Kostova's The Swan Thieves

I thought that Elizabeth Kostova had done an outstanding job with her novel The Historian until I read her second novel, The Swan Thieves.  Without even going into the plot, I can tell you that her descriptions of artists and their paintings and their feelings have caused me to wonder where my sketch book is and if I have any charcoal (and I am not an artist by any means). This novel deals with several kinds of obsession: an artist's with his subject, women with their lovers, a psychiatrist who must help his patient.
          Do not attempt to read this novel unless  you want to spend time thinking and lightly analyzing behaviors, thoughts, and new ideas. Kostova employs the flashback device of intermingling more than one time period and story, but unlike most, the flashbacks are not distracting, are fascinating, and are easily followed. I now am anxiously awaiting her next novel...

Teaser Lines from The Swan Thieves

Teaser lines:

I can't really describe my first impression, except that it had made me give a little scream out loud before I could stop myself, because it was a vision of a woman everywhere, a woman spread across the surfaces of the attic in small parts and versions, repetitions - dissected, cut into pieces, although without blood. Her face I knew already, and I saw it dozens of times around the room, smiling, serious,  painted in different sizes and different moods.

      -taken from Elizabeth Kostova's The Swan Thieves, p.142-143.
Teaser Tuesday is sponsored by MizB of Should Be Reading. To participate, please click her link.

Dime Novels

 On June 7, 1860, Beadle and Company began a series of books that they called "Beadle's Dime Novels." They were printed on inexpensive paper with cardboard covers and usually cost a dime although some sold for a nickel. These novels were known for their shocking, bright covers and titillating content. Dime novels quickly became a bestseller with Beadle publishing approximately two novels per month for over ten years. The novels were numbered sequentially so that they could be mailed as "periodicals" at a much reduced rate. 

          Mrs. Ann Stevens' previously serialized tale of Malaeska, an Indian squaw, who had married a white man William Danforth, was chosen by Beadle to be this first novel. Malaeksa tells her tale of an inter-racial marriage and the problems with acceptance.

By today's standards, the dime novels are not so titillating, but in the 1860s and 1870s they were quite racy. These novels are not of great literary value, but their inexpensive cost was a godsend in that it allowed the average adult the opportunity to read and own a book. For others, the book would be simply tossed after reading.

The House on Tradd Street

I decided to read Karen White's The House on Tradd Street for its local color and to see how a non-native would handle "my" Charleston. The story focuses on Melanie Middleton, a real estate agent, who inherits an historical house below Broad, two days after she meets its owner. The novel is a well-written mystery which I never quite figured out before the ending. I also kept waiting for a love story to develop, but it did not which was another surprise. She has an unusual sense of humor which I found refreshing. Take for example this excerpt from p.142-143:

Jack didn't break eye contact as the two men sized each other up, standing closer as if they were in a boxing ring, and excluding me completely. I wondered if this was how the female lion felt during mating season -- unwanted and superfluous until the battle was won and it was time to get down to business. Although comparing myself to a lion in heat was as humiliating as it was accurate,

Over all, I enjoyed her novel and will read more by this author. She has started a "Tradd Street" series with the next novel finished and the third to be published later this year. I will keep you posted.

Reading and Relaxing

John has gone out of town until Saturday evening leaving just me here. I have decided that I am going to do the bare minimum and spend my time reading (and writing and computer stuff, but mostly reading). Let's see...what do I have to do: quick trip to the grocery store, feed myself, feed dogs, cats, and horses. Oh, and sleep.

I can handle that! 

I've got fourteen books sitting here waiting to be read. Yes, the books are doing the sitting! Visualize that! Decisions, decisions, decisions. Should I go with "good" books or "junk" books? Shall I read in my chair, in bed, in the chaise lounge in the yard?  Shall I read while taking my bath? I think I can give up on exercise and meditation until Saturday. I may plan some time to work on a new mandela. More about that later. I'm getting ready to climb into bed with a good book, I think. 

James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia

I checked out this novel from the library with trepidation. It had appeared on the list of 1000 books that we all should read before we die, but I kept telling myself that it was about Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia. I have read more than enough about this case and watched too many shows. But...the novel is only minimally about Short. The main focus is on the relationship between two policeman who become thoroughly engrossed with solving her murder. Toss in a few women who play primary roles and you have an entirely different angle on the Black Dahlia. I have to agree that it is well worth reading.

George Washington Cable

George  Washington Cable (1844-1925) is an author I discovered in college when required (Thank you, Dr. Mott) to read his novel The Grandissimes:  A Story of Creole Life. One of the prettiest lines that I have ever read, and my favorite line of all times, is from this novel:
For summer there, bear in mind, is a loitering gossip, that only begins to talk of leaving when September rises to go. 

Cable is referring to New Orleans but the same can be said for Charleston and Johns Island, SC. Perhaps that's why I like that sentence: it resonates in a deep part of me that was bred in coastal South Carolina and remains here.

Having fallen in love with Cable, I began to read all that I could find that he had written: Old Creole Days in 1879, the aforementioned The Grandissimes in 1880, Madame Delphine in 1881, Dr. Sevier in 1884, and John March, Southerner in 1894.



To my delight, the local library has a copy of his Strange True Stories of Louisiana, published in 1889. I just returned from the  library with treasured volume in hand. Cable's preface is 22 pages in length, but if the rest of the book is as interesting as those pages, this volume will be as entertaining as the others! My afternoon is going to be spent reading!

I Am Nujod, Age 10 and Divorced

Normally this is not the type of book that appeals to me, but having had the book recommended by several people, I decided to give it a try. This book should be read by everyone! Nujood is a very brave and courageous girl, or should I say, woman. She was the first child bride to win a divorce in Yemen and this is her story. It is a horrifying tale which is repeated too frequently around the world, but very young girls are still being placed in arranged marriages. Upon their marriage all education stops, and as a result, approximately 70% of the women in Yemen are illiterate. Nujood has won her battle, but there are many who are not. Please read this book.