Carolina Comments: January Diversions

Snow in upstate New York

It’s winter and the weather outside is cold and gray and sleety.  When not exercising in the gym or fulfilling our several committee assignments, the Chief Penguin and I find ourselves burrowing deep into reading or bingeing on a TV series.  Hence, this week, you have here a book and a medical drama.

FABULOUS NOVEL

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Author Evans (WSJ.com)

Viriginia Evans is 39 and has a stack of unpublished novels.  Disappointed and depressed, she started writing again, partly just to vent.  The result was The Correspondent, long in the making, and a word-of-mouth surprise bestseller.  It was published in 2025.  I just finished reading it, and I loved it!

It’s an epistolary novel, told totally in letters; in this case, letters to and from Sybil Van Antwerp, a divorced woman in her early 70’s.  Over the years, I’ve read a few epistolary novels.  Two have stayed with me.  One is Clarissa by Samuel Richardson, published in 1748 and considered a landmark in psychological realism. I read that one in college.  The other is An American Marriage (2018) by Tayari Jones. It uses letters between a woman and her husband, in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, to depict the shortcomings of the criminal justice system and the tensions in their relationship.

In The Correspondent, Sybil is a retired lawyer who was in private practice with Guy Donnelly.  When he became a judge, she served as his clerk.  Her career was central to who she is.  Sybil has always liked order and is not afraid to write, (but not speak) her mind. She has two adult children, a childhood friend, Rosalie, and a brother, Felix.  She writes to her family and friends and also to well-known authors (Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry being two examples) and even to a customer service staff member from Syria.  

The letters are written over the course of nine years and through them, the reader also gets to know Sybil’s children Bruce and Fiona; her best friend Rosalie; her neighbor Theodore Lubeck; Harry, a troubled teenager; her Texan suitor Mick; and what books she’s reading.  The presence of Harry and the gift of a DNA test kit open new horizons for Sybil and shake up her previously quiet existence.  

I found Sybil a fascinating character and a fully realized and convincing senior citizen. I was engaged with her and Rosalie and the ups and downs of their 60-year friendship. I also sympathized with Sybil as she tried to sort out why she and her daughter Fiona were somewhat at odds. There’s humor and poignancy and very real human emotion in these letters.  And anyone who’s a lover of books will smile over Sybil’s leisure reading.  Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)

COMPELLING VIEWING

The Pitt Season 1 (HBO Max)

Dr. Robby (amazon.com)

The Chief Penguin and I joined the Dr. Robby fan club as soon as we began watching The Pitt.  Set in an emergency room in a Pittsburgh hospital, this fictional series is intense, realistic, and compelling.  Each episode, there are 15 episodes in Season 1, covers one hour of the day in this ER.  At the head of it all is Dr. Michael Robinavitch, aka Dr. Robby, head nurse Dana, and a bevy of doctors, medical students, and other staff dealing with the arriving patients.  

Some cases are gory accidents needing immediate attention, others are less serious, while sometimes the most difficult aspect of a case is not the medical treatment, but dealing with family members.  Parents or adult children who are upset and in denial about their son’s or their father’s chances for recovery.  Also evident is the impact on the medical staff of providing care in this stressful environment.  How do they develop the resilience needed to continue after losing their first or their fiftieth patient.  

Overall, the series producers have a doctor evaluating the episodes as they film them to make the series as close to a real ER situation as possible within its fictional context.  Dr. Robby is played by Noah Wyle who had a lead role in the earlier ER TV series.  

We are three episodes into the first season, and Season 2 has just been released.  The episodes are graphic and can be hard to watch, perhaps too much for some, but we are definitely hooked!  (~JWFarrington)

FORTHCOMING  

Notes on the Netflix crime drama, His & Hers, and a mystery novel by Denise Mina.

Note: Header winter photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Comments: Movies & Food

RECENT VIEWING

A Logger’s Life in the West:  Train Dreams (Netflix)

Robert and forestry worker Claire (altaonline.com)

Train Dreams is a quiet serious film set in the Pacific Northwest in the early 20th century and based on a novella by Denis Johnson.  Logging was at its peak, and trains were the fastest means of transportation across great distances.  

Robert Grainier is a logger, a dreamer, and something of a loner.  He joins crews doing that demanding and dangerous work, leaving home and going wherever there is work to be had.  When he meets and marries the lively Gladys, he builds them a small cabin.  Reluctantly, he goes on the road for months at a time.  Life unfolds slowly and then with a bang.

Robert is the focus and principal character.  The viewer follows and experiences his challenges and his life’s tragedies in a changing America. The forests are gorgeous, action is at a minimum, and overall, it’s the depiction of one man’s life.  His story is told partly in voiceover, and the narrator’s low tones resonate with understated emotion.  It’s a good film and worth the investment of time.     

Race Relations in Durham:  Best of Enemies (Rent on Amazon)

With the events in Minneapolis this week and the resulting demonstrations across the country, it seems appropriate to re-visit 1971 in this moving film. I lived through this time as an adult, like many of my friends, but in Massachusetts, not the South.

C. P. Ellis, charrette leader Bill Riddick, & Ann Atwater (nytimes.com)

Best of Enemies is a 2109 film about the 1971 movement toward desegregation of the public schools in Durham, North Carolina.  Black activist Ann Atwater and her Operation Breakthrough group face off against the white community, especially the Klansmen led by gas station owner C. P. Ellis.  After a Black school is mostly destroyed in a fire, a court order mandates that the community hold a 2-week charrette, work together, and come up with a set of resolutions that their elected body of citizens will vote on.  In the process, the two principals, Atwater and Ellis, slowly recognize that they have some things in common and form a tentative relationship.

It’s a superb film—compelling, forceful, and occasionally painful to watch.  The South, particularly Durham in 1971, was a different place for Blacks than it is today.  It is history worth acknowledging and alas, timely, given that there are those in Washington who want to marginalize “the other,” anyone different, from another country, or not white.  Thanks to a local friend for suggesting we watch it.  Highly recommended!

CASUAL DINING IN CARY

Downtown Cary is developing its own unique restaurant row along East Chatham and Cedar Streets.  Hank’s Downtown Dive, several pizza places, Taipei 101, Pro’s Epicurean Ristorante, and Scratch Kitchen offer European, American, and Chinese fare.  Add in Zest Sushi for Japanese rolls and more, and now Lawrence Barbecue.  

Also underway is the transformation of a 1950’s era service station into Lloyd’s Full Service on the corner of Academy and E. Chatham Streets.  When this restaurant is completed, late this year or early next, it will have a fire pit and a stage for live music.

Lawrence Barbecue Cary

Pulled pork sandwich and sides, Lawrence Barbecue (JWFarrington)

Chef owned Lawrence Barbecue  has two large smokers and an eclectic menu.  Think barbecued pork, smoked beef brisket, crispy chicken, and a range of side dishes from Brussels sprouts two ways, jackfruit, wonderful tater tots, and a rich mac and cheese.  Add in oysters on the half shell, and there’s something for everyone. 

The main space is open and simple with bare tables and a full bar at one end; just outside, there are plenty of picnic tables for the warm weather.  Diners early this weeknight evening included two families with little kids, some young couples, and a few seniors.

For our inaugural meal, the Chief Penguin and I each ordered the straightforward pulled pork sandwich, piled high on a soft bun with pickles and a bit of cole slaw.  It comes with a choice of side and, we got one standard one, the all-purpose tots which were super, and the mac cheese, a premium side.  Everything was tasty, and Tyler provided great service.  We will be back!

Carolina Comments: Reading into the New Year

STACKS OF BOOKS

One of my January pleasures is eying my stack of new books waiting to be read.  In our family, books are frequent Christmas gifts, and I eagerly anticipate adding to my Kindle list or stack of new titles.  This year was no exception and before the year even turned over, I got underway on some new additions.

RECENT READING

LIBRARY SERVICE IN MONTANA: The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes

Author Labuskes (amazon.com)

Set in Montana during the Depression, this historical novel focuses on the creation of a mobile library in a train car.  The library travels to remote mining camps to provide books for the miners and their families.  But it’s much more than a library story.  

Three young women become entwined in this tale of workers’ rights, a controlling mining company, and the Federal Writers’ Project.  Alice is a wealthy woman who starts the library; Colette signs on as the traveling librarian, but she is also quietly seeking justice for her murdered father; while Millie, an aspiring writer, is sent to Montana to investigate why the team there has not submitted their Montana history.  And to find out what happened to one of the earlier librarians.  

The novel alternates voices, moves around in time, and almost tries to do too much.  But I found it fascinating, and having visited the Kalispell area, had a bit of familiarity with the setting.  Thanks to my friend Sharon for recommending it!  (~JWFarrington)

END OF LIFE: Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer

Packer (harpercollins.com)

Years ago, I read Ann Packer’s excellent novel, The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, so I was primed to want to read her latest, Some Bright Nowhere.  It is not a happy novel, and I have mixed feelings about recommending it.

Claire and Eliot have been married for almost forty years.  For eight years, Claire has been treated for cancer, but now the end is near.  No more treatments, just keeping her engaged and comfortable.  On the surface, their marriage has been a good one, but Claire has two very close female friends, Holly and Michelle, who arrive and become involved in her care.  

When Claire asks Eliot to leave her to the care of her friends and move out, there is something of a rupture and resentment on his part.  The next few months play out with Eliot’s coming and going and visits from their adult children and grandchildren.  The details are the messy stuff of human relationships and yet dotted with poignant moments.  I didn’t much care for Eliot and wasn’t sure about Claire.  Well written, but somewhat painful to read.  (~JWFarrington)

COLOR IN ONE FAMILY:

The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir by Martha S. Jones

Martha Jones (loc.gov)

Historian and professor, Martha Jones, has applied her prodigious research skills and analysis to discovering the hidden stories of her forebears.  The Trouble of Color is a fascinating excavation into the earlier generations and layers of her family.  Some were free members of society, some were enslaved, a few were white, but most were Black.  Often couples where one had crossed the color line (white marrying Black) were classed in the census as “mulatto” rather than Black.  This classification gave the couple a form of protection, since if the white individual had been outed, the consequences for both would have been dire.  

Before the Civil War, her enslaved female relatives usually bore multiple children to the plantation owner, their owner.  Some of these children married, had children of their own and, after emancipation, had the chance for a college education.  It was eye-opening and impressive to learn how certain of her relatives achieved success in the clergy or in higher education, all while still having to deal with the restrictions of the Reconstruction era and Jim Crow laws.

Much of her family’s history takes place in nearby Greensboro and learning more about the events there added to my appreciation of Jones’ remarkable story.  A family tree, even a partial one, would have more clearly demonstrated some of the notable interconnections between owners and enslaved.  Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)

WAITING TO BE READ

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

A surprise bestselling novel based on letters by a North Carolina author in Winston Salem.

Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser

Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year, a novel about a young girl’s weekly trips to the art museum.  This is Schlesser’s 2nd novel and his American debut.

The Note by Alafair Burke

A suspense novel by an Edgar-nominated author and former prosecutor, new to me.

The Six Loves of James 1 by Gareth Russell

A new biography of King James 1, successor to Queen Elizabeth 1, expanding upon his sexuality, his power, and his love affairs. Russell is a Northern Irish historian and author.

Manhattan Moments: Holiday Escapes

RELAXING WITH HOLIDAY FILMS

“When the weather outside is frightful….”  It wasn’t frightful, but definitely December cold and windy, so over the past week, we hunkered down most evenings and watched a series of holiday films including the Call the Midwife special.  Plus one with Diane Keaton we hadn’t ever seen.  Here’s our round-up.

Love Actually (Amazon Prime)

I’m a big fan of Bill Nighy’s, and in Love Actually (2003), he plays an irreverent, inappropriate aging rock star.  Against the backdrop of “All You Need is Love,” several distinct kinds of love stories play out in the weeks leading up to Christmas. There are the two young actors filming a movie sex scene, the little boy who loves a girl in his class and wants to be noticed, a husband possibly straying from his long-suffering wife, and the handsome prime minister who’s attracted to one of his staff.  The cast is a great one including Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, and Hugh Grant. 

We have watched this film at least three times, and it never fails to entertain us.  Definitely not for young kids, but fun and heartwarming with a feel-good message.  At the end, you can’t help but sing along!

The Holiday (Amazon Prime)

I wasn’t sure we had seen The Holiday (2006) before but remembered the premise. Two young women, one English and the other American, having just broken up with or been jilted by their respective boyfriends, agree to do a house exchange.  Amanda in Los Angeles goes to spend 2 weeks in Iris’ cozy English cottage, while Iris trades snowy winter for California sun and a big house with a pool. Iris’s brother Graham shows up one night at his sister’s and unexpectedly meets Amanda.   

Iris tries to put her cad boyfriend Jeremy behind her and helps an elderly man get the recognition he deserves for his show business career. It is Christmas time, but life has its complexities in this rom-com with some serious twists.  Another notable cast with Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, and Jude Law. 

Hampstead (Acorn)

Hampstead (2017) is a Diane Keaton film we had never seen.  It’s inspired by a true story, and in it, Keaton, playing widow Emily Walters, takes up the cause of  seemingly homeless Donald Horner who has built himself a shack on part of Hampstead Heath.  Emily’s neighbors object to his dwelling, but she and others rally to his defense and eventually go to court with him.  It’s a sweet film with a poignant message.  Donald is played by Brendan Gleason, and Lesley Manvile is one of Emily’s busybody neighbors.

Call the Midwife Christmas Special 2025 (PBS)

Every year the Call the Midwife series presents a one-off, 2-hour Christmas special.  I confess we have never watched it before this year.  This one is set in Hong Kong and at Nonnatus House.  Dr. Turner and his wife, along with several of the sisters, are in Hong Kong to help out after the collapse of an orphanage building.  The Hong Kong they discover is not a pretty sight, and they come face to face with violent organized crime.  They also hope to find May’s mother Esther. 

On the home front, there are the usual complicated childbirths, Christmas celebrations, and the return of a Poplar native to the apartment where he was born.  For those viewers, who think that life is always rosy in this historical series, this entry is a stark contrast to many other episodes.  Yes, the themes of care and compassion, goodwill and respect for others are here, but there is also a dark underside which gives it greater depth and greater realism.  Highly recommended! 

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)