Happy Tuesday! And for those who observe, a blessed Holy Week as we enter the final week to Easter.
March was National Women’s Month so the books this month are about women, by women.
The first is Isabel Allende’s latest work, My Name is Emilia del Valle. Allende was born in Peru but raised in Chile, and that South American voice and landscape are prevalent in all her novels. I was introduced to her work years ago in The House of the Spirits, and have enjoyed her writing ever since.
My Name is Emilia del Valle takes place during the Chilean civil war in 1891, but begins in 1866 in San Francisco with the birth of Emilia to a young Irish nun, fathered by a roguish Chilean aristocrat who never knows about the pregnancy and birth. Emilia is raised by her mother and an adoring stepfather, and at age seventeen decides she wants to be a writer, a serious one. But in the late 1800s female writers aren’t accepted. She creates a way around that.
Eventually she’s hired to write ‘fluff’ pieces–society page tidbits–for San Francisco’s The Daily Examiner, that do little or nothing for her adventurous spirit and curiosity. While working for the newspaper, the murmurings of a civil war in Chile begin to rumble, and Emilia convinces her publisher to send her to South America to cover the events. The only catch is another reporter, Eric Whelan, is also assigned to go along. He will do the hard reporting while Emilia is to stay out of harm’s way and write human interest stories and a broader image of Chile. Of course that doesn’t last long.
While Eric is embedded with rebels supporting Congress on one side of the war, Emilia makes inroads with those loyal to President Jose Manuel Balmaceda on the other. As the war intensifies, Emilia is thrust deeper into the conflict and even her credentials as a journalist can’t save her from being arrested as a spy.
Threaded through the war narrative is Emilia’s search for her birth father–a promise she made to her mother before she left–and her growing romance with Eric. Unlike in some novels, these tangential stories add to the overall arc of this novel; they don’t feel spliced in simply to add a bit of intrigue or a love story. Allende makes them count.
I liked the strong daring woman Allende portrays in Emilia, during a time when women were just beginning to find their independence. The book kept me engaged and turning pages, but the twists at the end offered the ‘wow!’ ending of a good book.
This second book, Missing Women and Others, is a collection of short stories by June Spence. This was an impulse buy off the used book shelf at my local library for 50 cents. The stories are a mix of gritty, humorous, and thought-provoking as Spence weaves tales about the ordinary and common, with attention to detail that sometimes makes the reader uncomfortable. I think that discomfort can be a good thing. In Work Ethics we know the female character only through the eyes of her estranged lover. Isabelle and Violet are Good Friends is a tale of teen angst, drugs, sex, and growing up. We meet them and Isabelle’s divorced mom later in the title story, Missing Women, when all three vanish.
I’ve mentioned before I appreciate short stories for their brevity, but also for how well the author packs so much into that tight space. These stories achieve both of those qualities, and for 50 cents they’re a real bargain.
A big Thank You to my friend Jan for letting me use her adorable pig planter for the pics this week!
The pollen is still thick and turning everything yellow here in the Carolinas, but my lilac is also blooming in pretty lavender florets. The scent reminds me of Ohio. I’ve seen colorful butterflies flitting around so it’s safe to snip out the dead brown stalks still lingering in my flower beds. How perfect for Holy Week to spend hours in my garden as we remember the Christ spending hours in one also.
Tomorrow begins National Poetry Month so later this week I’ll begin posting more often with some of the poetry collections I’ve acquired since last year. Most of the collections are by poets I’ve not highlighted before. I look forward to having you join me.
Passover blessings to my Jewish friends, and Happy Easter to everyone. May the hope of these intermingling holy seasons strengthen the hope in our hearts.
A Writer's Window 