Maeve Binchy

Maeve Binchy

From Maeve Binchy's web site:

"It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of Maeve Binchy on 30 July, in Dublin. Her husband Gordon Snell and her sister Joan Ryan were at her side.

Maeve was a weaver of magic whose stories touched the hearts of millions. She died far too soon; she had many more stories to tell.

She will be sorely missed by her family, her friends, her publishers and her readers throughout the world."

You can find her web site HERE.
 

I started reading Maeve Binchy's books when we lived in Jamaica. She was an Irish author of 16 books and several collections of short stories. I enjoyed all of her books but I think my favorite is "Whitethorn Woods."

She said at one time that she loved writing her stories and was very lucky to live in a time of paper backs.

Check out her web site to read more about her, she enjoyed life! What a wonderful legacy she has left her family and fans.

I am going to spend August rereading the books of Maeve Binchy!

 

Pick up one of Maeve Binchy's books this month and celebrate her life! 

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen

"Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" by Rhoda Janzen is a memoir of going home to her  Mennonite community. 

"Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her injured. Needing a place to rest and pick up the pieces of her life, Rhoda packed her bags, crossed the country, and returned to her quirky Mennonite family's home, where she was welcomed back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda's good-natured mother suggested she get over her heartbreak by dating her first cousin—he owned a tractor, see.)

Written with wry humor and huge personality—and tackling faith, love, family, and aging—Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is an immensely moving memoir of healing, certain to touch anyone who has ever had to look homeward in order to move ahead."

From the first page, this book took me home, with Rhoda. I went to a Mennonite High School and reading the pages of Janzen's book was like thumbing through my high school year book. The Kroeker's, the Wiebe's, the Janzen's - who were known as the Jantzen's  in our area. The names were familiar and the food. Awww, the food prepared in our Mennonite High School cafeteria - Rhoda being a true Mennonite woman can cook! And cooking is a way to relax. 

Not being a Mennonite (my parent's raised me in a Southern Baptist Church) and not having a similar last name - mine was Doane, I didn't always fit in. I remember going through the cafeteria lunch line and the cooks speaking in German. Being a self conscience adolescence - I always knew they must be talking about me!!! Now I realize they probably didn't even care about what I was up to, but then - it was always excruciating!

"Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" is a tongue in cheek memoir that is funny and acceptable because it's written by someone that lived this life intimately. But if your looking for a book that embraces the Mennonite faith and carries it on, this is not it.

I greatly enjoyed it. Until I got to chapter 10 and there, it slowed down for me. The author has left the Mennonite faith and I got bogged down in the direction she went with this. However, I also realize as a memoir, this is where she was at that time in her life. I did read on. I also got bogged down in the chapter on Mennonite history. (but I did in high school, too!)  It's sad to me that so many people that become enmeshed into academia seem to leave their faith. 

Janzen's description of her mother reminded me so much of many of the Mennonite women I have known in my life. Delightful women. : )

I do realize the book is really about her relationship with her ex-husband, her accident, her life but I enjoyed the stories of the community she came from so much that those are the sections that stand out to me and stay in my mind.

I love the way she wrote of her mom. I especially love that even though Rhoda has left the Mennonite Faith, she is not embarrassed by it - nor does she seem to be embarrassed by her mother or her family. That's refreshing.

In regards to her ex-husband, I think so many women have no idea their relationship is so abusive until they can look at it in hind-site. Which is what happens with Janzen.

Rhoda Janzen holds a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was the University of California Poet Laureate in 1994 and 1997. She teaches English and creative writing at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.  You can find her web site HERE.

The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney

"The Saving Graces" by Patricia Gaffney was recommended to my by one of the newsletters I get for book clubs. It was written in 1999 but is timeless in the story it tells. It has been on the "New York Times" bestseller list and has had numerous positive reviews by authors, magazines and newspapers.

"Meet the Saving Graces, four of the best friends a woman can ever have.

For ten years, Emma, Rudy, Lee and Isabel have shared a deep affection that has helped them deal with the ebb and flow of expectations and disappointments common to us all. Calling themselves the Saving Graces, the quartet is united by understanding, honesty, and acceptance—a connection that has grown stronger as the years go by...

Though these sisters of the heart and soul have seen it all, talked through it all, Emma, Rudy, Lee and Isabel will not be prepared for a crisis of astounding proportions that will put their love and courage to the ultimate test."

I have a weakness for books where women are friends and stick together! Not to the detriment of marriage and motherhood but a group of friends that are only strengthened in their roles by their relationships with one another.

I didn't zip through this book like I do so many others. It took me a little longer to read. But it was well worth it. I did skim - skip over one small section where the character was doing something that made me sooo embarrassed for her, I just couldn't bring myself to read it. It just seemed to private. (She was volunteering at a crisis counseling call center.) When a book character embarrasses herself, it's there on the page for everyone to see. At least when I do something stupid - it's not written for the whole world to see!! In other words - YES, I do get very involved with the characters!!

This group started, not as a book club, not a political group and not a feminist organization - just women who liked and respected one another. They thought they could learn something from meeting every so often to talk about issues of interest. They weren't all friends when they started, just acquaintances.  But over they years they became more than just friends.

There are four main characters and Gaffney wrote in a style I really like. Each chapter is seen from a different woman's perspective. I like this. It gives the reader an opportunity to experience the personality of each individual woman. I did make a list of characters at the beginning with a small description of each so until I got really acquainted with each I had a cheat sheet to help! I find myself doing this more and more as I get older!

It's a good book. Very well written and believable. I found myself identifying with one particular character in the book. And yet, I could see a little of myself in all of them.

Patricia Gaffney earned a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy from Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York, and also studied literature at Royal Holloway College of the University of London, at George Washington University, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been a teacher, a journalist and is an author of several books and novellas.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984 and in January 2012 she celebrated her 28th anniversary as a cancer survivor. How exciting is that!!!

Patricia Gaffney has a web site HERE. Check it out, learn more about her and her books.

 

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