SUMMER READING: MY BOOK OF THE WEEK
Liberty Island by Virginia Hume
Set in 1900, 1910 and 1922, Liberty Island brings together the overlapping stories of Anna, spinster author of a popular children’s book, and her niece Julia, who is exuberant, wild, and never seems to fit comfortably into her environment. Rounding out the main cast are Julia’s mother, Elizabeth (Anna’s sister), who has a calm accepting demeanor, and Lillian, Elizabeth’s often domineering mother-in-law.
The island of the title is off the coast of Maine, and it is where young Julia and her friends were encouraged to run free, play, and make up stories without restrictions. It is also a place of retreat into adulthood. Anna bases her novel on this idyllic island. Apart from that, both these women are governed by the rules of society and New England conventions. Many subjects are off limits for conversation, and secrets are kept.
The novel moves between Maine, Boston society, and the heady radicalism of New York’s intellectuals; Julia goes to Barnard College and tries to find a place and friendship in this bohemian enclave.
Hume excels at capturing the playfulness of children, and the impact of WWI at home and on men who return damaged, along with the liveliness of the Roaring Twenties. In a time of set expectations for women that were loosening, Anna and Julia must each figure out who they are and who they want to be.
I found it a wonderful multi-faceted novel and would have enjoyed these two women in real life. Given its similar period, and the issues it explores, Liberty Island is a great companion piece to the TV series, My Brilliant Career. Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)
For an engaging interview with Virginia Hume about mothers and daughters in her novel, see this article from the Portland Press Herald.
