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 Truth According to Us

Finished August 30

The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

This is an historical novel set in the summer of 1938 in a small town, Macedonia, in West Virginia. Layla Beck is the daughter of a senator and niece of a man in charge of the Federal Writers' Project, one of the programs under the New Deal. She has refused to marry a man of her father's choosing, so he has cut her off financially and had her assigned to write a pamphlet on the history of Macedonia under the Federal Writers' Project. Layla has expectations of where she is being sent that are quite unlike the reality that she finds herself placed in. Layla's point of view is mostly shown through letters between her and her friends and family. 

She is boarding in the house of Jottie Romeyn, a woman with a strong personality whose household also includes two of her married sisters Minerva and Mae (except on the weekends when they visit their husbands), her nieces Willa, twelve, and Bird, as well as the girls' father Felix. Felix travels a lot for work and is only home occasionally. Willa is the main narrator in the book, and it opens with her and her aunt Jottie watching the town Decoration Day parade. Willa is observant and beginning to be interested in the nuances of the world of the adults in her life. At the parade, she watches as her aunt has encounters with two people she doesn't know, but notes. She has questions about them, her aunt, and her father, and begins to investigate. 

Meanwhile, as Layla arrives in town, she finds the various members of the household eager to help her in her research, as is the town librarian. She learns not only the stories that the town officials are eager to tell her, but also the lesser known stories, some of which contradict the official stories. 

We also see Jottie's point of view as she deals with a man from her past, Felix's expectations, and her own feelings. 

I really enjoyed seeing Willa discover the secrets of her family and community, Jottie bringing her own strong will to the fore for herself and those she cares about, and Layla discovering her own skills and asserting independence for herself. This novel deals with history that can sometimes be uncomfortable, but is also important to be able to deal with the world as it is for the characters. With the strong female characters, including Minerva and Mae, I enjoyed this novel immensely.