Jane Smiley

Here's what I wrote in 2016 about this read: "Loved this and keep talking about it with people. Smiley brings the people of the middle ages to life even as a civilization progresses toward death. Fasinating bit of history, wonderful characters that we care about, and left a yearning to go see this extreme, mostly desolate place." Here in 2024 I still recall how these people (along with their animals), barely survived winters, huddled in their boxbeds with minimal warm, with barely any nutrition, and the descent of society as Europe stopped sending spiritual and government leaders (due, history speculates to the plagues). Quotations in the comments section are my exact kindle highlights.… (altro)

This deceptively simple novel about Jodie Rattler, a moderately successful singer-songwriter in the era of the three J's (Joni, Judy, Joan) of the '60s and 70s, is placid on the surface. A love song to home and family, Jodie is the daughter of a striving Broadway chorus girl from St. Louis who becomes pregnant by a married man and returns home with a two year old. Jodie's aunts, uncles, and cousins and their comfortable homes, neighborhoods, and relationships create a soft landing for them, though the mother is haunted by what she lost and by mental illness. Jodie's melodious voice is recognized in elementary school choir and her songwriting skills develop in college; she plays in bands and writes a few hit songs, and her favorite uncle parlays her generous royalty payments into enough wealth to buy her several homes and temporary residency in Europe. She meets Martin, with whom she is perfectly compatible, but whose upper-class British future expectations do not mesh well with Jodie's lack of ambition, and she leaves him, an act that will resonate through her life. She returns to St. Louis, takes care of her mother and aging family, goes out on the road for concerts and music festivals (including one memorable duet with Lyle Lovett), and teaches herself how to become part of a close group of local women. What should have ended in a gentle slide into advanced age shockingly becomes the opposite in a stunning epilogue. The novel, as everything Smiley has written, becomes part of the fabric of the reader's permanent memory.… (altro)