Mockingbird

Finished September 25

Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig

This is the second book in a series set around Miriam Black, a young woman with a strange ability, an independent spirit, and an empathetic streak. The first time she touches someone, she will see the moment of their death, including the day and time as well as details such as disease, accidents, and violent deaths. Recently she's been trying to pass as normal, living with a man she saved from his fate and working as a cashier at a grocery store. She wears gloves to prevent touching the customers and overwhelming herself. But it goes against her nature and one day her mask slips and she ends up touching someone at the store. She foresees that the woman will be violently killed by a man with a gun, in only a few moments. As much as she doesn't like the woman, this is not something she wants to happen, and she steps in to change fate again. 

When she has these visions of deaths, she often sees birds, usually a crow that seems to talk to her in her head, and we see birds appear in other scenes as well. I found this an interesting and key part to the novel, something to think about in a new way. There are also  chapters in the book called 'Interludes' where we see visions of people from Miriam's past, now dead, interacting with her. 

Afterward, she returns to the trailer she lives in with Louis, a long-distance trucker. She decides that she needs to move on, and begins a trek from Long Beach, New Jersey toward the rest of the continent. But she ends up sidetracked towards a girls boarding school, one for misfits and delinquents but offering academic excellence. There, she's agreed to a job, using her ability for a woman who fears her own death is near.

As Miriam finds more than she bargained for at the school, she knows she must step in to change fate again, rather than have young girls undergo horrible things. As Miriam relies on her instincts, Louis, and the birds that fly along with her, she takes the birds' warnings and tries to understand how to do what she feels she must. 

I really liked Miriam, her antisocial attitude, casual coarse language, and her perseverance. She's a woman who doesn't necessarily like what she feels she has to do, but does it anyway. She can't see her own death, but somehow doesn't fear it either. 

I've had this book on my shelf for a while and regret not picking it up sooner. I'll look for more in the series soon.  

Paris Undercover

Finished May 4

Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal by Matthew Goodman

This was an enlightening and informative read. It tells the story of two women, along with others who they interacted with, during World War II. 

Etta Shiber, an American, and Kate Bonnefous, an Englishwoman, who married a French man, were friends. After Etta's husband died, she moved to Paris and the two women lived together. Etta was a person who seems to be carried along by whatever is happening around her. Kate was a woman driven by her sense of justice. 

As World War II came to Paris, Kate became aware of British soldiers held in military hospitals and devised a plan to smuggle them out. Etta was involved solely as someone who was along with her friend. At first, the two smuggled men in the trunk of Kate's car as they drove around on Red Cross missions. But then some were smuggled to them by others, showing up at their Paris apartment. 

It wasn't too long before both women were arrested by the Gestapo. After their trials, where Kate and two of her French contacts received death sentences, Etta was exchanges for a German woman in a prisoner exchange with the United States. Kate's sentence was commuted to life

But things get darker after this. Etta was hailed as a hero on her return, and convinced to write about her activities. But she wasn't a natural writer and the publishing agent she worked with hired a fiction writer to integrate her story into a book they were writing. But unbeknownst to the writer, the subsequent book was published as a memoir written by Etta. The book was a bestseller, and because the story in the book differed from that of reality, the real people in the book were endangered further. 

Kate was questioned and tortured again, asked to reveal the details she hadn't before, details that she wasn't aware of, because they were from the book. This betrayal touched others as well. 

The author did significant research for the book, using military records, court records, and personal testimonies to uncover the consequences of Etta's book's publication. 

A striking story that unveils another piece of history.