Daughter of Fortune

Daughter of Fortune was part of a group of books by the same author on my library shelf. I wasn't particularly inspired by any of the books written by Isabel Allende. I picked this one because it had Oprah's stamp of approval on the cover (a part of her book club). Flipping through the book, I didn't find anything objectionable so it came home with me.

The book starts off very well. The characters are interesting and engaging. Her descriptions of Chile and the early British settlers really captured my attention. But as I delved deeper into the book, some things started to bug me. The book takes place between 1843-1853, the early Victorian Era. And yet the main female characters seem to have traveled through the sexual revolution. Rose, the adoptive mother, and adopted daugher Eliza, both experience pre-marital sex and freedom from marriage. As British women, I would have expected them to have Victorian morals. And despite the rumors to the contrary, they are able to be a part of the British upper-class and society.

Despite that nagging problem, the author delves into detailed descriptions of the sexual experiences of the characters. She mentions Rose's past history in the beginning of the story with just a passing statement. I could accept Rose's flawed character and guess as to her history. Then later she has a full chapter about it, which was completely unnecessary. From that chapter on, the book just follows the same theme.

I am not opposed to reading feminist novels. But I am opposed to reading a book with a lot of sex and sexual description. I stopped reading the book at page 100. I consider any author that has to rely on sex, foul language, or extreme violence to tell a story a poor literary craftsmen. This is fair warning that Oprah's selections may not be appropriate for everyone. And a fair warning about the types of stories Isabel Allende writes.

Book Rating: 1 Star for effort. Clean up the story, and it may be worth reading.

Murder on the Lusitania

I have never liked reading mystery novels. I assume they will be predictable and stereotypical. Murder on the Lusitania, by Conrad Allen, started off like most mystery novels. The introduction begins with the detective traveling incognito with first-class passengers. He is young, attractive, and loves Shakespeare. Ok, I had to roll my eyes at that one. The other cast of characters are upper middle-class, and wealthy, with a few attractive, single women.

A sign of a good mystery novel is that it holds its mystery until near the end. This book does at least that. There were a few side stories thrown in to keep the reader guessing "Who dun it?" I won’t spoil the mystery for those who choose to read it.

Book Rating: 3 Stars. It was entertaining. It could have received a higher rating if Conrad Allen had at least hired a better editor. There were enough grammatical mistakes to make the book slightly annoying to read.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is written by Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie. It is a quick read. I finished it in a couple of days. The story starts with the death of the main character and is built on a series of flashbacks while he works his way toward heaven.

The over all story was interesting, even if you do not agree with Albom's concept of heaven. When an individual dies, you meet five people who have something to tell you - basically the rest of the story. Their goal is to help you find peace by understanding why things happened in life. In turn, you will help five people make their way to heaven.

If nothing else, this story made me think about my daily interactions with others. Our actions or influence can affect or change another's life in subtle ways. In other words, our actions are extremely important in life. Choosing to do good things, whether you believe it will help you get into heaven or not, is vital. After we die, others will be affected by our life.

The cheesiest moment of the book is at the very end. Sorry, I must add a spoiler. The main character makes it to his heaven - the Big Ferris Wheel in the Sky. I had to roll my eyes when I reached that page. No. I am not kidding. Really, I am not.

Book Rating: 3 1/2 stars.

A White Bird Flying

I am sure someone could write a master’s thesis on Bess Streeter Aldrich. That is not my intention. But I have made a few observations about her writing…

I just finished up A White Bird Flying. This book was more difficult to get through than Rim of the Prairie and Song of Years. It is the shortest of the three books I have read. A White Bird Flying is a direct reflection of Bess Streeter Aldrich, while the other books reflected her parents and grandparents. It is not unlike the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, where she takes events and people she is familiar with and inserts them into a fictional story.

While reading this book, I looked up info on the net about Aldrich. Perhaps I should have waited until I was done with the book, because it spoiled some things. After reading her biographical information, I could connect up things from her life to characters in her books. Her husband was a banker. All three of her books feature a character that is a banker. All three stories take place on the prairie. She lived most of her life in and around Lincoln, Nebraska. The female characters are writers and teachers, and Aldrich is a writer.

It is the close connections to Aldrich’s life that make the stories predictable. Plus, the stories were all constructed in the same way. The two main characters are introduced in the first two chapters. As a reader, I will know that those two characters will fall in love and marry by the end. The pivotal climax where the two characters realize their love occurs during a severe weather storm in the last few chapters. You can count on one character being a banker, another a writer, and several being farmers.

Perhaps the most annoying problem with A White Bird Flying is the main character, Laura Deal. Laura is a wannabe writer and career woman. Aldrich overly romanticizes the life of a career writer. As if there is no more noble and greater career option for a woman than crafting words and phrases into an artful story. And yet, Aldrich almost forces her character to make choices leading toward her writing career that does not make any sense. An example of this is Laura agreeing to the ridiculous contract to take care of her aging aunt and uncle in exchange for receiving their inheritance. By doing this, she could spend her spare time writing. A levelheaded person would see that this arrangement would never work. That by agreeing to do this, she would be living a life of servitude. If Laura Deal were truly a modern career woman, it would make no sense to agree to this. And yet, she does. I think this was a personal desire of Aldrich. Have someone else pay the bills so she could spend her time writing without a care.

A White Bird Flying is perhaps her weakest story. It was predictable and overly wrought at times. It may have been reader fatigue on my part. Read by itself, it is an entertaining story. I would only recommend this book to a serious fan of Aldrich. As an introduction of Aldrich’s work, I would recommend her book A Song of Years.

For more info about Bess Streeter Aldrich: http://www.lincolnne.com/nonprofit/bsaf/