Across So Many Seas. Ruth Behar. 2024. 272 pages. [Source: Library] [interconnected stories; novellas; historical fiction; mg]

First sentence: The sound of trumpets coming from the direction of our town gates tears me from sleep, my dreams forgotten as I jolt out of bed.

Premise/plot: Across So Many Seas contains four interconnected (three super-connected) historical stories or novellas. The time periods are 1492 (Spain), 1923 (Turkey), 1961 (Cuba), and 2003 (Miami, Florida). 

The novel opens with Benvenida, our twelve-year-old narrator, learning of a new decree. ALL Jews must either a) convert to Christianity b) leave the country [Spain] or c) disobey by staying and risk being hanged. Some of the community--including some of her extended family--do choose to convert. They do not want to leave their homes, businesses, etc. The story chronicles their exodus as they flee their country and seek a new homeland. It's a tough, demanding journey.

The three following stories follow three generations of the same family. Reina, Alegra, and Paloma star in compelling stories of their own. The stories examine coming of age from a Jewish perspective. Though that isn't really doing any of the stories justice. There is great turmoil in the first three stories. In the first, the Jewish population is being persecuted. In the second, the family is living in a newly independent Turkey. In the third, she is coming of age in the midst of Cuba's revolution. The fourth story "closes the circle" or "bridges the gap" the narrator is traveling with her family to Spain to learn more about their cultural history. 

My thoughts: I found this a great read. I really was invested with ALL of the stories. I sped through it. I used to speed through books all the time. As I get older, as my vision worsens, as reading becomes more physically demanding, I don't always give in to "page-turners." But I absolutely loved this one. 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Christmas on Deery Street and Other Seasonal Stories. Steven Roberts. 2006. 100 pages. [Source: Review copy] [short story collection]

First sentence: Everyone called him Blondie. Most didn't know why.

Premise/plot: Christmas on Deery Street is a collection of short stories by Steven Roberts. This is the third time I've read it, I believe. It features a handful of short stories: "Christmas on Deery Street," "Nanny's Locket," "Magic Socks," "The Angel of Union Station," "Our Star," and "You've Done Enough."

These are holiday-themed short stories almost always focusing on family and friends. 

My thoughts: The stories? How to describe them? They make me feel good. Warm and fuzzy. But not in a cheesy way. I know if I call them heartfelt or sentimental that someone will say, "that's not for me." And that would be a disservice. The stories cover a lot of emotions. There is love and heartache and loss and sadness. There is anger and guilt. There is hope. There is regret. And there is plenty of humor. But above all there is a feeling of genuineness, authenticity, a realness, knowing that these stories are indeed true-to-life and true to the human spirit.

I think I read the collection too quickly this time around. In previous reviews I said I loved all the stories--each and every one. This time around, perhaps because I was rushing it, perhaps because I've been in a reading slump, I found myself loving the first three to four stories and merely 'liking' the remaining. It could be a me thing.

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Refusal Camp. James R. Benn. 2023. [March] 255 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: I rejoice in the Sabbath. Not for the words of the English preacher or for the hardwood bench in the rear of their Sunday god's church. 

Premise/plot: James R. Benn's The Refusal Camp is a collection of short stories. It's a blend of history, mystery, and war--for the most part. Not all stories fit into a neat category. The stories span centuries. The stories are as follows:

• The Horse Chestnut Tree
• The Two Neds
• Glass
• Red Christmas
• The Refusal Camp
• Irish Tommy
• Billy Boyle: The Lost Prologue
• The Secret of Hemlock Hill
• Vengeance Weapon

The Refusal Camp, the title story, features the girlfriend of Billy Boyle in her undercover identity. Irish Tommy features Billy Boyle's father and uncle. The Lost Prologue to the novel Billy Boyle does not feature Billy Boyle. It does tie into the first book, but, Billy Boyle himself is not present. The other stories are definitely stand-alone stories. (I think ALL of the stories can be read that way.)

My thoughts: I would rate the story "Glass" to be FIVE STAR all the way. It is one of the BEST, BEST, BEST short stories I've read in years. I highly recommend seeking out this story. Even if it's your own story to read from this collection, it's worth a check out from the library.

Plenty of the stories I would rate as four stars. The characterization is there. Many are oh-so-human. It's hard not to get attached to the characters and their stories. The stories can be a little dark and gritty. Not for shock value, at least I don't think so, but because war is horrifying and traumatic. 

My least favorite story is probably The Secret of Hemlock Hill. I didn't personally want to read about over-enthusiastic "archaeologists" or "historians" dig up graves to see if they can find Civil War era stuff to sell.

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

I, Robot. Isaac Asimov. 1950. 304 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: I looked at my notes and I didn’t like them. I’d spent three days at U.S. Robots and might as well have spent them at home with the Encyclopedia Tellurica.
Susan Calvin had been born in the year 1982, they said, which made her seventy-five now. Everyone knew that. Appropriately enough, U.S. Robot and Mechanical Men, Inc., was seventy-five also, since it had been in the year of Dr. Calvin’s birth that Lawrence Robertson had first taken out incorporation papers for what eventually became the strangest industrial giant in man’s history. Well, everyone knew that, too.

Premise/plot: I, Robot is a collection of interconnected stories dealing with humanity's volatile (ever-changing) relationship with robot technology. The framework is a narrator (a reporter) interviewing people and accessing files and records. There are recurring characters in some of the stories. But not all the stories are connected tightly with one another. Each story really focuses on the advancement of robot (technology) and how that evolution effects humanity. Is the advancement of robots endangering humanity? Are the three laws enough? Are there good, valid reasons to fear robots? Or do the robots truly just want to protect humanity?

The stories are "Robbie," "Runaround," "Reason," "Catch That Rabbit," "Liar," "Little Lost Robot," "Escape!" "Evidence," "The Evitable Conflict." 

The three laws are
1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
2) A robot must obey orders givein to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

My thoughts: I had LOW expectations. I was surprised by how much I liked the stories. But even more surprised by how much I liked the writing in these stories. I was expecting premise-heavy, plot-driven action. I wasn't expecting there to be depth and substance. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is character-driven. (It's not really.) But it is thoughtfully written. 

Some of the stories (aka chapters) were previously published in magazines during the 1940s. 

Quotes:

“Fifty years,” I hackneyed, “is a long time.”

“Not when you’re looking back at them,” she said. “You wonder how they vanished so quickly.”

She went back to her desk and sat down. She didn’t need expression on her face to look sad, somehow.

“How old are you?” she wanted to know.

“Thirty-two,” I said.

“Then you don’t remember a world without robots. There was a time when humanity faced the universe alone and without a friend. Now he has creatures to help him; stronger creatures than himself, more faithful, more useful, and absolutely devoted to him. Mankind is no longer alone. Have you ever thought of it that way?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t. May I quote you?”

“You may. To you, a robot is a robot. Gears and metal; electricity and positrons.—Mind and iron! Human-made! If necessary, human-destroyed! But you haven’t worked with them, so you don’t know them. They’re a cleaner better breed than we are.”
I tried to nudge her gently with words, “We’d like to hear some of the things you could tell us; get your views on robots. The Interplanetary Press reaches the entire Solar System. Potential audience is three billion, Dr. Calvin. They ought to know what you could tell them on robots.”

Slowly, the robot obeyed. His photoelectric eyes focused reproachfully upon the Earthman.

“There is no Master but the Master,” he said, “and QT-1 is his prophet.”

“Huh?” Donovan became aware of twenty pairs of mechanical eyes fixed upon him and twenty stiff-timbred voices declaiming solemnly:

“There is no Master but the Master and QT-1 is his prophet!”

“I’m afraid,” put in Cutie himself at this point, “that my friends obey a higher one than you, now.”

“The hell they do! You get out of here. I’ll settle with you later and with these animated gadgets right now.”

“No,” said Powell bitterly, “he’s a reasoning robot—damn it. He believes only reason, and there’s one trouble with that—” His voice trailed away.

“What’s that?” prompted Donovan.

“You can prove anything you want by coldly logical reason—if you pick the proper postulates. We have ours and Cutie has his.”

“Then let’s get at those postulates in a hurry. The storm’s due tomorrow.”

Powell sighed wearily. “That’s where everything falls down. Postulates are based on assumption and adhered to by faith. Nothing in the Universe can shake them. I’m going to bed.”

“Oh, hell! I can’t sleep!”

“Neither can I! But I might as well try—as a matter of principle.”

The unwritten motto of United States Robot and Mechanical Men Corp. was well-known: “No employee makes the same mistake twice. He is fired the first time.”

Oh, well that’s too bad. I mean, your field-engineers are swell, but can’t we get you into this? Didn’t you ever have a robot go wrong on you? It’s your anniversary, you know.”

And so help me she blushed. She said, “Robots have gone wrong on me. Heavens, how long it’s been since I thought of it. Why, it was almost forty years ago. Certainly! 2021! And I was only thirty-eight. Oh, my—I’d rather not talk about it.”

I waited, and sure enough she changed her mind. “Why not?” she said. “It cannot harm me now. Even the memory can’t. I was foolish once, young man. Would you believe that?”

“No,” I said.

“I was. But Herbie was a mind-reading robot.”

“What?”

“Only one of its kind, before or since. A mistake,—somewheres—”

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Surprise for Christmas And Other Seasonal Mysteries. Martin Edwards, Editor. 2021 (US) 2020 (UK). 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Love mysteries and suspense? Enjoy holiday/winter themed short stories? I recommend Martin Edwards' newest collection for the British Library Crime series. The series includes novels and short story collections. (I have read several in this series, but not all by any means!)

The stories included in this collection are as follows:

The Black Bag Left On a Doorstep by Catharine Louisa Pirkis
The Hole in the Wall by G.K. Chesterton
Death on the Air by Ngaio Marsh
Persons or Things Unknown by Carter Dickson
Dead Man's Hand by E.R. Punshon
The Christmas Eve Ghost by Ernest Dudley
Dick Whittington's Cat by Victor Canning
A Surprise for Christmas by Cyril Hare
On Christmas Day in the Morning by Margery Allingham
Give Me a Ring by Gilbert Lucy Malleson
Father Christmas Comes to Orbins by Julian Symons
The Turn-Again Bell by Barry Perowne

I found the collection to be a blend of familiar authors and new-to-me authors. Most of the stories stayed within the mystery/suspense genre. A couple, however, flirted with other genres or sub-genres. For example, stories that focused on crimes from the criminal point of view. One story is definitely ALL thriller. (Give Me a Ring was a LONG thriller-esque story that kept me turning pages.)

I enjoyed almost all of the stories within this collection. (Perhaps with the exception of Father Christmas Comes to Orbins. I don't know WHERE I've read the story before. Perhaps in another Christmas-themed collection. But I didn't enjoy it the first time around. A few paragraphs in, I was THAT STORY AGAIN??? 

Still for the most part I can wholeheartedly recommend this collection for those that enjoy this genre. 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Translated into English by Geoffrey Trousselot. 2019. 213 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "Oh, gosh, is that the time? Sorry, I have to go," the man mumbled evasively, as he stood up and reached for his bag.

Premise/plot: Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a collection of inter-connected short stories set in a special cafe. The stories are "The Lovers," "Husband and Wife," "The Sisters," and "Mother and Child."

So what makes the cafe so special? Well, there's one special chair--usually occupied by a GHOST--that allows the person to visit the past or future. Their visit will be a short one--the duration of a cup of coffee. They must return to the present....you guessed it...before the coffee gets cold...or there will be consequences. There are rules that make this "time travel" challenging. You have to stay seated in that exact chair. The person you're visiting must have visited the cafe at some point. And absolutely nothing you do in the past during your visit will change the present. Since a GHOST is occupying the one and only chair with magical time traveling capacities, you have to WAIT (no matter how long) for your turn.

Each person who travels in Before The Coffee Gets Cold is desperate. Can their be resolution and peace when the present can never be altered or changed?

My thoughts: I see there is a cat on the cover. I honestly don't remember a cat in the story?! Did I miss it?! Is it just their to tease us?! 

Anyway, I liked this one. I almost feel like every reader would have to read it twice--maybe even three times--to "get" it. I remember feeling the exact same when I watched the movie Inception for the first time. I went into it thinking the only thing linking the stories was the place and the element of time travel--but I was wrong. I didn't realize it in time to really appreciate it. But maybe YOU will--if you haven't read it yet. Don't be afraid to jot down notes--I wish I had.

 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Captain's Daughter: Essential Stories. Alexander Pushkin. TRANSLATED BY ANTHONY BRIGGS. (New translation copyrighted 2021). 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) is the father of modern Russian culture, the man who reformed the Russian literary language, and, in a short lifetime of less than thirty-seven years, left a legacy of outstanding works in several genres, some of them newly invented.

Premise/plot: This book features the novella, The Captain's Daughter, and two short stories The Stationmaster and The Queen of Spades. It also features a spoiler-heavy introduction. The book, as a whole, introduces new readers to this Russian author. 

The Captain's Daughter (1836) takes up the bulk of the book. Pyotr Grinyov, our hero, has many adventures and misadventures. But those misadventures may just be his salvation in the end. The novel soon has him underway to his first military posting. It is remote, rural, far from ideal--as far as he's concerned. 

I could be like the introduction and spoil every little detail of the novel. But I won't. I refuse to play that game. No, I'll simply share that it's told in first person and he's recounting his adventures/misadventures. The incidences in his life--some apparently minor, others not so much--that has led him to where he is. 

The title gives away that at some point there will be a captain and a captain's daughter...but I will leave it to readers to connect the dots to predict how it will turn out.

The Stationmaster (1831) is another first hand narrative. If the narrator is clearly named, I personally missed it. But essentially he is recounting three separate visits to this out of the way station. On his first visit, he meets a beguiling, beautiful, flirtatious young woman, Dunya, who is the station master's daughter. On the second visit, he reintroduces himself to the father and learns that the daughter has long been gone. The father is distraught about the circumstances and fears the worst. The third visit has the potential to be the most depressing ever ending (for a non Thomas Hardy book), but a twist makes it only slightly sad or mildly happy.

The Queen of Spades (1834) is the final short story. Hermann, our anti-hero, stars in this short story. His friend tells the story of his grandmother--an elderly countess. This story--a story of a SECRET that every gambler would kill for--leads to obsession and.... well, let's just say it doesn't end well for most of the characters.
 

My thoughts:  Let's begin with the introduction. On the one hand, it did contain some useful tidbits about who Pushkin was, when he lived, when he wrote, what he wrote, how his work was received, who he influenced, etc. On the other hand, why did the introduction have to SPOIL the novel and each story. It's like being handed a balloon, and then having the person handing it to you pop it with a pin and a grin. Seriously.

Now on to the Captain's Daughter. I loved this one. I did. It didn't have me at hello. It took a chapter (or two). But once I settled into the novel, it was love. It was SO enjoyable and not at all intimidating. Perhaps because of its length, perhaps because of its narrative style, perhaps because Pushkin was just that good at setting, characters, pacing, storytelling. I liked how the story blended in an actual historical figure, Yemelyan Pugachov, a revolutionary imposter. You know how reading Russian lit sometimes feel like WORK how it takes a LOT of effort to get a reward. This wasn't like that. It didn't feel like work and there was still a lovely reward.

Now on to The Stationmaster. I liked this one. It actually reminded me of L.M. Montgomery in some ways. It wasn't a thrilling story. There wasn't any adventure or action in it. But the characters felt real. In comparison with The Captain's Daughter it wasn't as satisfying. But it also was just a fraction of the length with just a few characters.

Finally....my thoughts on the Queen of Spades. I am SO GLAD this wasn't my first exposure to Pushkin. If this one short story was all I ever read of Pushkin, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth. (Yes, I know books aren't for eating.) I could see how it could appeal to some literary types. This one gives off major literary (elite) vibes. But it just wasn't for me. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to those wanting to read Russian literature and not knowing quite where to begin. It can be daunting to hand off Anna Karenina, War and Peace, or The Brothers Karamazov, or Crime and Punishment. (I've not read War and Peace, I have read all the others). I also like that he is an EARLY novelist and credited with really transforming the Russian language. (I'll take the editor's word on that.) He switched from writing poetry (he was writing at the same time as the Romantics like Byron) to prose when the public taste changed. 

The Captain's Daughter--the novella--is SO good. Definitely recommend it. The other stories are bonuses as far as I'm concerned. 

 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Christmas Day in the Morning. Pearl S. Buck. Adapted by David T. Warner. 2020. 48 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Robert woke suddenly and completely. It was four o'clock, the hour when his father had always called him to get up and help with the milking. That was fifty years ago.

Premise/plot: Christmas Day in the Morning is a short story written by Pearl Buck originally published in 1955 for a magazine. Robert, the narrator, is reflecting back on the true meaning of Christmas. In remembering one particular Christmas of his childhood--he is inspired anew to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

My thoughts: I liked this one. I haven't read any of Pearl S. Buck's shorter works so this was nice. I did like the theme of this one--that Christmas is all about giving and receiving love. I would recommend it to adults (or to readers of any age) that enjoy sentimental, feel-good, Christmas-themed books. 

This one includes several blank pages in case readers are inspired to write a message to a loved one and pass it along. 

 

© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury. HarperCollins. 1958/2006 edition. 268 pages. [Source: Library] [science fiction; short stories; classic]

One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs, along the icy streets.
And then a long wave of warmth crossed the small town. A flooding sea of hart air; it seemed as if someone had left a bakery door open. The heat pulsed among the cottages and bushes and children. The icicles dropped, shattering, to melt. The doors flew open. The windows flew up. The children worked off their wool clothes. The housewives shed their bear disguises. The snow dissolved and showed last summer's ancient green lawns.
Rocket summer. The words passed among the people in the open, airing houses. Rocket summer. The warm desert air changing the frost patterns on the windows, erasing the art work. The skis and sleds suddenly useless. The snow, falling from the cold sky upon the town, turned to a hot rain before it touched the ground. Rocket summer. People leaned from their dripping porches and watched the reddening sky. (1)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. This is the second or third time (probably fourth) I've read this one. And each time I read it, I end up loving it even more. It's like each time I'm surprised by how much I love it. Like in between readings I forget how engaging and compelling it is. I settle into thinking that it was just me exaggerating things (again). That it couldn't possibly be that good. But no. It is that good.

The edition I read this time had twenty-seven stories; some of these 'stories' are just vignettes, or short preludes, transition pieces of a paragraph or two. But many are full-length stories. There are some great stories in this one.

• January 2030 Rocket Summer
• February 2030 Ylla
• August 2030 The Summer Night
• August 2030 The Earth Men
• March 2031 The Taxpayer
• April 2031 The Third Expedition
• June 2032 --And the Moon Be Still as Bright
• August 2032 The Settlers
• December 2032 The Green Morning
• February 2033 The Locusts
• August 2033 Night Meeting
• October 2033 The Shore
• November 2033 The Fire Balloons
• February 2034 Interim
• April 2034 The Musicians
• May 2034 The Wilderness
• 2035-2036 The Naming of Names
• April 2036 Usher II
• August 2030 The Old Ones
• September 2036 The Martian
• November 2036 The Luggage Store
• November 2036 The Off Season
• November 2036 The Watchers
• December 2036 The Silent Towns
• April 2057 The Long Years
• August 2057 There Will Come Soft Rains
• October 2057 The Million Year Picnic

1950 edition of The Martian Chronicles

I wasn't aware that there were different editions of this one, and that the stories could vary depending on the edition. Also the dates have been modified (by thirty years) in some editions, like the edition I read this time around. The very, very newest edition has the original dates, 1999-2026. This newest edition does not have "The Fire Balloons." Also, instead of "The Wilderness" it has "Way in the Middle of the Air."

My thoughts on individual stories, and, first sentences from the stories

"Ylla"

They had a house of crystal pillars on the planet Mars by the edge of an empty sea, and every morning you could see Mrs. K eating the golden fruits that grew from the crystal walls, or cleaning the house with handfuls of magnetic dust which, taking all dirt with it, blew away on the hot wind.

A story told solely from the perspective of the Martians, in this case, a husband and wife. A husband has a very definite reaction to his wife's strange dreams. She dreams of a man, Nathaniel York, coming in a ship, in a rocket, and landing. The dream even tells her where and when. But her controlling and perhaps jealous husband has a way of dealing--for once and for all--with his wife's dreams.

"The Earth Men"

Whoever was knocking at the door didn't want to stop. Mrs. Ttt threw the door open. "Well?"

The story of the second expedition. Let's just say that the welcoming committee wasn't quite what they expected! First, NO ONE wanted to bother with them, then they were greeted by a strange assortment of Martians all claiming to be from Earth. And then....well, that wouldn't be polite of me to spoil it!

"The Third Expedition" (aka Mars is Heaven)

The ship came down from space. It came from the stars and the black velocities, and the shining movements, and the silent gulfs of space. It was a new ship; it had fire in its body and men in its metal cells, and it moved with a clean silence, fiery and warm. In it were seventeen men, including a captain. 

This one is a classic short story that you may have stumbled across in another context from The Martian Chronicles. (I've heard two radio adaptations, for example.) And the title is self-explanatory. It is the story of what happens when the third expedition lands. It is the story of what they see and  WHO they see. It is a story that stretches you, perhaps. But it's a good one!

"--And the Moon Be Still As Bright"

It was so cold when they first came from the rocket into the night that Spender began to gather the dry Martian wood and build a small fire. He didn't say anything about a celebration; he merely gathered the wood, set fire to it, and watched it burn.

And now we're on to the fourth expedition, the fourth rocket ship to successfully land on Mars. This time they manage to stay alive past the initial day or two or three. This is the story of what happens when one of the crew members, Spender, goes off on his own to learn the Martian culture, to explore the ruins, to explore the cities, to examine the artifacts and remnants of a culture that is gone with the wind. What happens next...well....there are a million reasons why readers shouldn't sympathize with Spender, but, like Captain Wilder, they may feel the pull all the same.

"The Settlers"

The men of Earth came to Mars. They came because they were afraid or unafraid, because they were happy or unhappy, because they felt like Pilgrims or did not feel like Pilgrims. There was a reason for each man. They were leaving bad wives or bad jobs or bad towns; they were coming to find something or leave something or get something, to dig up something or bury something or leave something alone. They were coming with small dreams or large dreams or none at all.

One of my favorite vignettes. For some reason it reminds me of John Steinbeck.

"Night Meeting"

Before going on up into the blue hills, Tomas Gomez stopped for gasoline at the lonely station.

There is something haunting and fantastical about this short story of a human and Martian meeting and not exactly seeing the same reality.

"The Fire Balloons"

Fire exploded over summer night lawns. 

 I first read "The Fire Balloons" in another collection of Ray Bradbury stories. I didn't, at the time, see it as being part of The Martian Chronicles. (And, in fact, it wasn't part of the edition I first read.) But now it is one of my favorite stories! In it two priests go to Mars as missionaries. One at least was expecting, was hoping, to meet Martians, to actually BE a missionary TO Martians, to an alien species. So when given the opportunity of going out into the hills and trying to communicate with blue balloon-like hovering creatures OR ministering to humans who have migrated to Mars, the answer is clear to Father Peregrine. But do the Martians need his church? This story has one of my favorite quotes:

"Father Peregrine, won't you ever be serious?"
"Not until the good Lord is. Oh, don't look so terribly shocked, please. The Lord is not serious. In fact, it is a little hard to know just what else He is except loving. And love has to do with humor, doesn't it? For you cannot love someone unless you put up with him, can you? And you cannot put up with someone constantly unless you can laugh at him. Isn't that true? And certainly we are ridiculous little animals wallowing in the fudge bowl, and God must love us all the more because we appeal to His humor."

 "The Wilderness"

Oh, the Good Time has come at last--
It was twilight and Janice and Leonora packed steadily in their summer house, singing songs, eating little, and holding to each other when necessary. But they never glanced at the window where the night gathered deep and the stars came out bright and cold.

This is another story that I ended up loving. And it was new-to-me too, it not being part of the original. But in this story we meet two women who are about to travel to Mars to get married and settle down. (The men having gone first.) The story likens exploring and settling Mars to exploring and settling the Old West (places like Wyoming, California, Oregon, etc.) It is about how the two handle their last night on Earth.

Is this how it was over a century ago, she wondered, when the women, the night before, lay ready for sleep, or not ready, in the small towns of the East, and heard the sound of horses in the night and the creak of the Conestoga wagons ready to go, and the brooding of oxen under the trees, and the cry of children already lonely before their time?...Is this then how it was so long ago? On the rim of the precipice, on the edge of the cliff of stars. In their time the smell of buffalo, and in our time the smell of the Rocket. Is then then how it was? And she decided, as sleep assumed the dreaming for her, that yes, yes indeed, very much so, irrevocably, this was as it had always been and would forever continue to be. 

"Usher II" (aka Carnival of Madness)

"During the whole of a dull, dark and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher..." Mr. William Stendahl paused in his quotation. There, upon a low black hill, stood the house, its cornerstone bearing the inscription: 2036 A.D.

I remembered this as being one of the stories in A PLEASURE TO BURN, a Ray Bradbury collection celebrating the creative stories leading up to the writing/publishing of Fahrenheit 451. And it was first published as "Carnival of Madness." But it was also part of Ray Bradbury's book, The Martian Chronicles. And it is perhaps one of the most memorable of the collection. It is a true must read for anyone who loves Fahrenheit 451, for it continues on some of the same themes. I don't want to say too much about it really, because it shouldn't be spoiled at all if you want to get the full enjoyment of it!

"The Martian"

The blue mountains lifted into the rain and the rain fell down into the long canals and old LaFarge and his wife came out of their house to watch. 

An elderly couple have come to Mars and one night they are surprised by the appearance of their "son" (who died and was buried back on Earth). Their "son" doesn't want to leave the house, and is enjoying his family too much to risk getting "trapped" by going into the city and interacting with others. This story is creepy.

"The Luggage Store," "The Off Season," "The Watchers," "The Silent Towns," "The Long Years," "There Will Come Soft Rains," and "The Million Year Picnic."

These stories, I feel, work best as a sequence showing what happens both on Earth and Mars when the worst happens--atomic war on Earth. In "The Luggage Store," one speculates that his business will improve greatly if the war happens, if the worst happens. He feels that everyone will want to go back home to Earth to be with their loved ones, to find out if their loved ones are okay, to try to piece their society and civilization back together. In "The Off Season" readers learn that the war has started and the destruction has begun. There is nothing truly comical about it, but, it does happen to be told from the point of view of a man who has just opened a hot dog stand. "The Watchers" shows the people leaving Mars to return to Earth--for better or worse. "The Silent Towns" and "The Long Years" are two stories set on Mars. The first, "The Silent Towns" is told from the point of view of a man who chose to stay behind. He's lonely, but not THAT lonely it turns out. He does meet one woman who stayed behind, but, he decides that his own company is enough after all. "The Long Years" sees the return of Captain Wilder, I believe, who discovers a man and his family. There is a twist, however, which prevents this one from being a happy story. "There Will Come Soft Rains" is a very, very, very lonely story where we get a glimpse--just a small glimpse perhaps--of the desolation and destruction of life as we know it in at least one human city. We see the ending of an era, perhaps. There are no human characters in this one. "The Million Year Picnic" resonates even more when seen back-to-back with "There Will Come Soft Rains." In this story, readers meet a family: parents and sons who have come to Mars on their own private Rocket--a rocket that has been hidden away for many years, a rocket that has been saved for a true emergency. We meet a father who has prepared for THE END in a big, big way.

Read The Martian Chronicles

• If you love science fiction
• If you like science fiction
• If you enjoy short stories; if you don't enjoy short stories
• If you are a fan of Ray Bradbury
• If you are a fan of the Twilight Zone

© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Pleasure To Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories. Ray Bradbury. 2010. Subterranean Press. 400 pages. [Source: Library] [Short stories; Novellas]


A Pleasure to Burn is a collection of stories and novellas that show the progression of an idea that would become an unforgettable classic, a masterpiece: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Readers can trace this development as they read each story or novella. The two pieces that come closest are Long After Midnight and The Fireman.

It includes

• The Reincarnate (After awhile you will get over the inferiority complex. Maybe. There's nothing you can do about it. Just be careful to walk around at night. The hot sun is certainly difficult on you.)
• Pillar of Fire (He came out of the earth, hating. Hate was his father; hate was his mother. It was good to walk again. It was good to leap up out of the earth, off of your back, and stretch your cramped arms violently and try to take a deep breath. He tried. He cried out. He couldn't breathe. He flung his arms over his face and tried to breathe. It was impossible. He walked on the earth, he came out of the earth. But he was dead.)
• The Library (The people poured into the room. Health officials reeking of disinfectant, sprinklers in their hands. Police officials, fierce with blazing badges.)
• Bright Phoenix (One day in April 2022, the great library door slammed flat shut. Thunder. Hello, I thought. At the bottom step glowering up at my desk, in a United Legion uniform which no longer hung as neatly upon him as it had twenty years before, stood Jonathan Barnes.)
• The Mad Wizards of Mars (Their eyes were fire and the breath flamed from out the witches' mouths as they bent to probe the cauldron with greasy stick and bony finger.)
• Carnival of Madness ("During the whole of a dull, dark and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher..." Mr. William Stendahl paused in his quotation. There, upon a low black hill, stood the house, its cornerstone bearing the inscription: 2249 A.D.)
• Bonfire (The thing that bothered William Peterson most was Shakespeare and Plato, and Aristotle, and Jonathan Swift and William Faulkner and the poems of Weller, Robert Frost perhaps and John Donne and Robert Herrick. All of these, mind you, tossed into the Bonfire.)
• The Cricket on the Hearth (The door slammed and John Martin was out of his hat and coat and past his wife as fluently as a magician en route to a better illusion.)
• The Pedestrian (To enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o'clock of a misty evening in November, to put your feet upon that buckling concrete walk, to step over grassy seams and make your way, hands in pockets, through the silences, that was what Mr. Leonard Mead most dearly loved to do.)
• The Garbage Collector (This is how his work was: He got up at five in the cold dark morning and washed his face with warm water if the heater was working and cold water if it the heater was not working.)
• The Smile (In the town square the queue had formed at five in the morning, while cocks were crowing far out in the rimed country and there were no fires. All about, among the ruined buildings, bits of mist had clung at first, but now with the new light of seven o'clock it was beginning to disperse. Down the road, in twos and threes, more people were gathering in for the day of marketing, the day of festival.)
• Long After Midnight (Mr. Montag dreamed. He was an old man hidden with six million dusty books. His hands crawled, trembling, over yellow pages, and his face was a smashed mirror of wrinkles by candlelight. Then, an eye at the keyhole! In his dream, Mr. Montag yanked the door. A boy fell in.)
• The Fireman (The four men sat silently playing blackjack under a green droplight in the dark morning. Only a voice whispered from the ceiling: "One thirty-five a.m. Thursday morning, October 4th, 2052 A.D. One forty a.m....one fifty..." Mr. Montag sat stiffly among the other firemen in the fire house, heard the voice-clock mourn out the cold hour and the cold year, and shivered.)

It also includes three bonus stories: The Dragon Who Ate His Tail, Sometime Before Dawn, and To The Future.


I really LOVED some of these stories. I don't know that I love Long After Midnight and The Firemen MORE than Fahrenheit 451. But I love them all the same.


© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Sobbin' Women. Stephen Vincent Benet. 1937. 26 pages. [Source: Online]

First sentence: THEY came over the Pass one day in one big wagon—all ten of them—man and woman and hired girl and seven big boy children, from the nine-year-old who walked by the team to the baby in arms. Or so the story runs—it was in the early days of settlement and the town had never heard of the Sobbin' Women then. But it opened its eyes one day, and there were the Pontipees.

Premise/plot: Seven brothers are in need of seven brides?!

My thoughts: This short story inspired the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. In the short story, the brothers are NOT named in alphabetical order. They don't go about singing and dancing. The eldest is named Harry. He marries Milly. Milly suggests to her brothers-in-law that they should go kidnap some women to marry. All ends well, as it does in the movie, with the women falling madly in love with the brothers.

"Hello, girl," he said, in one of those big voices men use when they're pretending not to be embarrassed.

She looked up at him straight. "Hello, backwoodsman!" she said, friendly enough. She didn't look a bit scared of him and that put him off.

"It's a nice morning," said Harry, louder, trying to lead up to his point.

"It is for some," said the girl, perfectly polite but going on feeding the chickens.

Harry swallowed hard at that. "It'd be a nice morning to get married, they tell me," he said, with the perspiration breaking out all over him again. He'd meant to say something else, but when it came to the point, he couldn't.

Well, she didn't say anything to that so he had to start all over again.

"My name's Harry Pontipee," he said. "I've got a good farm up the Valley."

"Have you?" said the girl.

"Yes," he said. "It's a right good farm. And some folks seem to think I'd make a good husband."

"Do they?" said the girl. I guess she was smiling by now but Harry couldn't see it—she had her head turned.

"Yes they do," said Harry, kind of desperate, his voice getting louder and louder. "What do you think about it?"

"I couldn't tell on such short acquaintance," said the girl.

"Will you marry me and find out?" said Harry, in a perfect bellow, shaking all over.

"Yes, I will, if you don't ask me quite so loud," she [Pg 146]said, very prim—and even Harry could see she was smiling now.

Well, they made a queer pair when they went up to the minister—the girl still in her chicken-feed clothes, for she didn't have any others, and Harry in his backwoods finery. He'd had to buy out her time from the innkeeper for twelve beaver pelts and a hunting knife.

But when the wedding service was over, "Well, we're married," said Harry, with great relief. "And now we'll be going home."

"Oh, no we won't," said she. "We're going to the store first and buy me some cloth for a decent dress—for landless I may be and dowryless I may be, but I'm a married woman now, and what's fit for a chicken-girl isn't fit for a married woman."

In a sort of daze, he saw her lay out the price of twelve more beaver pelts in cloth and woman's fixings, and beat down the storekeeper on the price, too.

He only asked her a question about one thing—a little pair of slippers she bought. They were fancy slippers, with embroidery on them. "I thought you had a pair of shoes," he said. She turned to him, with a cocky sort of look on her face. "Silly," she said. "How could anyone tell your wife had pretty feet in the shoes I had?"

Well, he thought that over, and, after a while, something in the way she said it and the cocky look on her face made him feel pleased, and he began to laugh. He wasn't used to laughing in front of a girl, but he could see it might have its points.

Then they rode back to the Valley, her riding pillion, with her bundles in the saddlebags. And all the [Pg 147]way back, she was trying him and testing him and trying to find out, by one little remark or another, just what kind of a man he was. She was a spunky little girl, and she had more education than she let on. And long ago, she'd made up her mind to get out of being a bound girl the first way that offered. But, all the same, marrying Harry Pontipee was a leap in the dark.

But the more she tried and tested Harry, the better bargain she seemed to think she'd made. And that took courage to admit—for the way was a wild one and a lonesome, and, naturally, she'd heard stories of Pontipee Valley. She couldn't quite believe they lived with bears, up there, but she didn't know.

And finally, they came to the house, and there were dark things moving outside it. "Bears!" thought Milly, kind of hopeless, and her heart went into her throat, but she didn't let on.

"W-what's that, Harry dear?" she said, holding on tight.

"Oh, that's just my brothers," said Harry, kind of careless, and with that those six hungry six-footers moved into the light.

"Oh!" said Milly, "you didn't tell me you had six brothers." But her voice wasn't reproachful, just sort of soft and quiet.

"I guess it was the wedding kind of knocked it out of my mind," said Harry. "But, there—you'll see enough of 'em anyhow, because we all live together."

"Oh," said Milly again, kind of soft. "I see."

© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. Compiled by Martin Edwards. 2018. The British Library/Poisoned Pen Press. 256 pages. [Source: Review copy] [Genres: Short Stories; Mystery; Classics]

The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories is a holiday-themed short story collection featuring eleven vintage mystery stories.

A Christmas Tragedy by Baroness Orczy 
First sentence: It was a fairly merry Christmas party, although the surliness of our host somewhat marred the festivities. But imagine two such beautiful young women as my own dear lady and Margaret Ceely, and a Christmas Eve Cinderella in the beautiful ball-room at Clevere Hall, and you will understand that even Major Ceely’s well-known cantankerous temper could not altogether spoil the merriment of a good, old-fashioned festive gathering.

Premise/plot: A holiday gathering at a country home goes awry when a murder is committed on Christmas Eve. It is up to Lady Molly to find the real murderer and free the man who has been set up to take the fall.

My thoughts: I'd give this one three stars. It was just okay.

By the Sword by Swelwyn Jepson
First sentence: Alfred Caithness stayed on for Christmas for two reasons, quite apart from the cold weather, which he found easier to support at Dingle House than alone in his Baker Street flat.

Premise/plot: A family holiday gathering goes horribly wrong when a murder is committed...it has to have been a family member...but who and why?!

My thoughts: I'd give this one two stars. I liked it even less than the first one in the story.

The Christmas Card Crime by Donald Stuart
First sentence: With a long hiss of escaping steam that sounded like light relief the Western Express came to a halt beside the platform at Bodmin Station. From a first class compartment a tall, thin man alighted, and turned to assist a middle-aged lady, whose ample proportions were enveloped in a voluminous coat of some mysterious black, furry material. “I hope there’s a waiting room,” she remarked, shivering violently as a blast of icy wind came whistling along the platform. “This weather is bad for them what’s got rheumatics.”

Premise/plot: When a train is stalled by the weather, the travelers set out on foot to search for a warm place to stay the night...but someone on the train has less than pure motives...will all the travelers reach their destination alive?!

My thoughts: I LOVED this story. I'd give it 5 stars.

The Motive by Ronald Knox
First sentence: “A certain amount of dust is good for a juryman’s eyes. It prevents him going to sleep.” Sir Leonard Huntercombe is probably responsible for more scoundrels being at large than any other man in England.

Premise/plot: The narrator is weaving quite a story...but is it a true story or the work of his imagination?

My thoughts: I liked this one. I'd give it three stars.

Blind Man's Hood by Carter Dickson (aka John Dickson Carr)
First sentence: Although one snowflake had already sifted past the lights, the great doors of the house stood open. It seemed less a snowflake than a shadow; for a bitter wind whipped after it, and the doors creaked.


Premise/plot: I wish I could tell you about what makes this atmospheric story so delightful....but the less you know the better. But think Twilight Zone.

My thoughts: I LOVED this one. I'd give it 5 stars.

Paul Temple's White Christmas by Francis Durbridge
First sentence: Steve stopped talking about Switzerland, tore up the Winter Sports brochure, and went out shopping. She said that she would meet Temple at the Penguin Club at a quarter past four. “I shan’t be a minute later than four-fifteen,” she said gaily. That was two hours ago.


Premise/plot: Paul Temple is married to a woman named Steve...and they have an unexpected white Christmas.

My thoughts: This is the most disappointing of the bunch. It was so SHORT that it was confusing and pointless. Like why even include it if the characterization, the plot, the story was so short it was stunted?! I'd give it one star.

Sister Bessie Or Your Old Leech
First sentence: Hilda Trent turned the Christmas card over with her carefully manicured fingers as she read the idiotic lines aloud. “Did you ever hear anything so completely palsied?” she asked her husband. “I wonder who on earth they can get to write the stuff. Timothy, do you know anybody called Leech?” “Leech?” “Yes—that’s what it says: ‘From your old Leech.’ Must be a friend of yours. The only Leach I ever knew spelt her name with an a and this one has two e’s.”

Premise/plot: Timothy, the narrator, is trying desperately to figure out which family member is blackmailing him...and he'll do anything to stop it...

My thoughts: I did NOT like this one. Though I suppose I liked it more than Paul Temple's White Christmas. I'd give this one two stars.

A Bit of Wire Pulling by E.C.R. Lorac.
First sentence: “It’s a very rare thing for a murder to be committed actually in the presence of a police officer,” said Inspector Lang, the old C.I.D. man. “I should think it’s unique,” growled Dr Walton, and Harland (a rising young barrister) put in: “Tell us the yarn, Inspector. We’re a safe audience, and it’s just the night for a yarn.”

Premise/plot: An Inspector tells an eager audience a story...

My thoughts: I definitely liked this one. Three stars.

Pattern of Revenge by John Bude
First sentence: Thord Jensen was the finest man on skis in Levendal. Englishmen of the pre-war era, holidaying in our Norwegian mountains, may remember Thord—for after the tragedy he set up as a ski-ing instructor and did exceeding well for himself. So well, in fact, that when he died in 1945 as the result of an accident, Thord was in a position to leave over three thousand pounds to his hated rival, Olaf Kinck. That, of course, was by way of compensation for what he’d done to Olaf—for when the poor fellow was released from an Oslo jail, three months after Thord’s confession, it was not only his heart that was broken but his faith in his fellow-men.


Premise/plot: A dying man regrets taking revenge on a rival....

My thoughts: It was short but thought-provoking. 4 stars.

Crime at Lark Cottage by John Bingham
First sentence: The weather was foul. It had been snowing, off and on, for some days, but during the last few hours the temperature had suddenly risen, and with the departure of the cold had come the rain, pitting the smooth snow, causing it to fall with soft rustles and sighs from the branches in the coppice which surrounded the cottage on three sides.


© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare. E. Nesbit. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. 1918. 192 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: It was evening. The fire burned brightly in the inn parlour. We had been that day to see Shakespeare's house, and I had told the children all that I could about him and his work. Now they were sitting by the table, poring over a big volume of the Master's plays, lent them by the landlord. And I, with eyes fixed on the fire, was wandering happily in the immortal dreamland peopled by Rosaline and Imogen, Lear and Hamlet. A small sigh roused me-- 
"I can't understand a word of it," said Iris.
"And you said it was so beautiful," Rosamund added, reproachfully. "What does it all mean?"

Premise/plot: E. Nesbit has adapted fifteen of Shakespeare's plays into short stories for children. The plays she's chosen to adapt are as follows: "The Tempest," "Romeo and Juliet," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," "As You Like It," "King Lear," "The Taming of the Shrew," "Cymbeline," "Twelfth Night," "The Winter's Tale," "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," "The Comedy of Errors," "Macbeth," "Othello," and "The Merchant of Venice." Nesbit chose to adapt a few of his comedies and a few of his tragedies but none of his history plays. 

The Tempest

Prospero, the Duke of Milan, was a learned and studious man, who lived among his books, leaving the management of his dukedom to his brother Antonio, in whom indeed he had complete trust. But that trust was ill-rewarded, for Antonio wanted to wear the Duke's crown himself, and, to gain his ends, would have killed his brother but for the love the people bore him. However, with the help of Prospero's great enemy, Alonso, King of Naples, he managed to get into his hands the dukedom with all its honour, power, and riches. For they took Prospero to sea, and when they were far away from land, forced him into a little boat with no tackle, mast, or sail. In their cruelty and hatred they put his little daughter, Miranda (not yet three years old), into the boat with him, and sailed away, leaving them to their fate.

Romeo and Juliet

Once upon a time there lived in Verona two great families named Montague and Capulet. They were both rich, and I suppose they were as sensible, in most things, as other rich people. But in one thing they were extremely silly. There was an old, old quarrel between the two families, and instead of making it up like reasonable folks, they made a sort of pet of their quarrel, and would not let it die out. 

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I was familiar with about half of these stories. There are still some of Shakespeare's plays I haven't read yet.

I'm not convinced that Shakespeare's plays make for the best stories for children. His plays usually have quite adult content. But these stories, of course, do not.

Reading these stories back to back one sees how similar Shakespeare's plays can be to one another.

I do wish she'd chosen to adapt some of the history plays. I would LOVE to find a collection that does include the history plays adapted for a younger audience.

© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Necklace of Raindrops and Other Stories. Joan Aiken. Illustrated by Jan Pienkowski. 1968. 108 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: A man called Mr. Jones and his wife lived near the sea.

Premise/plot: A Necklace of Raindrops and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Joan Aiken. Most--if not all--of the stories have a fantastic fairy-tale feel to them. The stories include "A Necklace of Raindrops," "The Cat Sat on the Mat," "There's Some Sky In This Pie," "The Elves in the Shelves," "The Three Travellers," "The Baker's Cat,""A Bed for the Night," and "The Patchwork Quilt."

In "A Necklace of Raindrops," the North Wind becomes godfather to a newborn baby. He gifts her with a necklace of three raindrops. Each year on her birthday he visits her and gives another raindrop. Each year the necklace becomes more magical.

"The Three Travellers" stars three men who work for the Railway and live in the desert. One is a signalman, one is a ticket-collector, and the third is a porter. No one ever, ever, ever, ever stops at their station. Their lives are relatively boring...until....they decide to do something.

"The Patchwork Quilt" is a fun story about a grandmother making a magical quilt for her grandson.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this collection. Some stories I absolutely loved, loved, loved. Other stories I merely liked. But here's the thing--I don't usually like story collections at all. So the fact that I found stories that excited and thrilled me so much is really saying something. 

© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Jungle Book. Rudyard Kipling. 1893/1894. 138 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: It was seven o’clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee hills when Father Wolf woke up from his day’s rest, scratched himself, yawned, and spread out his paws one after the other to get rid of the sleepy feeling in their tips.


Premise/plot: The Jungle Book is a collection of seven short stories and seven poems by Rudyard Kipling. The stories are: "Mowgli's Brothers," "Kaa's Hunting," "Tiger, Tiger," "The White Seal," "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," "Toomai of the Elephants," and "Her Majesty's Servants." The poems are: "Hunting Song of the Seeonee Pack," "Road Song of the Bandar-Log," "Mowgli's Song," "Lukannon," "Darzee's Chaunt," "Shiv and the Grasshopper," and "Parade Song of the Camp Animals."

A few of the stories do go together. These are probably the stories you'll remember as being THE JUNGLE BOOK. Stories featuring Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa, Shere Khan, etc. But these stories are just a fraction of the book.

The best non-connected story is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a story about a brave mongoose's showdown with cobra snakes.

My thoughts: I really did enjoy the stories featuring Mowgli and friends. If ALL the stories were about these characters, no doubt I would want to reread it every few years and spend more time with my friends. But the Mowgli stories only make up THREE out of the seven. (Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is EXCELLENT. So that makes FOUR out of the seven worth reading.) The other stories range from boring to extremely boring. I got no pleasure, no joy, from reading the other stories. If I do ever reread this one, I will know to SKIP, SKIP, SKIP.

Quotes:
        
© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

This week I read a handful of short stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. 

"The Unexpected" (1890)

First sentence: "It is the unexpected which happens," says the French proverb. I like the proverb, because it is true--and because it is French.

Premise/proverb: A young artist finds the unexpected happening in his love life.

My thoughts: I liked this one for the most part. The narrator is a snobbish young man who loves all things French. He also loves DRAMA. And this story has plenty of drama. But the drama blends seamlessly into a comedy. Or somewhat seamlessly anyway!

"My Poor Aunt" (1891)

First sentence: "Belle," said my mother, in tones bordering on despair, "what shall I do with you?"

Premise/plot: Belle/Kate is on her way to becoming this generation's black sheep of the family. It is a good thing her 'poor Aunt' (the black sheep of her generation) shows up just in time to offer her refuge. Belle has never been so delighted to be herself and live life on her own terms.

My thoughts: I'm not sure the daughter's rebellion is all that rebellious. By modern terms she is just practicing common sense. Her mother is desperate for her to marry and she's picked out the somebody. The daughter doesn't want to marry someone she doesn't love, like, or even know. Is it such an odd idea that a woman could look out for herself and be independent?

This story is slightly confusing. The first sentence the daughter's name is implied to be Belle. Yet a few pages later she's called Kate. And at one point the text states that Aunt Kate has come to help her namesake niece. So if that's the case, why does the first sentence call her Belle?!

"The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892)

First sentence: It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer.

Premise/plot: A new mother takes a 'relaxing' vacation with her family. But the room where she's staying has unsettling YELLOW wallpaper. Did she arrive at the rented house mentally disturbed? Or did her illness come on slowly and surely over the course of weeks as she stays in this room?

My thoughts: "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a story I've encountered many times in my past in various college courses. It holds up well with my memory of it. It's a masterfully disturbing story. In just a few pages, Gilman creates an unforgettable narrator and some haunting scenes.

"Three Thanksgivings" (1909)

First sentence: Andrew's letter and Jean's letter were in Mrs. Morrison's lap. She had read them both, and sat looking at them with a varying sort of smile, now motherly and now unmotherly.

Premise/plot: A mother resists giving up her home and going to live with one of her children. Can she find a way to stay financially independent and in her own home? Can she prove to her children--and to her would-be suitor--that she is just fine on her own. Just how creative and resourceful can one determined woman be?!

My thoughts: Of the stories I've read so far this might be the most satisfying. It perhaps isn't as masterful or as memorable as 'The Yellow Wallpaper' but it is emotionally satisfying in a way the other is not because the woman IS a success. 

"Her Housekeeper" (1910)
First sentence: On the top floor of a New York boarding-house lived a particularly attractive woman who was an actress.

Premise/plot: Mrs. Leland has determined to never, ever, ever, ever marry again. She has her reasons. But one persistent wooer is willing to go above and beyond to prove that he loves her just as she is. Will she marry him?

My thoughts: I found this story to be entertaining. Mrs. Leland has her quirks particularly considering her times. In 1910, Mrs. Leland would have been a nonconformist at best and an immoral or loose woman at worst. She was all about her freedom and independence. And she loved to have many, many lovers. I'm not sure if lovers means sexual partners or just flattering suitors who lavished her with attention. Regardless of what Gilman meant, it would have been outside the image of propriety

"When I Was A Witch" (1910)
First sentence: If I had understood the terms of that one-sided contract with Satan, the Time of Witching would have lasted longer--you may be sure of that.

Premise/plot: This one is written in the first person. A woman has a really HORRIBLE day and starts making wishes that more resemble curses--if wishes had any power. She comes to find out that suddenly her cherished grudges--her wishes--do. But will this power last?

My thoughts: This comedy has plenty of drama...but even more so it has OPINIONS. Opinions on what is right and wrong with the world.


© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Short Stories of Lucy Maud Montgomery from 1909-1922. L.M. Montgomery. 2008/2010. 312 pages. [Source: Bought]


This book contains twenty-seven short stories by L.M. Montgomery. They were originally published from 1909-1922. The stories vary in length and quality but also in type. What they all have in common, perhaps, is a satisfying happily ever after ending. There are stories of romance, of friendship, of families coming together again, of young people finding their place in the world.

I have already reviewed twenty-five of short stories in my weekly 'Keep It Short' series.

The two stories I haven't reviewed yet are "Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner" and "White Magic."

Uncle Richard's New Year Dinner.
First sentence: Prissy Baker was in Oscar Miller's store New Year's morning, buying matches—for New Year's was not kept as a business holiday in Quincy—when her uncle, Richard Baker, came in. He did not look at Prissy, nor did she wish him a happy New Year; she would not have dared. Uncle Richard had not been on speaking terms with her or her father, his only brother, for eight years.

Premise/plot: A family feud is mended when Prissy Baker sets out to secretly prepare a New Year's dinner for her uncle. She overhears that he will be away on business and will be returning to an empty house. (His housekeeper having the holiday off.) She doesn't think anyone--even someone as mean as Uncle Richard--should have to eat a cold dinner on New Year's Day. That's no way to start the New Year off! She plans to be gone by the time he returns, but, as chance would have it. He "catches" her and is DELIGHTED with her consideration. He's ready to mend things at last.

My thoughts: It was okay. I didn't dislike it. And I suppose the world needs stories set at New Year's just like it needs Christmas stories.

White Magic.
First sentence: One September afternoon in the year of grace 1840 Avery and Janet Sparhallow were picking apples in their Uncle Daniel Sparhallow's big orchard.

Premise/plot:  Janet cannot understand why Avery isn't super-excited about her upcoming wedding to Randall Burnley. Who wouldn't want to marry Randall?!?! But Avery decidedly is NOT in love. She's marrying because she's twenty-two and afraid of being an old maid. As for why Randall, the Burnleys are the only local family "good enough" for the Sparhallows.

Janet does something DARING. She goes to the "local witch" and gets a love potion. Randall, in her opinion, deserves a wife who adores him. If she can make Avery fall in love with Randall, all will be well. She tries to follow the instructions, but, fate intervenes. The first person Avery sees is NOT Randall. Janet is the one who will have to confess to Randall that Avery is going to jilt him and marry someone else. How will he take the news?

My thoughts: I LOVE this story. I do. Janet and Randall were obviously meant to be. Readers can spot where this one is heading from the start. Janet LOVES Randall but isn't quite aware that she's in love with him. And even if she has her suspicions, her doubts, she's convinced that Randall could never, ever, ever, ever love her like that. After all, he's been "courting" her sister, Avery for years now. True Janet and Randall spend a great deal of time together talking and laughing. But it's Avery he's attached to, right?!
© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

This week I read two L.M. Montgomery short stories.

The Romance of Jedediah.

First sentence: Jedediah was not a name that savoured of romance. His last name was Crane, which is little better. And it would be no use to call this story "Mattie Adams's Romance" because Mattie Adams is not a romantic name either.

Premise/plot: Jedediah is a tin peddler. He's new to the job. He decides to pay a call at the home of his old sweetheart never dreaming that she'd still be living there after all those years. She invites him in. He accepts. The neighbors begin to talk--as neighbors do in Montgomery's stories. Will their romance be rekindled?

My thoughts: I definitely liked this one!

Quotes:



Premise/plot: Does Roger fall in love with a ghost? A beautiful, impossible to obtain phantom? An old family haunt? Roger definitely is in love--or at the very least in love with love--by the end of the story. But who is the mystery girl?

My thoughts:  This is a strange story. But at least the girl is real enough.

© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews