“The Book Woman’s Daughter”

Monsters…”you can kill the one under the bed, but there are always a few more in the back of the closet waiting.” (286)

Miscegenation (marriage or cohabitation between two people from different racial groups).

Women’s rights.

Power.

Women working men’s jobs.

Struggle.

Abuse.

Emancipation.

HATRED.

Why do we fear what we don’t understand? Why do we perpetuate hatred, based on that fear? What is it we are really afraid of? How is one’s struggle to survive a call to react with violence? To stand in judgment? The common denominator is always that we are all human beings. To be treated with respect.

Books.

“But your mother changed all that with the books…

Books are the cornerstone to greater minds.” (307)

“The Memory Keeper of Kyiv”

“Look to the future.” (365)

Did the ends justify the means? Should we be holding a mirror to these events and our own struggle with human rights in our own backyard?

Sadness. Grief. Fortitude. Politics. Lack of empathy. Love. Commitment. Survival. Denial. Coverup. Death. Rebirth. Resilience. Perseverance. Promises. Choices.

Told in two voices, I wanted to walk away from the story, but couldn’t…I had to know if there could ever be a “happily-ever-after” ending. At times it was hard to imagine that such an ending could indeed happen.

“We Are All Welcome Here”

At 14 what do you know about intolerance? At 14 what do you know about equal rights? At 14 living in Tupelo, Mississippi what do you know about Elvis?

At 14 it’s all about you. How life treats you. How you feel about EVERYTHING! How you are trying to bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood, and failing at both. Fourteen is when you start to see your parents differently. You start to take on the qualities of their lives that you like, leaving others behind. Growing as a human being.

At 14 you start to “look out the window” - to see things with a different perspective. If you’re lucky, what you see changes how you see your parents. If you’re lucky, what you see shapes your respect for them. If you’re lucky you start to see them as people, like you. If you're lucky…

At 14 can you clearly see the community where you live? Could it be different? Should it be different? How do you see beyond your own struggles? How can you look at your community as struggling too? A community constantly finding ways to survive with what they have.

At 14 your responsibilities may overwhelm you. You may see your life as a black hole sucking you in. But, you continue to dream. BIG dreams. Slowly learning how to shape them into reality. Finding strength in those who drive you crazy.

Ahh…to be 14.

“The Magician”

I know what originally drew me to this series…baseball. I love the game of baseball. BUT, this series and especially this third installment is not all about baseball. I suppose it’s more about family, dreams, and pride.

Family dynamics are often torturous affairs. What we see from the outside, doesn’t always mirror what goes on behind closed doors. Who we choose to spend our lives with, may not always be who we thought they were…or who we knew they could become. Shielding our children, as best we can, from a parent who is detached and cold, becomes a lifelong challenge.

Dreaming of a different life to that of our parents. Seeing it so clearly. Working to achieve that dream. Decisions. Sacrifices. Not understanding that those who might stand in our way, had dreams too. Sacrifices beyond what we know of their past lives. Constantly seeking approval.

Being prideful is a human fragility that is, perhaps, almost impossible to overcome. Taking pride in one’s abilities. Taking pride in what we’ve accomplished. Taking pride in who we are. Stubbornness. Not seeing others for who they are. Failing to be proud of the accomplishments of those we love. Proud of the person they’ve worked so hard to become.

Families shape us, whether we like it or not. Our dreams grow from the foundation our parents laid for us. We can be proud of what we’ve achieved, only when we understand the sacrifices they made in creating a path for us.

“The Strongman and the Mermaid”

Book two of three

Part love story. Part his story. Part her story. Part immigration story. Part survival story. Part America’s story. 

Turn of the century Donora, Pennsylvania…so hard to imagine having to quit school to help support her growing family. What about her dreams of a lemon scented home? Even harder to imagine growing up in a town where seeing the sun is a novelty. Immigrants competing for jobs. Favors. Lies. Hidden treasure. A pecking order of society. There was no guidebook to learn how to get ahead. Struggles. Traditions. Hope. Love. 

Can one find happiness in a hard scrabble life? How will they know if they’ve achieved all they can? What will they leave for their children? Is their love enough?

“After the Fog”

I know I’ve said it before, but books seem to find me. Threads of those stories start to intertwine. I find myself caught in the 1940s. Tesla, Edison, Oppenheimer,  Einstein, and Stan Musial. Tangled. Invention. Cigarette smoke. Steel mills. Baseball.

Our past shapes us, revealing our prejudices. Things we thought we had buried, play out in ways we never thought imaginable. Uncontrolled. Our environment adding to or taking away our pain. Secrets. Lies. Confession, and perhaps, redemption. How can we control the outcome of our lives? Justify the decisions we’ve made? How will we be judged? With empathy? Spite? My thinking has tumbled past Shoop’s novel, gathering steam in looking at this time in history with a different lens. Accepting what was. The wonder of the big idea. Yet, seeing what needed to change. Invention. Cigarette smoke. Steel mills. Baseball. A tangled mess.

The Invention of Everything Else

If you’ve lived a “peculiar” life, does that give an author license to exaggerate your eccentricities? I’m not so sure. This is NOT a work of historical fiction. Although there may be bits and pieces of Nikola Tesla’s life as part of the storyline, the bulk of this novel is fantasy. I felt slighted as I read. I wanted a true representation of Tesla’s life. The first few chapters held promise. The story jumped around. I was confused, a lot. It was like reading a fusion of genres. Not what I was expecting.