Well it has certainly been an interesting and disturbing August in Charlottesville and I have found it a bit more difficult than usual to concentrate and focus on things…even my beloved books. It was uncanny how I had just finished reading two books that really seemed to fit the current events aptly, so I thought I would share them with you.
The first is Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance. Not only is this an illuminating memoir but it is also a social analysis of his Appalachian roots and all that culture brings with it. Vance gives a glimpse of the white underclass that fueled the Trump campaign and why that Appalachian demographic moved a Democratic vote to become strong Republican voters. Raised in Middletown, Ohio and with ancestors from Breathitt County Kentucky, Vance has the background and experience to take an unapologetic look at the values which define this culture. Loyalty and patriotism are an important part of his background along with violence, verbal abuse, alcoholism and drug use. He points out how the abuse of the welfare system has led to resentment by those who work hard for little to no benefit. His family’s misfortunes rest not so much on the economic insecurities they face but more on their lack of work ethic and their learned helplessness. This is a story of despair and frustration. While Vance managed to crawl out of his situation it was through determination and a sense of personal responsibility. His is a tale of tough love and perhaps gives us a bit of a glance into some of the mindset of those who descended on Charlottesville weeks ago.
American Fire: Love Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse recounts a true crime story from the coast of Virginia. I didn’t know much about this story until reading this book but it was a fascinating read. The Eastern Shore is a tight knit community and a very different way of life. It is also a community which has fallen on hard times, with very little industry and many abandoned buildings scattered throughout a sparsely inhabited region. It’s the perfect place for an arsonist to exploit and in 2012 and 2013 that’s exactly what happened….sending the community into a fearful frenzy. It was a five month arson spree set in Accomack County that centered around a love affair gone wrong. There were sixty-seven arsons in all before an arrest was made and a trial followed. Hesse takes the reader through the entire process.
If you are looking for a bit more in the way of escapism, and who can blame you right now?
Radio Girls might just fit the bill. Author Sarah-Jane Stratford became interested in Hilda Matheson who was the head of TALKS for BBC around 1929 and based her historical fiction around a young secretary, Maisie Musgrave who becomes Hilda’s secretary. Maisie discovered that Hilda is seeking to uncover how some corporations are supporting the fascist movement in Germany and she starts to investigate herself. The independence of the BBC soon becomes threatened and these two women must fight to uncover the conspiracy and fight for all voices to be heard. It’s a wonderful story full of intrigue and romance.
An oldie but a goodie. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos was a Pulitzer prize winner and even inspired a musical. If you haven’t read it now is the time to read it before the cold weather hits. 1949 is the era of the mambo and two Cubans travel from Havanna to New York to make their fortune. This epic tale follows the Castillo Brothers as they journey through life in America. Poor Nestor longs for his lost love “Maria” to whom he constantly writes ballads. Cesar is his older, wilder, sex mad brother for whom Hotel Splendor seems to be the major setting. I found the atmosphere to be decidedly masculine. This novel is filled with sex, heat and rhythm so pull up a lounger, put on some mambo music and pour a mojito. Prepare yourself to travel back in time to the days of Dezi Arnez, hot night clubs and bongo drums!
Whether you are interested in real life right now or would rather shut out the world this month, I hope my selections will fit the bill and you can find some peace over the next month.