artsy-crafty babe

The Spare Wife, another book review

Yep, another book review for Mother Talk!  This time it is The Spare Wife by Alex Witchel.  This was a fun read.  Once I started it, I finished in a few days, which says a lot because I am not a fast reader.  Once I started it, I couldn't put it down.

This book deals with the ins and outs of Manhattan high society.  Being a big fan of "The Real Housewives of NYC", I knew from the description that I'd like this book.  Of course, with this being fiction, it was way jucier than any episode of the Housewives.  This book offers a glimpse into a world that I can't even fanthom - it couldn't be any farther from my reality, which I think is why I liked it so much.

The main character, Ponce Morris, is a beautiful widowed divorcee who is well connected amongst the high society of Manhattan.  She earns the title the "spare wife" because she has the ability to be best friends with the wives while being one of the guys around the husbands - she's just that, a spare wife.  All this could could come tumbling down when an affair is discovered by a young aspiring journalist.

When the novel began, there was a whole list of characters introduced that I found a bit confusing to keep track of, but as the story went on it got easier to understand.  The fast pace of the story makes it a real page turner.  This was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

You know the drill, if you'd like to receive this book, leave a comment and I'll draw a name in about a week.

The winner of last week's book, The Household Guide to Dying, was comment #40, Dianne.  Thank you all for playing!

Okay, back to craftiness.  I was a busy bee this weekend...

The Household Guide to Dying, a book review

I signed on to do another book review for Mother Talk, this time for The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide. 

The title sounds awful, doesn't it?  I got some strange looks while reading it out in public.  My dentist even asked if everything was okay with me.  I'll be honest, I didn't warm up to this book right away.  It was a little slow for me in the beginning.  Part of that may have been my getting the feel of the book.  The main character, Delia, is Australian and the book takes place in Australia.  It took me a bit to get used to this.  Also, the book jumps from present to past from chapter to chapter with bits of Delia's "Dear Delia" letters (she's a household advice columnist) thrown in.  Once I got used all of that I started to enjoy the book.

I thought I  might be saddened by the subject matter, but really, I wasn't.  Delia is dying of cancer.  She's a wife, a mother of young children, a daughter, and an author.  She had chickens in her backyard and takes pleasure in taking care of her home.  There were lots of Delia that I could relate to.  She knew she was dying, faced it head on, and sought out to tie up loose ends. 

There are many parts of the book I enjoyed, such as her description and explanation of hanging the wash on the line, but my most favorite part is the very end, as she described her last moments.  I hope that is what dying is really like.  In a way, this book gave me comfort.  It also made me realize what a gift life is.  So, don't let the title discourage you!  As the cover states, this is "A novel about life".

If you'd like a chance to read this gently used, uncorrected proof, leave a comment and I'll draw a name at the end of the week (probably Sunday - I'll close comments before I draw).  Good luck!

The Help, a book review

I don't normally do this sort of thing, but when I received an email from the folks at Mother Talk to do a review of the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett, I thought 'what the heck'.  I really do like to read and wish I had more time to get lost in a novel, but honestly, I'd rather knit or sew.  I knew that if I committed to review this book here, I'd make myself read it.  I'm glad that I did.

In a nutshell, The Help is about 3 women in the early 60's in Jackson, Mississippi.  Two of the women are black maids, one is a rich white girl.  Together, they write a book about the experiences of domestic help and the complicated relationship between the help and the families they work for. 

Yeah, this is a LOADED book.  It was quite eye opening for me.  Jackson, Mississippi is not all that far from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so I can't help but think that things here weren't all that different.  The characters and descriptions were so real and familiar to me.  I struggled with what to write about this because I'm so full of emotion.

Early in the book, my heart broke for the maids.  These women took care of white babies, raised them, loved them, but then one day those babies stopped being color blind and a line was drawn.  So, so sad.  This is something I never thought about.  On the flip side, there were some touching stories as well - not all rich white ladies were bad.  It was the ignorance of the society that was most infuriating.  We've grown so much since then, but I can still see some of that ignorance today, which I guess is why I was so touched by this book.

Ultimately, the message in the book is of hopeful change.  These woman were courageous in such a dangerous time.  My favorite quote in the novel regarding the point of their book is 

"Wasn't that the point of the book?  For women to realize, We are just two people.  Not that much separates us.  Not nearly as much as I'd thought."

When I read this, I dog eared the page.  Later, in the acknowledgments, the author stated that was her prized line.  I suppose this was the point of her book as well, at least that's what I took from it.

Though this novel is fiction, it makes me want to know more.  I'd like to read some autobiographies of people who lived through this.

Yes, I recommend this wonderful book. I laughed, I cried, I'm still thinking about the characters today.  I think it'd make a great book club book because there are so many topics to discuss.  In the near future on the Mother Talk website, you'll be able to see a collection of excerpts of reviews from all the reviewers. This book is available in book stores now.  If you'd like a gently used uncorrected poof of this book, leave a comment, I'll draw a winner at the end of the week, Friday Feb. 20.

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Comments have been closed and the winner is #47 - Tracy!