Friday at the Branches: The Good Doctor

The Good Doctor by Vince Agro 2011

The book is set during the onset of WW II and revolves around neighbourhood in the north end of Hamilton which was populated primarily by immigrants from a small town in Sicily. Through the eyes of his young nephew, it tells the story of the neighbourhood doctor, who was the community leader for these immigrants. As a leader, he tried to guide and protect his fellow immigrants from the influences of fascism and the ramifications of being a fascist in Canada during this time in our history. The narrator also describes the day to day lives of immigrants during this time. He tells stories of him and his friends growing up in the neighbourhood, the lives of the adults around them, the clubs and associations which were typical of the Italian community at this time.  Throughout the book, references and analogies are made to operas. The book would be of interest to those interested in local history, especially if you lived in the North End of Hamilton.

Friday at the Branches:Extensions

Extensions by Myrna Dey

A treasured old photograph was Arabella’s grandmother’s only memento of her long-dead twin. So why is there an exact copy of it in a garage sale in rural Saskatchewan? The many threads of the story are woven together in the alternating voices of Arabella, an RCMP constable, and her great-grandmother Jane, who came to Vancouver Island in the late 1800s with her Welsh mining family. There’s something for everyone here – a fascinating bit of Canadian history, a touching story of family relationships, and murder investigations that span more than a century. This is Saskatchewan author Myrna’s Dey’s first novel; it was the People’s Choice nominee for the 2011 Giller Prize longlist.

Fiction Pick of the Week: True Sisters

True Sisters by Sandra Dallas 2012

Sandra Dallas’ new book deals with the migration of a group of Mormons from Iowa City to Utah in 1856.  It is a devout group of characters with only strong faith to see them through. They have little food and limited possessions and must rely on each other to make the journey successfully.

The story involves four unrelated women, and how their faith and love for one another helps them endure this difficult and sometimes tragic journey. The trek takes them 1300 miles in unfavourable conditions but they are determined to reach the ‘promised land’.

Friday at the Branches: The Reinvention of Love

The Reinvention of Love by Helen Humphreys 2011

This is a historical literary novel set during the Napoleonic times in Paris. Like many recent novels this one is fashioned from the life of a famous person, Victor Hugo. The novel takes us through the journey of the writer from his early years as a poet who is fresh with ideas and a little insecure about how he is perceived, to a megalomaniacal man who exiles himself and his family to Guernsey. There he lords it over those around him. The irony of the story however, is that it really is not about Victor Hugo, but about his once very good friend Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve and his love affair with Adele Hugo, Victor’s wife. It is their extreme and enduring love of one another that is at the centre of the story. Their clandestine meetings and the revelation of their love is the heart of the book. Great literary writers such as Balzac, George Sand, and Dumas make appearances in the novel adding to the allure of Paris in these times.

It is a quick read and feels a bit like secretly reading some juicy bits of a diary of someone famous.

Fiction Pick of the Week: My Name is Mary Sutter

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira 2010

Take a step back in time and read the wonderful debut novel of Robin Oliveira. Mary Sutter is a young midwife in 1860’s Albany, New York. Unlike her twin sister, she is spirited and strong-willed, and wants nothing more than to have her medical degree and practice medicine. No medical school will accept her so she leaves her home to travel to Washington D.C. to nurse the sick and wounded of the Civil War. Her strength sees her through terrible living conditions and the horrors of war but she never gives up her dream of becoming a physician.

Compelling story of a time period where women were not taken seriously in the professional world and how one would not be stopped until her dream was realized.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Midwife of Venice

The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich 2011

Hannah is a skilled midwife living in the Jewish ghetto in 16^th century Venice. Her husband has been captured at sea and is living as a slave in Malta. She is desperate to bring him home, but with no money, she is unable to do so. One evening, against her Rabbi’s wishes, she agrees to help a Christian woman during a difficult birth. Hoping to pay her husband’s ransom, she has been offered a great deal of money by the woman’s distraught husband. What ensues becomes a fast-paced historical thriller, where Hannah is running for her life from people who think nothing of destroying her life and the lives of her family. Great choice for historical fiction readers.

More Can Lit: The Bride of New France

Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers 2011

This excellent historical novel is about Les Filles du Roi. The main character, Laure Beausejour, leaves the orphanage of Salpetriere to journey to New France to marry one of the male soldiers or fur traders. Ther best friend Madeleine accompanies her on the voyage but dies shortly after their arrival at Quebec City. The novel is divided into three parts: Part 1 is about Laure's time at Salepetriere; Part 2 is about her voyage on the ship to the New World; and Part 3 is about her arrival and settlement at Ville Marie (Montreal).

Appeal factors are strong characterization and vivid descriptions of life in New France and Paris during the 17th century. The main character, Laure, is strong willed and not your "typical" woman of that time period. If you enjoyed The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong, you might want to try this book.

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 2010

Erin Morgenstern describes all of her works as “fairy tales in one way or another”, and The Night Circus certainly can be seen as a dark and fantastical fairy tale. The story centres around two magicians and archrivals, Prospero and Alexander. For many years they have been playing a dangerous game which involves teaching their arts to protégés to determine who will come out the winner. The Night Circus takes place at the turn of the 20^th century, and the magicians have taken on a boy, Marco, and a girl, Celia, to play their game once again. The players don’t know the rules or even who their opponents are, but the game challenges them to create illusions and magic the likes of which no one has seen before.

Morgenstern studied theatre and is a visual artist, and this clearly comes out in her first novel. The descriptions of the magic, the costumes, and the circus are works of art themselves and you can clearly visualize the scenes. The book starts off more slowly but speeds up to an almost thriller-like pace by the end. Beautifully written for those who are willing to suspend belief!

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Virgin Cure

The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay 2011

Moth, abandoned by her father and raised by her hard-scrabble, fortune-telling mother, roams the mean streets of New York City in 1871 dreaming of a better life than that of the tenement slum where she lives. When she turns 12, her mother sells her as a servant to a wealthy, demanding –and, as Moth soon learns, brutally cruel – woman, Mrs. Wentworth. With the help of another servant, Moth breaks free only to land on the streets again, this time totally alone and homeless. A chance meeting leads to a tentative friendship with Dr. Sadie, a ground-breaking female physician who tends to the poor and desperate. McKay’s vivid descriptions make the novel come to life as the reader inhabits the bawdy Bowery district and filthy streets of NYC, as well as the sumptuous concert halls and brothels. Dr. Sadie is based on the author’s own great-great grandmother. The title comes from the myth of the time that deflowering a virgin would cure a man of deadly syphilis. Sprinkled throughout the novel are snippets from newspapers, journals and periodicals of the era, providing a glimpse into the lives of both the privileged and the down-trodden.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Juliet

Juliet by Anne Fortier 2010

This first novel is an original blend of historical fiction and contemporary intrigue. It will keep you riveted in both its historical tale that formed the basis of Shakespeare’s play, and its modern tale as we travel with Julie in search of her family history.

In alternating chapters, we relive the tragedy of Romeo Marescotti and Guileitta Tolomei in medieval Siena, Tuscany and are caught up in the mystery of Julie and Alessandro, descendants of the star-crossed lovers. Despite the engaging wit of our modern heroine, the danger is as real as Juliet faced, and Julie is never sure who can be trusted. There are lots of twists and turns before that ancient curse can be put to rest.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Time's Legacy

Time's Legacy by Barbara Erskine 2010

This prolific author is adept at using polarizing themes in her latest book: history and the supernatural, Christian and pagan legends, present day and Druidian suspense. Two simultaneous stories form the plot. Abi Rutherford is the new assistant priest in the English town of Cambridge. She quickly is in trouble with the minister who fears her visions of ghosts are the work of the devil. Her ghosts are actually a replay of a long ago happening when a healer from Galilee was a visitor among the Druids at Glastonbury. There is enough history to bring the Celtic tale alive, exploring the historical legends of pre-Arthurian Glastonbury, one of Britain’s most sacred places.

As Abi follows the story in broken psychic visions, her own safety is at issue. Her boss, Kieran Scott, becomes increasingly deranged in his effort to save her. Abi is an endearing character, intelligent and even with her theological training, open-minded.

The author is very skilled at keeping both stories at equal levels of suspense so the reader willingly leaves off one to join the other. This tactic actually heightens the suspense and once in mid-story, this book is hard to put down.

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Elephant's Journey

The Elephant’s Journey  by Jose Saramago
Published in Portuguese in 2008; Published in English in 2010

This is a seemingly simple story of Solomon, an elephant, and his mahout, Subhro. It is 1551 and King Joao III of Portugal has decided to present to Archduke Maximilian of Austria a most remarkable wedding present: Solomon, his elephant. The departure, journey and arrival in Vienna is really an extraordinary commentary on royalty of the day, the Reformation, the Council of Trent and civil war, but also on friendship. When the entourage has been delivered to the Austrian military, which will conduct them passage to Austria, not only the names of Solomon and Subhro are changed. The author based his story on a true story of the journey of an elephant from Lisbon to Vienna. Saramago was awarded the Novel Prize for Literature in 1998.

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Little Stranger

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

This novel, part gothic tale and part historical suspense, kept me up til all hours. The Little Stranger is an old-fashioned ghost story, complete with spooky house, eccentric inhabitants and a narrator who may not be as mild-mannered as he seems. Doctor Faraday, a lonely bachelor, first visited Hundred’s Hall in 1919 as a child when his mother worked for the aristocratic Ayres family. Now, 30 years later he is called back to treat a servant. His once solitary life becomes entangled with the family: Mrs. Ayres the elegant owner; her 24-year-old son Roderick, an RAF airman wounded during the war; and daughter Caroline, considered a plain spinster by locals, but for whom Dr. Faraday develops a special attachment. And the mansion, Hundred’s Hall, is to my mind the most important character in the story. Author Sarah Waters ever so slowly builds the suspense as she skillfully weaves tension and dread into each and every paragraph. A book not to be missed.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Factory Voice

This past Tuesday marked International Women's Day, so we thought it only appropriate to showcase some of our works on womens' issues. The first is a novel about four women working in a military aircraft factory during World War II.

The Factory Voice by Jeannette Lynes 2009

This story has something for everyone: strong female characters, Canadian setting, fast-moving plot, aviation and engineering, war time, fugitives, a cranky old pilot, romance and intrigue. It is fun!

With a wad of bills stuffed into a cherry jar, Audrey runs away from her parents and the threat of marriage to a boy she calls, Clabber-face. With a one-way ticket to Fort William-Port Arthur, she folds herself into a train seat near a lady with spectacles poring over some papers on her lap. Little does Audrey know they are both going to the same place and will one day become important in each other’s lives. Along with wire-haired Audrey, the reader meets Ruby, Jimmy, Florence, Reggie and others. They all converge at the factory where airplanes are put together for the war effort, and the newsletter, The Factory Voice tells their stories. Amongst the trivial newsletter stories of life on the factory floor are stories of betrayal and intrigue impacting the lives of the main characters.

What is also a joy about this book is the colloquial language, the idioms, the research into the products used, the songs on the radio, fashions of the late
1930s/early 1940s. No, we didn’t have Lucky Strikes in Canada during those years, but we can forgive a small lapse of research as Jeanette Lynes has brought us a light-hearted story of some of the most interesting characters to come along in a while. I hope Lynes keeps on writing – she has a swinging style that captivated ......at least this reader!

Fiction Pick of the Week: Coventry

Coventry by Helen Humphreys 2008

November 14, 1940. Harriet Marsh stands on the roof of the Coventry cathedral and watches as the bombers approach to begin the devastating attack on the city of Coventry.

The story follows Harriet and Jeremy, a young man half her age, as they move through the destruction of Coventry in search of Maeve, Jeremy’s mother. Humphreys uses poetic language that helps to create a vivid picture of both the human and material wreckage that occurred on this night. It is a story of loss, as Harriet still carries with her the memory of her husband lost in the first World War, and of hope, as they stop to help others on their journey. The novel recreates the destruction of Coventry as it tells the story of human strength and resilience as they face the worst.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Poison

Poison : a novel of the Renaissance by Sara Poole 2010

The setting for this first novel by an American author is 1492 in Rome. Francesco is the heroine, employed by Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia to protect his family. She is a poisoner, educated in the art of both producing and preventing poisoning, the weapon of choice in these dangerous times.

This is a fascinating tale of the notorious Borgia family that keeps the reader spellbound with the treachery reaching from the Jewish ghetto to the Vatican. As Francesco pursues her father's killer, she tries to protect the Borgias from numerous enemies and stop a diabolical plan of widespread destruction already in the works.

Excellent characterization, a compelling plot, and the first person narration by Francesco gives the story a credible immediacy. It is impossible to set down and needs a sequel soon.

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Forgotten Garden

The Forgotten Garden: a novel by Kate Morton 2009

The story of The Forgotten Garden begins with a little girl and a suitcase; both were abandoned on a ship bound for Australia. It isn’t until Nell comes of age that her father decides to tell her a secret about that little girl. Then, instead of marrying the love of her life and settling down in the area she called home, Nell withers the bonds of family and sets out on a journey leading her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast. What becomes of Nell? It is up to Cassandra, her granddaughter, to unravel the tale for us and in so doing, we are introduced to unforgettable characters and in a journey through countries and generations. Of course, the forgotten garden is the key to the family mysteries. “Morton’s novels are #1 bestsellers in England and Australia and are published in more than twenty languages”- Atria Books.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Day after Night

Day After Night by Anita Diamant 2009

At the end of WWII many of those surviving the horrors of the war in Europe tried to reach the promised land – Palestine. The British set up internment camps, surrounded by barbed wire, to hold the waiting refugees. Day After Night is based on the true story of the October 1945 rescue of more than two hundred prisoners from the Atlit internment camp near the Mediterranean coast south of Haifa. The story follows four young women, all of whom survived the Holocaust: Shayndel, a Polish Zionist, Leonie, a beautiful Parisian girl, Tedi, a hidden Dutch Jew, and Zorah, a concentration camp survivor. Bonded by unspeakable memories and losses Shayndel, Leonie, Tedi, and Zorah befriend one another as they start their new lives in Palestine.

Fiction Pick of the Week: New York

New York by Edward Rutherfurd 2009

Yes, Rutherfurd’s books are huge and he has rightly been compared to famed storyweaver James Michener. But this past summer I treated myself to Rutherfurd’s newest book, New York , and was not disappointed. As with his other sweeping historical epics, Rutherfurd is the consummate storyteller. In this tribute to the Big Apple, he stretches the story back to New York’s origins as an Indian fishing village in the 1600s and leaves the story off in the aftermath of 9/11. The reader will follow the lives of several fictional families through 4 centuries with a number of real historic characters interwoven into the story. And what a story it is – the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, two world wars, multiple waves of immigration and the renaissance of the cleaned up New York of the 80s. In addition to so many other fascinating pieces of New York history, I learned about the emergence of the Tammany Hall political machine, the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist fire and the building of the Empire State Building. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, family sagas and of course to fans of the great city of New York itself.

Fiction Pick of the Week: The Heart Specialist

The Heart Specialist by Claire Rothman 2009

Inspired by the life of Doctor Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott, The Heart Specialist is the story of a young girl didn’t like playing with dolls. Agnes would rather dissect a squirrel. After all, her father was a doctor, and therein lies the mystery; the tale of Agnes haunted by a father she had not seen since she was very young. This story is primarily set in Montreal, where Dr. Agnes White becomes the first female doctor in the city.