Recommended Read: Peyton Place

When I used to intern at a small publishing company, if there weren't many tasks for me to do that day, I'd occasionally scour Amazon and read the first few pages of books that looked interesting—professional, I know. But I found a lot of great books that way! One book I found was Peyton Place. I hadn't heard of it before, even though it's been around since the 1950s.

I bought it on a whim at my school bookstore and once I started reading it, I couldn't stop! I think that my favorite part of this book is its scope! The author, Grace Metalious, writes about an entire town and its inhabitants with such ease and artistry. The book is easy to read and easy to follow despite how many characters there are. This is one of the books that simultaneously makes me want to give up writing and inspires me to be better.

The book is a composite of all small towns, but is specifically set in the fictional, New England town of Peyton Place. It fully embodies what every small, New England town is like and all the characters are exceptionally realistic. Further, when this book was first published, it was seen as extremely scandalous and was even banned in some states! While it might not be seen as scandalously now as it was then, there certainly are a lot of dirty little secrets that are enticing and exciting to read about.

Peyton Place is so full of beautiful prose and intriguing story lines, you will find yourself absorbed in this little town from the first page! I highly recommend this novel and I'm wondering if anyone has read the sequel, Return to Peyton Place. I certainly wanted the book to last forever, but I'm also wary of sequels. Thoughts?

What I've Been Reading

It's been a while since I've written a new post. January ended up being a bit busier than I expected, although the last week was a bit slower and more relaxed. When AJ and I got back to Boston, after spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Connecticut, it seemed that we had a constant stream of visitors! First it was my mom and sister for a few days, then my cousin for a week, and then my in-laws for a weekend. I went back to Connecticut with them for a few days and then my mom and her cousin brought me back to Boston and stayed for a few days.

But now things have calmed down enough for the new semester to begin.

Despite how unexpectedly busy winter break got, I still got in a lot of reading time. Reading really is the best way to pass the time during these chilly winter days. To get back into the blogging habit, I want to do a quick recap of the books I've read so far this year.


A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
I read this book for the third time around Christmastime and it felt like a completely different book. This is probably because I was in high school the first two times I read it and a lot of things have happened in my life that have allowed me to read this book in a new way. I found I could relate to it much more. I love the fact that this book has endured through many years even though it is not part of the typical literature canon—never once in my years of schooling have I been assigned this novel even though it is undoubtedly a classic. Smith captures a specific time and place and brings it to life. Reading this book, I felt like I was living the lives of her characters. I doubt that this will be the last time I reread it.

The Faith of a Writer: Life, Craft, Art by Joyce Carol Oates
As you might assume from the title, this book is a collection of essays all regarding being a writer and what it entails. There is a lot of autobiographical information of Oates, herself, along with bits of information and knowledge from other famous writers throughout history. I liked learning about Oates because I am always fascinated by writers and their lives, especially writers who have such productivity  like Oates. I was a bit let down by it, though, because I did not feel like I learned so much about the craft of writing itself—but that might not really be the objective of the book. Regardless, it is full of useful and insightful information. It's a thin text and can easily be read in a day.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
I picked this one up right after Oates's book and found that it was a bit more helpful in the writerly advice arena. This book, too, had a lot of autobiographical information. I skimmed a bit of the areas that didn't seem to pertain to being an author because the rest of the book was very focused on the craft and I was so eager to read those parts! King gives a lot of advice and discloses what kind of writing habits work for him and why they work. While his techniques might not work for everyone, they're definitely worth knowing, trying, and understanding—I mean, look at how successful he is. He must be doing something write.

I'm reading two books right now, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and Black Dahlia & White Rose: Stories by Joyce Carol Oates. I'm reading two because The Historian is close to 700 pages long so sometimes I need to take a break and read something else!

The Dud Avocado

This book is one of those books that makes you wonder why you couldn't have thought to write it first. It makes you wish you could right as well as the author—it's that good. Written and originally published in the 1950s, The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy, is more than a simple coming of age tale. It's the story of Sally Jay Gorce and how she tries to find herself amid the scandal and temptation of Paris in the 1950s. The story opens with her, walking through the city streets in an evening gown on the way to meeting her Italian lover.

The story is reminiscent of Plath's The Bell Jar and Moore's Chocolate for Breakfast in the sense that the female protagonist has to deal with difficult internal issues while navigating through the world around her. The story is enticing, captivating, and all-consuming. Sally Jay's life is as decadent as it is complicated and base. It is impossible to guess what will come at her next and what she will do to deal.

It really is an entertaining read and the fact that it's party autobiographical makes it all the more fascinating. Anyone who is a fan of Plath will enjoy this book and all girls and young women who have dealt or are dealing with hard times will see Sally Jay as a kindred spirit.

What Everyone Should Be Reading and Loving

I'm sure this post is no surprise to anyone who has read my blog before. I finished reading Elena Ferrante's latest installation of her Neapolitan novels a few weeks ago now I think. It was just as amazing as the two novels that preceded it.

In this, the third, novel (and thankfully not the last!) of the series, Elena and Lila are growing up, more so than they have in the past. Both become mothers and lead very different lives that causes the tension in their friendship to grow even more.

The book is also filled with the ideals of revolution as both girls play their part in enacting change for those who are suffering. Ferrante eloquently places her readers in the context of Naples during this time and she does it so seamlessly. 1950s and 60s Naples is very real in this text and adds to further develop the characters of Elena and Lila.

Elena is married and becomes a mother over the course of the book. She lives in Florence with her academic husband and yet, she is unhappy. She is bored with her husband and feels uninspired to write. Motherhood is difficult for her to accept and she feels her mother's shadow creeping into her own life. And even though Lila lives a harder life, unmarried and mothering her son on her own with help from her live-in boyfriend, Enzo, Elena is again jealous of her friend. And the jealousy only grows as Lila's fortune changes for the better. Not to mention, the reappearance of Nino Sarratore leads to more conflict and drama.

It is impossible not to become engrossed in the lives of Ferrante's characters. I became so invested reading this novel, more so than the last two although all of them are amazing tales, that when the ending came I was angry and you'll see why when you read it.

I'm so glad that there will be one more Neapolitan novel but I can't believe we have to wait a year for it to come out!

"Everything She Said Was Like A Secret Voice": A Book Review

I've had trouble writing this review. I've been trying for a while, probably a few weeks by now, but this is a difficult one. I think what is most difficult is the fact that I want to express how relatable the main character, Esther Greenwood, is. But at the same time, I hesitate to say that for fear of people thinking that if they relate to Esther, they must be suicidal or suffer from mental illness. That's not at all the case. 

Esther is in a transitional phase of life. She's in college but it's time for her to think about her future beyond school. She thinks about and disregards the idea of marriage. She thinks about what kind of career she would like. There's so much she wants to do and learn and know, but she feels limited and stuck. 

To be honest, I can't think of a more relatable character than Esther, especially for women who are around my age, in this day, and in this phase of life. Most people graduating college now are facing uncertainty, like Esther. The job market is not great and there aren't many opportunities. Some of us want a lot of things, but are unmotivated to go after them out of fear of failure. Some of us want to learn everything under the sun, but don't know how. 

Personally, I feel a great kinship to Esther. No, I do not have suicidal thoughts and I do not suffer from mental illness. But I am around the same age as Esther. I, too, have writing aspirations and I wonder how that will one day balance with my home life. There are many things I want to do and these desires leave me questioning whether or not I have the tools to do them. I know that Esther and I are not alone in these thoughts and feelings and for that reason, I feel that The Bell Jar is essential read for all women, no matter their age or place. 

The books starts off in quite an appealing setting. Esther has won a month long, paid internship in New York City for a well known magazine. She lives in a hotel with the other interns and gets to go for fancy lunches, attend events, and explore the city. It does not make her happy and she spends more time skipping work events and falling into deep spirals of worrisome thoughts. 

She experiences moments that are necessary in a coming of age tale and, once the internship has ended, she goes back to her hometown in suburban Massachusetts but is eager to leave again. Without anywhere to go, she resigns to a life of sleeping, writing, and worrying about the future. Her writing suffers and she wonders if that is the path she should take after all. 

As Esther's mundane, every day life continues to depress her already fragile mental health, suicidal thoughts penetrate her mind and her every moment. Plath's description of Esther's suicide attempt is haunting, difficult to read, and raw. Knowing that Plath took her own life makes the experience of reading her words on the subject even more striking and personal. 

Further, reading about Esther's time in a mental hospital is so other worldly that it's hard to believe it is the same story that started with the glamorous idea of working for a magazine in Manhattan. The turn and change in Esther's life is, after all, what makes this story truly disturbing, realistic, and saddening. 

The book ends but you get the sense that there really is not resolution. Esther suffers from mental illness and likely always will. She has to live the rest of her life coping with these issues and that is what is the most important takeaway of the entire book.

There are so many more elements to this novel that I have yet to discuss: mental illness, relevancy, feminism, and growing up. I've only given a brief summary with my opinions on this outstanding novel that will always remain relevant in our culture. I hope that everyone who has not yet picked up Plath's novel, the only novel she left for us, will do so quickly. 

I will leave you with my favorite Sylvia Plath quote: 

"Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences."

Saturday Morning and the Times

I like to start my Saturday mornings with two of my favorite things, coffee and the New York Times Book Review. It feels like a little treat, a little ritual to begin the weekend. This morning, I woke up around 7, ate a quick breakfast, got a work out in, and then settled at the kitchen table with hot coffee and the Book Review.

Some days are better than others as far as the articles go but this morning was a pretty good one! I always have my phone nearby with my Notes open in case there's a book I want to add to the ongoing list I keep there of books I want to read.

Today I only added one book to that list. A book called Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead was reviewed by Jennifer B. McDonald. The book is about a New York ballerina who will soon be ending her career. The novel seems to focus on a number of different relationships as well as artistic need. Interestingly, the author does not have experience as a dancer but the professional world of ballet is such a small one, that in order to read good fiction about it, it sometimes needs to be written by outsiders. And I like to see how writers write about a world in which they are not experienced because it is something I hope to do.

The book is now on my list although not at the top. The review does not make it seem like a must-read but I love and miss ballet and dance in general (I danced for a good 15 years before stopping) so it might be fun and nostalgic to pick this up sometime.

How do you start your Saturday mornings?

The Original Sex And The City: A Book Review

It was almost a month ago that I started reading The Group.  It does not usually take me this long to read a novel, but this one requires and deserves all the time you can give it. A well known, bestselling novel by the widely published writer, Mary McCarthy, The Group is an exceptional book that was groundbreaking in it's time and, in my opinion, still is.

As I mentioned when I previously wrote about this book, the story is centered on the lives of seven Vassar graduates in the years after their graduation. It opens with the marriage of one of the girls, Kay, and ends with a funeral—I won't disclose whose.

The writing is superb, which doesn't even need to be said when discussing a McCarthy book. It's a given. The characters all maintain specific and unique qualities but they are all realistic and personable. All of the girls go through hardships and successes. They deal with issues such as contraception, sexism, family crises, motherhood, bankruptcy, and heartbreaking relationships. McCarthy writes about these topics with depth, sympathy, and honesty. There's no sidestepping of awkward or uncomfortable situations and McCarthy allows you to experience each moment alongside the character. Rarely have a read a book that is so exceptionally truthful and realistic in regards to its characters, and that is what sets this book apart.

Because of the topics written about in this book, it was considered controversial. It was even banned in Australia. However, it did not deter sales at all. The Group landed on the bestseller list upon its publication and held its place there for two years. Further, it has inspired more current works based on the storyline, plot, and air of controversy. Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City was written as a modern adaptation of The Group and went on to have exceptional success.

Yes, this books takes time to read, but that makes it all the more recommended. Books are not meant to be run through at a high speed. They should be savored, enjoyed, and studied. Reading slowly through a book allows for reflection. You can form your thoughts and your own ideas about the characters and what they are experiencing. Who cares how long it takes you to read The Group? As long as you are enjoying it, take all the time you need.

There are a lot of characters and all of the main characters are women who come from interesting and occasionally similar backgrounds and all are equally well educated. Occasionally, it can be difficult to recall which storyline belongs to which woman but the writing style helps correct this. McCarthy dedicates about one to one and half chapters to each woman and often weaves the one or two girls into the storyline of another to keep them relevant and in your mind. Some girls have more focus on their story than others but that's ok, it would be impossible to dedicate the same amount of pages and words to each girl—it would become superfluous and the book would never end. Also, we do not get to see each girl in each year of the story. Often, we will get the story of one girl and then jump forward two years to get the story of the next girl. While it might sound confusing, it makes the reading very clear and understandable.

Some argue that this book is autobiographical, as McCarthy did graduate from Vassar in 1933, the same year as the girls in the book. She lived in New York City and was partial to communist groups after converting from Catholicism to atheism, a sentiment that can be seen by how some of the girls refer to the Church. Also, there is a very large focus on different political groups and sectors in the 30s. I had difficulty following the book at these moments simply because I do not know enough about that part of history. And this book truly is influenced by the time period in which it takes place. Everything that happens is influenced by the politics and social norms of its time. The book could not have been written any other way and it could not have been written any better. It is a masterpiece of prose and storytelling.

I recommend The Group to everyone because everyone can relate and everyone should experience a book by Mary McCarthy. I believe that it will interest women who have lived in New York City, have graduated from a private liberal arts college like Vassar, and women who have ever experienced the sensation of belonging to a well-defined group of girlfriends.

Have you ever read The Group? What did you think about the story and how it was written? If you've never read it, would you consider it?

The author, Mary McCarthy

Stories of Women by an Emerson Alumna: A Book Review

I can't believe I haven't written about this collection of short stories yet! I really enjoyed it and I read it while we were living in Boston. The collection is called The Isle of Youth and it was written by Laura Van Den Berg who graduated from Emerson College with an MFA in creative writing!

I met Van Den Berg at the Emerson Graduate Accepted Student Event back in early April. She was there to represent alumni and to give possible future students a taste of what could be with an Emerson education. Let me tell you, it was a smart move on Emerson's part to invite Van Den Berg to the event. I had been feeling a little iffy regarding grad school, and every so often I would wonder if grad school was the best next step for me. Meeting Laura Van Den Berg, sitting in on her reading, and hearing about her success since graduating just about made up my mind and whenever I start to doubt my decision, I think of Van Den Berg.

The Isle of Youth is her second collection of short stories and was published in 2013 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Her first collection, What The World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us, was published in 2009 and I have yet to read it but would really like to! Her first novel, Find Me, will be published in February 2015.

Anyway, to the book review! The Isle of Youth contains stories about women that are dealing with similar issues. Deception is the common thread that holds the stories together. While some of the stories can be repetitive, I didn't care because the prose was so good! The characters were interesting and so different from the norm that it's almost like they are from another world, and I think that may be intentional. The stories are far fetched, the narratives of the characters' lives aren't always probable but Van Den Berg's writing makes the stories credible and real.

Each story has a strong and crazy catch. There's a honeymoon that starts with an plane crash, a magician's assistant deals with mama drama, two sisters try their hands as private detectives, a group of young cousins pull off bank heists, a sister searches for answers about her brother's death in Antarctica, and, in the title story, twin sisters dangerously swap lives.

I highly recommend this book because the stories are intriguing, different, and easy to read. Even AJ read one of the stories, Acrobats, aloud to me following Van Den Berg's reading! And if you don't take my word for it, The Isle of Youth was just shortlisted for the Frank O' Connor Prize.

Adolescent Life in the 1950s: A Book Review

As I said last time I wrote about this book, Chocolates for Breakfast is a literary treasure. It was published in 1956 by its 18 year old writer, Pamela Moore. The author has a rich and sad history which is worth learning about before or after reading her first novel.

Many people read books to experience a life that is so different from their own. That is one of the reasons that I picked up this book and those people who read to experience will love this book. The main character, Courtney, is followed through her final days at boarding school in New England, to Southern California where she lives among movie stars, to New York City where she has affairs with heirs and Ivy League graduates.

Courtney's struggles with growing into adulthood, dealing with depression, and learning to understand herself are struggles that every human being should be able to relate to, and Moore so easily displays these problems. The writing is so black and white even though Courtney's emotions and thoughts are not. Moore creates a vivid world where the reader can smell the cigarettes that are constantly being smoked and you can almost feel as hung over as the characters often are just by reading their well-crafted, morning-after dialogues.

The cover design and back cover copy is misleading in my opinion. It makes the book seem like a typical, every day young adult book about teen angst in a privileged society. It's much more than that. It is incredibly and devastatingly realistic. It is perfectly written an never once falters in tone or content.

It's unfortunate that the book was out of print for so long, especially considering its bestselling status in the decade following the publication. Book lovers should collectively rejoice at the fact that Harper Perennial reintroduced this better-than-the-classics novel. Every word and scene will stay in your mind after reading this book and it is incredible to think that it was written by a teenager, although that fact is probably what makes it such a good read.

The author, Pamela Moore.

Transvestites and Nazis: A Book Review

The cover of the book may be misleading, yes the majority of the story takes place in Paris and the city is one of the most important characters of the book with an extreme development over the course of the story. But the romantic sentiments one feels when seeing a photo of the iconic Eiffel Tower, which conjures ideals about the romantic city, will quickly be dashed as the reader delves into this crazy, impossible tale that is so well told.

If you read my last post on this book, Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, you know that I was enjoying it. The book is a masterpiece of research and storytelling. Every sentence carries deep meaning and is filled with beautiful language that enhances the timing of the story and the mood of the characters.

All of the characters have value and well-drawn lines. There are quite a few, and the fact that Francine Prose gives each of them a distinct personality is helpful in keeping track because it can become difficult. The way the novel is written as a compilation of the characters' memoirs, biographies, letters, articles, and autobiographies is unique and fits the story. I cannot imagine the book being written as a linear tale in the way most novels are done.

The book is engrossing, despite its length, although it can drag towards the end due to the fact that all of the characters need to wrap up their own stories. You can feel the ending coming but it takes a little while. The way history—parts of history that many people might be familiar with surrounding the German occupation of France and the athletic world of 1930s Europe—it woven through the characters' narratives is artistic. I love history and know a good deal about European history but I learned an awful lot through reading this book.

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 is not a book that can be put down and left for a period of time. It demands your attention and complete focus as the story is quite intricate. Nostalgia plays a great role in the lives of characters as they recall childhood, how Paris was before the occupation, and how life was before complications got in the way.  These emotive moments will please readers and offer some relief from the harsher realities that the characters face regarding war, discrimination, and loneliness.

The cast of characters, really though, is reason enough to read this book. They are all amazing people to read about and their stories are captivating. After reading this book, make sure to check out Francine Prose's other books. She writes both fiction and nonfiction so she has something for everyone!