The Moonflower Vine
, by Jetta Carleton (1913-1999) was first published in 1962 by Simon and Schuster. The Harper Perennial edition was released in 2009, ten years after the author's death.
, by Jetta Carleton (1913-1999) was first published in 1962 by Simon and Schuster. The Harper Perennial edition was released in 2009, ten years after the author's death.The story begins in summer in the 1950's as the adult children in the Soames family are visiting their parents, Matthew and Callie on their rural Missouri farm. The story begins as Mary Jo, the youngest of the four girls, tells of the annual visit to see their parents, which is both a reunion, and a sense of duty. The parents are now up in years and need help around the farm. Much of what occurs during their visits seem to be focused on the blooming of the "moonflower vine".
"The vine stormed to life, and the blooms exploded---five, twelve, a torrent of them, tumbling their extravagant beauty into the evening air"........"The blooming of the moonflowers was a kind of miracle, and like all true miracles it had the power of healing".
Although on the onset, the Soames clan seems the idyllic, happy family, all is not as it appears to be. The father Matthew, a former teacher and principal, is a God-fearing religious man, emotionally cold and distant, and yet a man driven toward wrong, and faced with guilt. The mother Callie, is good woman with a big heart, submissive and lonely, and longing for the closeness she is often denied. Bit by bit, each of the family members: Mary Jo, Jessica, Mathy and Leonie recall events from an earlier time (early 1900's), where the good times and bad times, private secrets, passions and temptations, and even sorrows, of each family member is revealed.What was fascinating about this character driven novel, is the way the human side of each person shines through. We meet individuals who give in to temptation, make unwise choices, and then must live with aftermath. We see how choices made by one person, affect the rest of the family. Sin, lust, guilt, and forgiveness are themes that surface on a regular basis in this novel. Considering this book was initially published nearly 50 years ago, it was a bold and daring piece. I can imagine that more than a few eyebrows were raised as romantic love, sexuality, lust and desire were prominent throughout this novel.
What started out as a bit of a slow moving story, quickly picked up and became a novel that made me anxious to read on. Unlike anything I've read in a long while, I did enjoy this book. Sadly, it was the one and only novel published by the author.
RATING - 4/5 stars
(personal copy)
; Paul Auster (audio book from Amazon Vine program) - In his sixteenth novel, four flat-broke twenty-something searchers end up squatting in a funky abandoned house in Sunset Park, a rough Brooklyn neighborhood. Bing, the “sloppy bear” ringleader, plays drums and runs the Hospital for Broken Things, where he mends “relics” from a thriftier past. Melancholy artist Ellen is beset by erotic visions. Grad student Alice is researching pop-culture depictions of postwar sexual relationships. Miles is a fugitive. Poisoned by guilt over his stepbrother's death, he hasn't communicated with his loving father, a heroic independent publisher; his kind English professor stepmother; or his flamboyant actor mother for seven years. Lately he's been in Florida, “trashing out” foreclosed homes, stunned by what evicted people leave behind in anger and despair. Miles returns to New York after things turn dicey over his love affair with a wise-beyond-her-years Cuban American teenager. As always with the entrancing and ambushing Auster, every element is saturated with implication as each wounded, questing character's story illuminates our tragic flaws and profound need for connection, coherence, and beauty. In a time of daunting crises and change, Auster reminds us of lasting things, of love, art, and “the miraculous strangeness of being alive.” 
; Walter Mosley - Ptolemy Grey is ninety-one years old and has been all but forgotten-by his family, his friends, even himself-as he sinks into a lonely dementia. His grand-nephew, Ptolemy's only connection to the outside world, was recently killed in a drive-by shooting, and Ptolemy is too suspicious of anyone else to allow them into his life. until he meets Robyn, his niece's seventeen-year-old lodger and the only one willing to take care of an old man at his grandnephew's funeral. 
; Roberts Gately - (Simon and Schuster) - Roberta Gately’s lyrical and authentic debut novel—inspired by her own experiences as a nurse in third world war zones—is one woman’s moving story of offering help and finding hope in the last place she expected. Gripped by haunting magazine images of starving refugees, Elsa has dreamed of becoming a nurse since she was a teenager. Of leaving her humble working-class Boston neighborhood to help people whose lives are far more difficult than her own. No one in her family has ever escaped poverty, but Elsa has a secret weapon: a tube of lipstick she found in her older sister’s bureau. Wearing it never fails to raise her spirits and cement her determination. With lipstick on, she can do anything—even travel alone to war-torn Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11. 
; Fannie Flagg (Amazon Vine) - The beloved Fannie Flagg is back and at her irresistible and hilarious best in I Still Dream About You, a comic mystery romp through the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, past, present, and future.
is a touching story of days gone by. The fabulous painting illustrations by Wendell Minor tell the story of the railroad past and present. The story is told in rhyme fashion that will keep young children engaged, and parents too should enjoy the lovely story and pictures that tell a somewhat sad but engaging story of the way life use to be. I was wowed by this book and illustrations. The music cd which accompanied this book was great as well, with the foreward by Arlo Guthrie.
(good, but long), and finishing up,
; Rodriguez (very good).
(based on the Saramago novel); I liked it. I also watched 
and an all time favorite, 
.
was one amazing performance. Degas captured all of the characters of this bizarre novel with pitch-perfect skill.
, which also has a lonely, sympathetic man as its protagonist.