The Fifteen Houses

The Fifteen Houses

 by Jeanneclaire Probst

I met a new author at the New England Authors Expo at the end of July. Jeanneclaire Probst is one of the many authors exhibiting books at the Danversport Yacht Club, hosted by Chris Obert of Pear Tree Publishing. Jeanneclaire was there to introduce her debut novel, The Fifteen Houses.

Jeanne grew up in western Massachusetts in the same years that I grew up in South Boston. Though our settings were vastly different, we were both children during the fifties, and teens during the sixties. The story told in Probst's novel is fiction, but resonates with many readers who shared those childhood years.

Jeanne tells the story of Julianne, a young girl with sisters and brothers, parents and step-parents, happiness and tragedy, strength and trauma. The family described in this book are living in denial of their reality: secrets are to be kept within the household and not shared with the community. Julianne is a child living in a confusing adult world; she attends a primary school in Massachusetts where lessons are taught in French. When her family makes one of their many moves to a neighborhood of English-speaking families, she must begin to learn to read in a second language. She also has a hearing deficit, and is fitted with a strange appliance for most children: a hearing aide that draws negative attention rather than sympathy from her fellow students. Learning is hampered by this impairment, and punishment for being less than perfect is swift and physical.

Through the many moves, from one house to the next to the next, the family profile emerges as one less typical than many in the "Happy Days" decade of the fifties. Wife-swapping, parental discipline, school discipline, social situations ... some things change suddenly with each move, and yet other things remain painfully the same.

This story is the beginning of a series. Probst has several appearances scheduled to give her the opportunity to share her character's story and life lessons with many audiences. You can read about her local appearances in Massachusetts at her Amazon Author Central page 

When interviewed on a local cable television episode, she hints that there are eight or more books ahead in this family saga, each one focusing on one of the main characters in the family of Julianne. It promises to be a series that captures American life in the second half of the twentieth century ... my century. Read along with me!  Five stars for this debut novel, and for all that it promises to reveal in later books.

The Accidental President Returns

The Accidental President Returns
~ book three of the fable trilogy by Dixie Swanson

I have enjoyed each of the three books in the Accidental President trilogy. This one, The Accidental President Returns, culminates the story of Abigail Adams' unexpected political career, and finds her returning to the call of "Honor. Duty. Country." But this time, she's blending motherhood, family and presidential responsibilities in a wholesome, inspiring way.

The story now spans the ocean on two continents; Abby's husband, movie star and director Michael, owns a villa in Italy that is staffed year round, and Abby envisions herself living out her life between Italy and his California home and her Texas ranch. Her children are her pride and joy, and she wishes nothing more than to live with them and place them in good public schools. But life has other plans, and her sense of duty re-emerges when the president calls and asks her to consider running for another term as president.

But this time, instead of a four year term, the presidency will be for six years ... one of the changes she enacted during her first, accidental presidency. And it will be in a Washington DC no longer populated by lobbyists buying expensive lunches in posh restaurants. More changes have taken place during her six year absence from politics, and her children have become school aged, as have her friends' children. Her careful plans for parenting would be undone, but more opportunities would be open to them all. And so, after careful deliberation, and looking at those who are already campaigning for the presidency, she decides to throw her hat into the ring, turn her ranch into campaign headquarters, hire a teacher for the children and run for president. Will she take this on successfully? And what of her other projects?

After helping Muslim women all over the world by diminishing the Taliban's direct influence on women, she is still connected with her Jewish and Muslim co-coordinators of the Peace project for the middle east. And her efforts at moving the environmental correction plans forward for "the little blue ball" are just beginning to have an effect on American consumers. Can she juggle all of her family connections and parenthood and still have enough energy and cognitive skills to be an effective president? Will the people, now able to elect a president via popular vote rather than through the flawed electoral college process be willing to take her back as their president? All of these changes are the direct result of her accidental presidency in book two. Can she keep it all in hand and moving forward?

You won't be very far into the book when you have the answer to that question, and more. You'll be re-acquainted with Mikey Malloy, Michael's gregarious uncle. You'll hear more about how Duke is doing after law school, and how Poppy is enjoying motherhood. You'll find out what Regina and O.T. have been up to. And you'll get to know Abby and Mike's children, their personalities, their charms and their flaws. And the Five Constitutional Amendments that Abby put forward when she was the accidental president ... have they had time, in six years, to change the demeanor and tone of the American Public?

If wishes and dreams came true, we would have a president like Abby in mind for our next election. I suspect that North Korea would be gentled into a peaceful co-existence with South Korea. And peace in the middle east would be... well, you must read this book. There are so many potential lessons provided. But what you'll get from it depends on what you bring to it as a reader.

Read my reviews of Dixie Swanson's Book 1 and 2 of the political fable trilogy

Book 1: The Accidental Senator
Book 2: The Accidental President

Melodie Starkey's View from the Closet Doorway

Melodie Starkey is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I've read and reviewed a few of her books now, and each one is different. Yet they all carry a true sensitivity to people who have differences ... people who face the same questions and worries and goals that most do.

View from the Closet Doorway tells of the lives of three teenagers finding their way through high school. Two are twins: a sister and brother who could not be more different. The third is the best friend of the brother, a girl whose family lifestyle is remarkably different than that of the twins.

Starkey handles the differences among the adults as sensitively as she does those of the teens. At the age of sixteen, the teens are just beginning to peer ahead at what follows high school; presumably in their late thirties, the adults are finding that 'happily ever after' may not be what it once seemed.

There are grandparents with differences as well, but they play a minor role in this story. The real focus is on Sullivan, the brother who wishes he was a part of the family next door, his friend Kate's family. For in her house, Sully is comfortable in his own skin ... he enjoys the laid-back role that her father takes, playing his music, cultivating his life-long friends, who seem like holdovers from the sixties. Casual, creative, and musically-inclined, Steve (Kate's father) and his buddies play in a band late at night, and sleep in late in the day. Kate's mother works outside of the home and is quite comfortable ordering pizza for the gang's supper most evenings.

Sully's parents are not happily together, having divorced when the twins were young. Sully's mother is a good cook who provides a nutritious meal at every opportunity. The twins are both good students academically, but socially travel in different circles. Sully is into the theatre group with Kate, but his sister is more into keeping up with the in-crowd, with make up, clothing, and hair the focus of their conversations and attention.

When Sully faces a potential 'swirly' hairdo in the boys' room, courtesy of the tough guys, and is saved from that humiliation by the handsome senior whom both he and his sister find attractive, he begins to question his gender orientation. Sully's is disappointed in learning that his dad has brought a woman in to his apartment, replacing all of the familiar furniture and many of Sully's own belongings; tensions increase.

What happens following Sully's decision to leave home and find his way in the city is enough of a surprise to  keep the reader focused on how all of the characters in this drama respond.

I give another strong five stars to this story. And if you haven't read Starkey's other novels, you will find her style of writing relevant, compelling and heartwarming, and no doubt will want to find her stories online or in the book stores.

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• Melodie Starkey, Eaton House Book Two (terrysthoughtsandthreads.blogspot.com)

Melodie Starkey, Sons of Eaton House

I was very happy to know that Sons of Eaton House (Book Two of the Eaton House) series was ready for Kindle. I have read two other Melodie Starkey books (see links to my reviews below) and know that her stories both inform and entertain. Book Two followed in suit, touching on many sensitive issues with delicate skill.

This is the continuation of a family narrative that was begun in Book One, but a reader need not have read the first to understand and enjoy the second (though the first is well worth pursuing and will make some of the events involving the parents easier to understand.) In Book Two, the children are coming of age, and each of their distinct personalities are evident and well developed. There are two sets of twins who are distinctly different and yet similar in values ... a younger child who is the only girl in the family ... an oldest son who carries the oldest son's family name and sense of responsibility, a grandfather who adores all seven of his grandchildren, an infant son (who will no doubt grow into the story in Book Three) and another child is now entering the family, at the age of sixteen. This foster child, as all those who preceded him, has a very troubled past, through which Starkey is able to delve into issues such as the poor state of orphanages in the late fifties/early sixties, the abusive treatment some experienced, and the callous shuffling out of the older children from overcrowded asylums. Yet this author shows him being cared for by long-distance truck drivers and migrant (sixties-hippies) farm workers who show him both physical and emotional compassion.

The contrast between the hazardous backgrounds of children who are fortuitously brought into the Eaton Family's House and the loving, compassionate, healthy environment they find themselves in at times brought tears to my eyes. The sensitive way Starkey introduces minor characters in the story who as adults are also living difficult lives but have room in their hearts and homes for this orphan before he is found and placed with the Eatons is also a credit to her writing abilities.

This story brings the children to the point of adulthood before ending suddenly, leaving the reader to want to read even more of this extraordinary family story. The parents of the children are also still growing, both within their marriage, and as adults themselves struggling with boundaries and wishes. This is a story that moves through decades of time, and the reader must stay grounded in the ever changing era, just as the characters had to learn to do.

So once again, I look forward to the next book in the saga. I'm definitely a fan!

See my earlier reviews of Melodie Starkey's novels:
Sunflowers
Eaton House Book One

Day 7 Health Awareness Writing Prompt: Write about What You Want Today.

See, I thought I was on track for securing what I want. I had gone to college because my guidance counselor saw potential in me. When I finished the two-year school, I headed into the work force, and then married, and began a family, which is what I'd wanted to do. And I was happy.

The economy, though, was crashing in the early seventies; gas was rationed to every other day purchasing, inflation was eating up what I could earn in my part time position in a department store that was seeing a slow down of purchasing, and I realized that the time had come to go back to college while it was still affordable and get that teaching degree that would let me take a stable position. That was the new want - I wanted to teach, and to work in a secure environment that would not be harmed by fluctuations in the stock market and in supply and demand. There would always be a demand for teachers, for there would always be students. And when I finally signed the teaching contract six years later, I was happy.

Our family continued to grow, first with a second child, and then with grandchildren. It grew and grew with cousins, and we often got together to share holidays. But then it began to shrink: our parents were aging and declining, and needing more help from us. When they had finished passing through the sadness of decline, and were laid to rest, I looked at where we were then, saw that I had managed to keep my job and my professional reputation intact, and saw that we still had each other, and I was happy.

When my own symptoms took me to the doctors' offices, and I learned that they believed I had multiple sclerosis, I decided to comply with the diagnosis and take the prescribed injections each night, rather than taking the less frequent interferons which could have interrupted my attendance at school. I stuck with that prescription for four and a half years, following it downward into a depression so deep that I needed additional doctors and prescriptions to help me out of it. When I finally exited that, I decided to go with my inner belief and stop the injections, as their side effects of depression and anxiety had already cost me my teaching position. With the guidance of family and friends, I got through the paperwork and secured a pension; it was less than it would have been had I been able to stay longer, but what happened had happened, and was irreversible. I once again took stock: I realized I had completed thirty years in the classrooms, believed I had done some good, and still had a happy marriage and so I could be happy about that.

So, what do I want today? I'd like to say I know what I want, and that I have a plan. Truth be told, I am happy with the way things evolved thus far. It would be nice to earn a little extra money to compensate for the shortfall in my pension, but in time, we will have some of the larger bills paid off: bills I took on believing I would have two more years of full salary to pay for them, but I haven't, and so we're tightening out belt until they are paid. I don't want for much, ever. My father told me years ago, when he retired, that we didn't have much, but we had enough. It is my mantra now. There isn't much left to want; I have it all. Peace, love, a home, food to eat, and a family with which to share my stories. It is enough.

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June Shaw's Relative Danger, a novel of family and school murder

Relative Danger  by June Shaw

It's not easy being a relative ... adolescents would agree, in-laws would agree, and sometimes parents and grandparents even agree. June Shaw has written a mystery novel that involves the intricacies of three generations, three individuals, daughter, father and grandmother, coming together to celebrate a life event: high school graduation.

There is no mother in the picture; Nancy died several years before her daughter Kat reached high school age. Kat's dad, Roger, is still living a subdued life as a widower, and is now foreseeing what his home will be like when his daughter goes off to college. Roger's widowed mother, Cealie, comes to town to catch up with her son and granddaughter between her travels as a single woman who is finding herself.

When Cealie realizes that her granddaughter has stopped attending classes and may miss final exams, and is considering not attending the graduation ceremony at all, she is stunned. Cealie had made a death-bed promise to her daughter-in-law Nancy that she would see her granddaughter graduate, and up until now, Kat had been on the way to do so with honors and scholarships.  It doesn't take long for Cealie to find out that there has been a death at the high school, and that Kat seems deeply affected  by the circumstances of the young custodian's death, and preoccupied with and perhaps afraid of who might have caused that death.

Cealie struggles with her maternal feelings of protective love for both her son and granddaughter and her recent decision to live life as a single, independent woman. But to help return her granddaughter's confidence and scholarship, Cealie enters the high school as a substitute teacher. She finds a vastly different setting in the large crowded school, recognizing that clothing and manners have changed both students and faculty from her recollections of teaching in a small private school decades earlier. She observes the cold structure, the anger and rudeness, the frustration and resignation of senior staff and the hustle and bustle of a teacher's full day. She experiences attacks first on herself and then on another teacher; she also hears of the shooting death of a substitute teacher like herself, and determines to help the police find the person responsible for these acts in their effort to keep her granddaughter and other students safe.

June Shaw's characters are richly developed, whether they are main characters or secondary. Her description of physical attributes is clear, as is the point of view of a grandmother finding her way into her granddaughter's world. Cealie's relationship with her son hovers between sheltering him from what she sees happening and bolstering his own strength and involvement in Kat's life. She talks to herself, and talks to her houseplant, her beloved cactus named Minnie, trying to sort out the sketchy line she is walking. Her mixed messages, both those received and sent, emotionally resonate with readers who share the same family role.

Cealie's life is further complicated by the presence of her former lover, Gil, a restauranteur with a Cajun flare whom Cealie still loves but does not want to settle down with. This tension creates another layer of mystery in this story, and Shaw brings all of the characters into it within their established roles. And  yet, with her family around her, Cealie still feels alone in dealing with the worry and angst, unwilling to share her concerns with Gil or with her son. And she feels that she must re-enter the dreaded building to determine how the death occurred, and who the responsible person is.

June Shaw's mystery remains unsolved until the very end, and her story engages the reader's feelings, no matter what the role of the reader in the family may be.  Five Stars for Shaw's Relative Danger!

 

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