Hard Times Come Again No More: "Enemy Women" by Paulette Jiles

If ever there was a week for irony with the book I was currently reading, it was this week.  It was also interesting and just as ironic that I read two Civil War historical fiction novels two weeks before a huge scuffle happened in the media with an ad campaign that sent many people in an uproar, but also shed light on racial injustice like never before.  All week I've been thinking about how "Enemy Women" by Paulette Jiles  connects with my thoughts about racial injustice and quite frankly it's been a lot to ponder.

Paulette Jiles is a fascinating author.  This is the second book that she's written that I've read and I'm amazed at how thorough she is in her research. Historical fiction that further enlightens me on actual history is a treat! Much of the story line centers around women who are incarcerated for being related or associated with people who oppose the Civil War (both sides).  Adair Colley is the main character and she and her sisters are forced to find refuge away from their home of neutral Missouri because the Union militia has taken their father.  In the course of their journey, Adair is captured and taken to jail for mere association. She is thrown in jail with a number of women who share similar stories. The details and dialogue associated with the jail were staggering.  Why in the world would someone think it was OK to arrest someone merely on the basis of association? In the book, the reasoning provided is because they might know something because their lovers, brothers, fathers would obviously be sharing war secrets at the dinner table.  It's obvious that Adair is a strong-willed woman and she soon becomes a leader among these "enemy women."

Throughout the book, we are introduced to the philosophies of freedom and neutrality.  I really enjoyed the way that the author portrayed Adair because she really tried to be a neutral party.  She believed in freedom which also meant she believed in racial justice.  At the end of the day, she just wanted to be free and able to see her sisters again.  At one point she is asked to write a story that would somehow incriminate her father. She can't do it because her loyalty lies with her family and she knows there is nothing to share that will incriminate.

Another aspect of this book that I loved was the fierce honesty and loyalty Adair possessed.  At the beginning of the book members of the Union militia steal Adair's family's horses, including her prized horse named Whiskey.  She is devastated and later in the book, after she escapes from jail, she finds her horses and rescues them.  There is a lot of dialogue about Whiskey and how much she loves him. When they reunite with each other, both are nearly dead, but somehow they get through it all together.

As is par for the course, I'm always a little bit judgy when I read another book by the same author.  "News of the World" blew me out of the water.  It had such an impact on me because of my professional work.  I cried and felt emotionally attached to the characters in that book.  This book was still stellar, but I hoped for more.  There is a sub-plot-line that leads the reader to believe one thing might happen, but then another happens.  Not the end of the world, but I was really hoping for it to go my way.  As she did in "News of the World," Paulette Jiles didn't use quotation marks in any conversational writing.  Not my favorite style of writing, but I was used to it after reading "News of the World" and did just fine.

No matter what, whenever I read a Civil War historical fiction novel, I always stop and think about which side I'd be on if I was living in that time.  Truthfully, I've always pictured myself on the veranda of my peach plantation in Georgia, but I guarantee you, I'd be the liberal who was a stop on the Underground Railroad and harboring fugitives. But, I digress.  The Civil War gives us a constant reminder that racial injustice royally rocked the boat in this country and the plague of racism continues. Yesterday morning I shared the following on my personal Facebook page.  While it doesn't relate to this book in any way, I feel like it's important for my audience to read and know that "Enemy Women" will connect so much of my point when you read it.  I wrote the following,

"Whether we agree or not, this campaign (WATCH VIDEO HERE) was about the minority having a voice. Most of the negative feedback I’ve seen have been from Caucasian individuals. Until we’ve been on the receiving end of racial injustice we have absolutely no room to bitch and moan about Nike’s decision for this campaign. Do I think our military heroes are heroes? Hell yes. Why wouldn’t I? Am I incredibly grateful and fiercely supportive of law enforcement? ABSOLUTELY. But, we have to step outside of our white-privileged-bubbles and realize that there is a large population in the world who feel they are sub-par because of their skin color. Pissed at Nike for marketing to this group of humans? Don’t buy their stuff. It’s that simple. There are plenty of people who will make up for your choice to support another company. It’s ok. That’s when our freedom as Americans comes in to play. We can decide. We are LUCKY to decide."

It's my hope that we can read books like "Enemy Women" and see that there were so many who came before us who fought really hard for our freedom to decide. While the characters in this book were fictional, I guarantee you there are countless stories of men and women who damn-near died in the name of protecting their family's good name and their passion for freedom of all races during one of the bloodiest wars ever. Let's not forget what has been accomplished before us and continue to fight on for racial equality.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a PG-13 read with heavy themes based around the Civil War.

The moral of the story: Freedom to decide is never, ever free and still a pipe dream for many. Don't be the person who makes it worse for someone hoping and praying for racial justice.  Just don't do it.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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Spoonfuls of Secrets Best Kept: "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen

Before summer got a bit overwhelming, I finished a book that was probably the biggest surprise of this year. It was quite the secret in terms of the plot line, especially since the author usually writes upbeat and magical books, not a bit dark and twisted.  While I didn't LOVE "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen as much as her magical, happy books like "The Peach Keeper", I could not stop reading it. Sarah Addison Allen is quite easily on my list of Top 5 favorite authors, but this book was her total curve ball for me and one that I would love to pick her brain about the reasons for choosing this type of plot line.

"The Sugar Queen" takes place in a mountain town in North Carolina.  The main character, Josey Cirrini, is a woman with a long list of struggles including mom issues and emotional eating at the top of the list. She spends much of her time in her bedroom closet hiding from her mother and eating sugary treats. One day she comes home to find a mystery woman in her closet. She is startled and tries to make her go away. The mystery lady is someone who Josey has known for much of her life and it's odd to her that she would hide in her closet.  She never leaves and her mother always complains about the extra noises upstairs. We soon find out that the mystery woman is in hiding from an extremely abusive partner.

Some of the themes addressed in this book are domestic violence, mental health, difficult family dynamics and self esteem. One of the absolute best parts of the book is the relationship that builds between the mystery lady and Josey. The mystery lady becomes a bit of a fairy godmother figure for her and really tries to help her step outside of her comfort zone and try new things. She also kicks her out the door to meet new people and have a social life.  The dialogue between the two women was really fantastic once they decided they could find common ground with each other.  This element of the plot is probably what kept me reading because it really showed the importance of solid girl friends in our lives.  Josey had no one, but this mystery woman knew she needed a friend and so it happened.

I was quite shocked at the details shared regarding domestic violence and when the book came full circle, I had to stop and take a deep breath and figure out where I had missed some key clues to the ending.  I honestly believe that I would have liked this book more if I hadn't expected a happy, fluffy magical plot line prior to reading it.  As is always the case with Sarah Addison Allen's work, she has an element of magic and romance in each of her books.  This book wasn't any different, but it was dark. The other element of this book that made it difficult to enjoy was my own issues with mental health, difficult family dynamics and self esteem. I wouldn't jump right to this book being a trigger, but there were times when I thought, "yep......felt that.....like yesterday." If you are sensitive to details of domestic violence and it might be a personal trigger for you, I'd definitely caution you in reading this book.

Overall, it was really well-written and the structuring of build-up, climax and ending were on point.  The ending was a total surprise and I didn't see it coming. I like those types of ending because I feel like the author took the time to write in such a way that it wasn't obvious from Chapter 2.  When authors make it obvious that early in the book, it is just lazy writing, in my opinion.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a solid PG-13 read with themes of domestic violence, mental health and self-worth struggles.

The moral of the story: Sometimes the most unexpected person becomes your most critical ally.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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Hope on the Horizon: "The Rebel Wife" by Taylor M. Polites

Hello, friends! It's been a long time since I've blogged about my latest read because there hasn't been much reading this summer. Busy, busy, crazy bee over here has not had the time or energy. I can definitely say that my brain reads more when I'm preparing for or in hibernation so I know my reading schedule will get back to normal.  There is hope on my personal horizon to be sure. But, enough about me....let's sit a spell and talk about "The Rebel Wife" by Taylor M. Polites.

Once upon a time I loved a silly Civil War movie called "Gone With the Wind." I was a kid and didn't really understand the magnitude of the cheesy or the drama of Scarlet O'Hara, but I definitely loved the costumes. I also had a super secret crush on Ashley (who didn't?).  When it came time to leave for college, I was lucky to attend a university in southern Virginia aka Civil War Country.  Once again, my fascination for the Civil War and all the intricacies of the actual event, not Hollywood's version, came to life.  I even took a Civil War class one semester that was easily the most difficult and fabulous class I took in all of my college career.  Knowing this, it goes without being said that I was instantly drawn to this book because of my love of Civil War history.  Remember me sharing some of those fun details about the class in THIS BLOG POST???

The setting for "The Rebel Wife" is post-Civil War Alabama.  Our main character, Augusta Branson, opens the book, by losing her husband to a mysterious death....likely the fever from the extreme heat.  Augusta aka Gus Is faced with a long list of personal dilemmas following the death of her husband. She is a widowed white woman so she doesn't have the right to own property or vote. She is young so she has a lot to learn and last, but certainly not least, she's not really sure she actually ever loved her husband in the first place so why should she be sad?

The author presented a lot of thematic struggles in the plot.  Augusta is a strong female character who struggles with her conscious on numerous items.  Her own father was very well-respected by his slaves and as a result there are a lot of people in their community who don't respect Augusta because of it.  She is constantly battling with her emotions and how she should really feel about the freed slaves who still work on her property.  Many of them have been with their family since her childhood so they are more of a family than the biological family in front of her.  Ultimately, Augusta finds that she can trust her devoted slaves more than the Caucasian people around her. This point definitely provided much food for thought in comparison to modern day.  Equality definitely has made progress, but we have a long way to go as far as I'm concerned.

There is an element of mystery in this book which is what initially drew me to the plot line. There are some items that Augusta and her family are desperately looking for and the slaves know that as soon as these items are found they have a free ticket to leave.  This definitely causes tension in the plot and I liked it.  Along with the element of mystery there is definitely a lot of plot development centered around the superiority of men vs. women. I can't say that I threw the book accross the room because of jerky, condescending male characters, but I came close. I'll also add that I'm most grateful to live in a time when I can vote.

One of the main thematic elements I found quite interesting was the talk about post-war emotions and what war did to people's mental health.  I'm a junkie for historical fiction set in times of war because, almost always, the topic of mental health and courage has to come up.  This book was no different.  We meet a couple of characters who have come back from the war-front completely messed up. Disastrous alcoholics and depressed men who once loved Augusta.  It's downright sad and the drama of it all is portrayed well.  And once again, I'm glad I live when I do.  I couldn't handle the lack of knowledge surrounding mental health.  No. Way. No. How.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a PG-13 read with racial, political and social struggles that might not be understood by a younger audience.

The moral of the story: Sometimes hope is all that we can hold on to when the horizon is bright, but we aren't quite sure how we will get there.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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