Musings of a Bookish Kitty

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Bookish Thoughts: Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart

Our troubles began in the summer of 1914, the year I turned thirty-five. ~ Opening of Girl Waits With Gun

Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2015
Crime Fiction; 416 pgs

From Goodreads:

Constance Kopp doesn’t quite fit the mold. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters into hiding fifteen years ago. One day a belligerent and powerful silk factory owner runs down their buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their family farm. When the sheriff enlists her help in convicting the men, Constance is forced to confront her past and defend her family — and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared.

I thoroughly enjoyed Girl Waits With Gun. This historical mystery set in 1914, features the Kopp sisters, each one of them a force to be reckoned with all their own. It was hard for me not to set aside my particular interest in this novel because of its roots. It's based on the real life Kopp sisters, one of whom becomes one of the first female sheriff deputies in the country. It made the events that played out in Girl Waits With Gun all the more intriguing to me.

Author Amy Stewart does take some liberties with history, which she spells out at the end of the book. Even so, I am in awe of Constance Kopp and am glad Stewart made her the focus of her novel. Much of the events described are taken straight out of the headlines. I would love to have been the author's research assistant for a book like this!

Constance Kopp and her sisters have lived a quiet life. Their mother had never been particularly trusting of the government or the authorities, and as a result. neither had the Kopp children. Their older brother, Francis, lives in a nearby town with his wife and children. He often worries about his sisters, living on the farm all by themselves. They live in a time before women have the right to vote and men are responsible for their women kin. Constance, Norma and Fleurette are all very independent and have been for quite some time. Constance and Norma may not always agree, but they are determined to take care of sixteen year old Fleurette on their own and protect her from the dangers of the world outside.

Their relative obscurity is destroyed when their buggy is hit by the automobile of a factory owner, Henry Kaufman. Constance's simple request for payment got unmet, and when she confronts him in person, he takes offense and decides to make an example of the Kopp sisters. Bricks through windows and threatening notes put the sisters on edge. The local sheriff does what he can to help, knowing what a no good person Kaufman is, but his resources are limited.

During her visit to the silk factory to visit Kaufman, Constance encounters an employee of Kaufman's who begs her for her help. Constance doesn't believe she can help, but eventually she finds herself in the middle of that mystery too, despite her sister Norma's reservations.

I loved Constance's grit--and Norma's too. Both women are forces to be reckoned with. I imagine Fleurette will be too as she grows older. She may like her pretty dresses and putting on a show, but she was raised by two very capable and resourceful women. She's already got a big heart and good eye for right and wrong.

I found this book to be quite entertaining and especially intriguing because of its basis in fact. I hope the author has more adventures planned for the Kopp sisters. I cannot wait to read more about them.

To learn more about Amy Stewart, and her book, please visit the author's website.

Source: Review copy provided by the Publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

© 2015, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Monday, August 31, 2015

Where Is Your Bookmark? (09/01/2015)

I am reading two books at the moment: Fredrik Backman's tale of a girl tasked by her dead grandmother to deliver letters of apology to various people her grandmother has wronged, which is aptly titled, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry; and also Lilith Saintcrow's The Demon's Librarian, about your typical demon hunting librarian. Because all librarians hunt demons on their down time, right?

First Paragraph of My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman:

Every seven-year-old deserves a superhero. That's just how it is.

Anyone who doesn't agree needs their head examined.

Teaser at 4% (Elsa and her grandmother are waiting at the police station):

"I didn't want you to remember this day because of the scarf. So I thought instead you could remember it as the day your Granny broke into a zoo--"

First Paragraph of The Demon's Librarian by Lilith Saintcrow:

She ended up knee-deep in slick rotting garbage with one hell of a shiner and a stitch gripping her side, holding a glowing-blue knife while something with tentacles thrashed toward her in the foul stinking water.

How the bloody blue hell do I get into these situations?

Teaser at 5% (after a patron demands The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be removed from the library):

"Mrs. Pembroke, not a week goes by without you coming to my office or bothering my staff about something you feel is indecent. If this library is such a sinkhole of filth and corruption, why don't you patronize the parish library on Twelfth Street? I'm sure they will have texts more to your taste."

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

These are two very different books, and both are the second books I have read by their respective authors.

What are you reading at the moment? Is it anything you would recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is Ten Characters You Just Didn't Click With, and yet, for many of the books in which these characters appear, I liked (loved, in some cases) them still! That says a lot, wouldn't you say? To be fair, some of these characters are supposed to be unlikable--or at least, not easy to like.

Melanie Middleton from Karen White's Tradd Street series. I like so much about this series, especially the setting and the writing, but I just can't seem to completely warm to Melanie the way I wish I could. There's just something about her that annoys me.

2.

Mike Chapman from Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series. He's one of the top secondary characters and cleary the main character adores him. Then why don't I? Still, I do enjoy this series quite a bit. And sometimes I find myself liking Mike. At least for a brief moment, and then I'm back to being annoyed by him.

3.

I loved the novel We Need to Talk About Kevin, and in some ways, I could identify with Eva Khatchadourian, the narrator of the story, but she was not exactly an easy character to like. I felt empathy for her. And sorry for her too. I don't think she and I would have ever been friends though if she'd been a real person.

Thomas Covenant is an anti-hero. He is part of a fantasy series by Stephen R. Donaldson' of which I have read the first book, Lord Foul's Bane. Generally, I have no problems with anti-heroes, but Thomas did something unforgivable early on in the book that made it impossible for me to warm to him on any level. I can look past or forgive a character for a lot of things, but not what he did.

5.

Owen Meany from John Irvings' A Prayer for Owen Meany. I wanted to like him--so many people do--but I found him more annoying than anything else. This is one of those books I did not care for when all was said and done. And part of it was because of Owen's character.

For this one, I am cheating. Humbert Humbert of Lolita fame. I am so glad I finally took the plunge and read Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. This is one of those books I ended up loving, in spite of or because of how much I was disgusted by the character of Humbert. There is nothing redeemable about the man.

7.

Walcott from Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson. Walcott, a secondary character, is Shandi's best friend. Shandi being one of the two main characters in the novel. I didn't care for him much at all, finding him annoying (annoying seems to be the key to hurting a character clickability with me).

Anna from The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I cannot say any of characters in the novel particularly won me over, but I at least had sympathy for Rachel and Megan. I never warmed to Anna though. She wasn't a very nice woman.

9.

Dr. Annick Swenson from Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. Beautiful writing and a compelling novel, I enjoyed Sate of Wonder quite a bit. I never did warm to the main character, Dr. Annick Swensen, though. She is gruff in manner and spends more time pontificating than she does listening.

10.

Rachel from Sharon Bolton's Little Black Lies. It would seem as if Rachel would be the easier character in the novel for me to relate to given my history of depression (mine took on a different form, admittedly). And yet, I found her the most difficult to connect with in the novel. In fact, at times I found myself actually disliking her. She rubbed me the wrong way.

Are there any particular characters you didn't click with that stand out in your mind? Did that make or break the book for you?

Sunday, August 30, 2015

August 2015 In Review

I cannot believe August is at an end. We are about to enter my favorite time of year, the final four months of the year. I love the festiveness of the fall with Halloween and Thanksgiving, leading into the Winter Solstice and Christmas. Mouse has already decided what she wants to be for Halloween. I am hoping she will change her mind. I know I need to start thinking about Christmas presents, but my mind isn't ready to go that far yet. My mom is planning a visit towards the end of September, we are attending a Quinceañera (which I still need to shop for--Mouse wants glass slippers, but I do not think I'll be able to manage that), and my brother and his wife will be coming in October. I am sure we will be fitting in a visit from the in-laws somewhere in there as well. I am seriously thinking of inviting everyone to our house for Christmas, but I am not sure how long that thought will last. I make a terrible hostess--most of all because I hate taking on that role. And it would be easier than traveling and deciding whose turn it is we would spend the holidays with. Anyway, that's still a ways away.

There is still almost a month of summer left. The temperatures outside will not let me forget it either. Mouse's swim lessons ended on a high note, thank goodness. The Saturday before last was also the final soccer class of the summer season. Mouse has come so far since she first began playing two years ago. She's decided she wants to try gymnastics, and so she will be taking a break from soccer for a tumble and dance class. She's very excited.

It has been a stressful month to say the least. Work, health issues, and Parker's poor health. The tests have been endless, or so it seems. It's much worse from his perspective, I am sure. He is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday to have his tumor removed. The tumor started out as a little bump and has grown quite rapidly in the past four months. Just in the last couple days, it's grown. Even ruptured. As if Parker licking it to the point of bleeding wasn't enough. The estimate for the surgery and biopsy was enough to make my jaw drop (although I did know it would be expensive). We never invested in pet insurance for him--but I think we will be doing so for our younger cat.

On the reading front, I finished listening to The Girl on the Train finally. Although I had already been on the right track (no pun intended), I was still disappointed when I came across a spoiler. As someone who often guesses the whodunit at the end of a mystery or crime thriller, I still take pleasure in the anticipation of finding out if I am right. So, that was kind of a bummer.

I was going to start on The Daughter by Jane Shemilt, but I ended up beginning Fredrik Backman's My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, which is proving to be a delight to read. I think it was the right choice given my state of mind.

How did August turn out for you? Does anything in particular stand out?

What was your favorite August read?

August In Reading Mews:

Number of Books Completed in August: 8
Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
The Society by Lilith Saintcrow
The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts by K.C. Tansley
Wet Silence: Poems About Hindu Widows by Sweta Srivastava Vikram
Drop Dead Punk by Rich Zahradnik

Favorite Book of the Month: Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton

Currently Reading:

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Reviews Posted:

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
From the Archives: Fantasy Reads in 2006
Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
Scent of Triumph by Jan Moran
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
From the Archives: Mysteries 2006

Posts of Interest This Week:

Where Is Your Bookmark? (08/04/2015) (Including Fifteen Fairytale Retellings I've Read/Want To Read)
A Word About Bookish Collections (or lack there of) & Beyond the Books: My Darling Cats
Where Is Your Bookmark? (08/11/2015) (Including Top Ten Most Read Authors I've Read in the Past Fifteen Years)
Beyond the Books: Where I Blog & Holiday-Themed Reading
Where Is Your Bookmark? (08/18/2015) (Including Top Ten Of Your Auto-buy Authors)
Beyond the Books: My Favorite Game & Lost Without A Book
Where Is Your Bookmark? (08/25/2015)
Wordless Wednesday: The Adventures of Flat Stanley

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Bookish Thoughts: Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Widowhood is trapping me unwillingly. ~ First line of the poem "My Husband is Leaving"

Wet Silence: Poems About Hindu Widows by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Modern History Press, 2015

Poetry; 72 pgs

Sweta Srivastava Vikram captures well the many different voices of Hindu widows in India in this collection of forty-nine poems. The poems in Wet Silence speak of grief of all kinds, including that of love lost and of lost opportunities. The poetry I like the best is the kind that speaks to me on an emotional level, and Sweta Vikram's poetry did just that. There was not a poem in this collection that did not work for me, that did not draw out my emotions in some way.

How do I tell anyone what you gave me?
Even when you had less hair and few breaths,
you kissed my questions,
we came crashing like a wave.
We contained each other.
~ Excerpt from "Never Abandoned" from Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

When I first saw mention of Sweta Srivastava Vikram's Wet Silence, I knew I wanted to read it. This collection appealed to me most because it is about women facing hardships, in addition to being another opportunity to step outside my own experiences and culture to learn about another. Wet Silence gives readers a glimpse at the cultural restrictions placed on many Hindu women after the death of their husbands. They are not allowed to remarry and must live as if in mourning the rest of their lives. From what they wear to the food they eat to how they behave, they are required to adhere to strict religious and cultural norms. Just as the first sentence quoted at the beginning of this review, widowhood is its own sort of trap for these women.

We kept our dirty laundry
on separate shelves in the same closet.
~Excerpt from "Eulogy" from Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

A few of the poems are written from the perspective of the mistress and others from a wife whose husband was unfaithful. There are poems about abused wives as well as those who were well loved. There is one about an ungrateful son. Sweta Vikram covers a wide range of experiences in her poems, writing about gender expectations and inequality; and about the freedom that comes with the death of spouse as well as that feeling of being trapped when one's spouse is gone.

Other men notice your prints on my breath;
you were everything to me.
But I remained a ghost story
in your life-a fish bone that no one wants
in the throat long after the fish is dead.
~Excerpt from "Your Wife" from Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

The book is divided into three sections, the first being “I can hear a white cotton sari weaving at the shop,” which were the poems that spoke to me most clearly--perhaps because I imagine these are how I might feel to some extent if I lost my husband. There is such sorrow and loneliness within the poems. The second section, “I didn’t promise to sleep in your shadow,” is made up of poems that speak of a mixture of feelings, each one very different: that of loss and love, of feeling burdened; of anger and frustration, especially by those who had been abused or were married to men who were unfaithful. The voice of the women in the third section, “Silence became my lover, that’s why,” who feel less constrained by cultural and religious expectations.

You never pulled yourself together for me.
But like the autumn breeze,
I'll indignantly rise, and sing songs of freedom.
~excerpt from "I'll Rise" from Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

I have read each of the poems at least twice, some even more than that. Each of the poems are emotional and have a power all their own. They spoke to me as a human being as well as as a woman. So much comes through in so few words regarding the cultural complexities each of these women faced. I loved that about this book.

Here is a brief video of the author during a poetry reading of Wet Silence: