Armadillo

Finished January 7
Armadillo by William Boyd

This novel is set around a young man, Lorimer Black, who works as an insurance adjustor. As the novel opens, he goes to a business appointment and discovers a hanged man, the man he was supposed to meet with. He calls the police and waits for their arrival and then returns to his office to report on the development. 

He has an interesting relationship with his boss Hogg, who seems to like him and appreciate his skills, but then inexplicably starts treating him more distantly and with less respect. As Black tries to figure this out, he also deals with a couple of other cases for work. One is an complex where a fire destroyed a significant portion of the building, and one is a famous musician who cancelled a tour. There is also a new guy at work that latches on to him and seems eager to be his friend, but is he just using him?

He also has issues on the home front. His father has been ill for some years, in a state of nonresponsiveness, yet awake and able to get around to an extent. Lorimer is the only one not living with or near his parents, and he goes on a regular basis to visit, supply funds to those who need them, and hang out. His older brother Slobodan runs a delivery business and lives in a small house nearby, alone since his marriage ended. We find out here that Lorimer Black is not the name he started life with and over the course of the book, we see what led to him changing his name from Milomre Blocj. I found this aspect of the book quite interesting and the secrets he keeps from his family.

Lorimer also has a longstanding sleep issue, and has been going regularly to a sleep clinic as they try to help him find a solution to this problem. His relationship with the doctor in charge is also an interesting one, going beyond the bounds of a patient/doctor relationship. 

Lorimer also has a few interesting interests. He has a passion for ancient armor, helmets in particular, and musical tastes that are not mainstream.

There is a plot of sorts here, but this book is also a lot about Lorimer Black as a character, learning about him, about what makes him tick, and that part really hooked me. I would like to see what happened to him after the events here. 

Miss Jane

Finished December 18
Miss Jane by Brad Watson

Watson was inspired to write this novel based on the real story of his own great-aunt. Miss Jane Chisolm was born in the early twentieth-century in rural Mississippi with a genital birth defect. At the time, there wasn't the knowledge to correct the situation and so the local doctor watches carefully for signs of infection and other issues. This defect left her incontinent and unable to participate in the life that would otherwise be expected of her, that of wife and mother.
We see how the local doctor, intelligent and well-trained, asks for advice from colleagues back east in Baltimore and becomes a guiding force in young Jane's life. Her parents are supportive but rely on the doctor to explain things to Jane as she gets older, and Jane's older sister Grace becomes her primary caregiver early on.
Jane is a strong and intelligent girl and woman, curious about life and about her own situation. She would love to be a normal girl, but in some ways she always stands apart from her peers. Her efforts to engage in normal behaviour, from attending school to becoming interested in boys, are intense but ultimately she must rely on herself.
She feels most content on her family farm, living a simple life. I found her a fascinating character for her openness and acceptance of her situation, and her internal strength.

All That Is

Finished August 4
All That Is by James Salter

A very different book, character-driven rather than plot-driven.The main character her is Philip Bowman, a man who served in the navy in the Pacific in World War II, went on to college, and became an editor at a New York publishing house.
We see Philip's relationships with women over the years, marriage, affairs, loves and lusts. But it is not only his life we see. There are vignettes of others, some peripheral people in Bowman's life, others who played a larger role.We see the differences between how people see themselves and how others see them. The illusions and the vanities. The decades covered here were a time of great change, changes in art, culture, sexual norms, ease of travel and we see these reflected in Philip's life over this time. We see Philip's thoughts from time to time, about his life and about life in general, about his lovers and about himself.
This is also about the world of publishing, the travel, the parties and dinners, the wooing of authors. We see the industry as it was, made up of many small publishing houses.
This is a quiet book, a book that reveals a life, moments in lives, but doesn't judge or analyze.

The Antagonist

Finished September 20
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
This book is told in a series of emails from one man to another. Gordon Rankin (Rank) is nearly 40 and is led to begin these emails by coming across a book written by a man who he considered his closest friend 20 years earlier. Rank feels the book betrays that friendship, exposing Rank's inner thoughts and yet still portraying him as a caricature.
Rank is a big man and beginning with his father has been cast in a role that he doesn't want. The role is enforcer, bouncer, goon. His father, his university hockey coach, his friends, all consider him as a man who is defined by his size and not what goes on inside his head.
He is haunted by a dual tragedy that occurred when he was a young man and has lived his life in fear of such a tragedy occurring again.
This is a book to shake you out of your assumptions, to open your eyes to how we see each other. Particularly in light of recent tragedies related to those hockey players defined as enforcers, this is a book for the times. The novel shows insight, character growth, and shows our society in a new light. A wonderful read that I could barely put down.

The Glory Wind

Finished November 27
The Glory Wind by Valerie Sherrard
This children's novel is set in rural Manitoba a couple of years after the end of World War II. Told from the point of view of a young boy, it tells of his friendship with a girl his age, and the community reaction to her family situation, and how a tornado changed their lives forever.
This is a moving story and a pivotal point in this boy's life. It brings him understanding of things that were beyond his world before and helps him to grow. A great book about character, acceptance and society.

Atonement

Finished November 2
Atonement by Ian McEwan, narrated by Jill Tanner

This is the story of the events of a single day in the summer of 1935 and all the things that came out of it. That summer Briony Talis was thirteen and her observations, misinterpretations, and resulting actions cause outcomes she never could have imagined. Her big misinterpretation is of the nature of the relationship between her sister Cecelia and Robbie Turner, childhood friends. Robbie is the son of their servant and has been treated by the family as a protege. Briony's cousins are staying with the family as their family begins to break apart. When the twins run away and her female cousin is assaulted during the search, it is Briony who points the finger at Robbie and this deliberation seals his fate.
The second part of this book is from Robbie's point of view and occurs during the retreat to Dunkirk where he, wounded, leads two officers to the beach from farther inland. We see how he feels, what he sees, and how he treats others.
The third part shows Briony as a young nurse in London, just before and after Dunkirk and how she has dealt with her actions that she now knows to be criminally wrong, and her realization of the awful truth. We see her growth, her guilt, and her lifelong sorrow at what she has done.
Finally we see her in old age, with the long look back at her life and her actions to atone for her guilt.
An amazing read that kept me engaged both by the story and the emotion.

A Look at History

Finished January 5
The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner
This story follows a college student, Lauren Durough (known to her family as Lars), as she discovers the life of a young woman in Salem during the witch trials, and in doing so discovers something about herself as well.
Lauren is the only child of very wealthy parents, and makes small moves to show her independence from what she feels is expected of her. One of those moves is to take a job transcribing the diary of Mercy Hayworth, a young woman convicted of being a witch in Salem during the infamous witch trials. Her employer is Abigail Boyles, also a wealthy woman, who has known Mercy's story since she was a teenager, but never taken its lessons into her own life.
This is a fascinating look at a portion of history that is shameful, as well as looking at how we all judge others to some extent.

Pleasureful Listen

Finished June 26
Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter by Sidney Poitier, read by the author
Of course, just listening to Sidney Poitier's voice is a pleasure, but this book is also a pleasure from the content. Several years ago I listened to the audio version of Measure of a Man by Poitier, also read by him, and this book extends my knowledge of him.
The book is organized by issues and thus is not written as a consecutive timeline, but rather moves back and forth, even referring back to earlier sections at times. It is written as a series of letters to his first great granddaughter giving her information and advice, some of it personal to her as part of his family, some of it applicable to all of us. He talks of love, faith, demons, close calls, technology and death. He talks of his own quest for knowledge and how it is still ongoing. He talks of our responsibility to each other and to the earth that we come from. This would be a wonderful gift for a graduation or for someone starting a new phase in life. Inspiring and comforting both, it will bring pleasure to the reader.

Canadian Fiction

Finished June 10
October by Richard B Wright
James Hillyer is a retired professor of Victorian literature, living on his own in Toronto. His wife died of cancer some years ago, and his daughter Susan has just been diagnosed with a similar disease. Susan is headmistress of a boarding school in England, a job she has aspired to all her working life. James visits her to touch base following news of her illness, and afterwards in London he meets a man he hasn't seen in sixty years.
Back in 1944, James spent a summer in rural Quebec with his uncle and spent some of his days with a young American Gabriel Fontaine who was a victim of polio. It is Gabriel that he meets again in London and who requests James to go with him on a trip.
The story goes back and forth between the present and the summer of 1944, and causes James to look at his own character and attitudes both past and present as well as those of others. There is also a theme of illness and mortality running through the novel that provides a key element to the story.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly.