Two Halves are Better than One

Title: The Perfect Elizabeth : A Tale of Two Sisters

Author:  Libby Schmais

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffi

ISBN: 978-0312270803

Pages: 228

Liza and Bette are two sisters who seem to be opposites, but together they seem to be a Perfect Elizabeth. Bette is scholarly and driven to complete her PhD on food in the English Novel and Liza is unfocused and has a job she dislikes. Liza wants to write a book, but doesn’t have the confidence to move forward – which is true for her lack-luster love life with Gregor.  Bette, on the other hand, continues to be heartbroken over her divorce. But, Liz eventually becomes feed up with her job and quits without a plan, moving in with Gregor to save money.  Bette meets a man who sweeps her off to California and both sisters need to learn to live apart and build their own identities – though both struggle with this.  Without many prospects, Liz visits Bette in California and pitches her children’s book, which gets picked up as a cartoon. Things quickly change for both women and with more confidence, they embrace their new lives. 

This was definitely a beach read – fairly easy to read and not taxing.  At first I was a little annoyed with both characters as they seemed quite whiny – a bit like Bridget Jones’ Diary (which I did not like).  But, eventually, both woman recognizing their own agency and made some choices that helped them discover themselves.  

There is a short reading group guide at the end. 

Fiction Imitates Life?

Title: The Fiction Class

Author:  Susan Breen

Publisher: Plume

ISBN: 978-0452289109

Pages: 296

In the backroom of a used bookstore, I was browsing, not intending to purchase anything. But, my hand touched The Fiction Class and my eye was drawn to the cover.  I left the store with the book (yes, I paid for it).  I related to the main character with her aspirations of being published and her struggle to care (both physically and emotionally) for her aging mother in a nursing home.  It hit close to home.

Arabella writes in her small apartment in New York, while making a living editing other’s work and teaching a fiction class.  A new semester begins, yet it is similar to semesters before – a class of people who want to write for a variety of personal reasons, but many don’t want to commit to the hard work of writing and revising.  And, after class, Arabella has to visit her ailing mother in the nursing home. Vera doesn’t always welcome Arabella and they have a complicated past.  But, Vera reveals that she has a story to tell and wants her daughter to help her finish it.  Vera’s story is a thinly veiled retelling of her own life, but by reading it, Arabella begins to see her mother as a person, rather than her mother.  Arabella brings the story to her fiction class, and she also begins to open herself to the students she teaches.  Both of these changes help her re-define herself separate from her childhood narrative and bring closure to many open wounds.

Although the book is not a how-to book, the author inserts the writing exercises that Arabella brings to her class – and some of them are useful.  And, though there were many tears through the book (from me, not the characters) the ending was quite satisfying. 

The author has a website for the book, which includes the writing exercises here: http://www.susanjbreen.com/ 

BFFs Forever . . . Unless we get into a fight

Title: The Recipe Club

Author: Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-06-199229-2
Pages: 342

As I have mentioned before, I have started collecting and reading food related books.  I started with the China Bayles  mystery series by Susan Wittig Albert which focused on herbs.  Then I discovered a slew of mystery books with main characters who are involved in food-related businesses or hobbies.   The Recipe Club isn't technically a mystery, but the first 50 pages sets up a mysterious secret that drove the two main characters, Lilly and Val, apart for decades.  The story is told in series of emails (modern times) and letters (1960-1970s) as the two girls grow up as best friends who evolve in different directions and are eventually driven apart.

Like the cliche, opposites attract, Val and Lilly couldn't be more different. Lilly is an extrovert and risk-taker, Val is book-smart and reflective.  But both are drawn together because of their difficult family lives.  Lilly's mother is an Broadway actress and her father a psychiatrist.  Val's mother is s recluse (being treated by Lilly's father) and her father is an unsuccessful inventor.  Both feel neglected and misunderstood by their parents.  However, Lilly's father gains some fame from writing up his treatment of Val's mother, and he takes Val under his advisement and grooms her to go to medical school.

Through the course  of ten years, Val and Lilly write each other letters and include recipes to express their current dilemmas.  For example, Cupid's Chocolate Cake for a romantic dinner early in a relationship or Warm Amaretto Milk for homesickness.  Each recipe is tied to the topic in the letter and titled appropriately. According to the end-notes to the book, the recipes were either developed by a chef for the book or drawn from the authors' childhood favorites.  As I was reading, I took notes on several recipes I'd like to attempt.  At the end of the story, many of the Recipe Club's recipes are incorporated into a very special menu.

I enjoyed the unusual format of reading a narrative through letters.  I know there are a few other books out there like this, but I haven't read one in a while.  The authors clearly embodied their characters' voices as they grew up and showed that, although the language and topics may have gotten more complicated over time, the essence of Val and Lilly stayed the same.  A coming of age story for both girls is set in the turbulent times of the sixties and seventies, which exasperates the search for identity and independence.  Yet, as each girl grows older, they grow further apart until innocent actions turn into betrayal.   But, as another cliche states, time heals all wounds, and the grown women learn many secrets of their childhood and re-connect and re-make their friendship.

Many ideas and issues resonant with me as I read.  I think we have all experienced the distancing of a special relationship and wonder what went wrong.  Good intentions are mis-interpreted.  Personalities grow in different directions. At the same time, the book reminisces about wanting to be older, the first kiss, the first crush, and the first break up.  The bitter and the sweet together.

There is an out of date website for the book that includes a quiz (Who are you?), more recipes, and suggestions on how to form your own recipe club.  Since the book was published years ago, there hasn't been any recent activity on the site.

Imperfect BIrds, Imperfect People

Title: Imperfect Birds: A Novel

Author: Anne Lamott
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
ISBN: 1594485046
Pages: 336

Anne Lamott is best known for her writing advise book, Bird by Bird. But, my book club raved bout some of her other works. The digital library had this one available, so I tried it.

I had a lot of difficultly getting into the book at first. The main character, Elizabeth, a middle-aged wife and mother, has difficulty dealing with reality. After her first husband died, she began drinking and had a break down. Her second husband, a writer, helped her pull through it, but she is still quite fragile. Her daughter, Rosie, portrays herself as a good girl, but has fallen into the drug scene in the town and frequently betrays her parents.

 

 For the first half of the book, her parents are in denial, but when confronted with reality, they have to make difficult decisions about her fate. The narrative and believability picks up in the second half of book. As does the likability of all the characters. It is a challenging book to read, as it reveals nasty parts of human nature, ones I prefer not to dwell on. But, there are glimmers of hope for healing at the end.