A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable and How Life Intersects with Fiction

 An apartment in Paris was discovered after being shut up for 70 years. Within the apartment among the beautiful furnishings was a portrait of the original owner, a famous courtesan, painted by famed 19th-century Italian artist Giovanni Boldini.  This much is true.  From there Michelle Gable creates an entertaining fictional story piecing together fact and fiction. --by  Heather,  Head Librarian at Hernando Public Library.

Author, Michelle Gable's Site and Discussion of the Book 

This book is very much something I would read. I had read and fell in love with Hemingway in hopes of understanding my Uncle I grew up with who had been drafted in the Korean War. The war ended and he was sent to a base near Angouleme, France, Camp de la Braconne. He had taken a weekend pass straight to Paris. After he passed away last December at 81, I got to look through his papers where I found this picture and these postcards. 

D. the Uncle and I and our family in rural Tennessee was something similar to how Faulkner's story, "Two Soldiers" was set. We were all terribly close. He'd returned from all the war in Vietnam, James Meredith riots, the Santo Domingo Civil War, broken and an alcoholic and a lot of my days as a girl, I would observe him more than interact, but we became close as I grew adult and especially in his old age. Something not definable remained in his spirit that would endure that would inspire me and create a Francophile. I always enjoy anything Paris in a movie or book.

I imagine him sitting in a corner in the background. Or better yet, I imagine a book of fiction created about his pictures and stories. It would probably be nothing like his real life that had gotten a bit sad and broken in ways. I know it had to have a lot more glamour and excitement before; he'd been to Paris and certainly most places in Europe! 

Perhaps reading fiction is like that for everyone. There is a place in our minds that we like to go that perhaps has some sort of foundation in our lives, but takes its own escape. I enjoy reading about WWII because I've heard a lot about Vietnam and its just enough different along with being familiar. Paris is the setting in many works about WWII. 

There is only one copy of the book in Hernando, but you can get a hold and have it sent to any library. I will wait and let someone else read this, but it is a lovely book.

Place a Hold on A Paris Apartment  

Eiffel Tower by Uncle D.

Postcards designed before WWII but bought in 1954 by Uncle D.

--by Michelle at FRL (with exception to Heather's Review)

Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis

A young foster boy sets out to find his father who he has only heard stories of. He has a suitcase filled with items he considers clues about his father’s life.  His travels take him jumping on and off trains and into soup kitchens during the time of the Great Depression.

Reviewed by Shanna, First Regional Library

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Prayers for Sale, by Sandra Dallas

This story takes place during the depression in Middle Swan, Colorado, a mining town.

Hennie Comfort, is an 86 year old widow who befriends the "new girl" in town, Nit Swindle, a 17 year old new bride.

When Hennie sees Nit standing outside her house staring at her sign in the yard, "Prayers for Sale" she goes out and asks Nit in, and that starts a friendship as well ad an education for Nit on how to survive in a mountain town.

Hennie is famous for two things: telling a great story and making beautiful quilts. Nit also loves to quilt and is comforted by Hennie's stories.

Hennie's time in Middle Swan is coming to a close, her daughter Mae wants her to come to Iowa and live with her where it is safer and she won't be alone, but there is one last thing Hennie needs to do...

This is a wonderful story about friendship and hope. The author gives her readers an education about quilting and how to survive the mountains in the 1930's. I highly recommend this book.

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***

The Plague, by Albert Camus

The Plague is a 1947 novel written by French author Albert Camus which explores various characters' reactions to the onset of Bubonic plague in a small Algerian village. The populace displays a wide range of emotion towards the epidemic, with denial seen as the first response by almost all characters. This gives way to avoidance and complacency in many to downright collusion and profit for a few.  The heroes, if there really are any in this novel, are those that stand up to fight the plague's spread and heal the afflicted. Indeed, the author's final conclusion on the human condition is that “there is more to admire than to despise” - just.

The Plague can be seen as an allegory to the German occupation of France during World War II although the novel treats these events as nonexistent. It seems as if each sentence has at least two meanings, one standard fiction and another an oblique reference to the French leaders and populaces' resistance to Nazi occupation, or, in many cases, lack thereof.  As a French citizen, Camus himself witnessed the spread of Naziism and the fall of France in just 100 days to the shock of seemingly everyone, especially since France had just been victor in a war with Germany just 20 years earlier.

Any way the book is read, it is a pessimistic view on much of society, with the good deeds of a very few only just outweighing the bad of the many. A history buff would certainly like this book, as well as fans of Kafka.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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***

The Last Wife of Henry VIII, by Carolly Erickson

This was a fascinating book about getting what you thought you want.  The story centers around Henry VIII and Catherine Parr. 

Catherine Parr as a little girl imagines herself as the wife of Henry VIII.  King Henry VIII was a very charismatic and powerful man, with a nice amount of sex appeal.  The story eventually follows their story through their marriage and war.  

One of the  most enjoyable characters of the story is the setting.  Carolly Erickson does a great job placing the reader inside this time period.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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***

The Courage of Sarah Noble, by Alice Dalgliesh

In 1707, young Sarah Noble and her father traveled through the wilderness to build a new home for their family. Sarah was only eight but her mother always told her to “keep your courage up,” Sarah Noble. Sarah found out that it was not always easy to feel brave as she encountered wild animals, dark woods, and Indians. Sarah was to come along to be the cook for her father.

This true story is inspiring as she meets new Indian friends. Her father builds a nice cabin for the family and returns home alone to retrieve the other family members. Sarah learns that to be afraid and to be brave is the greatest courage of all.

Reviewed by Brenda, First Regional Library

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***

Drums of Change, Janette Oke

This is the story of Running Fawn, a Native American Indian girl coming of age during turbulent times as the white man invades America. This story is centered on the main character, Running Fawn and her struggle to accept changes in her life and beliefs as well as her lifestyle. This was a very inspirational as Running Fawn learns the white man’s religion and also learns to accept it.

The story was very thought provoking to realize the hardships of the Indians and shows how family oriented the Indians were. A very interesting read.

Reviewed by Randie, First Regional Library

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***

Code Talker, by Joseph Bruchac

I must admit, history was never my favorite subject. Having to memorize and regurgitate a lot of facts, dates and so forth without understanding the why of it all never seemed a worthwhile use of time. That is why this book was such a pleasant surprise--it was not only completely readable--I finished it in only a couple of days--but the way it was presented, left me wanting more.

It began with a Navajo grandfather telling the story of his medal to an undisclosed number of grandchildren. He began with cultural references, and told of his early life growing up on the reservation and having to go to the white "belagaanaa" school to learn white man's ways and language. Ironically, Navajo children were taught in this school that their native language was no good, and were not allowed to speak it.

When WWII broke out, however, and the young man came of age to join the military, the Navajo language became the one unbreakable code used to transmit vital battle information between the various generals and the fighting men in the Pacific theatre. Only a select few Navajos were recruited for the Code Talkers, but many more Native Americans joined the military, to defend their--and our--homeland from something even worse than the white invasion that stole an entire continent from them only a hundred or so years before.

I totally recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in World War II history, or in the Navajo or native American cultures.

Walk in beauty, my friends.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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White Doves at Morning, by James Lee Burke

Robert Perry comes from a wealthy slave owning family and Willie Burke, is from a poor family of Irish immigrants. Both men join the Confederate Army and fall in love with the same woman, Abigail Dowling, who is an abolitionist
from Massachusetts.

The story depicts the ravages of war including battles at Shiloh, and Shenandoah Valley. The story is filled with characters who are loved and others who are hated.

In White Doves at Morning, James Lee Burke has created an unforgettable story of the personal tragedies throughout and following the Civil War. The characters are based on his own ancestors who lived during the Civil War.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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Leaving Gee’s Bend, by Irene Latham

There is a divide between Ludephia’s beloved Gee’s Bend and the “big city” of Camden.  Of course the whites around town see the divide as the river, but Ludephia is about to meet its racial divide first hand.

Eventually, Ludephia must cross that river in order to save her family, and she finds comfort and personal understanding in “pulling stitches”.  But no matter how many stitches she pulls through those scraps of fabric, Ludelphia must come to realize that not everyone wants her to succeed in finding the doctor who will save her Momma and not everyone who comes to Gee’s bend is there to help.   Like when the Boss’s wife sends her men to collect what Gee’s Bend owes her late husband, and Ludelphia must then return to Gee’s Bend to warn them before she takes everything.

 Based on the actual town of Gee’s Bend this novel is a great starter for other fiction, non-fiction and even children’s books about the Gee’s Bend Quilters, the mules from Gee’s bend and the personal connection this wonderful town shares with Martin Luther King Jr. 

Irene Latham has visited the Lafayette County/Oxford Public Library Books’N Lunch.  The historical quilts that formed this community have been displayed in the University Museum in Oxford.  The granddaughters of the original quilters have sung on Thacker Mountain Radio.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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Prayers for Sale, by Sandra Dallas

Avid quilter and widow, Hennie Comfort has lived in the mountain of Middle Swan, Colorado for many years. Although the country is in the middle of the depression, Hennie's outlook on life is uplifting.

Nit, a newcomer in town, who has recently lost a child and soon finds herself pregnant again, is taken under Hennie’s wing.

Through Hennie’s stories we learn the background of her life and how she became the strong person she is.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith

Abraham Lincoln with a twist

In the secret journals of Abraham Lincoln we read about the hidden history of vampires in our nation. The vampires in this story are brutal and violent. Almost all the sorrow and sadness in Lincoln's life is due to them. His beloved mother did not die from illness but was rather taken as payment for a debt owed by his father, Thomas Lincoln. Learn about how Lincoln's vow of vengeance against these creatures paved his way to the White House.

Seth Grahame-Smith has done a wonderful job tying the story of vampires into real historical events that took place during Lincoln's life. He definitely makes history much more interesting!

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon's bird of paradise, by Carolly Erickson

Enchanting novel

The Secret Life of Josephine Bonapart is an enchanting novel about one of the most seductive women in history: Josephine Bonaparte, first wife of Napoleon. Erickson calls her book "historical entertainment, not a historical fiction novel. Born on the Caribbean island of Martinique, Josephine had an exotic Creole appeal that would ultimately set her to reign over an empire as wife of the most powerful man in the world. But her life is a story of ambition and danger, of luck and a ferocious will to survive.

As a 15-year-old beauty on the Caribbean island of Martinique, she met and charmed a French military officer, Scipion du Roure, and then took the first of many lovers, the mysterious Donovan, before leaving for Paris. Josephine’s unhappy marriage to an aristocrat, her narrow escape from death by guillotine, and her involvement with Napoléon all demanded that she use her mind and body to gain advantages for herself and her children.

Her extraordinary charm, sensuality, and natural cunning helped her become mistress to some of the most powerful politicians in post-revolutionary France. Soon she had married the much younger General Bonaparte, whose armies gained France an empire that ran from Europe to Africa and the New World and who crowned himself and his wife Emperor and Empress of France. He dominated on the battlefield and she presided over the worlds of fashion and glamour. Many of the characters and incidents depicted here have roots in history."

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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Silver Star, by Gilbert Morris

Journey of Priscilla

Book 20 in the House of Winslow series

Follow Priscilla Winslow as she runs away from Broadway to join the infant motion picture business in California. Will she find that Hollywood is any better than New York? Priscilla learns that there is another side to Hollywood that posses overwhelmingly difficult choices. Priscilla is brought closer to Jason Ballard, the one man who loves her.

Read Silver Star to discover the journey of Priscilla and Jason and many more Winslow’s.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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The Black Opal, by Victoria Holt

Eventful Journey to Discover the Truth

Carmel March was found under an Azalea bush in Marlines’ Garden at Commonwood House. Is she related to the gypsies camped in the woods? When tragedy strikes the Commonwood House, Carmel is whisked away to Australia.

She has many an adventure in her short life. She travels to Australia with her uncle and lives there awhile. She eventually comes home to visit England again. It was then she realized that the wrong man had been hanged for the murder of the mistress of the Commonwood House. She embarks on an eventful journey to discover the truth.

This book was written when Victoria Holt was in her 80’s. The quality of the story and the reflection of life is well thought out and gives insight into what’s important to be happy.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon

Traveling through Time

Outlander is the first book in the series by the same title. This is a typical example of historical fiction as it is set (for the majority of the novel) in 18th century Scotland. The time period of this book is during the Jacobite Uprising and the rising of Bonnie Prince Charlie against the English.

I particularly enjoyed the main female character, Claire Beauchamp Randall, travels through time from 1940’s Scotland, to the 18th century. In fact, she encounters one of her husband’s ancestors in the beginning of the story and he is quite different than they originally thought. He is one of the greatest foils for Claire, and causes her to marry one of the rebels for securing her safety.

The love story between Claire and James Fraser is tender and touching, as he truly grows to love her and teaches her about living in his time.

I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a romance spin.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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Maid to Match, by Deeanne Gist

Biltmore Estate

Tillie Reese, the head parlor maid at Biltmore Estate, wanted to be Mrs. Vanderbilt’s lady’s maid in the worst way. After all, her mother had been training her to be one all her life. She knew she could never marry and have a family. She would have to be available whenever Mrs. Vanderbilt requested and her life would not be her own. But, when she was enlisted to train a rugged mountain man to be a proper servant, sparks began to fly. Mack, whose twin brother already worked for the Vanderbilts, began to romance Tillie. And Tillie began to avoid Mack.

Deanne Gist’s research describes George and Edith Vanderbilt as being very generous in their day. They provided central heat and electricity as well as indoor plumbing for their servants and staff. The history of Biltmore is very fascinating and would be an interesting place to visit. Deeanne Gist developed fascinating characters in this fun to read book. I have enjoyed reading all of her other books as well.

Reviewed by a staff member, First Regional Library

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