Monthly Archives: March 2008

“Mistress of The Art of Death” by Ariana Franklin

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Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar is the heroine of this mystery set in 1171 medieval England.

Not for a minute does this seem as unrealistic as it should.

Adelia, a medical examiner from Italy is ahead of her time.  Quite far ahead actually.  Women in medieval times were not doctors. They were not openly feisty, intelligent, belligerent, fearless, judgmental and accusatory.  (One would like to think in private they could enjoy these delightful character traits – I do).

An adopted daughter of Italian physicians, Adelia is schooled as a doctor at the School of Medicine in Salerno.  She studies death.When King Henry II requests that a doctor be sent from Italy to help solve a mystery involving the murders of local children in Cambridge, a trio arrives that has a hard time blending in with the crusaders and pilgrims of medieval England.  Adelia, Simon of Naples (a prominent Jew) and Mansur (a Moor) are just marvelous.  The reader likes them immediately even if the locals do not.

Medicine was at odds with the church at this time and Adelia must practice quietly though, “other doctors knew the use of Adelia’s work, and it was an open secret among the lay authorities.”  This proves difficult in England as she gets involved in the proliferation of illnesses in town and becomes an object of derision to the powers-that-be.The Prior is horrified upon finding to whom he owes his life, “a woman, a woman …only indebtedness, the knowledge that without her ministration he would have died, had stopped him from ignoring her or stealing away…”  We worry that she will be tattled upon.  We worry that she will be unfairly treated.  We worry that no one will see how lovely she is.  We do not, however, worry that she will not prevail which makes the plot more fun than angst-ridden.

The central issues encircling the murders (which are really quite awful) are myriad and reflect upon all of the central characters. Religion, politics, equality – the usual triumvirate, all play to blur the lines of the basic plot which is the murders . Who is killing these children?  Someone from the Church?  The Jews?  A Crusader?
Adelia studies the bodies to interpret the crimes.  “ I am not here to pray for them [Adelia] said, I have come to speak for them.”  Like Kay Scarpetta (Patricia Cornwell’s brave forensic doctor), Adelia brings an objectivity to death that opens our eyes and makes the story more tolerable.  As we learn to admire her forensic and deductive skills, we also witness her falling in love with a horse-faced child, a repugnantly stinky dog and a surprising man.Throughout the book, she tracks many plausible suspects and the conclusion is thankfully not obvious.  The benefit of being kept guessing until the end is that trivial details are not ignored.  You’ll regret skipping pages.

Adelia is quite the pistol and her tenacity is much needed at the awful climax when, “courage returned to Adelia.  And hatred.  And ferocity.  No pain on earth could stop her.”  We are right there in the horror with her and thank goodness for a happy ending.Phew!  When you are done shaking off a veritable plethora of “willies”, you will realize that you have just read a rather good book.

A Celebratory Sunrise at the Sea

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By Olwen Logan Published 03/24/08

More than 100 worshippers gathered at Griswold Point in Old Lyme early Sunday morning for the traditional sunrise service organized by the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme to celebrate Easter.  This year the ecumenical service was co-hosted by the Madry Temple of New London.

It was cold but clear morning as people of all ages, some accompanied by their dogs, headed towards Griswold Point on the shore of Long Island Sound.

The moon was still shining clearly in the west at 6:30 a.m. when the service, led by the Rev. Rebecca Crosby, began.

As the service continued, shades of red began to fill the sky to the east.

The gleaming sun burst like a fireball above the horizon …

… prayers were said, hymns were sung, and then the worshippers slowly headed home in the light of Easter Day.

 

“Freddy and Fredericka” by Mark Helprin

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I quail to think that I may not be able to do this book justice.  Mark Helprin is a staggeringly great writer.  If I had to pick a favorite (thankfully I don’t), he would be it.  His life experience – Harvard, Oxford, Princeton, Army, Airforce, Navy – would be enough of a reason to hear what he has to say, but his scope of experience is minimal compared to his imagination, sense of humor, and descriptions of beauty.

Frederick and Fredericka (the future King and Queen of England) are marvelously both ludicrous and everyman.  The trials and tribulations they face when sent on a quest to save themselves and their thrones are tremendously and imaginatively idiosyncratic.  You’ll see what I mean when they get their front teeth knocked out before meeting Hell’s Angel-types in Newark, N.J. …
The Queen banishes them both to the Garden State, “as penance for departure from the royal ideal and instruction therein.”  Thus the Prince and Princess of Wales find themselves, “forced to travel through America penniless and incognito, with the object of reacquiring the deviant former colonies for the British Crown.”They find themselves in ridiculously far-fetched situations, that, amazingly, seem appropriate and life-altering.  We can’t but hope they will learn from these experiences … and they do.  Oh, they do, causing Freddy to muse, “though it is hard to be a king, it is harder yet to become one.”
Freddy is the much maligned heir to the British throne.  He is a bumbling, silly, out-of-touch, pretty boy, who has no depth of character.Or is he?He could also be a savior.  A real, true king who will take his country to a new chapter of honesty and compassion.

Fredericka is the Princess of Wales, a seemingly spoiled, dim-witted, bubble-headed, blonde, aristocratic fool, who metamorphoses into a hard-working, moral, well-read, brilliantly-insightful woman.

With a strength of character they’ve never before had to find, Freddy and Fredericka must survive and prevail over a myriad of difficulties: pimps, the afore-mentioned dental problems, police chases, frigid Chicago winters, and neither truffles nor pate of any kind … how will they cope?
They work in Florida as fake-hygenists, travel with hobos across the country, wash dishes, clean public lavatories, lay tracks, bathe in steel vats, enter politics, read voraciously – and grow.  They rise above and fall in love. The harder they work, the happier they become: Fredericka suddenly realizes ” we will be happy doing this while all the toffs in England lie around in their beds.”
Freddy and Fredericka are born anew and when we are not laughing too hard to breathe, we are staggering under the weight of  stunningly beautiful country, glorious love, and powerful morality.
They take a joy from their trials that separates them from their past before it brings them full circle.  They entertain thoughts of never going back, speaking of it, “many times, what if they simply were to stay this way? … They knew they wouldn’t – it was not their destiny – but they considered that they might.”
Without giving up that joy, they still will succeed. Helprin’s tale of when they do and what they do and where they go from there is simply wonderful, leading us ultimately to, “a long flight … (that Freddy and Fredericka) had started on high,” (until) “down (they) … glided, into the blue over England.”

The Isobel Dalhousie Series by Alexander McCall Smith

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“The Sunday Philosophy Club”, “Friends, Lovers, Chocolate”, “The Right Attitude to Rain” and “The Careful Use of Compliments.”     All four by Alexander McCall Smith
Ah, Isabel Dalhousie.  All four of the books involving this 40ish woman from Edinburgh, Scotland, are certainly worth a trip to the bookstore, library, or even Amazon.com!  Most parts are wonderful, though some are a bit, well … pontificatory.Miss Dalhousie is the editor of The Review of Applied Ethics and the books are occasionally as long-winded as one assumes The Review might be.  Isobel finds herself in philosophical dilemmas involving strangers in crisis that she really could just leave be –  “It was her biggest problem, after all: how to draw limits to the extent of one’s sympathy.”
Of course, this is what one is meant to see about her.  Mystery series tend to have a protagonist with a thematic interest, whether it be catering, forensic pathology, running a bed and breakfast, home repair, an alphabetical sequence or something else.  Alexander McCall Smith has picked Ethics as his (or rather, Isabel’s).  To be cognizant of this is half the battle, and then one can really enjoy the books.
The story lines are engaging.  The slow parts build up an anticipation to get back to the real story.  Will she fall in love again?  Will her niece, Cat, do likewise?  What will Grace, the housekeeper, think?  Isabel has wonderful characters in her life;  the ex-boyfriend of her niece whom she, Isabel, secretly adores, the aforementioned Cat, who owns a gourmet shop In which a person could spend happy hours salivating wistfully over anchovies and Italian cheeses, and a housekeeper who serves as both ally and moderator, plus there’s even a fox in the garden!
Without giving too much away – whilst she is jumping head first into strangers’ needs and problems, she is helping herself as well.  She has loves to get over, loves to develop, and family relationships to cultivate.  She is perpetually torn between becoming a “spinster” or a ‘hipster.”  She could go either way at her age and consequently vascillates between the two.  One hopes that a happy medium will be reached and that she will get there with a modicum of blathering self-actualization.  We cheer when Isabel follows her heart rather than her mind, and is led to greater happiness.
The other characters she meets are just begging to be snap-judged, which Isabel cannot help but do.  She does nothing without thorough examination, except jump right in when someone needs help, as this quote exmplifies,  “She thought, I have no excuse to go and see this person.  I don’t know her, and she owes me nothing.  I am calling on a complete stranger.  But if that had not stopped her before, it did not stop her now…”Isabel has passions for philosophy, W.H. Auden (whom she calls affectionately WHA), and Scottish art, all of which are brought in to assist in her ethical quandaries.  Are things what they seem or is there more going on that she has simply overlooked because of her rash assumptions?
The second-guessing afterwards can be a little tiresome, but the mysteries develop as much from the contrast between her initial impression and the situational reality, as from any other source.  She realizes through her internal monologues that she is as infallible as the next person.  She sees herself in people and the help she gives may be as much for their greater good as for her own, causing her to comment, “I have learned something about myself …”
Isabel is perfectly aware of her failings and we like her all the more for them.  Often when contemplating the actions of others, she realizes that “she had almost done that.  And everything on those shelves [her ethical journals], all the elaborate structures of right and wrong, had been for a few moments forgotten.  Which is how most people acted when it came to temptation. They gave in.”
Along with a sense of humor and a very compassionate heart, Isobel also has a wonderfully direct approach to life with a pension for taking chances.  Happily for both Isabel and the reader,  she also has cash enough that the mundane trials of work, bills, cleaning and such like, do not need to be discussed.  (Really – don’t we get enough of that on our own time?  I’ll just tape record myself if I want to hear a bitter tirade about dirty dishes…)
Each of the four books in the series involves Miss Dalhousie in a different personal and philosophical dilemma, but with a common theme – to get involved or not?  Of course, she choose the former and not only does the reader feel she should, but, moreover, hopes she will.  Isabel explains simply,”If one feels a connection, one must get involved.”
McCall Smith seems to want us to come to his conclusion that some things deserve great intellectualization and other things simply do not.  The journey we take with Miss Dalhousie is really to help us figure out which is which.Isn’t that a good lesson to be learned by everyone?I’d say so.Editor’s Note:  Jenn invites readers to contact her with any thoughts on books at jpmann@sbcglobal.net