Book 206: The People of the Abyss by Jack London

Jack London is best known for his exploration of the unknown. Today, he'd be known as an "immersion experience junkie." I came across this book while reading another classic and took a break from that behemoth to read this beautiful little book. I'd highly recommend The People of the Abyss. 

The East End of London in the early 1900s was a terrible place, rife with poverty and starvation. News of the conditions reached Jack London in the United States, and he decided to embark on a journey to see the conditions for himself. He boarded a boat in 1908 and rented a room in a safe house near the East End. He purchased ragged clothing and assumed the identity of a lowly laborer immerse himself fully. With an emergency guinea (about a shilling and one penny) sewed into his sleeve, he stepped out into the streets to experience life in the most derelict corner of the "civilized" world.

At the time, the British Empire was still thriving, and it claimed had landholdings throughout the world. I'm not sure how it was received at the time of its publication, but The People of the Abyss certainly made it known that all was not well on the home front. Jack London does a fair job of making it clear that none of the wealth of the British Empire trickled down to the city of London's neediest citizens.

Jack London visited the infamous workhouses of London and met other "casual" workers who were daily fighting for their next meal and a safe place to sleep. He wrote about the gradual weakening of the workers by hunger, fatigue, and unjust, arbitrary laws like the one that made it illegal to sleep in public places during the day. The situation was so bad that huge numbers of people were committing suicide or killing members of their own families rather than allow them to suffer. Until I read this book, I didn't know the history of the East End.

This book was fascinating because it was a snapshot in time of a region that has been the subject of so many literary, television, and film projects. It also struck me that the socioeconomic situation documented within this book parallels our own right now - how the world's wealth is held by the top 1% of the population and everyone else is just trying to skimp by. Jack London does not mince words - he closes his book with an expression of his own opinion that if a country is truly civilized, there should be no abject poverty.

This e-book is available for free on Project Gutenberg (go to https://www.gutenberg.org/) and you can download it in several e-book formats. 

Book 183: The Doll Funeral by Kate Hamer (Review requested by Faber&Faber)

When I was asked by Kate Hamer's publicist to review an advanced copy of The Doll Funeral as part of an international book blog tour, I was psyched. I've never participated in a blog tour before, but it's brilliant publicity for Hamer, and I always try to support my fellow writers. One day I intend to publish my own book, and I hope to have the same support from my fellow bloggers.

Onto the review.

The Doll Funeral is written in two eras: the 1970s and the 1980s, and jumps back and forth between the two. It's set in England, in the Forest of Dean, which seems to me like a place that is real and not real at the same time. If it were a person, you might say the Forest has one foot in the grave.

The first story is that of Ruby, an orphan who - as the story opens - occupies her own living hell. She has an abusive foster father and a weak, enabling foster mother. When things begin to spin out of control, Ruby embarks on a journey that propels her toward her birth parents, for better or for worse. In the end, everything Ruby thought she knew about her life is turned upside down. She finally understands she is equipped with everything she needs to find her way home, which isn't what she expected, either.

It is also the story of Anna, an unwed pregnant teenager who decides to keep her child despite all her family's arguing for the contrary. She is plagued by problems of both the internal and external variety which lead to her demise. I'm only telling you this because anyone with an eye can see from the start that Anna's life is on a collision course with tragedy. And that's all I can tell you about Anna without ruining the story. 😉

The Doll Funeral was a little slow at first, but I knew Hamer was building up to something big. As soon as I realized there was a supernatural aspect to the story, I was hooked. I was invested in Ruby's fate. Shadow's every appearance piqued my curiosity. The strange characters of Crispin, Elizabeth, and Tom had me guessing about their importance to the plot of this story since they seemed to come out of nowhere. And by the way, I was confused for just about the entire book, but I knew Hamer intended to keep me that way as long as possible so that when she revealed the truth, I'd eat it up. And I did.

The Doll Funeral was a masterpiece of hidden suspense. I'm interested in reading it a second time to see what I missed the first time through. I'd definitely recommend it.

As most of my followers know, I'm more of a nonfiction gal, but I enjoyed The Doll Funeral and I look forward to reading more of Kate Hamer's stories. Follow @kate_hamer on Twitter or visit https://www.katehamer.co.uk/ to learn more about her work. You can buy The Doll Funeral on Amazon.

Great job, Kate!

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P.S. Here are the other bloggers slated to review The Doll Funeral in January 2018. Please visit each of them and enjoy!

Book 182: Looking for Jane by Judith Redline Coopey

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I love the book club at the Smyrna Public Library, because each person recommends books they like or think are important. These folks have taught me to open up and try new things, and also remind me to be very deliberate about what I recommend for my own selections.

Because there was a woman in a bonnet and a guy on a horse on the cover, I honestly thought, Oh no, this is a western, a genre I wrote off a long time ago. (Yes, I judged this book by its cover.) Turns out, I am a dumbass. It was darn good historical fiction, set in a time I knew nothing about - the 1890s. And my curiosity was piqued.

I began reading this book and I immediately fell in love with the main character, Nell. She's an orphan with a cleft palate, newly freed from her convent upbringing, and convinced Calamity Jane is her long-lost mother. After leaving the convent, Nell embarks on a journey to Deadwood, South Dakota. I won't tell you all the details, but I do love dynamic characters, and Nell is forever changed by her journey. Her trek across half the U.S. doesn't end the way she expected, but she winds up better for it in the end. The plot was pretty good, and had some twists I hadn't anticipated.

The author Judith Redline Coopey is a history buff from Pennsylvania. I loved her style and her informed writing. From her bio online:

Historical fiction is my genre -- no bodice ripping romances for me -- just well researched interesting stories of those who've gone before. I write the kind of stories I like to read: of strong people facing the challenges life lays before them, following their inner light and living responsible lives. 

Anyway, thanks to the person that recommended this book, because I'll definitely be reading Coopey again. 

Book 167: The Palm Reading After the Toad's Garden by Michael Dickel

To be completely fair and totally transparent, I am no poetry buff. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of poetry books I have read cover to cover. So please, if you are looking for a seasoned, professional reviewer of poetry, keep on looking.

However, I am still The Ardent Reader (and not a newbie to this reading thing) and I believe poetry is one of the bravest forms of self-expression, because a poet can almost always guarantee that the majority of people won't understand what he or she is trying to convey with words or otherwise. For that reason I admire people who decide to try their hand at it.

That being said, Michael Dickel's collection entitled The Palm Reading after the Toad's Garden was not straight up poetry, nor was it prose. It was a series of stories - well, not really stories, either - more like encounters told from a variety of perspectives. It's sort of like art, made of words.

In the beginning, some of the language in Dickel's poems made me anxious, until I realized it may have been the author's intention to make me feel anxious. Further into the book I found poems that were simple and beautiful because they were about everyday stuff. I don't know why I liked those so much, but I think it's because I felt the moments were captured in a genuine way. Some were fun, such as Words and God's Pop Quiz (hilarious, reflective of reality, also sad) and some tackled hard stuff, like Final Destination. I found myself wondering how much of what Dickel wrote was taken from real life, and how much was conjured. I think when you can't tell the difference, that's a good thing.

The author, Michael Dickel, is one of my Twitter buddies (@MYDekel469). When we connected and I learned he was an author and had written a book, I said what I always say to authors, "Send me a copy and I'll review it on my blog." So he sent me a copy in the mail and inscribed it, too:

Es Curtis - 
I hope you find something here that sparks your creative fires.
Michael Dickel

I enjoyed reading Dickel's collection. It was almost like visiting someone you just met and peeking in on their knickknack cabinet, wondering what the story is behind each item... and dying to ask.

See, that was almost poetic, right?

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