I think that all of us are fascinated by the Underground Railroad, active before and during the Civil War and instrumental in leading many slaves to freedom in the northern states. Sarah Brown the daughter of ardent abolitionist John Brown, is a talented artist who puts her skills to work creating maps on cloth, paper, and dolls' faces to help guide escaped slaves out of the south in this fictionalized story of her life. After an illness leaves her unable to bear children, she eschews love and marriage and instead continues working to free slaves.
In a related story, a modern-day woman, Eden, has moved to an old house in North Carolina with her husband. Unable to conceive, Eden becomes increasing depressed and plans to end her marriage despite her love for her husband. When she discovers a painted porcelain doll's head in her root cellar she becomes interested in discovering its origins and how it came to be left in the house. Hence, the tie-in to Sarah Brown. Personally, while I enjoyed the modern-day issues of the current tenants of the house, I think that this may have been better written as 2 separate novels. There didn't seem to be enough of a connection between the events of the past and those of the future.
I was curious about whether Sarah Brown was a real person and I found that John Brown actually had 20 children from 2 marriages. Two of then were named Sarah, one who died at age 9 in 1843 and another born in 1846. It is the second Sarah that is the focus of this novel. She actually was educated at Concord and met Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bronson Alcott and she did eventually become an artist of some note in California, but there is no mention in her biography (http://www.saratogahistory.com/History/sarah_brown.htm) of abolitionist activity. McCoy has done a nice job of taking a real person and expanding her story to what could have been. As usual, I did enjoy the present-past connection in Sarah and Eden's stories, however slight it was. This novel wan't the best, but it was worth reading, especially if you have an interest in the Underground Railroad.
BIBLIOPHILY
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
A PLACE FOR US (Harriet Evans)
There is nothing like a mansion in the English countryside to draw me to a novel. I enjoyed this one, but I have some mixed feelings. The story was good: Martha invites all of her children and grandchildren to Winterfold, the family home, for her eightieth birthday, during which she plans to reveal a long-held family secret (or two). Daisy, the eldest daughter, left to do charity work in the Middle East more than 25 years ago, leaving her infant daughter, Cat, behind and visiting just 4 times in the ensuing years. Son Bill, the local Doctor, has a grown daughter named Lucy and a second wife, Karen, who is increasing dissatisfied with Bill's lack of concern over their infertility issues. Florence, the youngest, is a brilliant but eccentric art historian and professor living in Italy. Granddaughter Cat lives in Paris and is harboring secrets of her own while Lucy struggles to make a career as a writer.
Martha's husband, David Winter, is a successful cartoonist. The two were born and brought up in the slums of London and have worked hard to make Winterfold a family home of which to be proud, a place to which all of their children and grandchildren can come home. Why don't they? David is keeping the facts about his heart condition from his children, Cat worries about repeating her mother's mistakes, Lucy founders at her job, Bill seems oblivious to his wife's worries, Florence has let love overrule her good sense, and Daisy is MIA.
I found it difficult to sort out all of the characters in the story because each chapter throughout the novel is devoted to a different person and written from their point of view. Once I finally figured out who was who, though, the storyline and setting took over and I enjoyed the book. I felt that at the end there were a couple of loose ends, but nothing major. It seemed more like a privacy issue for the characters (as if they were real people) than an oversight by the author. I would read more!
Martha's husband, David Winter, is a successful cartoonist. The two were born and brought up in the slums of London and have worked hard to make Winterfold a family home of which to be proud, a place to which all of their children and grandchildren can come home. Why don't they? David is keeping the facts about his heart condition from his children, Cat worries about repeating her mother's mistakes, Lucy founders at her job, Bill seems oblivious to his wife's worries, Florence has let love overrule her good sense, and Daisy is MIA.
I found it difficult to sort out all of the characters in the story because each chapter throughout the novel is devoted to a different person and written from their point of view. Once I finally figured out who was who, though, the storyline and setting took over and I enjoyed the book. I felt that at the end there were a couple of loose ends, but nothing major. It seemed more like a privacy issue for the characters (as if they were real people) than an oversight by the author. I would read more!
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