Carolina Comments: Cocooning in January

WINTER THOUGHTS

Good morning.  Like much of the country, North Carolina is experiencing a winter weather event.  For some, it will be a really massive storm with inches and possibly feet of snow; for others, after a bit of snow, the real concern is freezing rain and ice.  We’ve had just over an inch of snow and are bracing for a wintry mix later today.  If it gets above freezing, we may avoid serious ice and possible power outages.

Taste of winter in North Carolina

Meanwhile, we have nowhere to go and will stay inside cozy and warm.  Yesterday, before the storm arrived, we binge watched two episodes of The Pitt.  Last evening, as a palate (read mind) cleanser, we began Season 6 of All Creatures Great & Small.  Episode 1 is sweet and mostly joyful.  The war is ending, and Tristan returns home on leave.  As for Mrs. Hall, will she be persuaded to come back to Darrowby?  Watch to find out. We also recently viewed the intense crime series, His & Hers, on Netflix.

And there are books, two included here, for your consideration.  I have also started The Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny and made it past the first 100 pages.  It’s a tome and I’m enjoying it.  Look for comments in a future blog.

MYSTERY: DUPLICITY & DECEPTION

The Good Liar by Denise Mina

(Mina.theguardian.com)

The Good Liar is the first book I’ve read by Scottish crime novelist, Denise Mina. It’s a dense and graphic account of the murder of a prominent couple and the events afterward related to investigating the crime.  Claudia O’Sheil is a professor and a blood spatter expert who works for a forensic science company.  Sir Philip Ardmore is her boss and a supportive mentor.  Recently widowed, Claudia is overwhelmed with grief and struggling to deal with her two teenage boys, one unruly and disruptive.

Philip knew the murdered couple and the son, William, is a prime first suspect.  Who besides him had access to the couple’s apartment?  Claudia’s blood evidence results in William being charged and sentenced to prison.  But what if, William wasn’t the murderer?  And what really was the cause of Claudia’s husband James’ death?  If she was wrong about the blood evidence, what is the truth and to whom does she have an obligation to tell?

The novel moves back and forth in time as Claudia’s dilemma about what to say or not is played out against the backdrop of the murder.  There is Philip’s class and place in the power structure and questions about James and their professional colleagues and friends.  

Once I got fully into the book, I was enmeshed in the complexities of the situation.  The writing is precise and detailed and requires close reading.  Recommended for Mina fans. (~JWFarrington)

CAPTIVATING MEMOIR: FAMILY & MARRIAGE

The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly (2026)

(bethannfennelly.com)

I reviewed this book for First Impressions pre-publication in BookBrowse and am including my review here.  Publication date is late February 2026.

The Irish Goodbye is a collection of short to extremely brief writings by former poet laureate of Mississippi Beth Ann Fennelly.  It ranges from quick thoughts on married life (a cracked knee when presenting a 25th anniversary ring to folded oven mitts), to contemplating friendships old and fresh, to mourning the sudden death of a sister, to facing the deaths of other family and friends.  Much space is devoted to Fennelly’s recollections of her sister and the deep hole she has left in Fennelly’s life.  Mixed with the sadness and the wondering, there is also humor and wit. 

I found this book a delight.  As it progresses, Fennelly removes a few more layers and candidly exposes more of herself.  Her prose is succinct and precise and often sparkles. She makes you smile as you admire her adept turn of phrase.  Recommended for book clubs looking for a short powerful punch!  (~JWFarrington)

WATCHING: LIES & MURDERS

His & Hers (Netflix)

Jack & Anna (rotten tomatoes.com)

His & Hers is a six-part mystery series set in a suburb of Atlanta. Jack Harper is a county detective and his estranged wife Anna is a TV reporter who returns after having been away for a year. The death of her friend Rachel brings her back. She and Jack tangle over how the murder is covered and who is involved. At the heart of the series is set of girls who were high school classmates, some friends, some not.

The series is intense, emotions run high, there is plenty of sex, and lots of F-bombs. We thought about abandoning it after the initial episode, but somehow got sucked in and were caught up short by the ending. Overall, it’s a clever story of lies and facades, and you are kept guessing as to whose truth is the truth.

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.