Second Helping Equally Satisfying

I just completed Rosemary Poole-Carter's new book "The Women of Magdelene." I recently wrote of her first novel "What Remains" which was a throughly delightful book. This one didn't disappoint.

Her new novel takes place in Louisiana after the Civil War. Dr. Robert Mallory is arriving at the Magdalene Ladies' Lunatic Asylum to begin practicing general medicine there after a stint as an army surgeon. Upon his arrival, he finds a dead body of a patient floating in river. This starts his journey of discovery regarding the morals, ethics and practices of the asylum's owner and practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Kingston.

Dr. Mallory is a wounded soul when he arrives. The novel explores his situation and that of some of the women there, most notably Effie, a "mad" woman who is not really mad and who uses her silence to protect herself.

This is a wonderfully lyric novel. It is easy to see the growth of the novelist in terms of parallelism of themes, symbolism and character development. Again she has succeeded in creating the genteel South struggling after the "recent unpleasantness."

I highly recommend this one! You can listen to Rosemary Poole-Carter's KUHF interview here.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Introduction to the Bard

"Tales from Shakespeare" by Charles and Mary Lamb was our homeschool literary adventure for the past several months. This book contains retellings of many of Shakespeare's plays including tragedies (Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Othello, Macbeth, etc.) and comedies (Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Midsummer Night's Dream, Two Gentlemen of Verona, etc.).

First published in 1807, this brother and sister team split the work. She wrote the comedies; he wrote the tragedies.

The language, to children of this century, is rather challenging, but not so much that they cannot understand the gist of the storyline. It is indeed a wonderful introduction to the works of the bard.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Murder in an Upscale Square

Anne Perry's second mystery following Charlotte Pitt and her husband Inspector Thomas Pitt focuses on the discovery of two dead babies buried in a fashionable London square. Charlotte's sister, a member of the upper-crust, helps Charlotte out by weaving in and out of society and reporting the gossip the ladies discuss at their afternoon callings for tea.

While this is a good mystery, I was certainly hoping to see and learn more of Inspector Pitt. Charlotte is such a likable character, but I want to know more of Pitt and his background. There is a good cast of characters and suspects, and Perry's treatment of General Balantyne is quite wonderful. He is a true Victorian gentleman, and apparently the only honest one of the bunch.

We see a lot more of the unseemly side of Victorian England in this novel, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one, Cater Street Hangman. All in all, an OK read, but something was missing for me.

Southern Gothic from a New, Local Author

I recently tuned into KUHF, the local classical station, and heard an interview with a local author on her new book. The author had the finest voice; her pacing in her comments was perfect as was her enunciation. I wanted to read the book just after hearing her.

Her name is Rosemary Poole-Carter, and her new book is Woman of Magdelene. Well, it wasn't available at the library yet, so I ordered a book of hers that they did have entitled "What Remains."

This story centers around Isabelle, a woman recently bereft of her Civil War beau, and a journalist named Paul Delahoussaye who has come to the family home of Belle Ombre to return a packet of loveletters Isabelle had written to her fiance. He has fallen in love with her through his surreptitious reading of the letters.

Also residing at Belle Ombre are the deceptive and graciously Machiavellian Aunt Delora, her great-uncle Babcock Vasseur and his wife Lydie Vee, a young and rather mischievous cousin Euphrasie and a vital assortment of former slaves who still live at Belle Ombre.

Almost immediately a murder (?) and then another takes place and Delora asks Paul to stay on and use his skills as a journalist to find out who is behind this second death. Family secrets are revealed as more sinister things seem to be going on behind the scenes at this plantation home.

The language, mannerisms and culture are vibrant in this well-researched book. It feels completely of its time, and one is easily transported there. The character development is wonderful, and the pacing of the mystery is fabulous. It truly is a page-turner. The author truly has a gift, and I really look forward to reading the book she was promoting.

Allow me to relate the first sentence as it is just fabulous: "It was Isabelle's turn to sit with the body." I love that! Just 9 words, but do they ever pack a punch! I defy you to not be able to continue reading after that line!

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.