Westport Public Library BOOK blog

Do you collect anything? Everything?

A cautionary tale is the history of the Collyers- two American brothers who became famous in mid-20th-century because of their compulsive hoarding. Sons of a doctor whose ancestors were some of the first settlers in America, Homer and Langley Collyer were snobs, whose Manhattan brownstone was filthy and full of rubbish. Cited as examples of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the Collyers have had many mentions through the years in books, movies and on television. Both were found dead in their Harlem brownstone surrounded by over 100 tons of rubbish. More details of the strange lives of the Collyers.

Now, E.L. Doctorow has written a novel about the obsessions and the filial love of the Collyers. In Homer & Langley, Doctorow builds from the facts…bizarre enough to strain credulity… the rubbish included 14 pianos and an intact Model T…to paint one of the darker stories of American lore. Written in the voices of the brothers, the novel provides back story and seems normal enough until the world outside the mansion intrudes. Homer who is blind relies on the furtive Langley for food and care. Langley goes out only at night and though the brothers have money, food often is found in garbage cans or from restaurant leftovers. Doctorow is adept at basing his novels on history; in Homer & Langley the story seems almost mythical.

E.L. Doctorow, recipient of the Westport Library Award in 2000, has also been awarded the National Book Award, three National Book Critics Circle Awards, two PEN/Faulkner awards, the Edith Wharton Citation for Fiction, the William Dean Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Humanities Medal.

One of my favorite Doctorow books is Waterworks which I read many years ago. Its scenes of 19th century New York are still vivid in my mind. There are many Doctorow novels to choose from and if the strange Collyers pique your interest, place a hold on the newest book.

Firemen & rescue personnel refer to a “Collyer situation” as a house so full of junk it’s dangerous to get inside or back out. The site of the original “Collyer situation” is now a park named for the two brothers. (Fifth Avenue & 128th Street)

Josephine Tey’s detective Alan Grant re-examines the historical mystery surrounding Richard the III in the perennial 1951 favorite The Daughter of Time.

But perhaps the most revered classic of this genre is James M. Cain’s 1934 novel The Postman Always Rings Twice, based on the sensational 1927 case of Ruth Snyder. Snyder was a Queens, New York, housewife who conspired with her lover to murder her husband so they could collect the insurance money. A photo of Ruth Snyder’s electrocution in the New York Daily News in 1928 shocked the nation.

Judd was sentenced to be hanged in February of 1933 and sent to Arizona State Prison. The death sentence was repealed and she was sent to Arizona State Mental Hospital. She escaped seven times, often at large for several years at a time, and was eventually released in 1971. She lived until the age of ninety-three.

Abbott’s protagonist Marion Seeley, a young woman abandoned in Phoenix by her doctor husband, finds a job at a medical clinic. She becomes fast friends with Louise, a vivacious nurse, and her roommate, Ginny. Marion is swept up in the exuberant life of the girls, who supplement their scant income by entertaining the town's most powerful men with wild parties. She becomes involved with a local rogue, Joe Lanigan, and when the other women confront Marion about her relationship with Joe, a heated argument leads to murder.

Publishers Weekly promises us a “shocking ending.”

An earlier novel by Abbott, The Song is You (2007), is based on the unsolved October 1949 disappearance of actress Jean Spangler.

Summer weather has finally arrived and readers are looking for that perfect book. Fiction is the popular choice – to fill your sun-bake hours or to spice up your “staycation.” Can you identify these top ten most popular books? (books with the greatest number of holds at the Library.)

Scroll down for the answers and click to place your hold.

1.A long-awaited thriller from the author of a previous religious thriller blockbuster, this book has 46 holds before publication date! Don’t worry; we will have many copies.

2.Published in 2007, this collection of connected short stories describes life in a small New England town. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

3.Travel to 1960s Jackson Mississippi and get to know the women- black and white- who live together.

4.Chinese-American sisters sent to 1930s Los Angeles cope with marriages arranged by their father.

5.Feminist view of the 20th-century told through the lives of several generations of one activist family. Come and discuss the book with the author at the Library on September 30 at noon.

6.The life and loves of 1990s Smith college girls as their friendships endure.

7.“Set in the beach community of a tony Connecticut town…” by a Westport author.

8.An historical novel in letters set in German-occupied Britain tells of a special book club.

9.Intelligent Swedish thriller- the second of a trilogy- by a deceased author.

10.A kidnapping at Camp David propels this national security thriller.

ANSWERS

1.Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
2.Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
4. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
5. Short History of Women by Kate Walbert
6.Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
7. Dune Road by Jane Green
8. Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Sheffer
9. Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
10. First Family by David Baldacci

This program was previously presented for the Jane Austen Society of North America’s New York Chapter in March and we are delighted to offer a repeat performance.

Emma has been known to show up on “top mysteries” lists from time to time and is described as a traditional mystery with no murder.

Jane K. Cleland will lay out the elements of a good mystery for us and then Margaret J. Ehrhart will discuss Jane Austen’s mastery of clues, red herrings, and suspense techniques, and how and why the mystery in Emma succeeds.

Cleland is the author of the best-selling and award-winning Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery series, which includes the recently released Killer Keepsakes.

Ehrhart is the author Sweet Man is Gone, a blues mystery, which was released last July. There is a sequel, Got No Friend Anyhow, in the works.

“Novel-writing, in Austen’s day, was regarded as a frivolity, for the simple reason that it depicted life as it was actually lived – and because its primary readers were women. Mystery novels fill a similar gap in the twenty-first century: in stories of detection, we study conflict and its resolution; we reimpose order on a chaotic world. Had she lived, Jane would be writing detective novels today.”

Of her development of Austen as a character in her own books, Barron adds “With her lively mind and acerbic tongue, Jane Austen is a sleuth to the manner born.”

Hope you will join the Janeites and fellow mystery fans for this event. This Jane is really looking forward to it! Check out our What Would Jane Do? table display in the Great Hall to see the amazing variety of books by and about Miss Austen.

The term originates with the ancient Greeks and Romans. Sirius, the "Dog Star," was the brightest star in the heavens besides the sun, and it rose and set with the sun in summer. The ancients believed that it generated the heat responsible for the hellish weather. The Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies."

The Library will be hosting a series of delightful pet-oriented programs to counteract the otherwise unpleasant Dog Days in Westport, including sheltering your pets in an emergency on July 23rd, choosing the right pet on July 28th, and training your dog on July 30th.

Mystery fans looking for the perfect reading companion should try Spencer Quinn’s Dog on It. Meet Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator, who works alongside Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator. They are investigating the disappearance of a teenage girl who may or may not have been kidnapped, but who has definitely gotten mixed up with some very unsavory characters.

In one of its many starred reviews, Library Journal said "At last, a dog lover's mystery that portrays dogs as they really are....Quinn's characters are endearing, and his narrative is intriguing, fast-moving, and well written. Even cat lovers will find it entertaining.”

This cat lover did! I enjoyed it so much that I did a bit of research on the author in the hope of finding a sequel in the works, and much to my surprise found out that Spencer Quinn is a pseudonym of Peter Abrahams, one of my all-time favorite authors.

There is a sequel coming in January, 2010, called Thereby Hangs a Tail. And by the way, I highly recommend the Recorded Books version of Dog on It.

Check our catalog for the incredibly diverse selection of canine mysteries in the Library’s collection and join us in air-conditioned comfort for one of those Dog Days programs.

The Monte Cristo Cottage in New London is close enough for a daytrip. It was the childhood home of Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Eugene O’Neill. The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center nearby has a great selection of programs and plays to enjoy throughout the summer. If you head up north to Hartford, there are several literary landmarks. The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center is the last home of the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Ms. Stowe’s best selling novel is credited with arousing public opinion against slavery. Nearby of course, is the Mark Twain House. Twain lived here from 1874 to 1891 and there’s always a lot going on here including activities for children as well as adults.

Children and adults alike will also love Washington Irving’s Sunnyside in Tarrytown, NY, a short drive away in Westchester County. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will come alive as you tour the house and surrounding gardens. If you can manage an overnight trip, then I highly recommend a drive to Concord, Massachusetts. There are numerous literary destinations there that will capture your interest. Home of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne, my favorite place of all is Orchard House, home of Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women. This is the home where she was inspired to write her semi-autobiographical novel and a visit here is a must if you’re a fan.

These are just a few of the many destinations highlighted in the highly entertaining Novel Destinations. The authors also cover many places in Europe and in addition, they have a great blog that they often update. If you’ve been to any literary places recently, I’d love to hear about them. I’m always planning ahead for my next trip – any suggestions?

New faces are always welcome. To reserve a copy of the book, call 291-4821.

Dame Frevisse, a medieval Benedictine nun, seeks to recover the gold of a murdered Duke, aided by a sempster ("seamstress," as explained in an author's note, didn't come into use until the 1600s) and her Jewish lover. Their mission is jeopardized when a crucified body stirs up anti-Semitic sentiment.

Margaret Frazer is the pen name originally used by Gail Frazer and Mary Monica Pulver Kuhfeld in their collaboration on The Novice's Tale, the first of the Dame Frevisse books. This collaboration came to an end with The Murderer's Tale, the sixth book in the series. Since then, “Margaret Frazer” has been used exclusively by Gail Frazer. The series now numbers seventeen titles in all.

The Sempster’s Tale is the fifteenth title of the series, set in the summer of 1450.
Publishers Weekly praised the book’s “careful historical detail and characters you'll want to befriend.”

Several (but not all) of the books are set in or around St. Frideswide's, a nunnery in Oxfordshire. The main character, Dame Frevisse, is fictional, but she is related to Geoffrey Chaucer, and other historical personages make the occasional appearance. Several of the series books are named after Chaucer tales, but the stories are original.

Phillippa Morgan has a mystery series which features Chaucer himself acting as an agent for Edward III in the late 1300s. And P. C. Doherty writes the Nicholas Chirke Canterbury Tales mysteries in which the pilgrims tell the stories Chaucer didn't – stories of ghosts, intrigue and murder – while on pilgrimage from London to Canterbury.

The medieval mystery is an ever-expanding sub-genre.

There is an International Sister Fidelma Society, which publishes a 3-times yearly newsletter and coordinates trips to Ireland to visit Fidelma locations. What fun!

Do you savor a good adventure/quest yarn? Full of danger, secrets, unfriendly natives, natural predators and mystery? Imagine a middle-aged New Yorker, laptop in hand, plunked down in the Amazon jungle looking for the legendary El Dorado. That New Yorker is David Grann, who wrote about his adventure in The Lost City of Z: a Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon.

It’s the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett who ventured into the Amazon in 1925 determined to find the ancient civilization, rumors of which have inspired so many novels, including Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World. Fawcett, his son and his entire party vanished. Grann says, “I had to remind myself that everything in this story is true: a movie star really was abducted by Indians; there were cannibals, ruins, secret maps and spies, explorers died from starvation, disease, attacks by wild animals and poisonous arrows….” Other expeditions followed Fawcett’s and many attempts to repeat his path have failed. Legend, biography, travel/adventure and history blend in this tale of obsession based on Fawcett’s diaries. Grann’s polished writing makes it a compelling read.

Westport native David Grann will speak at the Library on Monday July 13 at 7:30 pm. His talk will include photographs. Don’t miss it!

(The Lost City of Z is being developed into a movie by Brad Pitt's Plan B production company and Paramount Pictures.)