“The Enchanted April” by Elizabeth Von Arnim

This was the most pleasant book I’ve read in awhile. Written in the early 20th century, it was soothingly old fashioned and clever. What better scenario than 4 women, strangers, getting to know each other and themselves in a rented Italian castle. Great new friendships were formed, and of course, husbands, men and love.

“Rabbit Foot Bill” by Helen Humphreys

This is a serious book about physical abuse, repressed memories and wartime trauma. And yet it was lightly done and had a good ending, that left me feeling good. I liked the way that Lenny’s growth into a successful adult was revealed in gradually evolving stages in the last chapter. And the nature of the love bond between him and Bill was amazing. As a character in the book states, after the war, Bill was smart enough to abandon his family and society. Lenny’s father stuck around and beat his family horrifically.

I also enjoyed the descriptions of the Canadian prairies and of Weyburn psychiatric hospital. What an unpleasant piece of medical history.

“And the Birds Rained Down” by Jocelyn Saucier

This is a beautiful book about love, friendship, tragedy, art. The writing style is deceptively simple. I loved the descriptions of the fire, the forest cabins and the people. I particularly liked the photographer, whose name we never learn, and the old woman from the asylum, who had a talent for interpreting Ted Boychuck’s paintings of the great Matheson fire.

One theme which didn’t interest me very much was the idea of killing yourself when you’re ready to die. Each of the old men in the forest had some strychnine in hand because they wanted to be free to choose their time.  I don’t think of that as freedom, but perhaps I’m still too young and healthy.

The ending of the book is somewhat up in the air, though you can guess at a happy ending for the photographer. I love the way she meets the man on the bench in the same place she has seen Angie Polson. And the image of the 2 old lovers watching cars go by from their home is touching. My favourite themes were that it’s never too late to live a life and that life and love can surprise you at any moment. 

“The Chessmen” by Peter May

This last book of the Lewis Trilogy was enjoyable, if rather dark, and the descriptions were beautiful as usual. However, I grow tired of the author’s writing style, which includes long descriptions and whole chapters about the past to explain the present. I just want the author to get on with the action. …(see last paragraph for contradiction to this thinking.) I skipped over many descriptions, regardless of how beautiful they were. I wanted to know who had murdered the person in the sunken plane, and was not very interested in the beauty of the landscape. 

It’s a pity that Fin’s close childhood friends, Whistler and Donald were murdererd, and that I’ll never know if Fin and Marsaili will rekindle their youthful love. One very nice thing about the book is the vividness with which it describes shared childhoods and former loves. It makes me feel the importance of human connection to a meaningful life.

“Rebel Angels” by Robertson Davies

 I reread this book to see if I still like Robertson Davies. I found some of the writing to be stodgy, but the underlying humour is very good. And of course, I love the Gypsy Mamusia.

“White is for Witching” by Helen Oyeyemi

 This is a dreamlike horror novel. You never quite know what’s going on. The female twin, Miriam, definitely has pica, and her mother, a photojournalist, definitely died in Haiti. Miriam spends time in a mental institution, and gets into university, but her brother, who applied before her and inspired her,  does not. The house is apparently evil and filled with female ghosts of past generations, and her brother has an unhealthy obsession with her. Miriam has a lesbian love affair but is sickening and dying because she’s not eating. Miriam disappears. Miriam’s father does his best. He’s a chef, who pressed his unwilling wife to turn her family home into a B&B.

Because this book is so dreamlike and focusses on supernatural impressions, it’s difficult to imagine the characters living in an ordinary world. And yet, they have ordinary friends and get accepted for jobs and university. It’s amazing, the bizarre inner life of some people. One thinks immediately of mental illness.

Oddly enough, because I didn’t like the uncertainty of the book’s reality, I would read another book by this author. She has an unusual perspective and that appeals to me.