Review of "The Sound and The Fury: A Novel" by William Faulkner

This book - narrated in a stream of consciousness style by several characters - is difficult to read and requires close concentration to understand what's going on. Basically it's about the Compson family of Jefferson, Mississippi.

The Compsons were a prominent and important family of the Old South but by the early 1900s had lost most of their wealth and status. The family is made up of a needy, neurotic mother; a distant, hard-drinking father; three brothers; and a sister.


Mother and Father Compson

The book's narrators are the three brothers: Benjy, a mentally handicapped child-man; Quentin, a troubled, unstable Harvard student; and Jason, a disappointed, hard-hearted, would-be patriarch.


Benjy


Quentin


Jason

The heart of the story is their sister Caddy, a caring but promiscuous young woman who shames the family by getting pregnant. Caddy enters into a hasty marriage but her husband quickly divorces her when he discovers the child is not his.


Caddy

The Compson family takes in Caddy's daughter "Miss Quentin" and cuts off Caddy completely. This drives the story since brother Benjy adores and misses Caddy, brother Quentin is devastated by her behavior, and brother Jason is angry at Caddy for embarrassing the family and depriving him of the bank job offered by her ex-husband. Jason also resents Miss Quentin and steals the money Caddy sends for her.


Miss Quentin

Other important characters in the tale are Dilsey and her sons, black servants that function almost as extended family.


Dilsey with her son and Benjy

The dissonance among the Compsons leads to much acting out and tragedy, which is witnessed by Dilsey - who cares for all of them.

Problems in the family

I thought the book's characters were memorable and the story (such as it is) was compelling.

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Shamed: A Police Chief Kate Burkholder Mystery" by Linda Castillo

In this 11th book in the 'Kate Burkholder' series, Kate - the Chief of Police of Painter's Mill, Ohio - is searching for a killer and a kidnapped child. The book can be read as a standalone.



*****

Sixty-year-old Mary Yoder is a well-liked Amish woman who lives with her daughter and son-in-law, Miriam and Ivan Helmuth, and their eight children.



The family loves Mary's walnut layer cake, so when walnut season rolls around, Mary takes her granddaughters Annie (5) and Elsie (7) down the road - to the abandoned Schattenbaum farm - to collect walnuts for the winter.



When Mary notices movement in the dilapidated Schattenbaum farmhouse, she goes in to take a look. Shockingly, the grandmother confronts a man lurking there, who viciously stabs her to death, then abducts 7-year-old Elsie. Later, when Chief of Police Kate Burkholder speaks to Annie, the child says 'Da Deivel' (the devil) took her sister.



Miriam and Ivan Helmuth beg Kate to find their beloved Elsie, a special needs child who is particularly delicate and vulnerable. Elsie has Cohen Syndrome, a genetic disorder that's more prevalent among the Amish than the general public. The Amish consider children a gift from God, and think of special needs youngsters as an especially great blessing.

Mary's murder and Elsie's abduction lead to a large police operation in which Kate, along with the Sheriff's Department and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (OBI), desperately search for the killer and the child. Kate's boyfriend, John Tomasetti, who's an agent with the OBI, is especially helpful in speeding up analyses of blood and DNA.



Of course inquiries begin at the Helmuth home, and when the parents are asked if they know anyone that would want to harm Mary - or if they have any information that would help the investigation - they seem oddly reticent. Even Kate, who was Amish before she left the fold and speaks fluent Pennsylvania Dutch, can't get them to open up.



In time, Kate's probe steers her to Bishop Troyer, who leads the Amish community of Painter's Mill.....



.....and then south to Crooked Creek - where Mary Yoder had relatives.

Almost everyone Kate speaks to, however, is hiding something. Sadly, more murders occur before Kate can get a line on the perpetrator.

Kate's small stable of detectives, Pickles, TJ, Glock, and Skid, assist with the investigation, working overtime as needed. In addition, Kate's dispatcher, Mona - who yearns to be a real police officer - becomes a cop-in-training.



As always, it's fun to visit with these recurring characters.

A central tenet of the Kate Burkholder series is the Amish tendency to be secretive, solve their own problems, and not interact with 'Englishers.' This almost always slows down Kate's investigations and makes her job that much harder.

In this book, however, this plot point REALLY doesn't make sense. 😏 The 'secret', if revealed, would speed up Kate's investigation exponentially, and would help her find the kidnapped child MUCH more quickly. Who would keep mum in these circumstances? I don't buy it.

Nevertheless, I like police procedurals and enjoyed the novel. I'd recommend the book to readers who enjoy mysteries, especially Kate Burkholder fans.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Linda Castillo) and the publisher ( Minotaur Books) for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3 stars 

Review of "The Colors of Cattle: A No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Novel" by Alexander McCall Smith

In this 19th book in the 'No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency' series, Mma Ramotswe runs for public office. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is advantageous.

*****



Mma Ramotswe, owner of the 'No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency' in Gaborone, Botswana has a good mind, a generous heart, and strong sense of right and wrong. Thus Mma Ramotswe is against the plan to build a hostelry called 'The Big Fun Hotel' right next to the town's cemetery.





After all, people who are late (deceased) should not be disrespected with noise and revelry.

Mma Ramotswe's good friend Mma Potokwane, director of the local orphan farm, has a plan to stop the building project. She wants Mma Ramotswe to run for a vacant seat on the city council....so she can vote against The Big Fun Hotel.



Mma Ramotswe resists mightily, but Mma Potokwane is a formidable woman, and she has a trump card. Violet Sephotho, the glamorous vamp, is running for the council seat - and she'll certainly vote YES for The Big Fun Hotel.



Thus Mma Ramotswe reluctantly agrees to be a nominee, and her election team consists of Mma Makutski - the co-managing director of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (a promotion she gave herself); Mr. Polopetsi - a chemistry teacher who works as a part time detective; Charlie - a half-time mechanic's apprentice/half-time detective-in-training; and Mma Potokwane - who's organizing the entire business.

Mma Makutsi's talking shoes warn her not to get involved in politics, but she does, with rather amusing results. Mma Makutsi's 'undercover' visit to the man proposing The Big Fun Hotel has unexpected results and her 'manifesto' for Mma Ramotswe's campaign is hilarious.



The manifesto goes on and on about Violet Sephotho's sub-par performance at the Botswana Secretarial College, her use of fluttering eyelashes to get jobs, and her attempts to steal other women's husbands. Mma Ramotswe decides not to use this document, but to emphasize her own honesty instead.

While the political campaign is proceeding, Mma Ramotswe is also working on a case. Dr. Marang, from Mma Ramotswe's hometown of Mochudi, was badly injured in a hit-and-run accident. Needing compensation for his large medical bills, Dr. Marang has hired the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency to find the driver who hurt him.



Part-time detective Charlie is put on the case and manages to get into trouble before Mma Ramotswe (as always) makes things right. There's a big element of luck here, as often happens with Mma Ramotswe's detective work.

Charlie is also dating a woman named Queenie-Queenie, not realizing that she comes from a very wealthy family. Charlie's dates with Queenie-Queenie usually amount to a cup of coffee or the rare inexpensive dinner because of his penurious circumstances and lack of transportation.



Will this romance work out? We'll have to stay tuned. (There's a disconnect here with previous books in the series. Formerly, Charlie had plenty of cash for a car, flashy clothes, and chasing girls. I wonder if the author forgot.....or what.)

As always, the characters drink many cups of tea and Mma Ramotswe indulges in numerous slices of Mma Potokwane's excellent fruit cake. And, as before, we hear about Botswana's 'old ways', which Mma Ramotswe prefers to some irreverent 'new' ideas.



The recurring characters make an appearance in the story, including Mma Makutsi's husband Phuti Radiphuti - who has a disagreement with his wife; Mma Ramotswe's husband Mr. JLB Matekoni - who sees automobiles and car maintenance as a metaphor for life; Mma Ramotswe's foster children Motholele and Puso - who are growing up; and Fanwell - the former apprentice who's now a skilled mechanic.

I always enjoy a visit with Mma Ramotswe and her associates, and it was fun to see the detective get embroiled in politics. Good book for relaxing with a cup of tea and a snack.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The Whole Town's Talking: A Novel" by Fannie Flagg

"The Whole Town's Talking" is the story of a Missouri farm town and its quirky, loving, loyal, sometimes shiftless - or even greedy and amoral - inhabitants. The book spans the years from 1889 to 2021, during which the world changes dramatically.

I'll provide some vignettes, to give you a feel for the story:

In 1889, Lordor Nordstrom leaves Sweden for the United States. During his travels, Lordor finds a large tract of good, rich land in Missouri, and starts a dairy farm. An ad in Swedish-American newspapers attracts other young farming families, and Swede Town is established.



Single women are scarce in Swede Town, and Lordor advertises for a mail-order bride. Katrina - a pretty Swedish girl living in Chicago - answers the ad, and eventually comes to visit.



At a box social to welcome Katrina, shoebox dinners are auctioned off, and each box's winner gets to eat with the woman who prepared it. The boxes usually go for a dime, but - as a joke - all the men bid on Katrina's dinner, and Lordor ends up paying $10.65 to dine with the woman he hopes to marry. And Lordor and Katrina DO wed, settle down, and have a family.



The people in the farming community depend on each other. The women share advice about cooking and child-rearing; the men barter crops and help each other construct buildings; there are communal feasts; etc. So when a mooching, do-nothing couple has been around for a couple of years, the townsfolk enact a plan. The idlers are invited to dinner and - while they're eating - the rest of the community dismantles their house and packs their wagon. The lazy couple takes off, never to be seen again. LOL



In the early 1900s the growing town is renamed Elmwood Springs. By now it sports a general store, blacksmith, and grocery - as well as a one-room schoolhouse where Miss Lucille Beemer - barely past 18 years of age - instructs the students. Gustav, a young man who's in love with Miss Beemer, repeats the 8th grade three times to be near her.....and I won't say more because of spoilers.



When the citizens of Elmwood Springs die, they're buried in Still Meadows Cemetery, located on a hill near town. However, the residents of Still Meadows aren't as gone as you might think. Their 'spirits' can still converse with each other, and see and hear people who visit the cemetery. Thus, the dead folk keep up with what's happening in town - and in the world. As the book unfolds, many citizens of Elmwood Springs pass away, but they continue to converse and gossip from the grave.



Katrina and Lordor's daughter Ingrid - a first generation American girl - means to have a career. In 1922, she applies to Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine as 'I. Nordstrom' and is accepted. When the school's director realizes I. Nordstrom is a woman, he plans to get rid of her - but the director's wife has other ideas, enforced with a stalk of celery. Ingrid is admitted. (Yay!)



As time passes, the population of Elmwood Springs increases, and more businesses and restaurants open. Couples court and marry, and - as in real life - some unions work better than others. Miss Elner Knott marries little Will Shimfissle - and is very happy - singing to her chickens, making fig preserves, and being a friend to everyone. Elner even prepares breakfast for Bonnie and Clyde - whom she thinks are newlyweds - when they get lost near her farm. On the other hand, poor Tot Whooten is saddled with an alcoholic husband and two shiftless children who sponge off her all their lives.



To make things worse, Tot makes a living as a hairdresser - though she's terrible at the job. Elner's and Tot's stories are touching and humorous.



There isn't much crime in Elmwood Springs, but when a Peeping Tom raises his sneaky head in 1937, the Town Council lays a trap. A shiny new quarter, with a tiny spot of red nail polish, is placed near a favorite peeping spot. When 15-year-old Lester Shingle plunks down the quarter for a dozen donuts.....well, lets's just say he reforms his ways.

The narrative periodically shifts to Still Meadows Cemetery, where the dead residents discuss current events - such as WWII, the moon landing, cheating spouses, etc. - gleaned from newly arrived dead as well as visitors to the cemetery. Every now and then, a spirit disappears from Still Meadows forever, but no one knows how or why.



A troubling occurrence in Elmwood Springs involves Miss Hannah Marie Swenson, a beautiful dairy farm heiress who's been deaf from birth. When Hannah goes to college she meets handsome Michael Vincent, and brings him home for a visit. Hannah's dad is wary of Michael, but Hannah is smitten, and the couple have the biggest wedding Elmwood Springs has ever seen. Unfortunately, Michael isn't what he seems.....(and you'll have to read the book to know more).



In 1986, the Elmwood Springs High School band has an adventure. The band wins a competition and is invited to march in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The band families put on a slew of events - including bake sales, chicken dinners, garage sales, book sales, and car washes - to raise money for new uniforms, new majorette outfits, and new instruments. Finally, the band bus - carrying the kids, their chaperones, and beautician Tot Whooten (to do the girls' hair) - is off to New York. The band checks into a motel on Thanksgiving Eve.....and the next morning, the bus is gone - lock, stock, uniforms, instruments, and hairdressing equipment!



By custom, obituaries printed in the Elmwood Springs newspaper mention cause of death. But Verbena's passing is a delicate subject, because her toilet exploded and launched itself - and Verbena - through the ceiling. The death notice uses terms like 'fluke' and 'tragic household accident', but everyone soon learns the real story. (Ha ha ha)

Towards the end of the century, the town of Elmwood Springs begins to decline as a Walmart is built outside town, a mall opens, residents pass away, etc. - and the book winds down. However, the epilogue - dated 2021 - updates us about the spirits from Still Meadows Cemetery, and it's a memorable tale.



There are many more anecdotes in the book, about people who are charming, sweet, grouchy, horrible, and so on. Some of their exploits are compelling and some aren't - and I got bored at times. Moreover, the sheer number of characters, as one generation follows another and new residents move to town, is confusing and difficult to follow. That said, fans of Fannie Flagg - who know the characters from other books - might love this story.

Rating: 3 stars