From My Bookshelf....by Lynn Willoughby

Click on the article headline if you would like to read our entire publication online, in original print format. To leave a comment, click the link at the bottom of this post.

The Queen of Palmyra - Minrose Givin
"Here it is, the most powerful novel about race, racism and denial in the American south since To Kill a Mockingbird." - Lee Smith

It is in the 1960s in Mississippi. The assassination of Medgar Evers, the challenge of registering black voters, the idea of integration, the reality of the Ku Klux Klan - were all in the news. What I just didn't realize was the support and love still shown by the African Americans working as cooks, washer women, drivers, maids and gardeners, to their "families." This novel shows us the ultimate power of knowledge and love.

Florence Irene Forrest is eleven. Her parents have just returned to Milltown after a year "on the lam", and her father just can't seem to hold a job. Florence has missed a year of school, but she doesn't miss much else - the eyes averted when she is in some neighbourhoods, the conversations that suddenly stop, the "free" ice cream cones at the general store, the mysterious late night phone calls for her father which caused him to take the "box" and leave. Often when he returned home he smelled of gasoline, of smoke.

Zenie, her grandmother's maid, is the one most responsible for Florence. Zenie's husband Ray, her niece Eva and Zenie are the teachers, the protectors, the stabilizers in Florence's little world. She has no friends, no one visits her family and when Big Dan, their neighbour comes to talk to her father "it makes her stomach hurt."
I thought I knew where this story was going, but there are layers upon layers of plots and subplots that go beyond skin tones and class distinctions. The novel starts a little slowly, but gets better and better. It is not an easy read, but by the last third of the book, I could not put it down. I found I was asking myself why I didn't know "that"; I was mostly unaware of the day to day life for blacks and whites in Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana during those turbulent times. I liked it even better than The Help, and learned that when Medgar Evers was refused entry to the University of Mississippi Law School, he filed a lawsuit and became the focus of an NAACP campaign to desegregate the school. Evers led a boycott campaign against local white merchants and James Meredith enrolled in U of M in 1962.

•  Wishing for Snow

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley
This is a debut novel for Canadian writer Alan Bradley. The blurb described an eleven year old, aristocratic female detective investigating the murder of a man who turns up dead in the cucumber patch of their crumbling English mansion. It sounded like a new age Nancy Drew and I passed it by many times. Finally, on the recommendation of my daughter, I read it and it was an absolute delight. It is original, clever, entertaining and funny. What a treat!

Flavia is bright, innovative, clever and curious. She sounds dreadful - but she isn't. She is engaging, witty and sharp and I enjoyed this book too much to leave it for long. Philately and chemistry are a large segment of the mystery and not a combination I would ever imagine as appealing. Because of Flavia and author Bradley's imaginative story telling, I kept turning pages and learned a great deal as a bonus. Bradley's tongue-in-cheek humour transcends the macabre seriousness of the subject. We are promised a series of Flavia mysteries, and I can't wait for the next one.

Who Knew?
Philately is the study of stamps and postal history. The Greek root word "philo" means affinity for something and "ateleia" means exempt from taxes. The introduction of postage stamps meant that the receipt of letters was now free of charge, whereas previously it was normal for the postal charges to be paid by the recipient of the letter.