The Trouble with You

Finished January 19

The Trouble with You by Ellen Feldman

This novel is set in a time period that I haven't seen covered as often in novels, but that was very interesting in a lot of ways. The novel begins on Christmas day in 1947 as Fanny, her husband Max, and their young daughter Chloe head off to a wedding, coming home in the beginnings of a huge snowstorm. It than jumps back to 1941, when Max is leaving for Europe. He is a doctor, and we are told a little of their pasts. Fanny went to Barnard, something she has her Aunt Rose to thank for. 

Aunt Rose is also an important character in this novel. She is a woman who went to work directly from school, earning the money to put both her brothers through college, and eventually starting her own business as a dressmaker and seamstress, specializing in recreating designer dresses for those who can't quite afford the real thing. Rose's story will come to be important in Fanny's life in other ways as well. We see how, with Max off in Europe during the war years, life went on for Fanny. Chloe grew, some of Fanny's married friends found jobs that men had done before the war, and Rose was nearby and very involved in Fanny and Chloe's life, babysitting so Fanny could spend time with friends and taking Fanny to plays and on other cultural outings. Since Fanny's mother died when Fanny was young, Rose was almost a mother to her in many ways. We see how her cousin Mimi, also with a husband off to the war, goes on a different path, moving home to her parents for this time. 

Then, after the war, we watch as Max returns, they move out of the city to a house and we read our way back to 1947. Home after the wedding, the day will end in tragedy for Fanny, and she will have to find a way to move on. 

Moving from the house she and Max lived in in New Jersey, she takes a small apartment not far from Rose's in New York City. We follow her as she adjusts to her new life, providing for herself and Chloe, and we also sometimes see things through Chloe's eyes.

One element of the book that I enjoyed learning more about was that of McCarthyism. Fanny works in a field where people get blacklisted for the most minor of things: donating to a cause, a past association, an opinion stated. This is interesting, particularly in relation to the world today, where people use socialist as an accusation. I found the parallels worth thinking about. 

I also enjoyed seeing Fanny bloom as she earns a living, starts doing something she really enjoys doing for herself, and takes a chance on love again. 

Radio Shangri-La

Finished March 5
Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth by Lisa Napoli

This memoir tells of Napoli's experience consulting with a small radio station in Bhutan, how she got there, the experiences she had in Bhutan, and the relationships she developed as a result. She developed an ongoing love for the small country, and has returned there several times since her initial consulting trip. This is a story of her life, and what led her to this experience, but it is more than that. It is also a story of Bhutan as it  tackles change, much of it radical, as a country. Measuring its success with Gross National Happiness instead of the more common GDP, Bhutan sets itself apart even as it accepts technology, media, and tourism into the country. It is interesting to see the effect of change on its inhabitants and their experience with culture shock as they travel beyond its borders. The experience changed Napoli's outlook on life, and she talks about this change in attitude as well.
A very interesting memoir, and I learned a lot about Bhutan as well.

Canadian Fiction

Finished September 9
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
I read this book for my bookclub (our first book) and enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoyed Hay's "A Student of Weather".
I really enjoyed the descriptions of the north and what life was like in Yellowknife during the time period in which this book was set.
I found Gwen the most likeable character and enjoyed watching her grow in the book.
The book looks at the characters who work at a radio station in Yellowknife in the late 70s. Harry is an old hand at radio, who tried television and didn't do well there and now has come back to where he started twenty years ago. He sometimes seems older than he is (in his forties). Dido and Gwen are women in their twenties who came to the north for different reasons, but both end up working at the radio. Dido is from the Netherlands and has a beautiful voice. Gwen is interested in a behind the scenes job, but ends up on air, and grows into her job.
Eleanor is the receptionist, who plays an important role at the station, and in the book.
Besides the life in Yellowknife and at the radio station, the book also encompasses a six-week trip (hiking and canoe) by four of the book's characters, and that trip really does a lot for Gwen in particular.
The book sometimes moves slowly, but is always drawing one on, wanting to see what develops for the characters.