Swept Up By The Words

 Gone with the Wind

Author:

Margaret Mitchell

Publisher:

Macmillan Publishers (1936)

Number of Pages:

1037

Review:

"Hunger gnawed at her empty stomach again and she said aloud: 'As God is my witness, and God is my witness, the Yankees aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again. No, nor any of my folks. If I have to steal or kill - as God is my witness, I'm never going to be hungry again.” In honour of my vacation to the beautiful states of Georgia and South Carolina I decided to review one of my all time favourite novels: Gone with the Wind. There is nothing I love more than a love story, but this love story is so complex and full of tough emotional situations, tragedy galore and *spoiler alert* a not so happy ending that when I first heard about it I wasn’t sure I’d like it at all. Mind you I’ve never seen the movie *insert gasp here* and what I’ve heard of the novel/movie was always second hand information that wasn’t always accurate so you can kind of see why I was hesitant to start this 1000+ page novel. However I did pick up a copy and I promise you I am not exaggerating but I finished the novel in 2 days! I loved it even more than my love for my cell phone *insert second gasp here*! I just hope this review can do this novel justice.

Scarlett O’Hara has never known hardship in her 18 years of life. Her father, an Irish immigrant who came to America and set up a well running and wealthy plantation named Tara, has never let his girls lift a finger or known the hardships of life, thus leaving Scarlett to grow up very prim, spoiled and selfish and indulged by both her mother and head slave Mammy. She soon finds herself developing strong feelings for Ashley Wilkes and when she confesses her feelings to him he admits that despite his attraction for her he doesn’t see how their personalities could ever fit together; he then admits to her that he is engaged to Melanie Hamilton. Heartbroken, she is teased relentlessly by the charming and dashing Rhett Butler who having heard her confession of love praised her for her gumption. She often makes crude remarks to Rhett unbeknownst to her that Rhett is in fact developing very strong feelings for her. In a fit of rage and jealousy Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton in the hopes that it would make Ashley jealous. It doesn’t, but it does amuse Rhett tremendously. In the union with Charles she unwilling befriends her new sister-in-law and rival Melanie, who is as sweet as icing sugar. However her life changes drastically when the American Civil War hits her state of Georgia. Her husband is killed in action; her mother becomes ill; her father dies and her beloved Tara becomes run down and neglected. Hungry and desperate she finds a stray cow that she uses to rejuvenate her land and vows never to go hungry again. Despite her hatred for her sister-in-law she accepts Melanie and Ashley into her home in hopes of luring Ashley into loving her, and also for the extra hands on the farm. It is while on a trip to Atlanta that she befriends and seduces Frank Kennedy a wealthy business man. Honing her skills as a negotiator and ruthless business woman she manages to make a fortune in Atlanta and, leaving Tara behind for Ashley to look after, she takes over Kennedy’s business. Eventually Frank dies and in steps Rhett who after seeing her grow into the woman she’s become he offers her a proposal of marriage. She accepts. A lot happens after her marriage to Rhett but I'll leave you to figure that all out yourself.

What I love most about this novel is Scarlett herself. She is one of the strongest and fully developed female characters about which I have ever had the pleasure of reading. She’s also a woman living in a very male dominant society. It’s unheard of for a woman to be strong and callous as she in her time, after all "a woman [who] could handle business matters as well or better than a man, [was] revolutionary [for a time when women were reared] in the tradition that men were omniscient and women none too bright." Where Melanie was emotional and ever trusting Scarlett was cold-hearted and determined to succeed. 

She starts off a young idealistic child and grows into a hard brutal woman which given her circumstances one can only understand why she is the way she is because after all “Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything.” But she is also deeply flawed. Her schoolgirl crush is often confused with love, and having never experienced real love before, when she realizes what it really is to love and be loved it was already too late. Rhett once said: “I loved you but I couldn't let you know it. You're so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett." And she really was. Perhaps it was a survival mechanism, I just think she never had a chance to realize and accept real love because she doesn’t even know what love really is. I mean who does? Sometimes we all make foolish mistakes but it’s her mistakes and her accomplishments that make Scarlett so relatable and I can see a lot of myself in her. That drive for success, the ruthless personality that can only come from poverty, that desire for love, anyone in her situation could have and quite possibly do end up exactly like Scarlett.

Even though this novel takes place in a time well before our own I truly believe that it’s a story that can be put into any time frame. It really is a universal story that could happen within our very own backyards. And despite the length of the novel it is a quick read because it captures your whole attention from the very first paragraph.

Mitchell has a way with words that’s timeless. Her characters are rich in depth and emotion; even the minor characters are present as whole beings in this novel, a very rare thing to find in fiction these days.  Her prose is one of the best writing I’ve read in a long time and despite this novel being an early modern classic it's written in a way that any Joe from the block can read it; it’s not like a Tolstoy novel where you need a dictionary on hand at all times, this novel is very readable.  I think this is why it stands the test of time and is constantly on the readers’ favourites lists at local libraries; it just has this way of being relevant to any generation. It is a remarkable read and I encourage every reader young and old to pick up this novel and read it. You will not be disappointed. Don’t be like Scarlett and think to yourself: “I won't think of it now. I can't stand it now. I'll think of it later.” Instead pick it up as soon as you can and devour it, you brain as well as your heart will thank you. 

A Tale of Sex, Birth, Love and Pain

The Birth House

Author:
Ami McKay
Published:
Knopf Canada (2006)
Number of Pages:
400
Review:
What started out as a fun Autumn read turned into an enlightening, nostalgic walk back in time. Here in the 21st century duties such as giving and aiding in birth is no longer a very feminine thing. Men are now aiding in the birth of babies and some men are even trying to have babies. The time frame that this novel takes place in is a time of innocence and strong female/male barriers. One that if crossed, the party involved would have to endure serious consequences, all of which are covered in this wonderful gem of a novel.
Set in the early 1900’s Nova Scotia in a time when women were not considered persons and feminism was an ideology away Dora Rare dares to become an independent female. An elderly midwife, Marie, takes Dora under her wing and trains her in her field of work only to leave Dora to deal with a loveless and burdensome marriage, a child left in her care after being abandoned by her parents and a university educated doctor that claims he can deliver babies “pain free.” Through birth, love, sex, and pain we see the development of a young naive child grow into a passionate feminist woman, a woman who first discovers what an orgasm is in the medical chair, a woman who joins in with the suffragette movement and a woman who had she have been living in the 21st century would probably choose the same path of life that she had lived.
Ami McKay’s The Birth House is a phenomenal piece of literature. Each sentence explodes with detail, emotion and history. Reading this book was like stepping into a journal, the narration is passionate and told by a young feminist who captures her audience with her charms, naivety, and wit. Humorous, and delightful, this colourful account of life and the collection of scrapbook type newspaper clippings to provide proof of her accounts of life leave the reader in awe of the main character: Dora.
This novel was clearly written by a strong feminist voice and it is evident in every sentence of the novel that women have a purpose in this world other than to serve men. “If women lose the right to say where and how they birth their children, they will have lost something that’s as dear to life as breathing.” McKay's Dora was a strong woman trying to live in a man’s world, a world which condemned her practise of birthing as a midwife as barbaric and immoral. Her birthing ways were passed on from generation to generation, from female to female, and was used to birth thousands of babies yet when compared to the new (man invented) way of birthing which is basically the basis of modern gynaecology, it was seen as unfashionable, dangerous and unsafe.
What I love about McKay’s novel is her approach to showing that what is old isn’t always bad; her character although facing ridicule and shame from the new doctors who claim their way of birthing is better than a midwife surpasses all of her obstacles and eventually shows the world that sometimes a man's way of running the world isn’t always the best way.
I also love the prose. It flows so beautifully from one sentence into another that it’s like watching ripples form in the ocean. It’s one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I’ve read in a very long time. So beautiful I found myself rereading certain phases and sentences. “Everything I’ve learned from Mother, every bit of her truth, has been said while her hands were moving.” This simple sentence holds so much beauty, thought and emotions that reading it could evoke the reader to cry tears of sadness or tears of joy for either emotion is very much present in this quotation. The sheer wonder of this novel lies within quotations like these. McKay’s writing is pure poetry at it’s best.
With unforgettable characters, illusive descriptive writing and historical value, McKay's Birth House is a priceless read. She has written a Canadian masterpiece that is likely to enlighten and entertain readers for years to come. I hope you decide to read this fascinating story.
Happy Reading!!!

A Garden To Remember

The Lost Garden

Author:
Helen Humphreys
Published:
Phyllis Bruce Books (2004)
Number of Pages: 212
Review: Across Canada today millions of civilians will share a moment of silence to honour those that have fought for our country in the countless of wars in which Canada was involved and is currently involved.  And as we remember our veterans on this day we must also honour the lives of those our country has lost as well as the common workers, the nurses, the farmers, everyone who was involved in providing our country with the freedom we all relish in. It is in their honour I chose to read and review The Lost Garden.
Written in first person narrative, the novel focuses on 35 year old Gwen Davis, the lonely horticulturist whom has never been in love, in fact she’s never had any real relationships her entire life except for her relationship with plants, books and one author’s books in particular Virginia Woolf. After hearing of Mrs. Woolf’s disappearance and in a desperate attempt to escape her loneliness and the burning city of London (during the raids of 1941) she joins the war effort, planting food for the allies and babysitting the young women appointed to help.  Her life takes a turn for the better when she discovers a lost garden and the secret behind it’s existence. She’s also able to form relationships with two of the people she meets during her journey:  the fiery life loving Jane who teaches Gwen that life doesn’t always have to be centered and balanced and the dashing young Canadian solider Raley who, while being posted at her station, opens her heart to new experiences and love.
I think what I love most about this novel is the language it portrays. It is beautifully written with poetic sensibility and lucid prose. “This is what I knew about love. That it is tested everyday and what is not renewed is lost.” The loneliness this character feels is evident in this sentence as well it speaks of her view of life: “what is not renewed is lost” as if this escape to the army is actually a way to renew herself so that she doesn’t become lost in the war that surrounds her. 
Her loneliness is evident throughout the novel, her relationship with her co-workers, her relationship with the soldiers and even her relationship with her late mother - “I wasn’t there when my mother died,” - shows how isolated she keeps herself from everyone. Even her childhood memories are thickly covered in loneliness and isolation except for the plants and the darkness with which she surrounded herself.
The garden itself is a beautiful metaphor. When she first stumbles upon it she realizes that “the garden has been purposely planted” and as she prunes, snips and replants the garden she also prunes, snips and replants her life.  As the garden grows so does she, the gardens eventual beauty is manifest in her relationships with her friends and her relationship with herself.
The author’s metaphors are some of the best I’ve read in a while: “My discovered garden are really three gardens. They are joined together, each naturally flowing out of the other. But the other two are not yet in bloom so it feels wrong to explore them until they have fully revealed themselves.” The three main characters are all evident in this quotation and Gwen’s hesitation to plough and prod through the actual garden shows how she approaches people on a daily basis as well. She would never enter into their space until they reveal themselves to her.  As this quotation shows, the author’s language is so rich and beautiful you can’t help but fall in love with the prose.
I loved reading this novel. It’s meticulous approach to life during war is exquisite. Humphrey’s symbolism is perfect, her tone uncanny and she tackles many different issues, from war and isolation to lost love and homosexuality. It truly honours those that fought and still continue to fight for our freedoms. It shows that those on the front line are still human with flaws and fears and while we honour them to the highest regard we must also remember them as they were: beautifully isolated individuals.
Happy Reading!!!

The Book of Hope

The Book of Negroes


Author:
Lawrence Hill

Published: HarperCollins Publishers 2007

Number of pages: 384

Review: “Sir Hastings presents me with a new quill and a glass inkpot decorated with swirling lines of indigo blue. I love the smoothness and the heft in my hand. I rub the surface but the indigo is buried deep in the glass. Englishmen do love to bury one thing so completely in another that the two can only be separated by force: peanuts in candy, indigo in glass, Africans in irons.”  The sheer brilliance of Lawrence Hill’s writing cannot even begin to be summed up by this one quotation alone. The entire novel is renowned and transcendent, and truly one of the best female voices I’ve read in a long time.

The story follows Aminata Diallo, a young Muslim woman born in Africa, who finds her world completely thrown into chaos when a group of men come into her village and sets her on the path to America.  Where the country is the land of opportunities for white settlers, it is the country of damnation and hell for the Africans.  As she grows older she learns from the people around her and fights to survive in the country that condemns her as the lowest of the human species.  Through her struggles you feel hope, sense loss and see victories, and never once do you question the fact that the narration is larger than life. Her heroism sets forth an unforgettable epic into a history of which many people are ignorant or choose to ignore.  Like the notable characters of Anna Karenina, Scarlett O’Hara, and Offred the handmaid, Aminata Diallo is timeless, relatable and authentic. 

Hill’s narration is preeminent within literature. Like Wally Lamb’s She Comes Undone, and Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, Hill was able to capture the essence of a woman and form a character that was nothing short of real. The narration was so believable, I forgot the novel was written by a man. The character was completely and utterly genuine.  Hill also didn’t glorify Canada as do many novels about slavery; in fact it showed Canada as being as bad as the Americans.  Canadians were racist towards those who managed to escape from slavery and just because the slaves were free, doesn’t mean they were respected. 

I enjoyed every syllable of this novel. It is truly a masterpiece of historical fiction and places Hill among the great storytellers like Edward P. Jones, Margaret Attwood and Diana Gabaldon. I recommend this book to everyone who asks me “what book should I read?” which is a question I get often. Don’t miss out, trust me, you’ll love The Book of Negroes.

Happy Reading!!!