Repair: Old Storage Box

We found this box on an abandoned ship. It's roughly built and was probably a first-year shop project given lovingly to a parent who left it behind thinking he'd return some day. Exposure to moisture over the years caused the wood to swell and the lid would no longer shut.

Found box.

I put the box out with the intention of working on it and while I was away Eric sanded the lid down so it will now shut. We then gave the box two coats of polyurethane and tightened the hinges. It's not a beautiful show piece by any stretch of the imagination but it serves me well hidden away on my bookshelf storing note cards and envelopes. Lucile's letters rest on top.

Repaired box.

The Terracotta Palace (1970)

From the book cover: Where is Vanessa Malimbrosa? Juliet Holdroyd wants to know ... and nothing the very strange, very rich Malimbrosa family can do will keep her from the twisted truth hidden in a fabulous villa in Rome.

My last few reads have been on iBooks and I have to say there's real pleasure in reading an old out-of-print paperback. This book (Anne Maybury's The Terracotta Palace) has a musty attic smell and I like the cover art.  Here's my evaluation based on a set of questions I have pulled together and will apply to all romantic-suspense novels I review on LiAM:

SPOILERS!

Does the story include the necessary romantic-suspense elements?

• an old house with a long history and secret passageways? YES! The Terracotta Palace is an ancient mansion in Rome where the Malimbrosas live in beautiful suites with wonderful servants, manicured grounds, and dark cellars originally built to house prisoners.

• a secretive husband whose trust is called into question? YES! Philip is Juliet's untrustworthy love interest. His potential deception is carried through to the very end quite effectively.

• an alternative male who provides support and friendship? YES! Martin, who is frequently referred to as Juliet's "gay companion," is her confidant.

• a sophisticated female who is in competition for the husband and has superior beauty and status? YES! Irena is described as being the most elegant woman in the room and it appears that she and Philip are involved.

• a narrator who is ordinary and insignificant? YES! Juliet is strong, independent, and not easily swayed but she is "ordinary" in that she's not wealthy and "insignificant" because she's not immediately recognized as one of the clan.

• a murder or an attempted murder? YES! Vanessa is missing and possibly dead; Pepi, the little boy, is being tortured by ghosts and Juliet is a target.

Is the conclusion of the novel satisfying?

Initially, YES, when I closed the book, The Terracotta Palace was an acceptable read. The characters were tolerable and sufficiently developed for light fiction, and the story wrapped up with the (obligatory) romance. BUT, when I started to think about my blog post, I realized that the story doesn't quite measure up and here's why:

The mystery is solved, but doesn't make sense.

Vanessa is alive and her family knows all about it. Allegra actually engineers her grand-daughter's "disappearance" as part of an excommunication from the family for having forged checks.

For having forged checks? Really? Money flows easily and generously in the Malimbrosa household. There's no reason (such as drugs or gambling) to explain why Vanessa would need more money than what she has. The conclusion that she can't be trusted and must be banished before she embarrasses the family just doesn't make sense to me.

Juliet is a Malimbrosa and that gives us a solid explanation (and an acceptable gothic motive) for why someone is trying to kill her. Vanessa wants her cousins Juliet and Pepi out of the way so she can find her way back into Allegra's heart.

There's no resolution. 

Vanessa is going to jail. Pepi is still weak and emotional. Juliet is going home. Even if Juliet and Philip marry, it's not likely they will both change their names to Malimbrosa. Irena isn't going to jeopardize her relationship with the sterile Leo by having a secret child outside of her marriage. Romola is too old to bear children and has no prospects. No one inherits? All of this drama for nothing?

And no one rescues the child.

I can't believe Anne Maybury just dropped this part of the story. Will Juliet go back to London and write the kid long letters as some means of support (as she plans) or will she actually do something to improve Pepi's life? It would have been a much more satisfying ending to the story (and a logical one) if Juliet and Philip had taken a ride out to the country with the intention of saving the child (and the heir).

Does the novel include artistic color?

No, not really. This is something I have come to expect from Anne Maybury novels. Juliet walks up and down the street looking for Vanessa and drinking coffee. She explores vacant buildings and burned out houses. Geraniums are always described as looking tired. Juliet is out of sorts. People stub out their cigarettes but never light them or smoke them. Two stars for the book in general. Three stars for the genre.

Repair: Black Bedside Table

I bought this table at a neighborhood yard sale for $2.50. Eric (lovingly) gave it five coats of high-gloss black alkyd paint and I added a blue anthropologie knob.

Thank you, Eric!

and here's the before pic:

Recycle: Vintage Harkerware Dishes (Golden Dawn)

Many years ago, my grandmother sent me a care package that arrived on a snowy day and included "blue mist" Harkerware dishes. As time went on, and I found myself rummaging around antique markets, I would pick up additional pieces in a variety of colors. The dishes pictured to the left are of the same style in the "golden dawn" pattern.

I still have my grandmother's gift but have accumulated a lot of dishes and will let this version of Harkerware go via Craig's List this Friday. If you are interested, let me know.

Mid-Century Harkerware Dishes Vintage: Oven-safe stone china. Golden Dawn pattern (yellow and gray). Made in the USA. 4 cups and saucers; 3 cereal bowls; 3 desert bowls; 2 salad plates. Minor discoloration (if any) and all pieces in good condition except one chip/marking on one salad plate. Competitive pricing at $60 for all 16 pieces (not including postage).

Feed Better (and Share)

Christmas biscuits, shaped like hearts. These are not the pop-open-the-can kind of biscuits nor are they the completely made-from-scratch biscuits, but they did require adding buttermilk, rolling the mixture on flour, and wearing an apron.

I don't cook in the true sense of the word, but in the last six months, I have moved away from convenience foods and time-saving restaurants in favor of culinary education and expansion.

These biscuits are such a small step toward a more interesting food future. I am dreaming of homemade strawberry jam, a riot of herbs on my balcony, and local farmer markets in the spring.

Divergent (2011)

While traveling to and from Mexico this month, I read Veronica Roth's YA novel Divergent.

My niece Maya is a huge fan of dystopian fiction and this book came highly recommended (as did The Giver many years ago and the book that launched this site).

I have decided that my job (as a LiAM blogger) is not to sell books or entice people to read stories. I want instead to discuss books I have read without having to speak cryptically or tip toe around the plot. So with that in mind, here is a general description (taken from Amazon) to be following by my SPOILER-filled discussion of the book.

"In Beatice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue -- Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is -- she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself."

* SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER * SPOILER *

What did I like best about Divergent? 
I like the visual language of the story, most specifically the symbols of the five factions (mentioned above and shown below) and how the members of Dauntless each get a meaningful tattoo to represent what's important in their lives (such as family in spite of the expectation that their faction comes first) and also as a marker in one's growth when difficulties are overcome and mastered. This is a great message for YA readers.







I also like the love story between Tris and Four. The relationship is sweet in spite of the brutality they have opted to take part in. The two characters work together as a team and respect each other. Be true to yourself and those around you. Another great message for YA fiction.

What makes for a dystopian YA novel? 
Having read only a few, here are the re-occuring characteristics I have noticed in the genre.

Strength. 
Dystopian stories often include a strong female protagonist who can fight and isn't afraid to take on responsibility.

Brutality. 
These books are rough. Tris is involved in a competition of strength and ability. She overcomes her fears and pushes through obstacles as part of her initiation into the faction Dauntless. While The Hunger Games has been the catalyst for most of the media attention given to this genre, Divergent is a little less upsetting. Tris isn't involved in a gladiator-style fight to the death where teenager is pitted against teenager. Her conflict is dangerous but it's somewhat controlled and not being held for entertainment purposes. I think of Tris as a Ronda Rousey character taking part in an MMA bout. She can handle the challenge. She is tough, and even though she's small, she can win.

Excitement. 
According to an article published in the Guardian and found here, the real pull for these books is the excitement they generate and I have to agree. The second half of the book flew. After a slow start and maybe one too many simulation drills, I was lagging. Then the pace started to quicken. The computer program is stalled but not dismantled. Tris and Tobias are on the run. Caleb is faction-less. Christina is missing. The parents are dead. Then, wham, the book is over. The ending was so sudden.

Will I read the follow-up book Insurgent? 
You bet, I will. Too may things were left unanswered. Is Tori a good guy? I have a sneaking suspicion she might not be. Are they being kept inside the compound or is the fence really meant to keep something out? When I find out, I'll let you know.

Divergent is the first of the trilogy, followed by Insurgent and a third installment due out in October 2013.

Top 25 Love Stories of All Time

Esther Freud, one of my most favorite authors, provided a list of her top 10 love stories in the Guardian a few years back. Using her picks as my starting point, I made a few changes, added my own selection of books, legends, films, and plays to come up with the following Top 25 Love Stories of All Time. 

Which titles would you add or take away?

1100s
Tristan and Iseult
Abelard and Eloise

1597
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

1847
Jane Eyre* by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

1877
Anna Karenina* by Leo Tolstoy

1891
Tess of the D'Urbervilles* by Thomas Hardy

1936
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

1945
The Ghost and Mrs Muir by Josephine Leslie (R.A. Dick)
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

1951
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

1957
Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
An Affair to Remember* with Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant

1967
Barefoot in the Park* with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford

1970
Love Story by Erich Segal

1973
The Way We Were* with Barbra Steisand and Robert Redford

1975
Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson
(filmed as Somewhere in Time)

1977
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

1984
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

1989
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

1997
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

2006
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

2007
Love Falls by Esther Freud

2008
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

2009
One Day by David Nichols

* = read or seen but not yet blogged about.