Spying on the South

Finished October 21

Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz

I've read one of his previous books about his travels in the Middle East, and enjoyed his writing, but what led me to this book was his wife Geraldine Brooks' book Memorial Days, about Tony's death and how his family coped. The death was sudden and occurred in 2019 while he was on tour for this book.  

Much of his travels for this book were in 2015 and 2016, just before Donald Trump was elected for the first time, and the state of the feelings about the United States situation and future were one of the things that this book looked at.

In terms of structure, Tony decided to follow, as much as possible, the second trip Frederick Law Olmstead made to America's south in a time where the country was also divided, just before the Civil War. Olmstead wrote articles under the name 'Yeoman' for the New York Daily Times, about his travels and the feelings about the country by the people he met then. Slavery was naturally one topic that came up often, and Texas had not yet decided on its future regarding this practice. 

The trip started in West Virginia, went along the Ohio river past Kentucky, made a sidetrip to Nashville, then back to the Mississippi river past Mississippi, and down to New Orleans. Olmstead then went by horse through Louisiana, across Texas, and into Mexico, returning through southern Texas. He travelled with his brother John

Tony followed the same route, mostly on his own, but sometimes with a friend, and did most of the land portions by car. He did have one brief excursion by mule in West Texas, but it didn't go well, and he resumed his trip a few months later in the fall of 2016. He had similar experiences in some places as Olmstead, and quite different in others, such as going into Mexico. The land itself has changed little, except what man has built upon it, and Tony has a knack for being able to gauge situations well, and talk with most people. He engaged with people at many levels across the trip, from barge workers to tour guides, chemical plant workers to farmers. I learned a lot and found his conversations eye-opening and in light of where we are today, sometimes haunting. 

A fascinating book about two interesting men nearly 175 years apart. 

The Great Catsby

Finished July 1

The Great Catsby by B.K. Baxter

This light and humorous mystery is the first in a series called Nola Tail, featuring librarian Jade Hastings and her cat roommate Sir Chonksworth the Bold (Chonks). They've moved from Baltimore to Beulah, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, after Jade inherited a house from her Uncle Mike. The house is a large Victorian home, and while Jade has thought about selling it, she loves the details, especially the library, and plans on gradually repairing it and restoring it. 

Jade has been able to get a part-time job at the local library, and is starting up a book club, reading the classics. At her first meeting, she hands out The Great Gatsby, and they have an initial discussion. Most of those that came are genuinely interested in reading, but Tabby, the new young wife of one of the town's wealthiest men, Vince Means, is there because her husband urged her to. 

When Tabby is found dead the following morning, the police focus on Stanley (Taz), the young man working at the grocery store. Even though there is evidence that points to him, Jade is sure that the gentle and kind man couldn't have done the crime and she is determined to find the truth. As she and Chonks dig into the town's social dynamics and history, Jade finds new friends like Charlotte, the vet, and Ethan, a handyman. She also finds herself the newest target of the killer. 

A fun read, with viewpoints from both Jade and Chonks. It is Chonks that really figures things out and is the hero of the book, but he forgives his roommate and the other humans for not having the senses and intellect to figure it out.  

I like the way the authors bring the book from the book club into the plot in an interesting way and, of course, any book with a librarian and cat and the centre is a plus for me. 

Dead with the Wind

Finished May 3

Dead with the Wind by Miranda James

This cozy mystery is set in small town Louisiana, where Mississippi sisters An'gel and Dickce Ducote have come to visit their cousin Mireille for her granddaughter Sondra's wedding. They've also brought their ward, Benjy Stevens, and his Abyssinian cat Endora and Labradoodle dog Peanut. They are staying in a cottage rooms, part of a bed-and-breakfast that Mireille runs along with her longtime housekeeper/cook Estelle. 

Mireille's daughter Jacqueline and her second husband Horace live with Mireille at her large home, as does Sondra. As the scene is set, we see all the main characters, including Mireille's long-term butler Jackson, Sondra's fiancé Lance, Mireille's lawyer Richard and Horace's son Trey. 

Estelle is outspoken and often rude, very critical of Sondra and her actions. Sondra is also outspoken and rude, particularly to her grandmother. She's very beautiful and very entitled and her parents spoiled her when she was younger. There is some question as her motives for getting married. Lance is as beautiful as Sondra is and they've known each other since they were in kindergarten. Lance is also extremely clueless and not very bright. Trey has a crush on Sondra and is jealous of Lance. Horace and Jacqueline's relationship seems tense and we gradually learn why. 

As An'gel and Dickce observe the people around them, and the reactions when Sondra is swept off her balcony to her death in a storm, they also look for who might have wanted to kill her and why. 

There is a lot of southern tradition in the main characters and their relations, as might be expected from wealthy white women who come from plantation backgrounds, but the sisters are more open to new ideas than they seem at first, and Benjy also explains some things to them when they don't understand something. This book grew on me as the plot developed, and while many of the characters are stereotypical, the plot is interesting. 

Dark and Shallow Lies

Finished September 27

Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain

This young adult novel is set in a small town in Louisiana, La Chachette. It is known as the Psychic Capital of the world, and is accessible only by boat. The main character, Grey, who is seventeen, has spent her summers there for years. After her mother's death when she was eight, she has lived with her father during the rest of the year, and come to stay with her grandmother Honey in the summer.  When she returns this summer, she knows that her best friend Elora, who was born on the same day, in the same room as her, disappeared six months earlier. She is worried about the rest of her friends there and how they are reacting to the situation. She also finds it strange that none of the local psychics have been able to discover what happened to Elora. 

As the summer goes on, she feels that everyone there has secrets and some of them are more worrying than others. She also makes a new friend, a teen that also met Elora, and is aware of the close relationship that Elora and Grey had. 

As Grey grew up she knew that she and Elora were part of a group of children born that summer, known as the Summer Children. There were ten of them, born to eight different families. With the new boy, that makes eleven, a number Grey feels is unlucky. As she discovers the truth about the death of two of the group when they were very young and what the stories told then signify, she finds a need to get to the truth, for all of them. 

This is a very engaging book, about friendship and love, about finding one's one place in the world. It is a coming-of-age tale in a very unusual place. I really enjoyed the read. 

The Awakening

Finished December 12

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

This is a very languid read, and very much about the central character and her reactions to her situation. Edna Pontellier is a young woman, married to a Louisiana businessman somewhat older than them. They have two young sons, and have a domestic who looks after them. 

Edna is not a natural mother, and while she spends time with her children, she doesn't dote on them or worry over them. 

This is their first summer that she has spent on Grand Isle, a resort community not far from New Orleans. Her husband joins her on weekends as do most of the other husbands, and she spends the week with the other wives, her children, and one of the sons of the resort owner who is of a similar age to her. His name is Robert Lebrun, and Mr. Pontellier is aware of the attentions paid by him to his wife, but does not worry over it. Robert does this with a young woman every summer, and it is generally attention with mild flirting.

But this attention awakens something in Edna, and she reacts in an unexpected way. She grew up in Mississippi and Kentucky on her father's plantation and led a sheltered existence. This new experience has left her unsettled, longing for something else in her life, and dissatisfied with her luxurious lifestyle. As she ventures away from expected behaviours, her husband makes moves to save face, and reaches out to her, but she seems to not realize her situation.

This is a sad novel, one where I wished I could change the course of what I could see developing. 

A Small Hotel

Finished October 13

A Small Hotel by Robert Olen Butler

Most of this book is set in New Orleans, around a couple's relationship. Michael and Kelly Hays have decided to divorce after twenty years of marriage. The main action takes place on the day that Kelly is supposed to go to court to sign the final divorce papers. But she doesn't go. Instead, she goes to the hotel in New Orleans where she and Michael began their relationship and where they have often visited since, always using the same room. But this time she is alone, and not in a good frame of mind. In her suitcase are alcohol and medication and it would seem that she has the intention of ending her marriage in a different way. 

Michael meanwhile is at a former plantation, now hotel, attending a formal event with a new woman. When he discovers that Kelly hasn't shown up in court, he is distracted.

Character is everything here, as we see how Michael's background, in particular his father's idea of masculinity, has shaped him as the reticent and stoic man that he now is. Kelly is naturally more demonstrative, but has also changed to accommodate Michael's demeanor in many ways. 

There are flashbacks to their life, beginning with their first encounter when Michael saved Kelly from a bad encounter on the street during Mardi Gras. We see how their relationship developed over the years, and how they married and made a life and a family together. We also see how the expectations that each of them have of relationships has shaped theirs, and created some underlying issues that have never been resolved. 

This book is one that made me ache for the characters, for the love that they were losing, despite the feelings on both sides. It is a story of failure to communicate, of words withheld, of feelings unexpressed. It is a story of people's insecurities about themselves and about the people they care about. Butler is an amazing writer and this book shows his skill.

South and West

Finished September 11
South and West: From a Notebook by Joan Didion, read by Kimberly Farr, with a foreword written and read by Nathaniel Rich

This is a never-before-released glimpse into Joan Didion's famous notebooks. The sections on the South are from June 1970 when she and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, took a road trip through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The include detailed looks at the people she saw around here, the conversations or fragments of conversation that she overheard, the images of small towns and cities that she passed through. She also had a few interviews with people from the south, prominent locally. The topics of race, class, tradition, and history seem to show how little has changed in the nearly fifty years since this trip was made.
She noticed the Confederate flags on everything from towels to clothing, the race divide that did not differentiate between wealth and poverty, and the class divide that did. She noticed how people talked of the past as something they had to hang on to, how people expected their lives to go on unchanged, despite larger change in the world. It was an incredibly engaging piece of writing.
The section on the West is much shorter and deals only with California. It dates from 1976, and the notes were taken for a piece she was to write for Rolling Stone magazine, a piece that was never written. Topics here included Patty Hearst (her trial was on at the time), images of San Francisco, and a visit to Sacramento that brought her back to her own younger days in that city when she was growing up.
Both show her focus, her powers of observation and memory, and her ability to internally stand back and observe even while being involved physically. These are a seldom seen door into the behind-the-scenes life of a writer. In this case, a writer of great skill.