To Kill a Mockingbird #2 or is it #1?

Dreams Shattered…Laughed, Cried, Lessons Learned, Laughed More… Not To Kill a Mockingbird, but Brilliant in its own way. This book is best read with an open mind, just sit back and enjoy the storytelling and the ride it can take you on. Harper Lee can tell a story like few others can. Is it as good as To Kill a Mockingbird, of course not, but really they are not the same in their publication purposes.

If you have lived under a rock for the past little while then you might not know the controversy surrounding the biggest literary moment in 50ish years that was this book. It is an unedited draft of what eventually became the great To Kill a Mockingbird. While I don’t want to believe the sayings about Harper Lee’s ability to approve the publication of the draft into a novel, part of me can’t deny that it might be true. I have always thought the reason she didn’t publish a second book was because nothing could top To Kill a Mockingbird.  Whether that is the case or not, I don’t understand why Go Set a Watchman would be published in its draft form with little editing.

As I look at some of the reviews of the book, I realize we are all like Scout. We idolized Atticus as a god-like figure (myself included, I just love his character!) Yet, he is still a human who is imperfect and we all reacted just like Jean Louise with our own form of retaliation. Many of us are completely unwilling to be associated with Go Set a Watchman, which (at least to me) proves that Harper Lee really does understand people. At the same time we realized that Harper Lee is also an imperfect person who was slightly pushed off the center of her god-like author status as well.

After reading Go Set a Watchman I am reminded of how important it is to have a good editor and publisher. To Kill a Mockingbird might be the product of Harper Lee, but it took more people to make it truly amazing. I am not sure this novel could have held its own without first being published in its classic version first.

To Kill a Mockingbird was originally titled Atticus. It was about Atticus (and maybe Jem too), where Go Set a Watchman was really more about Jean Louise/Scout. I felt everything she felt and that is what I loved most about the book. That, plus the parts of the book revolving around the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood. Once a To Kill a Mockingbird fan, always a fan.

I did feel like there might be a generational divide and/or a geographical divide with this book. I couldn’t figure out half of what was being talked about at first. It took a little bit longer to get into for that reason. Even with that, I still read the book in about 24 hours.

The most disappointing thing was the lack of Jem. How I miss him. Then again, perhaps it is best to have one character who can retain their honor with nothing tainted. Some characters were just left out completely (such as Boo), but there is a chance they didn’t exist in this first writing before Mockingbird came about. Then there were things that weren’t wrapped up at all. I am sure this time we will really never know what happened.

 

Here is the Best Review I found in Goodreads. It is by someone who seemed to get the point:

Jul 15, 2015 Diane Barnes rated it 3 of 5 stars

 

“First, let me say that this book IN NO WAY affected my opinion of "To Kill A Mockingbird". If anything, it made me love it more. In my mind, it is even more of a masterpiece from having read it's predecessor, or, as Harper Lee herself described it, the parent of Mockingbird. And Harper Lee herself has lost no respect from me.

The characters become even richer from seeing their future selves in Watchman. There are scenes and dialogue here that showed up in her later effort. She fleshed out some chFirst, let me say that this book IN NO WAY affected my opinion of "To Kill A Mockingbird". If anything, it made me love it more. In my mind, it is even more of a masterpiece from having read it's predecessor, or, as Harper Lee herself described it, the parent of Mockingbird. And Harper Lee herself has lost no respect from me.

The characters become even richer from seeing their future selves in Watchman. There are scenes and dialogue here that showed up in her later effort. She fleshed out some characters and limited others.

And forget the hype about Atticus being a racist. He was a product of his times who thought that the South was not ready for complete equality of the races. It was Alabama in 1955, for goodness sake. He joined the Klan and went to a few meetings so he would know whose faces were under the hoods, in order to limit the harm they could do. All the newspaper articles about this book failed to mention that little detail. Atticus is still Atticus, but more of a human being here, less of a saint. Jean Louise has grown up, and like all kids in their 20's, thinks she knows everything. Dill and Jem make appearances via flashbacks, and we see another side of Calpurnia.

We should bow down in reverence to the editor who suggested to Lee that she tell the story from Scout's childhood perspective. It was a brilliant idea, Lee took the advice, and Mockingbird was brought into existence as the book so many of us have loved all our lives. This book, if published then, would never have achieved the fame and importance of Mockingbird.

To finish, I am so glad I read this book. I was apprehensive at first because I didn't want this one to ruin my love for Mockingbird, but as I said in the beginning, it made me love it more. It just goes to prove how much readers invest in literary characters who can sometimes become more real and influential that the people we actually live with.”

A Favorite Author and Genre

THE FORTUNE HUNTER                      By: Daisy Goodwin                  5 Stars

Daisy Goodwin has a way with words. She can paint an image of such strength; you will feel as if you were living within the character’s world. When you are introduced to Caspar you can almost hear his endless ramblings as if you were in the direct path of his spewing words. She always leaves me enraptured in her talents and wishing for a quick passage of time before her next release.

The Fortune Hunter is a historical novel based around the Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) of Austria in the 1800s. She was known as one of the most beautiful women in Europe with hair down to her ankles. The book is based around a trip to England to hunt foxes on her magnificent horses.

The plot line follows Sisi, Charlotte and Bay. Charlotte is an average girl who is the sole heir to an enormous fortune. Bay has no title other than Captain and being an incredible horseman. Bay is caught between two women and deemed a fortune hunter no matter which one he chooses. This is a character driven novel that flows with the elegant grace only an empress could possess.

The Power of Blonde

THE BLONDE               By: Anna Godbersen               3 Stars

I picked up this book without knowing one thing about it. I have read other books by Anna Godbersen, which I loved. Those books consisted of The Luxe and Pretty Young Things young adult series. I liked those enough that when I saw another book by Anna I couldn’t wait to see what she had for us.  

As I got the book I noticed the cover had an out of focus face that reminded me of Marilyn Monroe. Then I opened the book and found that it was indeed about Miss Monroe. As I read the book description I became even more intrigued; Marilyn as a Soviet spy whose mission is to get close to President Kennedy. Interesting.

The author did a great job in researching history of Classic Hollywood and the connections of various pop culture icons. While I have heard a few conspiracy theories about the assassination of John F Kennedy, apparently there are a few things I haven’t heard. Godbersen puts most of these theories together into an intriguing storyline of how Marilyn could have been connected to the assassination.

In THE BLONDE we learn that Marilyn’s dumb blonde persona was all a ruse. In reality she was an intelligent person who was able to use her bombshell status to get the information she desired. By playing a person who seemed incapable of understanding certain issues, she was able to obtain information that appeared to be spoken in safety since wouldn’t really be able to comprehend the importance of those words anyway.

In my opinion, that portion of the story was believable. Based on her status, we do know Marilyn understood how to use her sexuality to get what she wanted. Using it for a dual purpose of also gaining sensitive information is not much of a stretch.

If you look at the history behind the story, Marilyn was connected to people who had communist sympathies, for lack of a better word. It wouldn’t necessarily be a stretch to see her being used by the KGB to get what they wanted while blackmailing her with information about who her real father was. The part that I found hard to swallow was the ending. In reality everything was put together perfectly to make this a great conspiracy theory involving Marilyn with JFK’s assassination. I will explain more of my reasoning below in the SPOILER ALERT section.

All in all I did love the idea of the book and I even love Anna as an author. Part of the reason I enjoy historical fiction is how it creates a desire for me to do my own research on what really happened. I wanted to know if the Kennedy, Frank Sinatra and Sam Giancana relationships actually existed and I wanted to know what the Oswald twin thing was. I found the book enjoyable in that regard.

Besides the minor difference in opinion based on the final outcome of the book as described in the SPOILER ALERT, I did have a few other details in the book I didn’t like. I know the reputation of Marilyn Monroe and JFK was based on their infidelity issues. Unfortunately, Godbersen could be quite crude in her language with the f-bomb and with short descriptions of their escapades.  I know they had affairs, but I didn’t really want to read about it. In fact, I found myself hating both of them at the beginning of the book based on these details.

First Lady Jackie, was also portrayed in an unfavorable way. I found it hard to personally really care about any of the characters and now I am working on going back to my original opinion of them, which is, I don’t agree with everything they did, but I had respect for them in their various icon statuses.

This book wasn’t executed as well as her other series. Luckily, I still love the ideas the author comes up with and anxiously await her next title.

 

 

SPOILER ALERT!!!

 

 

Instead of Marilyn faking her death I think she should have actually died as in real life. Her death still could have been suicide, accident, or murder depending on how the story continued. It could have been more daddy issues, distress over not being able to save Kennedy (or even get the chance to warn him), about her own traitor status to her nation and the man she loved, the KGB getting to her or any number of resolutions.

I found her fake death pushed the book from being a very real possibility back into a work of fiction, which was an abrupt switch in a book based on actual events and incredible ties. Everything was too abrupt. She dies, then the president dies all within a few pages and nothing momentous happens.  Then the story wraps up far too quickly to make sense.

On top of that, I didn’t really like the whole Oswald twin thing being brought up. I had to look into that further to figure out the twin referred to a look alike as Oswald didn’t actually have a twin. Again, that part of the story was unnecessary and didn’t go anywhere or aid the plot.

There was another minor issue that bothered me. Marilyn is involved in drugs and alcohol previous to her death, yet in her reborn self she doesn’t find it appealing. This scene was about 30 years after her death, but I still found it hard to believe based on the simplicity of the statement. No struggle to overcome and no desire for the former addiction. Hmm.

One of the biggest disappointments was not tying Robert Kennedy’s assassination five years later into the story. Right when the story starts going somewhere, nothing happens and it ends. If the whole KGB thing was brought up, I thought it would have been a nice touch to add Bobby in there since there is a conspiracy that both Kennedy’s were taken out because of problems surrounding the Bay of Pigs and other political issues. Even if Marilyn didn’t get along with Bobby, it would have given her more purpose in what she fake died for.

Luck of the Irish

ORPHAN TRAIN                          By: Christina Baker Kline               4.5 Stars

I enjoyed learning about an era in our American history that I was not previously aware of. The book starts with Molly, a foster child who is in jeopardy of being sent to juvie after stealing a worn tattered book that she thought no one would miss. To avoid this fate her boyfriend is able to arrange community service through cleaning the attic of an old lady by the name of Vivian.

As the story progresses we learn that Vivian started out as Niamh (pronounced “Neev”), an Irish immigrant who is sent on an orphan train from New York to Minnesota. These trains were a precursor to foster care and the main purpose was to provide orphans with stable families and adoption, or at least allow for an education.  

Most of the characters were one and two-dimensional to progress the story, but Molly and especially Vivian, are characters that are hard not to find endearing through the enfolding of their back stories. My only hang up was based around the language. I prefer authors who can portray character types without constantly throwing the f bomb and other language at me. Fortunately, it was only found with Molly’s story and I only remember it at the first and a little bit toward the end.

I love books where I feel engaged with the characters as well as learn something at the same time (yes, I like to learn). This book covered both of that with the story of the parentless and how their lives could change through the orphan train system. Some children were lucky. They went from having no future to having a family and a pleasant life. Unfortunately, some other children were little more than slaves in their new homes or were placed in homes with unloving families. Christina did a good job of tackling what could be a heavy topic and turning into a better future for the orphan train passengers.

 

A SHINE OF RAINBOWS (DVD)                    4 Stars

I love Saint Patrick’s Day. Green is one of my signature colors; add the happiness of gold, rainbows and luck, it is impossible to resist. This year on St. Patrick’s Day I decided I needed a celebratory movie to watch while I made some goodies to share. As it was a last minute idea, all of the initial movies I looked at were all checked out or required travel, which wasn’t part of my plans that day. Then I came across A Shine of Rainbows.

A Shine of Rainbows has Aidan Quinn, a brother from Legends of the Fall, as the husband of a dear lady who decides to adopt a boy who is down on his luck. She takes him to Ireland to raise as her own since she has been unable to have children. It is a feel good family story where the mom becomes the parent he always wished for, while the dad doesn’t quite feel the same. It is great for almost any age and will make you want to visit Ireland with the beautiful green landscape which is hard to tear your eyes away from.

After researching a little more I did find out that the movie was adapted from the novel of the same name by Lillian Beckwith. The book looks like it is out of print and none of the libraries in my area carries it. I am trying to see if I can have it sent from somewhere else through interlibrary loan. The Goodreads reviews sound like the book is as good as or even better than the movie, so if you find it in a garage sale someday you might want to pick it up.

An End to Winter?

THE WINTER SEA (Sophie’s Secret)                By: Susanna Kearsley              4 Stars

The Winter Sea or Sophie’s Secret in some locations, is a romance based in two different worlds. The first is that of author Carrie who settled in Scotland for a short time to write her historical fiction based on the real events of a Jacobite rising based in 1708. The other world is based on Sophia who lived during the said Jacobite rising and is Carrie’s ancestor.

As most stories with a contemporary and historical story, the older story always intrigues me more. The author does make it easy to determine the difference between both eras with chapters using roman numerals for the 1708 story line. If you were like me, I didn’t notice this until half way through the book, but each character switch is quick to point out the main character for the reader.

As Carrie tries to write the story of Sophia she learns she has a genetic memory (which apparently is also used in the video game Assassins Creed). This allows Carrie to live Sophia’s life through writing. She later finds out that the details of Sophia’s life happen just as they did in the story.

Both storylines have romantic interests and details that seem to mirror each other. They both have their own version of a love triangle (annoying, why isn’t one love interest enough anymore?), but the losing male seems to be used purely for drama within the book over an actual possibility for a love interest.

One of the most amazing things about this book was the fact that you know the ending early on, yet you still continue reading to discover the details that lead to the ending. You learn that the Jacobite rising fails and that Sophia marries another 3 years after her handfasting with Moray. The mere fact that Susanna can keep us intrigued enough to want to learn more is a feat in and of itself.

Even knowing the ultimate ending you will still find surprises along the way and have your emotions range from sorrow to happiness. I devoured this book and can’t wait to read the next in the series, The Firebird, which I understand follows two different characters found within The Winter Sea and The Shadowy Horses.

Susanna has a website that shows pictures of Slains, the castle upon where the story is based. You may view those pictures at http://www.susannakearsley.com/winterseaphotos.html. My personal favorites are the view of the sea from Slains as well as the Bullers o’ Buchan.  Enjoy!

THE WINTER WITCH               By: Paula Brackston                3 Stars

Morgana (what else could she be named?) is a witch who denies her powers her whole life. She received her magic blood from her father, who basically disappeared when she was a young girl. When he left Morgana found she could no longer talk. Brackston’s book is more unique in the fact that she has to write a book from someone who never utters a word. The book is in firsts person to portray Morgana’s “voice”, but we also find the book switching back and forth with a 3^rd person narrative.

I wasn’t a big fan of the 1^st person/3^rd person switch. Let me explain the book plot a little further to make my point. Morgana is basically forced into an arranged marriage to Cai Jenkins in the early-nineteenth-century Wales. Morgana’s mom has poor health and marries off Morgana to hopefully give her a good life after she is gone. Cai is a young widow of 3 years. His previous wife died in childbirth where the child did not survive either. Since Morgana doesn’t talk the point of view switch is necessary to let us know exactly what Cai is feeling toward Morgana while we also deal with his uncertainty in communicating with her.

Even though Morgana has not talked in years, she never learns her own form of sign language. She merely expects others to pick up on her moods through her eyes and facial expressions. I found that unrealistic. It seems that even in games of charades when you are not allowed to talk you use some sort of hand signals instead of just expecting the other players to guess what you mean by staring at your dramatic eyes.

Since Morgana chooses to only show her personality in such small ways it is difficult for Cai to ever know what she is really going on with her. For that reason the narrative switch is necessary. The book is partially a love story, so imagine how the readers would feel if we really never knew both sides of the story. It is frustrating enough when you read books where they just choose not to verbally communicate, but in a book where the character both chooses not to communicate as well as physically can’t speak, the reader’s would never finish past the first few pages.

While we have established that the point of view change was necessary, we haven’t figured out why it is a 1^st person/3^rd person switch. It would seem like the book would flow better to at least keep the narrative points of view in the same format. As I looked at other reviewers notes in Goodreads I noticed that many other readers felt the same frustration with that switch.

In addition to the communication issues and the narrative, the ending of the book was slightly abrupt with at least one portion of the storyline just completely falling through the cracks. It just ended. There was a buildup in two different ways and one just was dropped. I would have liked to have a little more information on what happened after the story ended as well. Since Morgana is a witch and the townspeople seem to know it, we never really find out how things are handled after that, or even how Cai and Morgana are supposed to be happy without the influence that brought them together in the first place.

The story did fall a little flat, but it wasn’t a complete bust. I was intrigued enough to read it in a short period of time as I wanted to find out what would happen and if Cai and Morgana would ever actually be able to communicate. Like all love stories of course they finally figure a few things out. When you add in the best character, the housekeeper Mrs. Jones, you at least get a story that created enough intrigue to allow me to finish the book. It can be a fun quick read as long as you don’t mind a few of the downfalls I mentioned.