Maine Summer: Women, Butterflies, & Blooms

This week, I comment on a novel about several Irish women who’d like more in their lives and on a TV series about the infamous English sisters who thought nothing of ignoring and defying the accepted standards of society. Plus I offer up a few photos taken at the local botanical garden.

RECENT READING: VILLAGE LIFE IN IRELAND

The Coast Road by Alan Murrin

Set in 1994 in Ireland, Alan Murrin’s novel, The Coast Road, highlights the constricted role of women in a small village where everyone knows everyone else’s business.  Izzy Keaveney is the wife of local councilman James and a mother.  At one time, she had a small flower shop, but no more; now she aspires to again do something purposeful in her life.  

Colette Crowley, a poet, left her rich husband Shaun and went to Dublin to stay with her lover.  When she returns, she is shunned by her neighbors, and her husband prevents her from seeing her sons. She and Izzy become friendly in a writing workshop Colette leads, while each woman struggles to find contentment and satisfaction.  

There are several interwoven strands in this novel, and the reader is kept wondering how these situations will resolve, or if they will.  For more about this book, you can read an interview with Murrin in nb magazine. Recommended for fans of Claire Keegan.  (~JWFarrington)

OF BUTTERFLIES AND BLOOMS

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Boothbay)

On our most recent visit to the gardens, I was struck by striking beds of bright flowers, colorful foliage against stone, and a pair of peaceful frogs.

Coleus and other
Frogs in the sun
Yellow dahlias

In addition, I very much enjoyed exploring the butterfly house with my sister Ann, who knows her butterflies, but is also a fount of information about plants and nature in general.

Mourning cloak butterfly
Common buckeye butterfly
Monarch butterfly

VIEWING: NOTORIOUS MITFORD FAMILY

Outrageous (BritBox and other services)

Diana & Nancy (dailyexpress.co.uk)

The Mitford family, parents and their seven children, were a wild bunch.  Aristocrats and well off, until they weren’t, the six sisters were unconventional, passionate, and lived by their own rules.  The eldest, Nancy was a novelist and the family mediator.  Diana left her well-situated husband and child and took up with Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Fascists.  Unity was attracted to the Nazis, went to Munich, and was enamored of Hitler.  Sister Jessica was a staunch communist and disdainful of the family’s comfortable lifestyle.  Parents Muv and Farve are largely ineffectual in attempting to manage their wayward offspring.

The 6-part series is set in the 1930’s and presents in bursts the unbelievable actions of these sisters. The subject matter is serious, but the style of the episodes is rollicking and sometimes playful, as if it were all a farce.  Of course, it wasn’t a farce, and there were consequences.  The sisters have odd nicknames for each other which don’t always relate to their real names, making it sometimes difficult to know which sister is being addressed.

Nancy is the narrator and provides commentary in each episode.  Played by Bessie Carter, she is elegant and forthright, even when describing her own challenging marriage.  Seeing Carter in this role, it’s hard to believe she played the overdone Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton.  The Chief Penguin and I thoroughly enjoyed the series. Recommended!

Note: All garden photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Moments: Berries & Jewels, Page & Screen

SUMMER READING: SHARING IN NATURE

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Author Kimmerer (uwalumni.com)

In this small volume, Native American plant ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer uses the serviceberry bush as a way to riff on the concept of a gift economy.  Also known as Juneberry, Saskatoon, or Shadbush, the serviceberry has small white flowers and reddish berries, which often ripen in June.

A gift economy, as opposed to our more familiar market economy, frequently operates in small Indigenous communities.  In nature, the serviceberry bush receives sunlight and rain to grow, and its berries provide food for birds.  The birds eat the ripe berries, and the seeds then get dispersed allowing the serviceberry to continue to propagate.  Kimmerer opines on how the abundance of nature is freely shared to the benefit of the plants and creatures in nature as well as humans.  

Her book gives testament to the need to be respectful of nature and to reflect on how this approach in the natural world might be more applied to human society. One small example is a book that is passed on from one reader to another to read, and then placed in a Little Free Library box for yet others to take and enjoy. The book is a gift that has served multiple individuals.

 I had never heard of serviceberries until recently, when I noticed one of the plants in a nearby garden was labeled serviceberry.  I recalled that serviceberry bush again when my friend Martha recommended this book.  A short read, but a worthwhile one.

VIEWING: INDULGENT WEALTH

The Gilded Age Season 3 (HBO Max)

Mrs. Scott & daughter Peggy (hollywoodreporter.com)

Although some critics have been less kind to Season 3 of The Gilded Age, I’m hooked.  I like the elaborate costumes, the grasping for more wealth and greater social status, the inclusion of pertinent issues of the day, and the stellar cast.  Will any of these individuals find love and true happiness?

Bertha Russell is determined that her daughter Gladys shall become a duchess; Marian Brook hopes to find love this time around after two failed engagements; and George Russell has grand ambitions to build a linked cross-country railroad.  Meanwhile, Miss Scott (Peggy) continues her career as a writer, has a new admirer, and is a supporter of women’s suffrage.   Ada and Agnes, Marian’s aunts, bicker as they adapt to new roles, while Ada is seduced by a séance and takes up the temperance cause with diehard determination. 

There are 8 episodes in this season.  They are being released weekly, with episodes one through six now available.  Due to its popularity, there will be a Season 4 of the Gilded Age.

Pink dahlias

Note: Header photo of black-eyed Susans and dahlia photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Moments: TV, Movie, Novel

It’s just the two of us here, so the Chief Penguin and I have time to binge watch a TV series, go to the movies, and spend time reading, be it a novel or the latest political news. And in a slightly unusual twist for me, all the activities here focused on or were written by men.

TV VIEWING: DOUBLE LIFE

Mr. Loverman (BritBox)

Barry and Morris (theguardian.com)

Mr. Loverman is a British series about a middle-class Black family set in London’s Caribbean community.  It’s based on a novel of the same name by noted author Bernadine Evaristo.  The parents, Barry and Carmela Walker, are from Antigua, and they have two grown daughters and several grandchildren.  The marriage is a contentious one. Carmela never feels he is supportive enough and their daughters usually take her side.  Hidden, under the veneer of lively family life, Barry and his good friend, Morris (aka “Uncle Morris” to his kids) have been closeted lovers for years.  When Morris demands more of him, Barry is torn between Morris and his loyalty to his family.

The opening scenes are noisy with family dramatics on full display.  I wondered how it would all proceed but quickly became engaged.  Carmela’s father in Antigua dies, she goes back to attend, and Barry must face the challenge and the opportunity in his life.  The entire series is riveting, especially the episode when teenage grandson Donny stays with his grandfather. 

The acting is very good, and Barry is exceptional. Episodes are short (about 30 minutes each) and there are eight total.  Highly recommended for mature viewers!

ON THE SCREEN:  A PROFESSOR HOLDS FORTH

Last Class (in some theaters)

Robert Reich (politico.com)

The Chief Penguin and I both get Robert Reich’s daily e-newsletter about politics and the state of the country. Reich is probably best known as former secretary of labor under President Clinton, advisor to other presidents, and TV commentator.  What you may not know is that he has been an economics professor for more than 40 years, and for the past 17 years at UC Berkeley.   

Last Class is a documentary about Reich’s last semester teaching his undergraduate course, Wealth and Poverty, before he retires.  You might expect that the film will be just him delivering his lecture before a massive hall of students.  Instead, it’s a marvelous back and forth of scenes of Reich addressing the class and then him talking to the camera about his philosophy of teaching, why he loves his students, and what he hopes they will take away from the class.   At 79, Robert Reich is sad about his decision to retire, but feels it is time. For those of us who admire him and respect his views, his daily missive is a way to stay connected.

The film is in limited release and is selling out in many cities.  We traveled an hour north to see it in the Strand, a small theater in Rockland, and the only place in Maine it is being shown.  I left feeling hopeful about Reich’s students’ futures and glad that he was a spur encouraging them to think.

SUMMER READING: COMPLEX STRANDS

Twist by Colum McCann

Colum McCann (raintaxi.com)

Colum McCann may be familiar to many as the author of National Book Award winning novel, Let the Great World Spin, set in 1974 in New York City. His new book, Twist, is equally adventurous and tangled.  Anthony, a novelist and playwright, seldom called by name here, signs on to write about the business of repairing underwater cables.  He will be cruising with John Conway on a special boat equipped with the necessary tools and a crew trained to repair cable breaks.  These cables handle data transmitted over the internet, and the first break is a long way off the coast of Africa. 

As much as it is about the twists and turns involved in dealing with physical cables and ephemeral data, the novel is about the delicate strands of connection between individuals, of love and loyalty and vulnerability.  It is Conway’s story as Anthony interprets it.  Anthony is at loose ends, out of touch with his son, still too drawn to the bottle, and both puzzled and captivated by Conway.  

A man of few words, driven in his work, Conway is elusive and unto himself.  His partner, Zanele, and their two children, return to London, she to appear in a new play.  Their relationship, which Anthony saw as initially warm, appears later to be splintered. 

Colum’s writing is wonderful. In the opening chapter, it loops around and about, doubling back on itself as Anthony tries to explain why he is telling this story. 

“Maybe I tell this story to get rid of it, or to open up the silence, or to salve my own conscience, or perhaps I tell it because I am scared of what I too have become, steeped in regret and saudade.  I often lie awake wondering what might have been if I had done things just a little differently. The past is retrievable, yes, but it most certainly cannot be changed.”

And with that, some straightforward narration follows.  Anthony boards the repair vessel, the Georges Lecointe, in Cape Town, and begins his intriguing adventure of cables, connections, rupture, repair, and regret.  Simply excellent! (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo of day lilies against a stone wall ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Moments: Relaxing, Reading, Watching

MAINE COAST VIBE

We have been coming to mid-coast Maine for 35 years and staying in the same house for about twenty of those years. What is Maine’s everlasting appeal? Growing up, the Chief Penguin visited Maine in the summers with his parents and siblings. I had never been to Maine until a reunion of friends in 1990. My family always traveled to the Midwest: Michigan, Ohio, or Indiana, to visit grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Perhaps, it was Maine’s cool contrast to the heat and humidity of the Philadelphia area, where the C.P. and I lived then.

Little beach at low tide

Or was it the idyllic setting, that jagged rocky shoreline both hugging and sometimes perched above the ocean’s cold waters? The profusion of vibrant day lilies, red roses, and the occasional hollyhock?

Add in savoring fresh lobster on simple, not gussied up lobster rolls, or learning the art of dismantling a whole lobster steamed in seawater by our good friend Bob. Bob’s was only my second lobster, but the first of many over the years.

When in Maine, we relax and unwind. I ship up a box of books and buy yet more books from my favorite independent bookstores in Portland, Boothbay Harbor, and Damariscotta. I treat myself some days with reading time in bed before getting up. We binge watch the latest crime series or catch up with Grantchester. We even occasionally see a movie in the charming local cinema.

We visit the local botanical garden multiple times (at least once with every set of houseguests), we travel up to the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, and we enjoy dinners and lunches out with local friends. And we eagerly anticipate the annual visit of our son and family for whom Maine is one of their summer musts. Our granddaughters too have created Maine memories and traditions.

Tentatively testing the cove water

Within this peaceful space, we could easily become very lazy. We work to stay fit with frequent walks on the hilly, but quiet, neighborhood roads. The air is fresh and generally dry; some years (like this one), there is an abundance of fog and haze. Our view here is of ocean in one direction and a cove in the other. We never tire of watching the water, the push and pull of the tide over unbending rocks, with whitecaps and pounding waves on a windy day.

A place to reflect or enjoy drinks

Coastal Maine is a place where you can lose yourself in the view, both enjoying its special beauty and recognizing your small role in nature’s overall scheme.. We look forward to our time here every year.

SUMMER READING FROM MY LIST

Author Shattuck (macdowell.org)

Last House by Jessica Shattuck

Jessica Shattuck knows how to tell a good story.  This one about a family over many decades and the summer house they acquire in Vermont is absorbing and rich.  Last House is set primarily in the 1950’s to 1970’s and then later.  Nick is a lawyer working for a big oil company and his wife Bet, who aspired to earn a PhD and become a professor, is a housewife raising their two children. Nick is involved in negotiations to put the deposed shah of Iran back in power while she edits a cookbook for the equivalent of the junior league.  

Their children, Katharine and Harry, are seemingly very different.  Katharine has opinions and is somewhat wild while, Harry is in tune with nature and less driven.  After college, Katharine works for a political publication as a reporter and writer, sharing some of its editors’ views, but is not an extreme activist.  Harry drifts and spends time at Last House, their retreat from real life in Connecticut. 

Against the backdrop of the McCarthy era, the Vietnam War, and the later debates about climate change: damage to the environment and the role of fossil fuels, particularly oil, the lives of these individuals play out, often unsatisfactorily and sometimes tragically.  Last House is an engrossing novel with a cast of complex and sympathetic characters.  Recommended!  I would also recommend Shattuck’s other historical novel, The Women in the Castle.   (~JWFarrington) 

NEW CINEMA: NOT QUITE A ROM-COM

Materialists (in theaters)

What are the clients of an upscale dating agency looking for?  Their descriptions of the ideal date, a potential spouse, focus on height, looks, background and smarts, and how big a salary.  In Materialists, Lucy Mason (played by Dakota Johnson) is a matchmaker in New York for the Adore company.  She herself is single, with no interest in marrying, and possesses a successful track record in finding mates for her clients to marry.  

Harry, the brother of one of her matches, challenges her to date him and she does.  He’s super rich, good looking, and seems to have everything she could want.  Lurking in the background is her good friend John, a waiter and sometime actor, who is always happy to assist her and regularly checks in.  

The opening scene of Materialists seems crazy and part of a different movie entirely until the end.  What or who does Lucy really want in her life and how will she achieve it?  I was reminded of Jane Austen’s novels and her emphasis on women needing to find a man of property to marry, and of men of more modest backgrounds (in other novels) seeking a woman with a sizable dowry to fuel their lives together.  The film traces Lucy’s journey with Harry as she ponders and begins to realize what is most important for her life.  I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and once we got enough into it, so did the Chief Penguin! (~JWFarrington)

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved) except the one of Ms. Shattuck.