BOOKWORM
WHAT I HAVE BEEN READING LATELY
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy by Anne Boyd Rioux, Norton, $22.95. As a self-avowed fan of Little Women (and the other books in the series and all other books by Louisa May Alcott), I grab any new editions of the books as well as any books on these books.
Since all tend to be written by other fans, we form a cosy little circle as we curl up yet again with a read that enthralled us when we were little women ourselves.
Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy falls in a slightly different category. Anne Boyd Rioux escaped coming under the spell of the March sisters as a young girl, reading it for the first time in her early 20s as part of a graduate course on American Literary realism. But coming late to the party gives her a unique – and dare I say, clearer – perspective. She loves the book, too, but is able to analyse aspects that escape those of us who read it in a rush of love and nostalgia.
She introduces the inspirations behind the characters in the books and reveals that Alcott’s personal life was difficult and troubled. The mostly absent Mr March is based on Bronson Alcott, Alcott’s “most unusual father”, who nurtured the genius he believed was innate in each child. Marmee is an idealized portrait of Alcott’s mother, Abigail May.
Like multitudes of young readers, I had decided early in the book that Jo and Laurie were destined for each other and was devastated when it didn’t turn out to be so. In Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy I learn that Alcott would have preferred to have Jo remain a literary spinster much like herself, and that Jo’s marriage to professor Bhaer was the result of pressure from her publishers.
This is just one of the books celebrating 150 years of one of the most beloved children’s classics, one that has inspired feminist scholars, activists and political leaders including Simone de Beauvoir, Gloria Steinem, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jhumpa Lahiri and JK Rowling.
Speaking of whom, Hermione from the Harry Potter books was inspired by Jo March, Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables and Katniss from The Hunger Games being among other modern interpretations or descendants of Jo March!
March Sisters by Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado and Jane Smiley, Library of America, $28.50. In another celebration of Little Women, four lifelong fans come together to offer a deep, personal mediation on the power of great literature to shape our lives.
Authors Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado and Jane Smiley each take as their subject one of the four March sisters and write about the parallels (and divergences) between their lives and those of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Bollick writes about her nine-year-old self being “defined by the qualities of Jo, and wondering if I’d ever be so lucky as to attain those of Meg”. Machado describes Beth as “a bit Pollyanna-ish, sure, but ultimately a force for good within the family”. Smiley finds “the modern woman, the thoughtful feminist” in Amy.
“...the sister who stays true to herself, learns to navigate her social world, gains a wisdom and self-knowledge different from that of her sisters, and is more like what we aim to be today.”
And what of Jo, the sister most readers identify with? Zhang has a complicated relationship with her, confessing to detesting her when she first read the book at 12. As she grew and experienced her own milestones, she discovered a woman who could not be turned “into an object” one who was always the protagonist of her own story.
March Sisters takes you closer to some of the most-loved characters who became real for so many of us for so many generations.
The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey, Soho Crime, $33.95. Sujata Massey follows up her best-selling The Widows of Malabar Hill with another historical mystery starring Perveen Mistry, one of India’s first female lawyers.
Sent to broker peace between the dowager queen of the princely state of Satapur and her daughter-in-law, Perveen discovers cold-blooded plots and ancient vendettas. Has she walked into a trap?
Sujata Massey sets the book in a fictitious state within the actual Kolhapur agency, an administrative group run by British India that oversaw the life of royals in many small princely states in Western India and paints a picture of the social and political scene during the British Raj in India.
Perveen Mistry tells Colin Sandringham, the British political agent in Satapur, “Your government also upholds unfair family laws in other Indian religious communities: rules that keep daughters from inheriting as much as sons, widows from owning property, and men and women from leaving unhappy marriages.”
Twists and turns, and the pleasure of seeing a new chapter in Perveen’s life story make this a satisfying read.
I was delighted to find medicinal herbs like brahmi and ashwagandha listed as growing in the gardens of the circuit house in Satapur, but surprised to see dhatura (Devil’s trumpet). It does have gorgeous white blooms and is sold as a tropical plant in this part of the world but it grows wild in India and happens to be poisonous. Why was Sandringham singing its praises? “The flowers are like trumpets and they can mute the worst aches and pains.” You’ll have to read the book to discover what role the plant plays in the tale.
How To Win An Argument, Marcus Tullius Cicero, selected, edited and translated by James M May, Princeton University press, US $16.96. Whether trying to win a trivial argument with a friend or attempting to convince coworkers about an important decision, think how much more effective one would be if instead of going in all guns blazing and relying on untrained instinct, one learned the timeless art of verbal persuasion.
This slim volume gathers passages from Cicero’s legal and political speeches to demonstrate his powerful techniques in action.
It elaborates on the essential parts of an effective speech, and the various styles one might employ in different situations.
Wisdom without eloquence does too little for the good of communities, but eloquence without wisdom is, in most instances, extremely harmful and never beneficial.
So much more than clever comebacks or pithy put-downs, How To Win An Argument distils Cicero’s rhetorical and oratorical wisdom. It even includes a Ciceronian cheat sheet for effective speaking!
The Little Book of Lost Words by Joe Gillard, Ten Speed Press, $19.99. The cover promises collywobbles, snollygosters and other surprisingly useful terms worth resurrecting.
“There are very few treasures that we can dig out of the ground, dust off, and put into use as if they were brand-new. Words, of course, are an exception,” writes Joe Gillard, the creator of History Hustle, in his foreword. And what an absolute treasure of fun words he digs up for us!
To wit:
Amphigory: A piece of writing that appears to have meaning but is really just foolish nonsense.
Betweenity: Being in the middle or between two things.
Collywobble: Stomach pain or sickness from nervous anxiety.
The City Son by Samrat Upadhyay, Soho, $16. Set in timeless Nepal, The City Son offers a vivid portrait of a scorned woman’s lifelong obsession with revenge and the devastating ramifications for an impressionable young man.
Acclaimed and award-winning author Samrat Upadhyay – the first Nepal-born author writing in English to be published in the West – has crafted a potent, disturbing novel on a taboo subject.
Boom! Below! Bleat! by Georgia Heard, illustrated by Aaron DeWitt, WordSong, $23.95. An animal that goes boom? And others that go quonk or twang?
These delightful poems, starting with We Don’t Say Ribbit, are filled with an astonishing array of sounds.
Meant to be read aloud by two or more voices, they are sure to set off giggles!
Sanyukta Ghag’s Teen Viewpoint of Why the Monster by Sean and Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, illustrated by Toma Feizo Gas, Inhabit Media, $13.95. Why the Monster brings together detailed and magnificent visuals and descriptive and imaginative writing to deliver a highly needed and fantastic story.
Huuq, an Inuk boy, lives in a winter camp with his family. He does not feel like he fits in and soon finds himself far from his camp while running away from a group of camp bullies. Alone with his dog Qipik, his only companion, Huuq finds an egg. He breaks the egg and is suddenly turned into a half-human monster who is seeking revenge from creatures named the ‘Its’.
He embarks on an incredible and marvelous quest to find the meaning of the egg and how he can turn himself back to his human self. At the same time, his community also needs protecting from a mysterious enemy who seems to be closer than ever.
As he continues his journey, Huuq learns many new things about his community and himself. Aided by the spirits of his ancestors, he goes on to save his community and to restore natural balance.
Sean and Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley have wonderfully captured Indigenous beliefs and mythologies and incorporated them into an incredible story.
• Sanyukta Ghag is a grade 10 student and a member of Brampton Library’s Teen Library Council.