Birnam Wood

Finished August 29

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

This was a very interesting read. As the book opens, a landslide on New Zealand's south island has caused a road blockage on Korowai Pass, resulting in a dead end at the north edge of Korowai National Park. The farm just north of the park is owned by Jill and Owen Darvish, Jill having grown up there on her family's farm near the small town of Thorndike. Owen has made a successful career in pest control, and the farm is not currently in use as a farm. Shortly after the landslide, Owen was awarded a knighthood. 

Mira Bunting, one of the founders of a guerrilla gardening group, Birnam Wood, has taken note of this and wonders if this is an opportunity to take their gardening to a new level by taking advantage of this unused land. She decides to go up there and scope things out. 

Mira's co-manager, Shelley Noakes has been growing discontented with the group and her role and is gearing herself up to tell Mira that she wants to leave. With the sudden reappearance of Tony Gallo, another founder of the group, things get more complicated. Tony had gone to Mexico to teach English years ago, but recently found himself dissatisfied there and returned home. Tony has journalist aspirations, and is trying to get his foot in as a freelancer. 

Mira's visit to the farm results in an unexpected meeting between her and Robert Lemoine, an American billionaire. Robert has recently approached Owen Darvish about purchasing the farm property, and offers Mira and her group a chance to prove themselves there. He also offers funding, and this drives Mira to offer the group this chance in a sudden meeting. The group agrees to move forward, but Tony is suspicious of the offer and decides to do some research into the situation. 

His approach to Owen Darvish results in Darvish having questions as well.

The reader is able to see Robert's viewpoint as well, giving us knowledge of his motives and actions that belie what he has professed publicly. 

As the pressure mounts, the situation gets out of control, and unexpected encounters create additional suspense for the reader. 

I found the novel hard to put down as I wanted to see how things turned out. The characters are complex and have motivations that are also complex. There is an obvious 'bad guy' from the outset, and I really wanted him to pay for his actions, and I wanted Tony to get the two things he wanted, love and a chance at journalism. 

A Grave Disturbance

Finished October 31

A Grave Disturbance by D.M. Greenwood

This is the 8th book in the series featuring Theodora Braithwaite, an Anglican deacon. A school friend, Susan Tye, who is the wife of the Provost of Giltchrist Cathedral, calls her for assistance. Susan has noticed her husband behaving suspiciously and want Theodora's assistance in the issue. The same day that she is due to arrive, a workman on the roof of the cathedral falls to his death. 

Lionel Comfret, the Assistant (Lay) Diocesan Secretary, who works for the Archbishop, is thinking about his upcoming retirement. He quite looks forward to it. He has been with the church for ten years, and had been both a soldier and a teacher before this position. Early in the book there is a meeting that includes Lionel, Archdeacon Marcus More, Provost Reggie Tye, and Canon Kate Wale and this gives a good sense of the abilities and limitations of these senior clergy who figure in the plot. We also see the secretary for the senior clergy Mrs. Lure and see her lack of effort in her job. Overall, these early scenes give us a very good idea of why Lionel is looking forward to his retirement. It is during the meeting that the accident occurs, and Lionel is a witness to it, as he watches from the window. 

On the drive back with Theodora, Lionel talks about the accident and about the town, which has three distinct areas. Cray Martyr is the poorer part of town, the part where the victim came from. The parish priest there, Tobias Angel is a strong advocate for his parishioners and a personality in his own right, as we see later. Giltchrist is where the cathedral close is, and between them is Gainshurst a more posh part of town, where both the Archdeacon and the Canon live. 

Kate Wale is married to a developer, Leslie Wale, who has done very well for himself and both of them left behind their Cray Martyr childhoods. The were both acquainted with the Lee family, of whom Mick Lee, the victim, was the middle child. As we discover, there is history between the families, but also a history of distrust between the family and the church to some extent. 

We soon hear about the reason for Susan's request for Theodora's visit and Susan's plans for her during that time. 

I enjoyed the depth of the characters here, especially Lionel, but also Kate to an extent. We see how Lionel finds a possible new future role in an environment that he has more respect for the leadership in, and we see how he spends his leisure time. Theodora is somewhat frustrated by Susan's demands, but falls in to assist Lionel in finding answers. 

A very interesting read, which I got caught up in quite quickly. 

Harriet

Finished October 23

Harriet by Elizabeth Jenkins

This dark novel is an older one I found on my shelves. It is set in the late 1870s in England. The title character, Harriet Woodhouse is a woman in her thirties, but who mentally is younger. The exact nature of her developmental delay is not clear, and she is described here as a natural. She seems to show in a lack of understanding of more complex ideas and a lack of social skills, although she is outgoing and can be exuberant about some things. She has been trained to look after herself and her clothes and always presents herself well. However, she is a woman who is sometimes not easy to be around, and so her mother regularly boards her with other distant relatives who host her for the money her mother pays. It is at this point that the story begins. 

Mr. Ogilvy, Harriet's mother has remarried to a quiet man, a Unitarian minister who does care for both his wife and Harriet, but likes a quiet life. Since Harriet was left an income by her late father, she can afford to buy clothes that present her to her best advantage. 

Harriet spends the next month at a cousin of Mrs. Ogilvy's, Mrs. Hoppner. Mrs. Hoppner has two adult daughters, one, Elizabeth, married to an artist, Patrick who barely provides a living for her and their two children, and the other, Alice, single and still living at home. The money from Harriet's visit will partially go towards a new dress for Alice, something she looks forward to intensely. Of late, Alice has been seeing Patrick's brother Lewis who works as a clerk for an auctioneer. The brothers have a very close relationship, in some ways more close than a marital one. All the young people on the Hoppner side of the family are quite self-centered, focused on themselves and their own needs above all else. Elizabeth and Patrick have a young woman, Clara staying with them to help with the children and other household tasks, but although they agreed to give her some money when they can afford it, they never do in those few times of being flush. Clara is also a distant relation whose parents were glad of the opportunity to get rid of another mouth to feed. 

When Lewis meets Harriet and learns of her independent income, he focuses his sights on her. The time that Harriet spends at Mrs. Hoppner's allows him to get her confidence and thus when she returns home engaged, her mother is hard put to dissuade her or find another means of preventing the marriage from taking place. 

This book is a dark one, that show society's failure to protect the weakest amongst us. As we watch Harriet fall into the clutches of this family and get taken advantage of, we despair for her and her future. This is a very disturbing story, but very well told.

The Tinsmith

Finished July 30
The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling

This novel begins in the US Civil War, around the Battle of Antietam. Anson Baird is a doctor working for the Union Army. With a seemingly endless supply of injured man, Anson moved from one operation to the next, amputating, digging out bullets and stitching closed wounds. He has little time for sleep, and next to no assistance. So when he first notices a tall man in a torn uniform helping bring injured men to the medical area, he does so only to notice that he keeps bringing men in, unlike most who disappear quickly. When the man proves even more helpful by serving as a surgical assistant, he is very thankful.
When a civilian is killed in a shocking manner, and the body goes missing soon after, he doesn't connect it with the man until later when men come searching for the body. Once he's made the connection, he works to protect the man and give him a new identity. The man, previously John, now taking the identity of a soldier named William Dare.
We see backwards into John's life as a house slave, looked after by a slave family, and caught as a pawn between a violent and vindictive overseer and the culture he was born into. The story moves back and forth between first the war and John's past, and then many years later, the Fraser river in B.S. and John's past, as William Dare tries to save his fledgling salmon business by asking for Baird's help once again.
This is a story of race, of culture, of reputation, and men whose greed is larger than their morals.
I enjoyed the character of John/William Dare, a man who doesn't really fit in wherever he goes, and of Anson, a man who wants to do the right and moral thing.

Purple Palette for Murder

Finished October 21
Purple Palette for Murder by R.J. Harlick

This novel is part of a series featuring Meg Harris, a woman dealing with her own significant issues as she also finds herself being drawn into troubling situations. This is the eighth book in the series, but the first that I've read. The books often take place in the further reaches of our country from Baffin Island to Haida Gwaii. This one takes place mostly in and around Yellowknife.
Meg's stepdaughter Teht'aa has recently got a job with the CBC in Yellowknife, which is also near the reserve that she grew up on as a Dene. Her father wasn't aware of her until fairly recently and has been enjoying the experience of having a daughter. Meg's husband Eric is and was recently elected Grand Chief of the Grand Council of First Nations. One of the reasons he is in Yellowknife was to meet with northern leaders. The other is to console his daughter after a recent romantic breakup.
As the book opens, Meg receives a call letting her know that Eric has been charged with murder, with the victim being Teht'aa's ex-boyfriend. The other bad news is that Teht'aa is in the hospital badly hurt after being beaten and left for dead.
As Meg puts aside her own issues and goes to Yellowknife to fight for her husband and stepdaughter, she finds assistance, both emotional and other from Teht'aa's great-uncle Joe. She can't understand why Eric seems not to want to fight harder for himself, as she knows that he would never do what he is accused of. As Meg pieces together the stories of various people who may be involved, she finds a piece of historic embroidery that may be the key to the truth.
I really enjoyed this book, and not just because of the embroidery! The characters are interesting and complex, and the way the indigenous characters are handled here felt good. I liked the immersion in the setting, and the stories around Meg. A very enjoyable read.

Death by Prescription

Finished January 5
Death by Prescription by Terence H. Young

I chose to read this book because I remembered the newspaper stories when Vanessa died, and because I too had an adverse reaction to the same drug, Prepulsid. Luckily for me, my adverse reaction didn't cost me my life, as it did Vanessa. But it did scare me sufficiently to cease taking the drug immediately, despite the advice of my then-doctor to continue it.
Young tells the story here of his fight to bring out the truth about Vanessa's death and what led to it. But he also shows us the power and influence of pharmaceutical companies not just in Canada, but world-wide, and the lack of government initiative to make the necessary changes. In the end, it all comes down to money over life and health, and that is a sad commentary on human nature.
Well-researched, and open, this book shows the dangers of our current reliance on drugs over changing behaviours.