Of Books, Blooms, and Dogs

It's a busy, busy time.  Weeds are growing as fast as the perennials and need to be pulled, and every flowerbed needs to be mulched.  Plant shopping has begun, and with the warm weather, I've been ignoring the average last frost date of May 15 to get an early start on some of the containers. The back porch is so filled with plant purchases already that no one can go through the back door without tripping over a flat of impatiens or all the Carex that came back with me from Texas.

Some tulips are still blooming in the shade garden, but perennials are quickly filling in.

So who has time to read a book?  Actually I do; it's still the best way to relax before falling asleep and to ensure I'll dream about something other than pulling weeds:)  When I realized it was time once again for the monthly meeting of The Book Review Club, I decided to critique the last book I have read, since it was freshest in my mind; it's also a departure from my usual genre.

Cooper Harrison is a broken man.  A former K-9 officer in Boston, he must take a leave of absence after being injured in an explosion during an arrest.  But the psychological scars are even worse, and he is so traumatized by the death of his beloved partner Argos that he resigns from the force.  Months later, he is offered a job by an old friend from his hometown as an animal control officer.  It's a step down in his career and his childhood home is filled with unhappy memories, but Coop's depression has led him to drinking and with his marriage falling apart, he decides to take the job, but only as a temporary position.


Cooper rents an isolated cabin so that his pacing during the middle of the night when he awakes from his nightmares about Argos won't be noticed by neighbors.  Even during the day, he is haunted by his past as he sees a ghost of a dog on his morning jogs around the lake.  But one day he realizes this is no ghost he is seeing, but a stray dog obviously frightened of humans, and he becomes determined to catch it.  Cooper spends days trying to lure the dog, going well beyond normal measures for an animal control officer.  When he finally is able to capture it, the dog is close to death and Coop's friend the vet recommends a merciful euthanasia.  But Cooper feels he owes it to this dog--and on a deeper level, to the memory of Argos--to do everything he can to save him.  He takes the dog into his home while he heals, but only until he finds his owner.  Finding the owner and the person responsible for cruelly abusing this dog becomes Cooper's mission and ultimately his salvation.

Sophie enjoying the late tulips. I don't think she tiptoes, but she hasn't knocked one over yet.

Obviously I'm a dog lover, but I don't usually read stories that focus on animals.  I still have vivid memories of being devastated by Old Yeller as a child.  When I watched the movie Marley and Me, I cried so hard at the end that I knew I could never read the book.  Other animal stories that have happier endings often seem too sappy or sentimental.  But there was something in the reviews of this bestseller that made me think it was worth reading, and I am glad I did.

Coconut's favorite spot while I garden is in the shade of the old lilac.

The Dog Who Saved Me is anything but sentimental.  Cooper Harrison has no intention of getting too attached to the Labrador who is nothing like his beloved German Shepherd Argos; in fact, he never gives him a name but simply calls him "the yellow dog."  Even though small parts of the book are written from the dog's perspective, they are believable in explaining his instinctive reactions and help to explain how the dog became so frightened of humans.

When Older Daughter asked us to keep Frank, a rescue Pug, I said we already had enough dogs in the house.  But who could resist a face like this??

I enjoyed Susan Wilson's novel because it is much more than just a dog story.  As Cooper climbs out of his depression, he finds himself attracted to a woman with her own need to heal.  He also must deal with his estranged father Bull, a Vietnam vet and recovering alcoholic, and Jimmy, his hardened ex-con brother.  Ultimately, Cooper Harrison finds personal redemption, and yes, the book does have a happy ending.

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@Barrie Summy

And now a few scenes from the garden where spring is rapidly turning into summer:

Just a few days ago, the white crabapple was full of beautiful blooms, 

but most have now blown off with the wind and light rains.

But the lilac is still blooming, providing me with perfumed bouquets indoors.

One of my favorite spring perennials, Brunnera 'Jack Frost,' covered in delicate blue blooms.

You have to look more closely to spot the small blooms of Solomon's Seal.

Tulips are fading fast in the warm temperatures of the past week.  I've noticed that the 'Rosalies,' my namesake tulips in the back,  turn a little deeper in color as the days go by and age beautifully.
Wish I could say the same for me:)

Late-blooming tulips 'Queen of the Night' and Marguerite' compete with the emerging Allium.

Other late tulips in the shade garden complement the Bleeding Heart.  Have you noticed I like pink?



Spring has to be the shortest season here in Illinois--oh, how I wish it would last longer!

As with all the books I review here, I received no compensation of any kind for writing this review.  The Dog Who Saved Me was borrowed from our great local library system.

Book Review Club: The Mockingbird Next Door

To Kill A Mockingbird has been a staple of high school curricula for many years and with good reason; it tops my own list of favorite books and one that I looked forward to sharing with my students every school year.  Published in 1960, the novel received a Pulitzer Prize in 1961, and a year later was made into the classic movie starring Gregory Peck, receiving three Oscars.  Since that time it has been translated into more than 40 languages and has sold over 30 million copies.  In surveys asking what one book "every civilized person should read," Mockingbird ranks second only to the Bible.

It's no wonder that such acclaim brought instant fame for its author Harper Lee.  While she granted the many requests for interviews at first, appeared at book signings, and played an active role in the production of the movie, the limelight soon grew too much for her, and she retreated to the privacy of her home.  For the past fifty years, little has been written about Lee that hasn't been told before. When asked for an interview, she usually replied with not just a simple no, but a "Hell, no."

Despite Lee's reputation as a recluse, in 2001 Chicago Tribune reporter Marja Mills set out for Monroeville, Alabama, hoping for an interview with some of its residents, if not Lee herself.  To her surprise, not only did she get an interview, but she soon struck up a friendship with Lee and her sister Alice and began to think about writing not just an article, but a book. After her newspaper article was published, Mills went back to Alabama, renting a house next door to the sisters for the next year and a half.

The result of Mills' surprising friendship with Alice and Nelle Harper Lee is The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee.  The book gives the reader a peek into the Lee home--filled with stacks and stacks of books, as the sisters are avid readers--and a detailed description of their everyday life.  Contrary to her image as a recluse, Nelle (as she is called by her friends) leads an active social life.  She introduces Mills to their friends, and the two go for coffee at McDonald's, feed the ducks, and go fishing at the Lees' favorite fishing hole (location never revealed).  They visit the courthouse made famous by the book and now a museum and popular tourist attraction.
Mills interviews friends who provide insight into the characters and lives of the Lee sisters, and spends many hours recording interviews with Alice Lee, who in her 90's was still practicing law in her father's old law office.

The Mockingbird Next Door, however, is a memoir, and anyone expecting new revelations about Lee's inspiration for her novel or her reasons for dropping out of the limelight will be sorely disappointed.  Friends of the Lees share anecdotes but are very protective of the sisters' privacy.  In the many hours she spent interviewing Nelle Lee, Mills always asked for permission first to record their interviews and if she might include certain comments in her book, usually getting a negative reply.  About the only "juicy" revelation that Mills includes in the book is Nelle's recounting of her strained relationship with Truman Capote, the inspiration for the character Dill in To Kill A Mockingbird, and with whom she collaborated on In Cold Blood, Capote's most famous work.

No mockingbirds here, but the red-bellied woodpecker has returned for the winter.

Why did Harper Lee drop out of public view?  Why did she never write another novel?  These two questions that every fan of Mockingbird has always wanted to know are never really answered in Mills' book, at least not with any new revelation.  Nelle and Alice both confirm that she was overwhelmed by the publicity surrounding the book and then the movie and by the push to write another novel.  As Mills describes the town of Monroeville today with its tourist attractions capitalizing on Mockingbird's fame, including a diner named after Boo Radley, it is easier to understand why Harper Lee withdrew from the limelight.

As for why Lee never wrote another novel, we are only given her sister Alice's explanation: "When you have hit the pinnacle, how would you feel about writing more?  Would you feel like you're competing with yourself?"

Mills' story did not end with the publication of The Mockingbird Next Door.  After the book came out, Harper Lee denounced it, saying, "any book purporting to be with my cooperation is a falsehood." However, her sister Alice defended the book, saying her sister had recently suffered a stroke and likely didn't remember giving Mills permission.  Much has been written about the authenticity of the book, but I tend to believe Alice's statement and that Harper Lee originally did give approval of the book.  Further support is the lack of anything too revealing in the book as well as Mills' apparent respect for the Lees' privacy.

Frank's favorite perch for winter bird-watching

I have to admit I was rather disappointed at first with The Mockingbird Next Door, probably because my expectations were too high.  The book tends to ramble somewhat and is occasionally repetitive, and "the stories that need to be told," according to the sisters, never quite materialize.  Still, once I settled in and realized that there weren't going to be any sensational revelations, I enjoyed the book and spent a leisurely time getting to know Harper Lee and her wit and intelligence in a more informal way. I would recommend this book for anyone who has been as moved by To Kill A Mockingbird as I have. Harper Lee may have written only one novel, but what a novel it was! She will always be an icon to me.

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@Barrie Summy

Disclaimer:  I received no compensation of any kind for this review, and as always, I review only books I like.  I purchased my own copy of The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee to read for my book club, and I want to thank my friend for recommending it.

Book Review: A Long-Awaited Sequel

Good news for Elizabeth George fans--Sgt. Barbara Havers is back!  After playing a passive role in the last Inspector Lynley novel, Barbara Havers is back where she belongs, actively pursuing a case and working with Thomas Lynley again.  Spoiler alert--for those who haven't read the previous George novel and intend to, you might want to skip to the last four paragraphs here.

In the previous novel Believing the Lie, Lynley has finally begun the healing process after the sudden death of his wife.  While he is solving a murder in the Lake District, Havers is left behind in London, doing some investigative work for Lynley, but never at his side, as she usually is.  But as the mystery is solved, a crisis appears at the end as Barbara's neighbor and best friend, nine-year-old Hadiyyah, disappears, prompting Havers' fans to eagerly anticipate the next book in this series.

Just One Evil Act picks up where the previous one left off, as Havers frantically begins her search for Hadiyyah, but she soon learns that the police are not going to help, since Hadiyyah was taken by her mother.  Compounding the problem is that Tamar, Barbara's good friend and Hadiyyah's father, was never married to her mother Angelina and has no legal claim on his daughter.  Barbara has promised Tamar, however, that she will find his daughter and in desperation turns to a private detective.

Every lead comes to a dead end, until several months later when Angelina suddenly re-appears in London, frantic because Hadiyyah has been kidnapped from an open-air Italian marketplace and accuses Tamar of the deed this time.   Barbara is able to convince her superiors that Scotland Yard must finally get involved because the little girl is a British citizen, but rather than send her to Tuscany, the Yard sends Inspector Lynley instead.

Just when a happy resolution seems near, a new complication arises that causes Barbara to book a hasty trip to Tuscany, Yard-approved or not.  Only she, she reasons, has the motivation and persistence to see that justice is done, and as it turns out, she is right.  But in the process, surprising secrets are revealed, and Barbara must decide just how far she will bend the rules to protect her friends. 

Just One Evil Act is full of surprising twists and turns and several sub-plots that all come together in the end, as is typical of an Elizabeth George novel.  The last 100 pages is fast-paced and riveting, but the previous 619 could have used some editing.  Seven-hundred page novels don't intimidate me, and I'm used to George's long novels, but there seemed to be some repetition and unnecessary detail, such as repeated interviews with the same suspects,  that did nothing to advance the plot or character development.

This is the first novel in the series in which Thomas Lynley travels out of the UK to solve an investigation.  Fortunately, Lynley is fluent in Italian, unlike Havers, but that brings up another criticism: the author uses a lot of Italian in the dialogue.  While Ms. George may be learning the language (as she states in the acknowledgements), the readers are not!  A few phrases here and there would be fine and do add some authenticity to the Italian setting. But she uses it frequently, and too often the dialogue is not translated or self-explanatory. I found myself re-reading parts to try to understand through context clues and got frustrated when I couldn’t understand what was being said.

I've said in previous reviews of her novels that character development is a big part of what makes George's books so appealing.  Just One Evil Act is full of rich, interesting characters, but some of the major characters change in ways that are not so appealing.  I’m a big fan of the fashion-challenged Sgt. Havers whose contrast to the well-bred Inspector Lynley often provides some comic relief. I was so looking forward to her playing a bigger role in this novel, but she is not quite the Barbara Havers we have come to know and love. Barbara is often in conflict with her superiors (other than Lynley), and she doesn’t mind bending the rules a bit to see that the guilty are punished. However, in this novel she goes far beyond "bending the rules" to the point that one begins to wonder if this normally moral and big-hearted woman has lost her sense of right and wrong.  In her defense, however, Barbara's actions are blinded by emotion--trying to save two of the people she holds most dear.  And perhaps that is George's intent--to make us think how far we, too, might go to protect the ones we love.

You might wonder why I chose this book to review when I seldom offer too many negative comments in my reviews.   Despite the criticism, if you're a fan of this series, by all means, read it, but if you're new to the Thomas Lynley series, I'd recommend starting with one of the earlier books.  The truth is, even with its flaws, Just One Evil Act is still an entertaining book, and any book by Elizabeth George, in my opinion, is ten times better than most mysteries on the book shelves

Frankie and I are still waiting for the snow to melt.

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@Barrie Summy

Disclaimer: No compensation of any kind was received for this review, and I purchased my own copy of Just One Evil Act. As always, I review only books I enjoy and think others would enjoy reading too.