The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley

Years ago, I read Keturah and Lord Death and couldn't shake it from my head.   A heroine who falls in love with Death and a historical setting at once enigmatic and refined.  I loved the voice of the novel, the narrative scope and the saucy way of inching out mysterious details with aplomb. Martine Leavitt had me from page one.

It’s been a long while since I read a Teen novel that packed as much of a punch as Keturah. That is until I was checking around Netgalley for something to read and stumbled upon The Hangman in the Mirror by Torontonian Kate Cayley.  Honestly, I had never heard of this title before and the cover left a lot to be desired; but the setting (1750s New France) immediately captured my eye.  As did the small kernel at the back of my brain that brought the synopsis to remembered forefront.  You see, Cayley scripted a novel based on a plot that inspired a popular poem by Margaret Atwood.

With this delicious synopsis, I set in and finished the book which I started over lunch break, last night in the warmth of my apartment while the fog settled outside.

Readers, I LOVED this book. I loved the atmospheric feel and tangible scents of the Montreal streets. I loved Francoise, our narrator, the daughter of a drunken washerwoman and her retired soldier husband, who yearns for something of her own.

I loved the gritty exposition of life for those who were so dedicated to the New World: finding crass judgement by popular hanging spectacles and obliterating the term ‘peasant’ even though many of lower stations were still begging for stale crusts of bread on the dirty street. I loved the attention to the smallpox epidemic and to the tragedy of stillborn children, especially felt in upper class families.  Mostly, I loved the author’s close attention to the power of oral history.

My elementary school teacher used to spend Fridays before holidays dimming the classroom lights and treating us to a few well-spun tales of the voyageurs and the metaphysical: both wrapped in the stuff that creeps across you with a chill and spins you back to the world when Canada was first becoming a nation: amidst the canoes and the firs and the harsh sweat of the voyageur’s brows.  Here, Cayley threads stories of this ilk while positioning her heroine in the line of her mother’s oral fire. Her mother remembers France and tells of the gritty Paris streets, the song and the dance and the opera.

Indeed, there is a major motif stemming each page which conflicts the idea of lies with the reasoning of oral truth.  Francoise tells many haunting tales: at first to her friends, later to her mistress as she moves into a fine estate as a lady’s maid.  In each instance, her audience listens with rapt attention; but calls her bluff. Francoise, however, cannot believe that these stories are lies; rather half-truths; rather beautiful tales that captivate.  It is this Scheherazadean gift which will eventually save her life in a unique, compelling and thoroughly suspenseful way.

It is the power of story which leads us through this theatrical narration. For, indeed, it is a very theatrical book: attention is made to set, to perfectly-crafted dialogue, to action, to the beautiful curtain at the end of the beautiful story, leaving the reader/ audience breathless with the power of a simple climactic sentence.

I absolutely ADORED this novel.

I hope you seek it out.

I received this book on approval from Annick Press through Netgalley.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

I think I mentioned this already. I read this book mostly in the airport waiting a flight from Cork to Edinburgh. I read this book, honestly, because Rissi at Scribbles and Scripts and Such mentioned it a few times on twitter.

In futuristic America, there is a caste system: you are born into a class and there is little room for upward mobility. Farewell to the American dream, you can marry a step or two up (or down), you can work your way as hard as you can; but you must remain contented within your sphere: no matter your talent, beauty, drive.

For America Singer, we believe christened for the happier times of old, there is one chance to bring her family from their redundant poverty and into a world they never dreamed of: a reality series not unlike Katniss running around shooting down people---but with ultimately less violence.

The Selection: Think The Hunger Games meets the Biblical Book of Esther: women from across the classes compete for the hand and ultimate love of Prince Maxon.  The shortlist of ladies, which includes America, is plucked from their usual social norm and thrust into dystopian fairytale: food, banquets, lavish dances and clothes bely their new purpose: to refine themselves for the prince’s choosing.

America, who previously has fallen head over heels for the hard-working if somewhat stern and marginal Aspen is torn between her blossoming new friendship and the early realization that her informal pact with Maxon ( to let her stay in the competition ‘til near the end while he steers in the direction of the lady of her choosing ) limits her burgeoning attraction to him.

Throw in some uprising between provinces ( think the Hunger Games districts) and pepper in some unexpected Aspen-in-the-Palace-What’s-HE-doing-here action and you have a really interesting teen read sans the violence that propels The Hunger Games.

Peter from Narnia should probably play Maxon if they ever make a film...

And, yes, it DOES remind me of the contest in which the soon-to-be Queen Esther of the eponymous Bible story vies for the hand of Xerxes after Queen Vashti is tossed aside.  Like Esther, America is skilled, willed and talented… she just needs to use advantageous position to speak her mind, to abolish unfairness, to set the world alight.

I will read the rest of this trilogy. …And not just because the cover has a pretty dress.

Canada Day Blog Hop Day III: ARTHUR SLADE!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

 Our giveaway remains thus:  you comment on ANY Canadian-themed post this week and I will put all of your names in a hat and you will win a little package including a signed copy of JOLTED, my favourite Canadian YA novel.

I AM SO EXCITED!  Today my favourite living Canadian writer is on the blog as a guest star! How lucky am I ....are we....is the world? I have followed Arthur Slade's writing for about a decade and have read every book he has written ( and he writes in a myriad of genres, so there is a plentitude to choose from )

Arthur Slade is an award-winning author, hilarious tweeter, active facebooker and insightful blogger. He defines what it means to be an author who knows how to use social media to effectively reach a large audience.  He is also probably the nicest person you will meet: virtually or in person. I think this is partly because he is from Saskatchewan.  [Remember our Arthur Slade Field Trip?]

ARTHUR SLADE ANSWERS THE GREAT CANADIAN BOOK QUIZ

1.) Name a few of your favourite Canadian authors.

Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, Tim Wynne Jones, Kenneth Oppel, AE Van Vogt, Guy Gavriel Kay, Welwyn Wilton Katz, WO Mitchell...wait how much is a few?

2.) How is your Canadian identity reflected in books of yours which are set wholly in Canada ( like 'Jolted' and Dust ) and books that are set elsewhere (parts of Megiddo's Shadow, the Hunchback series)?

Well, I try to work Moose Jaw and hockey into each of my books. So far Moose Jaw has had the most mentions. But as far as my own Canadian identity, I think it just naturally flows from living in Canada. Those typically Canadian "feelings" and belief systems shine through. Dust has a hero who isn't really an action hero, he's more a "thinking" hero. Figuring things out. Finding inspiration from books that he's read. He doesn't charge into a situation. He assesses then, finally, commits to an action. That's very Canadian. Well, except when we play hockey. 

Though Edward in Megiddo's Shadow is probably my most Canadian character. He's very much in the middle of trying to belong to the empire and Canada at the same time and eventually chooses Canada. Whether that correlates with my own personality...I'll have to hire a team of therapists to figure that out.

The Hunchback series is an ode to Victorian literature. So I don't know what is Canadian in it...other than I try to add a few Canucks here and there to spice it up.

And Jolted and the Canadian identity? I think I can sum it all up in two words: Gopher Quiche.

3.) Have you ever won an award named for the vice-regal of a monarch in a major colonial realm? 

Yes. A long time ago. And I ate all the food I could get my hands on at the ceremony. Haven't had a meal since.

4.)  Can you speak to the Canadian book community: booksellers, publishers, readers, bloggers?

Yes. I can.

Err, do you want something different? Here's my deep reply: Booksellers, publishers, reader, and bloggers, lend me your ears. You are the support posts that Canadian culture is built upon. You are the glue that holds together the universe of Canadian literature. You are the hewers and sewers and hefters of words.

And my not so deep reply: I like you guys. You're great. Keep up the good work. Peace out.

5.) What are three words you would use to describe Saskatchewan?

Booming. Big. Blue Sky. Okay...I cheated.

6.) You can only have one thing for the rest of your life: poutine or maple syrup. Which would you choose?

Maple Syrup. You can't put poutine on your pancakes.

7.) What do you take in your Tim Hortons?

I only drink the tea. Coffee is evil. 

8.) Which Canadian Prime Minister was in office from 1957-1963?  Did you ever write a book about him?

John Diefenbaker, the greatest prime minister who ever set foot in the Oval office. Err, not the oval office but that other office. I did write a book about him. It turned me into a political junkie. A horrible state of mind...

9.) Do any of your book series have the words "Northern" or "Canadian" in their titles?

Funny you should ask. Yes. Northern Frights and Canadian Chills. I must move on to Southern Frights next. Southern Chills doesn't really work. Unless there's an ice age. Aha! Southern Chills: The Attack of the Yeti. I think I'll go write that.

10.)  Do you have any books publishing in July set at least partly on an Island?

Yes, how did you know? it's called Escape from the Blue Lagoon of Death. No wait, it's called Island of Doom, a much less dramatic title. And it's all about a young man named Modo who is a great reader of books (oh and secret agent and he can shift his shape, but that's beside the point).

Arthur Slade is an award-winning author, hilarious tweeter, active facebooker and insightful blogger. He defines what it means to be an author who knows how to use social media to effectively reach a large audience.  He is also probably the nicest person you will meet: virtually or in person. I think this is partly because he is from Saskatchewan.  [Remember our Arthur Slade Field Trip?]

***************************************************************************

A recap of the Canada Day Blog Hop thus far:

Kick-off post

Hey Canada blog tour

Mountie Day

Jessica Strider's 5 Canadian Sci-Fi and Fantasy book picks

Rachel and Katie's 5 favourite Canadian novels

East Coast Fiction with Kailana from The Written World

The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson

Over a year ago, I was thrilled to read and review The Healer's Apprentice by what I found to be an essential voice for the Christian teen market. I will be the first to say that the Christian market is decidedly lacking in strong fiction for teenagers; but Dickerson is changing that and she is a welcome voice. Like The Healer's Apprentice and its soft re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty tale, The Merchant's Daughter re-positions the Beauty and the Beast story in feudal England. The titular merchant's daughter, Annabel, becomes conscripted servant to Lord Ranulf le Wyse,  a harsh, enigmatic master to whom she is indentured to serve to pay a family debt. 

Ranulf le Wyse is a very Byronic figure who immediately put me in mind of Edward Rochester.  Due to an accident years earlier, his hand is disfigured, his face blighted with a scar and his blinded eye hidden behind a patch. Ranulf is the beast figure in the story: a worthy and brash counterpart to the beautifully-spirited Annabel.

This is a delicious love story; but not only because it believably metes out the growing attraction between the lord of the manor and his fair servant. Dickerson does well at infusing the novel with the Christianity which would have been prevalent to residents of this era and sphere. For example, the Holy Writ is available only through the Latin Vulgate. The denomination is completely Catholic and women are scorned for reading: especiall scripture. Annabel, having been once a wealthy merchant's daughter speaks and reads numerous languages and, as part of her servitude to Lord le Wyse, reads daily to him from his own treasured copy of the Bible. 

Often characterized in several of the re-tellings of this tale, is the role of an enchantress or seductress who serves at the initial fall of the Beast figure. Here, we learn that Ranulf is a widower once seduced by the beauty of one who did not love him; rather his station and monetary value.  To further emphasize the temptress motif, Dickerson does well at reminding the reader of the garish view of women during these primitive times.  Women, as preached by the priest at the pulpit, were seen to be the fall of man, seen to be deceptive forces, even more so if blessed with the beauty of one such as Annabel. Ranulf muses: "Beautiful women weren't to be trusted or allowed into a man's heart when that man was less than perfect. He'd learned that lesson well." At one point the priest explains how dangerous reading is to a woman: "I am not sure your motives are pure. A woman reading the Word of God? Are you able to interpret the Scriptures? You aren't even dedicated to God. Never said your vows. Nay. You are to rely upon your priest to give you the interpretation  of God's Word. I will tell you what you need to know."  As you can see, Annabel is victim of a patriarchal word where men were not only to be the studious conveyers of the scripture, they were in charge of interpreting it for women and the common public.  This is years before Luther and years before the veil was torn to allow for a public personification of the Holy Word. Annabel's desire to draw closer to the faith that has been represented to her in her minimal encounters with the Bible is often thwarted by the separation marring her to her position and her sex. 

Indeed, the greatest beauty found in the story is the pure-hearted nature of Annabel and it is this, rather than the physical grace of her movement and countenance that ultimately wins the hand of the Lord. Their relationship becomes further secured when they share the Holy Word together: Annabel thirsty to learn more about Christ in writing (so much so that she considers entering a nunnery just to be near it).

The research in this writing is wonderful and you really do feel like you peel back centuries to step into Annabel and Lord Le Wyse's time. I also found the descriptive writing and imagery to be a beautifully-woven tapestry; an apt canvas for Dickerson's renewal of a fairy tale.... like this sentence: "...she once again caught sight of the sky, which had bruised blue and purple with clouds and threatened rain"  or "...his shoulders swayed, like a hewn tree just before it collapses."

The faith in this book is well met with the time period, as mentioned. But, is rather inspiring as well. "How wonderful to know that Jesus didn't condemn women like the priest did. Even with a sinful woman, He didn't rant about how evil she was."  Nearing the end of the novel, Ranulf and Annabel discuss my favourite portion of the Bible, found in Romans 8:1 and the the theme of condemnation and Christ's atoning grace intercepts again.

For those who are familiar with the Disneyfied portrayal of the story: there is a rose, there is the sacrifice of Ranulf to put his love for Annabel before his own desire to keep her.... it goes on and on in a colourful carousel and the pages will rapidly slip between your fingers.

I found this to be even stronger than The Healer's Apprentice and I cannot WAIT until Dickerson's next tale.

Go read her blog

Buy the book

more shameless Arthur Slade promotion

You guys know I love me some Canadian lit, right?

I happen to really like Arthur Slade. He's a swell guy.  He keeps releasing ( and tracking ) e-book sales with, like, scientifically coloured graphs and stuff.  So, you should, like, see what he's been up to: READ THIS

Also, according to this blog post, Buy a Book and Save a Butterfly ( true story)

Also, follow him on twitter: (@arthurslade)

Also, read Jolted

Film Review: 'Hugo' dir., Martin Scorsese

The movies that most resonate with me are the ones where I leave having felt an experience akin to watching a magnificent piece of theatre or closing the last page of a magnificent book.
Martin Scorsese's Hugo is a wonderment and it will tug at your heartstrings: especially if, like me, you are extremely sensitive to anything relating to imaginative experience and artistic sensibility.

Around four years ago, I was delighted to purchase and leaf through the film's source material: "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick and was immediately impressed with its innovative story/picture hybrid, its inclusion of photography and its structure as a love letter to films of old.  The film also marries a passion for literary narrative with a golden nod to the formation of film.   But, on a stronger, deeper and more heart-wringing level, it speaks to the heart of creative beguile.  Not unlike Polanski's The Pianist, it explores the loss and re-discovery of the artist in a world new and unknown.

One of the most potent aspects of this remarkable film lay in its multi-faceted enigma: which winds and turns all of our seemingly disconnected characters like the intertwining togs and mechanisms of the clocks of the Parisienne Train Station: the workings and cogs and sprints and springs which make the pulsating maze of our hero, Hugo Cabret's, world.

Indeed, clocks, time and the passing of hundreds of passengers clacking over the well-trod floor of the Station are a major motif and clever canvas.   Here is where most of the action takes place.  Orphaned since the death of his father: a clockmaker/inventor/ machine enthusiast, Hugo usurps the task of winding and charging the clocks at the crowded train station from the trembling hands of his intoxicated uncle.

Several characters including an uptight security guard, a flower girl, a coffee mistress woo'd by a man disdained by her wiener dog and a surly toy and candy salesman paint the kiosks and act as the stars in Hugo's complicated world.    Yet, the heart of the story lies beyond the adventures of Hugo and his new friend Isabelle: even if the mechanized world of nooks and towers would be more than enough to fulfill the children's imaginative whims.




This film is a love story to cinema, to history, to stories and to the working mind of the artist.   The exposition of a consummate artist starved of the mind he cannot turn off is the main triumph and tragedy of this heart-warming tale. Old books, broad libraries, odd automatons and the preservation of film, not to mention instances invaded by the First World War,add complex layers to a film definitely not made just for the entertainment of children.  I began crying mid-way through when the right book found its purpose and made it to the right owner and my 3D glasses remained fogged for the remainder of the film.

In my opinion, this is the type of magic the Academy should recognize.  It is quite clear that director Scorsese ripped out a piece of his heart and threw it up on the screen for all to see.   To mention the mere craft of this story would take a real film-maker. Thus, I speak to its narrative force, its wildly imaginative imagery and the thematic interposition which will render those who feel the blessed (cursed?) ripples of imagination often ringing through their ears and surging through their veins.

I would encourage you to see this film immediately.  I usually avoid 3D films; but this film is carefully constructed to make the most of dimensional marvel.    Children will learn a lot about the history and incarnation of film while learning new vocabulary (the bookwormish Isabelle is adorably precocious when it comes to throwing around the names Sidney Carton and Jean Valjean. Moreover, words like "panache" and "steadfast" creep into the children's vocabulary).

The relatively unknown film-maker George Melies plays a major part in the film and you will enjoy learning about his contribution to the technical developments of film. He is often credited as one of the first cinemagicians.

Snippets of old film are inserted and I was delighted, as one example, to see a famous train scene featuring a squirming Buster Keaton.  This film will act as a wonderful introduction to the black and white films which so long ago ushered in the magic that children now take for granted each time they see a new 3D film or play a new video game.

Also be sure to check out the novel by Brian Selznick: which marries imagery and narrative to beguile young adult readers.

....just when you think you know what this film is about, it will whirr and whistle and steer you in another steam-powered moment of trickery.   Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jude Law, Christopher Lee and Richard Griffiths ( not to mention a beautiful Emily Mortimer) help round out the cast.

This is the best movie I have seen this year.

Paris is not my city (Vienna is, as we all know); but it is painted in glorious light and if you have a hankering for 1930s France you will be in heaven!

For my friends: Jude Law's character and presence made me think of Melrose Plant, Horatio Lyle and Dr. Watson all at once. Not bad.

Arthur Slade and the E-Book Industry on LE RADIO

Fair readers, you all know that we subscribe to the school of All Things Arthur Slade. He is, as you know, Canada's best YA novelist ( at least in my awesome opinion) and a personal favourite of mine. As someone who works in the publishing industry (albeit on the educational side), I find Slade's consistent fascination and experimentation with the tenets of Canadian publishing appealing. That, and he does Skype visits to lucky classroom children across the globe.

Without further ado, I give you Arthur Slade on the Radio (once again proving he has the EXACT same speaking voice as my high school drama teacher--whom I liked, so that's a good thing):

Directions:
->Go to CBC Sunday Edition Website here
->Search under the Hour One paragraph and click midway through the black box there ( past all that asbestos exports stuff--- though that is interesting, too, if you are so inclined).

Slade speaks to his infatuation with Star Wars and how it triggered his imagination so acutely he began writing screenplays, teleplays and short, self-proclaimed "gory" stories.

As per always, most resonant of the Slade written agenda are the glorious glades of the Cypress Hills in rural Saskwatchewan.  This landscape informs so much of his fictional backdrop (he speaks to pouring poison down gopher hills in his youth---this guilt perhaps exorcised in Jolted) from Dust to Megiddo's Shadow.

He speaks to his respect for W.O. Mitchell, his over-active imagination and how his favourite librarian was a bit of a Google search engine for him ( especially when it came to hunting down books on medieval torture devices...)

He even speaks of Iron Maiden, his favourite "literary" band...

It's a veritable smorgasbord of fun.

Yes, he talks to the e-book thing.

YOUR TO-DO LIST:

1. Listen to Arthur Slade ( as mentioned)
2. Go to his website
3. Read this amazing blog entry (funniest author blogpost ever)
4. and buy ALL of his books (e-book or otherwise)

hurrah.

[Funny story: I once had a blog reader comment and ask me what my commission was and if he could hire me to promote his new book the way I promoted Arthur Slade around the web.
Sooo funny...
I just like promoting Canadian writers (especially the good-natured and talented ones)

Dear George Clooney, Please Marry my Mom by Susin Nielsen

Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom by Susin Nielsen is a delightful middle-grade novel featuring a wonderfully spunky heroine. Recalling Judy Blume and Harriet-the-Spy, this coming-of-age tale is set in soggy Vancouver. A heroine whose mood and resoluteness is as steady as the steely-rain weather, Violet will steal your heart. Violet speaks right to us as she recalls the events that led to her director father leaving with the blonde bimbo star of a failed tv show. With their father living in Los Angeles with said blonde bimbo, Violet, her sister and her mother are left in a dilapidated house, scraping pennies and trying to get by. What’s worse, Violet’s mother insists on compulsive dating and when she sets her sights on the unfortunately named Dudley Weiner, Violet springs into action.


Divorce stories are nothing new in middle-grade fiction; but this one was teeming with realism. Violet’s embarrassment, awkwardness and roller-coaster emotions clearly established the author’s validity. I felt what Violet felt and even at her most mischievous, she was endearing. Rather like Harriet the Spy ( and at times with similar antics), Violet has the ability to be synonymously charming and prickly. When Violet decides that George Clooney is the only man for her mom and begins writing him deliciously detailed letters, the plot really springs into action. These letters alone make the novel worth reading. Nielsen has perfectly captured the pre-teen voice. Violet’s first crush, aversion to affection, desperation to avenge her mother’s honour and take vengeance on her father’s actions were vital, lucid and real. I was stunned by how well the author possessed the thoughts and psyche of a typical 7th grader. This offering from Tundra has received critical acclaim. In fact, it was that acclaim that led me to pick it up in the first place. I am glad I did.

Inevitable Promo Post for "Empire of Ruins"

Thanks to our friends at Harper Collins Canada, I got my hands on a copy of Empire of Ruins! Everyone knows I love promoting Arthur Slade on le blog because it is fun to do and he makes me laugh… AND (and probably MOST importantly) he is from Saskatchewan: province-extraordinaire.

Just an FYI that this is officially published on March 1, 2011( according to Amazon) and yes! … you should be pre-ordering it NOW (should: meaning FIVE MINUTES AGO ALREADY!)

Here! I’ll help you.

You can order it here

Or here

And then you can read about it here

And…LOOK! someone blogged about it keenly in December here

As far as I gather there is...
-Octavia
-Modo
-Mr. Socrates
-LARKS
-steampunky stuff
-steam and punk
-Victorian-style adventure
-lots of consonance and pitch-perfect descriptives ( it’s an Arthur Slade novel)
-MORE LARKS and in the RAIN FOREST!!!


Canadian Authors ROCK! I support them and so should you!

Indubitably, I’ll have more to say about this later….

Author Field Trip: the Arthur Slade edition

So, last month Courtney, Kat and I headed out to Chapters Brampton ( read: the middle of nowhere ) to meet Arthur Slade who was in town ( all the way from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) promoting the excellent novel, The Dark Deeps, book II in the incredibly amazing, breathtaking, action packed, brimming with verisimilitude, mindblowing, earth-shattering, Jules Verne meets Victor Hugo at tea with Sherlock Holmes with Robert Louis Stevenson serving scones HUNCHBACK ASSIGNMENTS series.

Slade remains my favourite YA author in the WORLD ( o.k. tied with Catherine Webb) and the only author ( with the exception of LM Montgomery via séance) I would trek to Brampton to see.

Courtney trekked from Cambridge and Kat and I trekked from Toronto. (Kat and I had the better end of the deal because we had a massive Ziploc full of JellyBellys)


Once there, we got to meet Arthur Slade and get books signed and stuff! Of course, we are ten years ( okay, MORE than ten years ) older than his usual demographic but WHO CARES! ??

I was also two or three times taller than all of the kids in front of me in line ( the curse of being an adult who loves kids’ books). Yes, we did let the children go first. It’s all about the children, don’t y’know.


MOMENTS: One little girl ( of the B.O.O.K.E.D series ) who was introducing Ye olde Slade mentioned that “Modo satisfies all my reading needs”. I promptly died of cuteness.

Ye olde Slade rambled about a book on submarines from a bargain bin ( he gets geeked out about stuff, apparently--- ).

It was a night of nerdy wonderfulness and quite well documented in LIVE TWEETS in REAL TIME by my friend, Kat. RELIVE THE MAGIC FOR YOURSELVES, reader-friends


· At Chapters in Brampton, fangirling over @arthurslade ! :) 6:46 PM May 12th via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE: I don’t appreciate being called a “fangirl”, I prefer the term: learned book enthusiast)
· @rachkmc just asked @arthurslade a question. @moonsoar and I are amused! 6:46 PM May 12th via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE: I did ask A.Slade a question: I wanted to know where he got his delicious character names)
· "Modo rhymes with Frodo." - @arthurslade 6:47 PM May 12th via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE:not only is A. Slade a brilliant, Governor-General’s award-winning author, he apparently knows how to rhyme)
· Cheap books are not cheap, they're bargains! A la @arthurslade 6:51 PM May 12th via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Apparently, A. Slade is also savvy with synonyms)
· @arthurslade totally just HOPPED down the stairs! Amazing! :) 6:52 PM May 12th via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE: It was basically a breakneck-paced action film by this point. Like, someone get Bruckheimer on the phone. STAT.)
· @moonsoar just blanked on her question to @arthurslade . @rachkmc and I are amused! 6:54 PM May 12th via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Courtney did rally. Besides, we were all speechless in the presence of brilliance: the kind of brilliance that talks about Star Wars ad nauseum)
· @arthurslade just hopped again! Best author move ever! via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE: in summation, A. Slade is quite the animated author… either that or he thinks he’s a rabbit and his treadmill desk is keeping him in tip-top shape)
· @arthurslade 's fave character is #DarthVader ! Hot dog! ;) via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE: see? I mentioned the Star Wars thing, did I not?)
· Ppl are getting their books signed by @arthurslade now. @rachkmc , @moonsoar & i will wait until it shrinks 2 almost nothing. We r patient. via Echofon
·
· Okay, we're in line. I wish I had my TP copy of Megiddo's Shadow for @arthurslade to sign. Curse you Amazon!!! Will get #Hunchback1 signed. via Echofon
·
· Free Starbucks samples in line waiting for @arthurslade to sign our books! Score! via Echofon
·
· Almost our turn! Special salute @arthurslade ! via Echofon
(EDITOR’S NOTE: upon arriving, A. Slade gave his audience a special salute for coming. Kat returned the favour)



Then we all went home and had to become grown-ups again with careers and deadlines and early mornings.

PFFFT!

To Dance at the Palais Royale by Janet McNaughton

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years and I never picked it up. So, preparing for a bus ride to London for a long weekend, I tossed it in my bag and read it while waiting for the bus then finished it on the bus. It is a quick, lovely, languid read.

Aggie leaves her large family and domestic role as a housekeeper in Scotland to move to Canada in the late 1920s. Toronto's elite hanker after the idea of British and Scottish domestic workers and Aggie has no trouble securing a position in the Deer Park area of Toronto ( near St. Clair West and Yonge).

I live in Forest Hill ( very near where the Stockwood`s mansion would be fictionally set )and felt that I was transported back to a city I love in Aggie`s time. The streetcars rumbled, yes, but over tracks still primitive and new; Royal York on Front Street had not finished completion; Union Station ( which McNaughton describes as a hallowed, hollow cathedral ) stood loftily as the biggest building Aggie had ever seen and the mythical Sunnyside park near the harbour was filled with stands selling redhots; dance pavilions; mirth and merriment.

McNaughton spins us into a world of colour and prosperity in a booming post-war Canada. Aggie meets Rose, an indelible flapper; Rodney a posh Queens undergrad who shirks his father`s stock business to pursue history and Rachel, a domestic servant like herself sponsored by an upstanding man named Moshe: who saves her from the travesty of liquidation and hardship in pre-Nazi Poland.

This world: the markets and kiosks of Spadina when clashed with the ferries to Center Island; the upscale Rosedale mansions; luncheons at the King Edward and traipses around Eatons and Simpsons is a finely rendered friction.

McNaughton does well at painting the often invisible line between classes ( and the internal skepticism of jewish residents and other immigrants like Rachel) as Aggie weaves in and out with little more than a fancy dress and a few well-thought lies.

Having experienced all corners of bustling Toronto: prejudice, social injustice, women`s burgeoning roles, sexual awakening and a strengthening independence, she is able to carve her own world and leave her own stamp on the booming city: this includes meeting a wonderfully painted Newfoundlander named Will with a sing-song dialect and a lackadaisical way about him.

Each dialect from each of the worlds Aggie visits ( including her own Scotch dialect ) are perfect.

The story is brilliantly told and unfolds so subtly you are swept up in its simple beauty.

I heartily hope that McNaughton abandons the more stark and futuristic novels of her recent distopian fiction and returns to more yarns like this one.

Beautiful, historical, full of promise. Ending on a shrill, high note that even the lingering Stock Crash ( waiting around the corner like a tiger with teeth pried open ) can sever and mute.

WONDERFUL!

Highly recommended

shameless canadian author promotion: The Hunchback Assignments

Hey kids!


Remember when this intermittent blogger said that she was going to be sporadic, but would return for important things like, say, condensing the Aubrey/Maturin series, raving about Derek Landy and if Arthur Slade wrote something new?

Well whatydaknow? Arthur Slade wrote a book. Good on him.

You'll read a full-blown review next week, I am sure.

But, for now, as I am hovering in my apartment; half-dead from laryngitis; home from another long stint away; peppermint tea-in-hand- Gigi in the background ( you sing it, Maurice Chevalier, you SING IT!), I thought I would take a moment to provide you with a fun link:

Hunchback Assignments

Look reading public! You only have TWO Days until a new Arthur Slade novel! YAY! This only happens once a year ( used to be twice-ish when he wrote for Tundra but who is counting?)


oh! and Toronto has a fantastic Word on the Street this fall! With lots of great Canadian authors (including Kenneth Oppel who I recently forgave for Starclimber) check that out here!



And just in case Canadian authors have not tantalized your weekend enough, read about the class act that is Alice Munro here. She pulled out from the Giller this year ( because we all know she would have won it, no matter who else was in the running).

And finally, in a totally un-related vein, thank goodness the new Alatriste is finally going to be released this September. That's right, Arturo Perez Reverte, I am looking at you--- sure, you wrote it ages ago, but you have to get on those translators to get it into my greedy little hands uber quick!


Alright, off to wallow in late-Summer flu-ness.



Go support Canadian authors!

Landings and Penderwicks and Benjamin Button..... with some W. O. Mitchell for good measure!

Finally! The GG award-winner for Children’s literature, Globe and Mail’s Washington correspondent writes The Landing: a kuntsleromanesque novel for young adults about Ben Mercer: a would-be violinist trapped in Depression-Era Muskoka.


A region very dear to my heart, Ibbotson carefully crafts and evokes Muskoka as a paradise amidst economic and social turmoil. A bittersweet region that is at once: mesmerizing and beautiful, dangerous and isolating.

The wealthy tourists spilling into the lake country view it as a prime position for lavish and grandiose parties. The residents whose livelihood relies on cushioning the granite and pine-treed spanse of northern Ontario , view it as a way of tireless existence.


Nevertheless, for good and for bad, Ibbotson painted home for me.

Ben Mercer is stuck at the Landing with his crippled and embittered uncle, Henry and his mother: still heavily grieving the passing of Ben’s father.

Ben dreams of leaving Muskoka, scooping up his violin and leaving the life of odd jobs aboard steamers like the Segwun ( which still ports out of Gravenhurst ), and chipping away at cottages for the wealthy and elite.

Ben wants to go to the Conservatory in Toronto and ensure that the steady fingers that move so liquidly ‘cross his violin are not smirched and worn by the hired hand work of his family.

The musical motif of the novel is pursued quite deftly. Especially with the arrival of Ruth Chapman: a Miss Havisham of a widow who smokes long cigarettes, drinks beer every day for lunch and wine for dinner ( a custom unheard of to small community Ben ), introduces hired Ben to martini olives and to stories of New York and glittering parties.

Ben sees in Ruth Chapman what his life as a musician might be. It is this vital relationship that is explored most intimately and that shadows the other relationships in the novel ( such as Ben’s rocky rapport with his equally-trapped uncle).

Unfortunately, a hefty amount of build-up as executed in a novel with eons of potential falls a little flat. Disappointingly so because I was so invested in seeing this full potential realized.

The ending speeds to an awkward and unexpected climax that staves off as quickly as it was built. It reads rather abruptly, as if the author was in a mad dash to tie up loose ends. They are tied, curtly, and with little grace.

I appreciate Ibbotson’s contribution to this year’s YA library especially because his nostalgiac retelling of a gilded age is painted on a Muskokan landscape: a region often eluding Canadian YA literature.

I will hunt Ibbotson down again… if only because he set his stage so intelligently and some of his phrasing was so compelling I returned to sentences more than once.

The end might reverberate harshly, but the journey was cleverly spun.

I give it a B+

Want more books? Fine. I give you The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by National Book Award Winner Jeanne Birdsall.

The Penderwicks make me nostalgiac. Episodic, charming, sweet. Birdsall is a first-class homage to Burnett, Alcott and Montgomery. She proves infectious.

I love the (mis)adventures of Batty, Skye, Jane and Rosalind. I love their little mishaps and the Sabrina Starr stories and their plays and soccer games. I love Batty’s chilling Hallowe’en bumping into the enigmatic Bug Man.

Each sister gets equal attention and Birdsall’s effortless narrative allows you to crawl into the characters’ thought processes and lodge there.

I especially loved clueless Mr. Penderwick: forever quoting Latin and harping on etymology. Prey, here, to visiting Aunt Claire’s blind dates, he becomes the central focus of a “Save Daddy” plot the sisters concoct to steer him from disastrous blind dates.

Not a fast paced book nor is it strewn with adventure. But, children will love it: Especially those who are champions of charming imaginative stories of home, colour and small adventures.

A peppermint-tea kind of book.

Oh. And plenty of space is given to faithful dog, Hound!

The nice people at Harper Collins sent me a hardcover, illustrated, swanky copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I am going to see an advance screening of the film on Sunday and hope that it fleshes out details that Fitzgerald’s sparse writing and the infinitesimal length of the book did not allow.

A surprisingly visceral read, Benjamin Button creeped me out with surreal illogistics. Fitzgerald and I go way back…. But I cannot say I’ve read him in the past five or so years. How odd to be thrust back into the sphere of his terse writing. I had forgotten. As a teenager, I had a major fling with Fitzgerald. I fell hard. … especially for Tender is the Night and the Great Gatsby. But mostly for This Side of Paradise .

Ironically ( and unintentionally), the lavish lake parties in the Landing immediately sparked a correlation to Fitzgerald…. Long before I knew a reading of Benjamin Button was looming.

In fact, Ruth Chapman even mentions Gatsby in one of her random tirades to Ben Mercer.

But Benjamin Button is not the flourish of languid flappers, coy mistruths, long cigarettes , gild and alcohol. No excessive ritz here. Instead, it is a bizarre circus of crude happenstance relating to a man who ages backward.

Erm… not really my thing but that distinctively Fitzgeraldian brand of clipped writing ( Scottie wrote by the sentence, or so we are told ) was missing in my life. Can I mention Fitzgerald ( or any other novelist from the Moveable Feast circle of Hemingway, Fitz, Ezra Pound and James Joyce ) without harping on Morley Callaghan? Umm. No.

So consider this my weekly reminder to go read That Summer in Paris .

Post-Benjamin Button, I picked up my jacketless, well-thumbed hardcover of Jake and the Kid: craving a different kind of short story. And THIS dropped out:

The ( unedited )words of Rachel-a-decade-ago. The ghost of my 16 year old self is here to haunt you:

Friday January 30, 1998

I guess, of all my favourite books I should write something 'bout Jake and the Kid. This is nothing short of a charming book. It adds life and pizzaz to these rainy days when nothing but the best will do. W.O. Mitchell is a literary Genius. Read the first story. If you're not hooked by the end of "You Gotta Teeter" then your imagination craves colourfulness and life. This collection of stories (added to the hard-to-find According to Jake and the Kid) makes me extremely proud that my country, Canada, owns W. O. Mitchell. I'm glad I witnessed the grandeur of the prairies these stories boast. I'm glad the RCMP are our landmark. I'm grateful our men sacrificed their perfect lives to fight overseas and I am fascinated by the history Jake expands when nonchalantly story-telling. Everyone of these phenomenal aspects are blended into the main plot about a boy and his rough-edged mentor. Both characters are masterieces and this book amazing. I always desire to embark on the great adventure through our Western Provinces. The small town of Crocus fascinates me.-- as a writer. How can so many amazing things take place in such a small area? How can such descriptions outweigh other classics? These ideas are fresh. There's only so much of foggy London or steamy Paris one can take.

I like to lay other clicheed books aside and travel to Saskatchewan. It is part of my heritage, part of my history, part of my country, and Jake and the Kid is part of me.

Wasn't I cute? Wow! I think I was blogging long before blogs existed. Also, I think I determined the path of my future long before I went into English Lit and publishing.

Trip down memory lane, you were fun!

the post that was supposed to be about The Landing

I was supposed to write about the Landing. But, I left the review on my work computer and my work computer....erm...at work.


So, instead I have decided to write about Charles Finch. I love Charles Finch. He has a nice face. And, most importantly and ever less superficially, the books ARE fantastic, chock full of plaintive verisimilitude and boasting beautiful titles.

Also, to the point of Literary Alter Egos, we can muse on Charles Finch naming his hero Charles Lenox. That should be fun ...'specially because the second installment finds our hero in Oxford: Charles Finch's old stomping ground ( I say "old" with a grain of salt because we are 'bout the same age ). Now, a real review ( because I do like to do things properly and not lackadaisically: hence this blog's sporadic tendencies to wane to and fro ) requires me dipping back into A Beautiful Blue Death and The September Society. Followed by extravagant praise and then a melange of anecdotes on the British detective front---obviously including the darling little mystery store in New York City ( Greenwich Village to be precise ) that editor Otahyoni and I pillaged on our vacation there this past summer ----and obviously a foray into Will Thomas
( because I really do like him and The Black Hand was more than decent!) and maybe a dash of that Rhys Bowen, Her Royal Spyness which was the best of froth and Deanna Raybourn's Silent as the Grave which was also the best of froth ......

and then, being in the frame of murderous mind, I would probably talk about the gorgeous new covers bestowed upon those Nero Wolfe omnibuses.

Then I would talk about Archie Goodwin.

Then I would muse on my favourite fictional characters. Leading to Alatriste, perchance, and then to The Painter of Battles ( on the Perez-Reverte front)

oh cursed stream-of-consciousness--- I would come full circle back to YA fiction and to Horatio Lyle and....


what's the point?


I have none of this planned out.


Oh blog-in-embryo, you doth fail me.

Oh well! Do you all have some titles to write down in your notebooks?

courtney takes on "Megiddo"

Erm... I'm tired tonight and it is snushing ( snowing and slushing at the same time=snush).



So, I will wait until tomorrow to write my review of John Ibbotson's GG winner "The Landing"

and send you over to Courtney's to read about Megiddo's Shadow.


Because, seriously, who doesn't want to read another glowing review?

bad teenie vampire fiction

I am halfway through Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer.... and, seeing as Bella is the most spineless, useless, weak and woozy female to ever step off a literary page ( the bit I read of Shopaholic falling nicely in close step behind ) , I am not sure why I am going to finish it.

Maybe I won't.


How OFTEN does one weak-minded female have to be rescued by a charming, strong male?


She gets smothered by being "pressed to his chest" ( I would give a notation for this specific description--- but it is mentioned on every other page so forgive me)


Geez Stephenie Meyer. You are a great person, but there are impressionable minds out there.

Why give so many fourteen year old girls such a backless, weakling as a heroine ?


Work on this .


EDIT: It is official. I will NEVER read another Stephenie Meyer book again. I think it was Edward staking possession ( staking: no pun intended) in front of Jacob with "She is MINE!"

and Bella being too weak minded and possessed to assert that she is, in fact, her own person.

Why are all these guys in love with her? Oh yes. I get it. She's a puppet for them to play with. Every guy wants a damsel in distress.


Sheesh.



EDIT:

please read this --- a list of the most commonly over-used things in Teen and YA fiction. Hilarious.


I think she forgot to mention " the incest card"; my friend Karin has not been able to shut up about: " I can't believe Cassandra Claire played the INCEST CARD !! [in City of Bones ] She wrote a YA novel and played the obvious INCEST card!"


It is one of the most hilarious conversations we have. And we have it often.