SUMMER READING
SIBLINGS IN THE POSTWAR DUTCH COUNTRYSIDE : The Safekeep by Yael Van der Wouden
Published in 2024, The Safekeep was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and selected for many best-book-of-the-year lists. It’s 1961, fifteen years after the end of WWII, and Isabel lives alone in the house she shared with her parents and her two brothers, Louis older, and Henrik, younger. She follows a strict daily routine, seldom goes out, seems to have no friends, and interacts only with her maid, Neelke, and a few assorted relatives. Her closeted single life reminded me of some of Anita Brookner’s characters.
Louis, who specializes in short term relationships with one woman after another, brings his latest girlfriend, Eva, to the house for tea. Isabel’s initial response to Eva is strong and very negative. But Isabel allows Eva to stay with her when Louis must go abroad for work.
Torn up by emotions she doesn’t understand, Isabel’s control breaks and, with Eva, she acts on long-suppressed desire. But there is more to each woman’s past yet to be revealed after Eva leaves. Bringing together the significance of one’s home, the sobering realities of life for Jews after the war, and the desire for connection with another, it’s a powerful, erotic, and compelling novel. Highly recommended!
This is Van der Wouden’s first novel. For more about the books that inspired her journey to becoming an author, check out this article in The Guardian. (~JWFarrington)
A LOLLIPOP: Last Letters of Sally & Walter by Cammie McGovern
Cammie McGovern has written several books for children and young adults, but the Last Letters of Sally and Walter is her first novel for adults. Sally is a new resident at Golden Grove, a senior retirement community, and she is anxious about making friends and fitting in. A retired schoolteacher, she ventures forth to join the Scrabble Club, only to discover it mostly disbanded with organizer Walter eager for a game. He’s a bit of a curmudgeon, but they hit it off, and he coaches her and encourages her to enter a Scrabble tournament.
Scrabble is an early, fun focus of this novel, but both Sally and Walter have adult sons with issues they must confront. As Sally and Walter’s friendship deepens, they must also learn to trust each other enough to share honestly about their past lives and the health challenges each faces.
McGovern realistically captures what it’s like to move to a senior community, and the novel is thoughtful, tender, funny at points, and even sweet. If you like Scrabble, you’ll enjoy it, and if you’re over 70 with an open mind, you’ll find yourself cheering on Sally and Walter. Recommended! (~JWFarrington)
WATCHING: BINGEING ON A RAGS TO RICHES SAGA
A Woman of Substance (Britbox)
A Woman of Substance, based on the novels of Barbara Taylor Bradford, is a new 8-part series. Call it the TV equivalent of a beach read; it’s full of high drama like a soap opera. In 1911, Emma Harte is a poor, mistreated attractive young maid who works for the rich, yet dysfunctional, Fairlie family. In the 1970s, as the series opens, Emma Harte is a dynamo in Manhattan, extremely rich and the successful head of Harte Enterprises.
The series traces Emma from her poor beginnings and her misguided love for Edwin Fairlie, to opening a dress shop and then a food emporium, to her vow to succeed and get revenge on the entire Fairlie family. This family is no gem. Adele Fairlie has mental issues, her husband Adam is dallying with his sister-in-law Olivia, older son Gerald is feckless and a gambler, and only younger son Edward seems somewhat solid.
The Chief Penguin and I watched the entire series in the course of a week. It’s wild, not subtle in the least (plenty of sex and abuse to go around) but still fun entertainment. With her drive and her determination, you can’t help but root for Emma, even though she’s bent on destruction. The Emma Harte series ultimately consisted of eight novels published between 1979 and 2021. I recall reading at least the first several of them.
