how China Bayles uncovers Annie’s story. The author’s goal was to write “the history of women’s use of herbal contraceptives and abortifacients.” Queen Anne’s Lace or wild carrot (a herbal contraceptive and abortifacient) played a central role in this book. The contemporary subplot was about show chickens (Blackheart [Ayam Cemani rooster], and Caitie’s Extra Crispy [Cubalaya rooster]). The 19^th-century subplot was about lacemaking. A pleasant and educational read.

Both storylines take place in the house Annie’s first husband built at 304 Crockett Street in Pecan Springs.

The ghost is unambiguous. She rings bells, hums, sings, makes appearances, and even posts notes on the bulletin board. There is nothing scary about this ghost.

The is set in Texas, so China Bayles shot someone in self-defense. “Using the Chevy as cover, I crept forward until I could see Gibbons, now advancing cautiously, raising the rifle to fire again, his gaze fixed on his target: the cop on the ground. I stood up, locked the shotgun tight against my shoulder, and aimed, just as Gibbons caught sight of me and swung his gun around. Without a word, I pulled the trigger. The Remington blasted, and Gibbons flew backward. Ears ringing, I chambered another shell, hard and fast, and aimed again. Gibbons was flat on his back. He was moving, so I knew he wasn’t dead.”

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In Litter of the Law by Rita Mae Brown (#22/32 in the Mrs. Murphy series), “Harry” Haristeen, a Smith College alum, and art history major, is confronted by Joshua Hill, dressed like a scarecrow, and Hester Martin, dressed as a witch, both dead, bullet through the heart. In her effort to find the killer, she is aided by Deputy Cynthia Cooper, and three pets: Mrs. Murphy, a tiger cat, Pewter, the other cat, and Tucker, a corgi. The story revolves around organic farming and Walter Ashby Plecker, eugenicist, racist, and the head of Vital Statistics in Virginia from 1912 to 1946. The book is more of a history lesson than a mystery.

Plecker committed “paper genocide” by replacing “the term Indian with the term colored on all official documents, birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, and voter registration forms.” The result was to erase all records of Native Americans within the state of Virginia. This made it difficult to get any recognition of Native American tribes. Today Virginia has seven federally recognized tribes. The state recognizes eleven tribes. This seems to indicate that Plecker’s “paper genocide” has been reversed.

Rita Mae Brown is a famous feminist activist and author. After 50 years, Rubyfruit Jungle, a lesbian coming-of-age story, is still a best seller. The Mrs. Murphy series mentions feminist issues briefly.

“Rev, I’m in charge of buildings and grounds.”

The good pastor said, “Surely there’s a man who can do some of this.”

“Are we going to have the Sexism 101 talk?”

BoomBoom laughed. “We are supposed to be long past that caveman talk, Rev.”

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Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown *****

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown after 50 years is still #34 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction on Amazon. So much wonderful is happening in this book, I hardly know where to start. It is a coming-of-age story for Molly Bolt. Molly was born poor to an unwed mother, but she was smart and ambitious. This is a Horatio Alger story. Her family pressured her to marry and have children, but she went to college. When she was kicked out of college in Florida, she hitchhiked to NYC and eventually went to NYU. This is a story of family, her stepmother disowned her but eventually said, “I did the best I could. Don’t hate me, honey, don’t hate me.” Her stepfather said, “It’d kill me to see you buckle under to anyone, especially a husband.” This is a feminist story. Molly Bolt was out and proud in 1973!

Molly Bolt was a lesbian from her first feelings of sexuality. The book is explicit about her many girlfriends.

Molly did her best to fit in. She was student council president and dated a football player in high school. In college, she joined a sorority, but there was always a point when she had enough and quit, usually with flare and panache.

She was vocal about the misogyny of the heterosexual patriarchy and fought back. When in film school, the male faculty and students conspired against her. A final film was required but she wasn’t allowed access to the cameras. She stole what she needed.

Rita Mae Brown is the author of a long series of mysteries co-author with her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown.

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Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl **

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl is a magic show. The story is surrounded by entertaining misdirection in the form of long sentences, popular culture, literature references (real and imaginary), metaphorical descriptions, parenthetical digressions, and excessive cleverness – not much physics. The show is so much fun that you might forget to solve the mystery, or even that there is a mystery. The story is about Blue van Meer’s senior year at St. Galway School, where she has just arrived. Thanks to her itinerant professor father, Blue has lived in “thirty-nine towns in thirty-three states, … and … attended approximately twenty-four elementary, middle and high schools.” On page 6, her favorite teacher Hannah Schneider dies. Blue and five students (playfully called Bluebloods) also forget to solve this mystery 500 pages later. I preferred 'The Lady, or the Tiger?' by Frank R. Stanton from 1882.

In the Choose Your Own Adventure tradition, the book asks questions like: Who is Hannah Schneider, How did she die, and Why did Blue’s father leave her? Each question offers alternatives, but that is the end of the book. In 'The Lady, or the Tiger tradition, the author doesn’t have an answer. I found this rather unsatisfying.

 Examples of the writing style…

At one point Blue imagines different Hannahs. There was Haight-Ashbury Hannah (old records of Carole King, Bob Dylan, a bong, tai chi books, a faded ticket to some peace rally at Golden Gate Park on June 3, 1980), Stripper Hannah (I didn’t feel comfortable going through that box, but Milton exhumed bras, bikinis, a zebra-striped slip, a few more complicated items requiring directions for assembly), also Hand Grenade Hannah (combat boots, more knives), also Hannah, Missing Person Possessed (the same folder full of Xeroxed newspaper articles Nigel had found, though he’d lied about there being “fifty pages at least” there were only nine). My favorite, however, was Madonna Hannah who material-girled out of a sagging cardboard box.

Blue’s thoughts on being called a terrible kisser. It was one of the biggest scandals of Life, to learn the cruelest thing someone could say to you was that you were a terrible kisser. One would think it’d be worse to be a Traitor, Hypocrite, Bitch, Whore or any other foul person, worse even to be a Way-out-there, a Welcome Mat, a Was-Girl, a Weasel. I suspect one would even fare better with “bad in bed,” because everyone has an off day, a day when his/her mind hitchhikes on each and every thought that cruises by, and even champion racehorses such as Couldn’t Be Happier, who won both the Derby and the Preakness in 1971, could suddenly come in dead last, as he did at the Belmont Stakes. But to be a terrible kisser—to be tuna—was the worst of all, because it meant you were without passion, and to be without passion, well, you might as well be dead.

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The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves *****

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves is about a pair of murders that happen around the 50^th anniversary of an encounter group attended by high school students. Fifty years later, the students have married, divorced, and grown old. One is a disgraced TV personality, and another became rich. Back around the 5^th anniversary, one couple lost an infant and a lady died accidentally. So with two old deaths and two recent murders, Vera Stanhope and her team attempted to unravel the relationships formed over the past fifty years. “The theme of the novel is hypocrisy, and it explores the lengths some people will take to hide the sins of the past.”

COMPLICATIONS

Rick Kelsall (first murder victim) is writing a tell-all novel.

The two old deaths are called into question.

Eliza Bond’s accusation which led to the downfall of Rick Kelsall was a fabrication.

Teacher Judith Sinclair slept with her students.

Louisa didn’t like her older sister Isobel.

Charlotte (the second murder victim)’s family were gangsters, and her business (Only Connect) was failing.

Annie still feels guilty about the death of her infant.

CHARACTERS

Cops

Vera Stanhope – Inspector

Billy Cartwright – CSI

Holly Clarke – DC, detective constable

Joe Ashworth – DS, detective sergeant

Katherina Willmore – PCC, Police and Crime Commissioner. Partner to Daniel.

Doc Keating – medical examiner

Only Connect encounter-group attendees

Annie Laidler – works at Bread and Olives with Jax. Her infant died which led to her divorce from Daniel.

Charlotte Thomas – Left first meeting early, never returned, Married Rick, divorced

Daniel Rede – Married Annie. Left after infant Freya died just before the first five-year reunion, minted

Isobel Hall – died at the first reunion

Judith Marshall Sinclair – the teacher

Ken Hampton – Has dementia. Married to Louisa.

Philip Robson – became an Anglican priest

Rick Kelsall – famous TV personality, murdered at 10^th reunion

Others

Louisa Hall – Isobel’s younger sister. Married to Ken (with dementia).

Eliza Bond – Katherine’s daughter and accuser who got Rick fired (by accident)

Joanna – Vera’s neighbor

SPOILERS

Dan Rede did it to protect PCC Willmore, her daughter Eliza, and his business.

Holly dies.

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Hell of a Book by Jason Mott *****

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott is ostensibly about a nameless author’s book tour for Hell of a Book. He is accompanied by The Kid, an invisible black boy. Alternate chapters feature Soot, a black boy whose parents want to teach him to be invisible to keep him safe. Throughout the tour, the news reports a black boy killed by the police and Soot sees the police kill his father in his front yard. Much of this book is about black parents protecting their children and how they feel when they fail. “Your mama, she wanted to protect you. Protect you from bullets. Protect you from cops. Protect you from judges. Protect you from mirrors that you would look into and see something less than beautiful.”

This book won the National Book Award for fiction in 2021.

“I don’t have much use for reality in my line of work.”

“But it’s only a fall if you think about the ending. Otherwise, it’s called flying.”

“Yeah, the South is America’s longest-running crime scene. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.”

“Lastly, a message to the Black boy that was: You are beautiful. Be kind to yourself, even when this country is not.”

Parents give their black children contradictory advice: “Treat people as people. Be color-blind. Love openly. Love everyone.” And then, in the same breath, he would have to say to his son: “You will be treated differently because of your skin. The rules are different for you. This is how you act when you meet the police. This is how you act growing up in the South. This is the reality of your world.”

Comment on healthy lifestyle and nutritional advice: “But only certain tax brackets get the luxury of knowing something’ll kill you and being able to choose not to do it.”

“And every Black parent in the history of this country has tried to stop that monster from swallowing [their children] up and has failed at it. And every day they live with that.”

“Specifically, don’t write about being Black. … It’s common courtesy, really. … So here’s what I want you to do: I want you to make sure that you keep things as light as possible.”

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The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes *****

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes is set in Berlin (1933), Paris (1936), and New York City (1944). In 1933, author Althea James was invited to Berlin by Joseph Goebbels as a guest of the Nazi party. She met Hannah Brecht who is a member of the Nazi Resistance. In 1944, Vivian Childs worked for the Armed Service Editions (ASE) program which ships books to soldiers. Senator Taft wanted to censor the popular ASE program to hurt Roosevelt’s bid for a fourth presidential term. The book follows the relationships of these three women and their fight against censorship--Nazi book burning and Taft. A potent amalgamation of strong women and the love of books.

Other important characters include:

Adam Brecht, brother of Hannah and resistance fighter. He was captured by the Nazis (1933) and executed (1936). His capture leads to the estrangement of Hannah and Althea.

Deveraux Charles, a movie star who is friends with Hannah and Goebbels (1933, 1936).

Librarian of Burned Books (1944). Works at the Brooklyn Jewish Center in the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books.

The book includes important historical events:

The Reichstag Fire (February 27, 1933)

Bebelplatz Book Burning (May 10, 1933)

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

In addition to censorship, the book explores the question of how Germany allowed Hitler to come to power. There was fear of Communists and Jews, the promise of a better life, but primarily small steps that didn’t frighten anyone and incredulousness. “Most people who paid attention to politics in those days expected him to fade into obscurity, his madness burning bright but then snuffing out quickly.”

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Murder After Hours by Jeanie Wolfe *****

In Murder After Hours, Jeanie Wolfe’s debut novel, Robin Ingals owns Majestic Mountain Vacation Rentals in Starry Hill. Everything is going well until her new secretary, Letitia Ruiz, invites her to the Gem Theater where an amateur group is rehearsing a musical. During Letitia’s first number, she is murdered. This amateur troupe is revealed to be dangerous and deceitful. While Robin investigates the murder, the suspect list and body count rise. It doesn’t help that she is an outsider in this small town and her life is in jeopardy.

Robin is recovering from her divorce and is not eager to start another relationship. Instead, she looks for a companion at Fur Get Me Not Animal Shelter. She rescues Lucky Housecat and her four kittens after stocking up at Licks ‘N Kisses with Nuts N’ Mice kitty food, Whisker Love cat food, and Purdy Paws Kitten and Cat Food.

Robin partners with her landscaper who is studying Criminal Justice in college. Even with her cats, she still feels attracted to Lee.

Between murderous actors, Lucky Housecat, and her attractive landscaper, Robin is busy, and the pages almost turn themselves.

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Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand *****

The Summer of ’69 saw the United States in turmoil. Nixon, Vietnam, Chappaquiddick, Antiwar protests. Civil Rights. Women’s lib. On the positive side, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Matriarch Exalta Nichols hosted her daughter and granddaughters at the ancestral summer home in Nantucket. Kate Nichols Foley Levin was worried about her son Tiger Foley, drafted and deployed to Vietnam. Blair Foley Whalen was in her third trimester and regretted being married to MIT Astrophysicist Angus Whelan. Kirby Foley, a junior at Simmons College, regretted her choices in men. Jessie Levin, 13, was beginning puberty. Five strong women overcome the challenges facing them.

MAIN CHARACTERS

*Jessie Levin, Messie, 13 (b. 1956)

Tiger Foley, 19 (b. 1950), drafted, in Vietnam

*Kirby Foley, 21 (b. 1948), junior at Simmons

*Blair Foley, 24 (b. 1945), pregnant with twins, married to Angus Whalen

Angus Whalen, MIT professor, crazy

Joey Whalen, younger brother, NYC, advertising

*Kate Levin, mother, 48 (b. 1921)

David Levin, lawyer

Lieutenant Foley, Kate’s first husband, fought in Korea, PTSD death.

*Nonny, Mrs. Pennington (Exalta) Nichols, matriarch, 75 (b. 1894)

This is not a good novel for men who are often insensitive, narcissistic, abusive, and unfaithful.

The book features extensive drinking and smoking, also racism, antisemitism, and classism.

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