Mary E. Trimble

It had been years since I’d read anything by Taylor Caldwell (1900 – 1985). Reading Tender Victory brought me back to my past admiration for this author.

Tender Victory, a novel first published in 1956, is about a former military chaplain, Reverend Johnny Fletcher, who served in Europe during World War II. It is now 1946 and Reverend Fletcher is seeking to pastor a church. He meets with resistance when members of prospective churches learn he has brought back from Europe five orphan children. The children, two Protestants, two Catholic, and one Jew, not only can’t speak English, they have been so traumatized by the horrors inflected upon them that they appear to be like wild animals.

Reverend Fletcher accepts a position in the small mining town of Barrymore, PA. He immediately finds friends and supporters, but many in the town are against him, not only because of his children, but they fear he will be instrumental in disturbing their status-quo. As it stands, the rich who live up in the hills, are getting even richer from the mining operations, but the average citizen who lives in town on lower elevations suffers from the dirty industrial air the mines produce.

As he continues to serve, Reverend Fletcher is challenged on many counts, but he firmly believes in the goodness of man, despite obvious evidence to the contrary.

I found Tender Victory an uplifting, inspirational read rich with the timeless themes of hope, faith and compassion.

Book Review: When We Believed in Mermaids

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Mary

When We Believed in Mermaids: a novel by Barbara O’Neal, is an emotion-packed story of a family gone awry.

The Bianci home sat high on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the township of Eden, near San Francisco. The family restaurant was right next door. It would seem idyllic, but in this home there was always tension, always underlying currents of strife.

The youngest of two daughters, Kit, becomes an ER doctor in a Santa Cruz hospital where she capably treats the results of horrible accidents. In her spare time she surfs where she can lose herself as she glides over the water. She doesn’t have to think, to remember; she can just be one with the sea. One night while watching the evening news on TV she sees coverage of a burning nightclub in Auckland, New Zealand, and thinks she sees her older sister, Josie, among the onlookers. It can’t be! Josie has been dead fifteen years, killed in a terrorist train explosion in France.

Mari is an exceptionally capable wife and mother. The family lives an opulent life in New Zealand with a beautiful home overlooking the sea. Her husband is a successful businessman, and her son and daughter are bright, well-adjusted children. Mari has a secret though and should it be revealed, the life she loves would disintegrate.

The story alternates between the two main characters, Kit and Mari, both in the same present-day time period, but with vivid and often painful flashbacks. I cringed when the children had unlimited freedom and were left to fend for themselves, I rode the waves when they surfed.. I grieved with the pain caused by reckless lives.

When We Believed in Mermaids is a gripping, engrossing story of two sisters, their relationship with each other and with the family. It’s about successful people who allow their passions to rule. It’s about lives shattered by their own excesses. It’s also about the healing effects of love and forgiveness.

Book Review: The Return

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Mary

A violent explosion in Afghanistan blew away Trevor Benson’s career as an orthopedic surgeon. His extensive injuries—blinded in one eye, missing fingers, and a missing ear—required several surgeries. Trevor also suffers from PTSD, though he now has a pretty good handle on that. He plans to go back to school to study psychiatry.

The Return, a novel by Nicholas Sparks stirred my heart. I am generally not a romance reader, but was in the mood for a change of pace. The Return is not your standard romance, though there is definitely a thread of romantic interest throughout the story.

The hospital staff notifies Trevor that his beloved grandfather is dying and that the old man hasn’t long to live. His grandfather’s last words are a plea for help, but the conversation is so jumbled, Trevor can’t understand what his grandfather is trying to tell him.

Trevor temporarily stays in his grandfather’s old house in New Bern, North Carolina, and tends the old man’s bees. While there he meets two women: Callie, a girl who looks to be in her late teens, apparently lives alone in a close-by trailer park. She mentions to Trevor that she and his grandfather were friends. The other woman, Natalie, is a deputy sheriff who stops by to see if the person staying at the old man’s house is doing so legitimately. Both Callie and Natalie have their own stories, their own heartbreaks.

The Return held many threads of interest to me. By now, we’re all familiar with PTSD, but the author revealed new insights of the condition, how it cannot be cured, but at least managed. I was also fascinated to learn about the grandfather’s apiary and the details involved in the art of beekeeping. Then there’s the emotional side of the story involving a bit of romance and mystery.

Nicholas Sparks is a successful author of many books. The Return is the second of his that I’ve read and enjoyed. I appreciate his gentle humor, and he does a good job of instilling a sense of small-town life and values, and of showing characters’ personalities with their quirks and emotions. I enthusiastically recommend The Return.

Book Review: West with Giraffes

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Mary

West with Giraffes, a novel by Lynda Rutledge, gripped my attention from beginning to end.

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, aka Woody Nickel, almost 18, happens to be on a New York dock in 1938 when the hurricane-battered SS Robin Goodfellow limps into the harbor. Two huge broken-up crates are lifted off containing amazing cargo: two Baringo giraffes. They are alive, but the female has a broken leg. An old man, Riley Jones, steps up to take charge of the strange cargo. He calls a veterinarian who bandages and splints the female’s leg.

The man originally hired to drive the animals doesn’t work out. Because of a crippled hand, Mr. Jones can’t shift gears, so he recruits Woody to drive them all in an old truck equipped for the occasion. The giraffes are destined for the San Diego Zoo, a haven for them after being rescued from imminent danger in Africa. Mr. Jones knows how to care for giraffes; in fact, he works at the famous San Diego Zoo for Mrs. Belle Benchley, the world’s first female zoo director.

Along the way Mr. Jones inquires about Woody’s background, but Woody deftly dodges the old man’s questions. Woody is a dust-bowl survivor from the Texas panhandle. He buried his mother and baby sister, both of whom died of “dust pneumonia.” Woody doesn’t mention his father; that’s obviously part of the story he’s unwilling to tell.

As they drive coast to coast, one near-disaster after another threatens to slow them down, if not end the journey in tragedy. Naturally they draw attention–you don’t see two-ton giraffes with their heads peering over the top of a truck every day. Among the persistent tagalongs is a female photographer, much to the delight of Woody, but the consternation of Mr. Jones.

I loved this book. The story is told in first person in Woody’s voice at a much later time. Vivid detail of the 1930s countryside is fascinating, as are the attitudes of the people caught in those desperate years. If you’re looking for a fast-paced, entertaining read, and especially if you love to learn about exotic animals, read West with Giraffes.

Book Review: Tender Mercies

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Mary

Tender Mercies by Lauraine Snelling is the fifth novel of the “Red River of the North” series. As with the others, I thoroughly enjoyed this account of the founders of Blessing, Dakota Territory.

The series describes the lives of Norwegian immigrants who first homesteaded Dakota Territory in 1880. Their courage, sacrifices and dedication paved the way for those to follow. In Tender Mercies the town of Blessing has been founded. The town now has a general store that also serves as post office, a bank, blacksmith, grain shed, church and school.

Some homes are built of wood, but many are built of sod—brick-like slabs of soil with grass roots still attached. In 1887, when Tender Mercies takes place, both the school and the pastor’s house are soddies.

Pastor John Solberg was heartbroken when Katy Bjorklund married Zeb MacCallister, a man with an irritating Missouri drawl, so different from the soft Norwegian/English language common in Blessing. Pastor Solberg is also the teacher of the one-room school. When Zeb’s sister Mary Martha comes to visit, she decides to stay and offers to help at the school. At first he hesitates to accept her offer—her southern accent is an unwelcome reminder of his lost love. But as the school year progresses, he’s not only impressed with her help with the children, he finds himself strongly attracted to her. When a family emergency calls her back to Missouri, both John and Mary Martha realize how precious they have become to one another.

Lauraine Snelling’s fascinating account of Dakota Territory’s arduous beginning and gradual growth is the crux of the “Red River of the North” series. By this fifth novel, the different family names are not only familiar to me, they’re like old friends. Each book concentrates on one family, but includes the others in their struggles and triumphs.

One of the reasons I love this series is to learn how our early immigrants managed from such meager beginnings. When they slaughter a pig, for instance, every part of the animal is used–the meat to eat and preserve for later use, the skull boiled for head cheese, the feet pickled, the fat rendered to lard, the intestines used to make sausage, the hide used for leather reins and shoes. Cold storage was a root cellar, an underground structure that kept food cool in the summer and from freezing in the winter.

Another delight for me was learning about the new invention of Singer Sewing machine, a machine run by a foot treadle. Up to that time, all clothes were made by hand. With the new machine seams were stronger and garments could be made in a fraction of the time. I am a long-time Singer user and it was fun to read of its early history.

If you’re looking for a good story of our nation’s early years, I strongly recommend Tender Mercies of the “Red River of the North” series. Better yet, start with the first one, An Untamed Land.

Book Review: The Exiles: A Novel

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Mary

The Exiles: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline takes place in 1840s England, Australia and at sea. Based on historical facts, the heartrending novel captures the hardship of women convicts and the oppression of a child caught up in adult whims.

Mathinna, 8, is an orphaned Aboriginal girl living on Flinders Island, Australia. Governor Sir John and Mrs. Franklin visit the “natives” and Mrs. Franklin decides to take Mathinna home with them. It would be interesting, she thought, to see if Mathinna could adapt to “civilized ways.” They return home to Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land, Australia.

Evangeline, 21, well educated but naive, serves as governess to the children of a wealthy family, the Whitstones, in St. John’s Wood, London. She is accused of stealing a valuable ring belonging to Cecil Frederic Whitstone. Although Cecil gave her the ring, he currently is not at home and cannot vouch for her. In addition, she tussles with the maid who found the ring and Evangeline accidentally pushes the maid down the stairs. To make matters worse, Evangeline is pregnant with Cecil’s child. She’s sent to prison, then finally sentenced to 14 years for theft and attempted murder, and exiled to Australia. She travels by sea with other women prisoners on the filthy slave ship, Madea, enduring four months of rough passages, sweltering sun and icy rain.

Hazel, 16, a fellow prisoner, has been in and out of trouble most of her life, as had her mother. However, from her mother, she did learn the skill of midwifery and herbal remedies. Hazel is a tough girl, but she and Evangeline form a friendship advantageous to both.

The Madea arrives at Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land, Australia and the passengers taken to prison. The women’s prison is abhorrent and the women treated badly. Eventually, some are assigned jobs working in the community as “convict maids.”

I found The Exiles an engaging novel. The author interlaces the characters’ individual stories into a captivating historical chronicle, all connecting at some point in surprising ways.

Book Review: Child of Steens Mountain

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Mary

Child of Steens Mountain, an autobiography by Eileen O’Keeffe McVicker with Barbara J. Scot, is an enlightening account of living on a sheep ranch in the late 1920s through the 1940s. A detailed forward written by historian Richard W. Etulain provides information about the geological history and early human habitants of the Steens Mountain region in southeastern Oregon.

Eileen O’Keeffe, the oldest of three children, was born in 1927 to an Irish immigrant sheep rancher and a school teacher. Eileen’s childhood was a fantasy, a life few children today could even dream about. The natural grandeur of mountain and valleys was her playground. Eileen delighted in picking buckets of wildflowers for her mother. The children had responsibilities, primarily tending sheep, but for them romping after the sheep in fields of sagebrush and juniper was pure joy. Of course, they had to learn how to avoid rattlesnakes and stay clear of rabid coyotes. But Eileen, together with highly trained dogs, trailed sheep, knowing the importance and value of her watchful care.

The children attended elementary school in the small hamlet of Fields, five miles from their ranch. Later, they attended high school in Burns, 130 miles from home. Since her parents were still running the ranch, Eileen and her brother John stayed in Burns by themselves in a little rented house with no running water. On most weekends, her parents would come to visit them and leave food for the coming week.

When Eileen meets Gene, a hired hand at a neighboring ranch, their relationship becomes serious, and her parents’ trust and faith in their daughter’s good judgement falters. Although Eileen was raised to be independent and responsible, her relationship with Gene threatens to break up the loving family.

In an afterword, writer Barbara J. Scot, McVicker’s friend and neighbor, describes how the two collaborated in writing Child of Steens Mountain. Scot effectively helped organize the kaleidoscope of Eileen’s memories into a readable and entertaining story.

My husband and I have camped at Steens Mountain, watched sheep herders and their amazing dogs, driven through Fields, and have spent time in Burns, so visiting these places again through the eyes of the author was a delight.

I highly recommend Child of Steens Mountain to those who love the outdoors, enjoy learning about old-time ranch life, and who appreciate a good story.

Book Review: The Son

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Mary

The Son, an epic novel by Philipp Meyer, covers more than 150 years of the McCullough family, from a humble Texas homestead to the oil booms of the 20th century.

In 1849 Eli McCullough, 13-year-old son of Texas homesteaders, is captured by Comanches after they raid the farm and brutally kill his mother and sister. At first, Eli is treated like a slave, doing women’s chores, until he stands up like a man and defies the women. He learns tribal skills of riding, hunting, and warfare. He learns their language, takes an Indian name, and becomes the band chief’s adopted son. He fights in their wars against other Indians and against white men. Illness, starvation, and the infringement of settlers plague the tribe, and Eli finds himself alone in a world in which he belongs nowhere, neither white nor Indian, civilized or wild. He must decide which path to take.

The story toggles between memories of three main characters: Eli, known as “the Colonel” from his Texas Ranger days, Eli’s son Peter, and Eli’s great-granddaughter Jeanne Anne. Each has a part in the tumultuous rise through the acquisition of land, and the industries of cattle and oil. The individual stories are sometimes brutal, the people scheming, the reality of gaining property often criminal.

The Son, 580 pages of vivid Texas history, speaks of people caught up in the pursuit of power, wealth, and privilege beyond what most of us will ever know. While reading this epic novel, I was often reminded of two of my favorites— Edna Ferbers’ Giant, and Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove.

I very much enjoyed The Son, especially the sections about Eli’s early life with the Comanche. The historic details are fascinating and the story believable. Brutality, power and greed are realistically portrayed. I highly recommend this gripping novel.

Book Review: The Editor

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Mary

A highly entertaining novel, The Editor by Steven Rowley, takes place in 1990s Manhattan.

Writer James Smale finally sells his novel to a major publishing house. When he has his first appointment to discuss the book, he is astonished to learn his editor is Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, or Mrs. Onassis as she is known in the office.

Mrs. Onassis is highly impressed with James’ autobiographical novel, but makes it clear the story’s end lacks believability. And no wonder. The story exposes James’ own dysfunctional family and his relationship with his partner, Daniel. It’s obvious to Jackie that James has unresolved issues, particularly with his mother, which is affecting his fictional story’s ending. Jackie urges him to confront and resolve his fragile family relationships. By doing so, she believes, James will find the way to give his novel an authentic ending.

Jackie and James become friends and she even invites him to stay for a weekend in her guest house at Martha’s Vineyard. In their informal chats, James learns the depth of Jackie’s dedication to truth and whatever it exposes. Her encouragement helps pave the way for James to face and reveal a long-held family secret.

The author does a wonderful job of portraying Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as the intelligent, private, quietly charming person that she was. Not only is the story itself engaging, the portrayal of Jackie reinforces what I have always believed about this very private person who was continually thrust into the limelight.

Book Review: Water Mask

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Mary

Water Mask by Monica Devine is an impressive collection of fifteen powerful essays about creating a life in the far north. But more than that, it’s a book about being an active participant in your own life, savoring all its parts, and engaging with all that’s around you.

Originally from Michigan, Monica Devine graduated from college with a master’s degree in speech and language pathology. For the next 25 years she worked with Indian and Eskimo children in villages throughout Alaska. During that time, she immersed herself into the land and its people, learning how to not only survive, but to embrace all of life. Living in harsh conditions takes courage and patience. Waiting for weather to clear enough to fly to a distant village may take days, but it’s vital to put faith in a bush pilot’s expertise. Riding a sled over ice can be dangerous, but native whalers know the sound and feel of their frigid world and it’s wise to trust their instincts.

Water Mask primarily centers around rugged Alaska and its challenges of physical and emotional survival, with brief forays to New Mexico, Wyoming and Michigan. The author met and married her husband in Alaska and together they’ve raised a family in the spirit of listening to the land, following its dictates, and embracing all that life has to offer.

Water Mask is a spiritual book in the sense of being one with nature, valuing traditions, recognizing the strength and challenges of nature, and appreciating the wisdom of its native peoples. Don’t rush through this collection of dynamic essays. Each has a message, a theme. Savor the poetry of the author’s words, take seriously the wisdom of cherishing the moment, and learn what it means to adapt to life’s changing conditions.