Stoner

Stoner by John Williams, 278 pages

When William Stoner left his parents' small farm to attend the University of Missouri, he never expected that he would be spending the rest of his life there.  By chance he discovers in Archer Sloane's English course a love of literature and poetry he had never known he possessed.  It is a love that remains with him all his life, through disappointments in his career, his romances, his marriage, and his fatherhood.  It is, in the end, the pattern of all his loves, and the one love to which he remains most true.

John Williams, who taught at the same university for a time, is clearly at ease describing familiar places and personalities.  This gives his writing a powerful realism, so that the novel is genuinely moving without being sentimental.  The flap of the first edition describes Stoner as "a man who is clearly out of keeping with his times," and if the lackluster sales of the book upon its publication bear this out, its subsequent rediscovery suggests that Stoner, like Sloane before him, is of a type that exists in all times.

Flipping Boxcars

Flipping Boxcars by Cedric “The Entertainer” Kyles with Alan Eisenstock 336 pages

 

I admit it; I only picked this book up to see how bad it was.  I’m a fan of Cedric television shows but wasn’t sure he had the chops to pull off a mystery novel, especially a historical fiction one.  However, I was hooked from the first page and enjoyed every bit of this thriller. I love the double entendre of the title, even if it did take me half the book to figure it out.

 

The main character is Floyd Bates Sr., better known as Babe. Babe, an Army Veteran, is a gambler. The story is set in Caruthersville, Missouri, in 1948. The first chapter/introduction sets the mood for the novel. It’s foreshadowing at its best.

 

Babe is first and foremost a family man. He deeply loves and respects his wife, Rosie, and adores their four children. He will do anything to keep them safe and secure. Anything. Everyone in town loves the Boyce family.

 

Babe has two special gifts. He can talk his way out of, or into, any situation. The second is that he never loses. Never. He runs a back-alley gambling casino outside of town that reaps huge rewards for Babe.

 

The Fourth of July is a big event in Caruthersville. As the calendar days are peeled off, Babe finds himself needing something that only a gangster can get for him: more liquor. Unfortunately, the foreshadowing that is the first chapter/introduction comes true, and Babe must use all his connections and resources to get himself out of this mess.

 

I so enjoyed this novel.  Babe and all the other characters are wonderful, and I hope that Cedric writes another novel with them.  I admit that I expected much, much more profanity in the novel than there was (thank you, Cedric), it was fast paced thriller that is also sweet.

 

Flipping Boxcars gets 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Maid's Version

 The Maid’s Version by Daniel Woodrell 192 pages 

 

The last novel Daniel Woodrell has written is The Maid’s Version, which was published in 2013. I don’t know why he hasn’t published anything since, but that’s none of my business. I had fallen in love with Woodrell’s writing after Winter’s Bone, a helluva horrific book to read.

 

I had read The Maid’s Version back in 2014/2015 and didn’t like it. The structure wasn’t parallel, it didn’t make sense, and I wasn’t sure if there was a real conclusion or not. Recently, Kensington Publishing asked me to write a blurb for their March 2024 release, The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson. It is about the same subject as The Maid’s Version: An unsolved explosion of a dance hall is West Plains, Missouri, which killed a lot of young people. I jumped at the chance. I was hoping to learn more about it than I had when I read Woodrell’s novel.

 

So, after reading it, I decided to go back and give The Maid’s Version another try. “Alma DeGeer Dunahew, the mother of three young boys, works as the maid for a prominent citizen and his family in West Table, Missouri. Her husband is mostly absent, and, in 1929, her scandalous, beloved younger sister is one of the 42 killed in an explosion at the local dance hall. Who is to blame? Mobsters from St. Louis? The embittered local gypsies? The preacher who railed against the loose morals of the waltzing couples? Or could it have been a colossal accident?”

 

I learned one important thing in re-reading this book:  It wasn’t about the explosion. It was about its aftermath and how it haunted a town and its people for the rest of their lives. I was able to follow the non-linear structure better, and I was intrigued to the end. But I still felt something was missing. Therefore, The Maid’s Version receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Confession Club

The Confession Club (Book #3 in the Mason Series) by Elizabeth Berg   304 pages

One thing I don’t like about reading a series is that I forget a lot of what happened in the previous titles.  This series started “The Story of Arthur Truluv,” and continued with “Night of Miracles.” I enjoyed both book a lot, especially since I read them back-to-back.

In this third outing, reader will encounter characters who featured prominently. First is the small town of Mason, Missouri, outside Columbia. While there isn’t a lot of details about this quaint community, I get the feeling it that picturesque American town that is often seen in Hallmark movies. Baker Iris Winters and Maddy Harris, the girl who rescued Arthur Truluv, along with Maddy’s daughter, Nola, are the featured characters.

Maddy (and Nola) have come home from New York. Maddy’s marriage is on the rocks; she needs time to think and gain some perspective. 

A group of the town’s women decide to start a weekly supper club. Comradery and food are the appeal of the group. However, the supper club turns into a confession club, where each week, one of the women confesses something from her past. It felt like an AA meeting to me. But the odd part was that the group discusses and dissects the event. What was the point?  I guess it was a way for the women to get it off their chests, but why discuss it?  The past is past.

I usually devour Elizabeth Berg’s novels, but this one felt a little flat. There were scenes that were sheer pages turners and others that I had to push my way through.  Therefore, “The Confession Club” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Night of Miracles

Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg    288 pages

Author Elizabeth Berg returns to the small town of Mason, Missouri, in this follow-up novel to her wonderfully sweet tale, “The Story of Arthur Truluv.” In this “Winesberg, Ohio,”-ish tale readers get to reconnect with some of the characters from that earlier novel. This work is considered a stand-alone, and Berg does a wonderful job in providing readers with the information they need to know, but it’s a much better read if readers get to know Arthur, Lucille, Maddy and Nola first.

Lucille still lives in Arthur Moses’s house. Maddy and Nola have moved out of town and Maddy is finally pursuing her college degree in photography. Nola is five years old. While they move in and out of the plot, Lucille is the character that takes center stage, and she’s as busy keeping up with the goings-ons and gossip as she can be.

Her baking classes have become quite popular. So popular in fact that a woman of her age just can’t do it all anymore. She hires one of the town's new residents, Iris Winters, who is still trying to move on from her divorce as her assistant. 

Another character readers meet is Tiny Dawson, who operates the local taxi. Tiny takes most of his meals over at Polly’s Henhouse. He’s not there solely because of the food---he’s smitten with one of the waitresses, Monica Mayhew. He wants to ask her out, but can never seem to find the right words. And unbeknownst to Tiny, Monica is equally as smitten with him. Will they get together?

Lucille finally sells her house, which is right next door to the Arthur’s house. She keeps a close eye on the house, which has been purchased by a young couple and their son. A cancer diagnosis turns their world upside down, and Lucille pitches in to help.

I’ve read that Berg plans to set future novels in Mason, Missouri. I hope so. And I hope that she continues these sweet stories about real people facing real problems in a small town life.  I truly enjoyed “Night of Miracles,” and it receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Weight of Blood

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh.  302 pages.

A small town that's suspicious of outsiders. Two disappearances, a generation apart.  Family secrets. These are all the elements that combine with compelling characters to make a great literary suspense novel.  We have the Dane family, who have lived in the Ozark Mountain town of Henbane for generations.  However, 16 year-old Lucy Dane is still treated like an outsider and people still talk about her mother, who up and disappeared years ago.  When one of Lucy's few friends is found murdered, Lucy feels that she has to get to the bottom of both disappearances.  However, when she starts making discoveries about her friend, and then about her mother, she starts to learn disturbing truths about the people around her.

I enjoyed this book, although I felt like could predict some of what was going to happen.  However, curiosity and investment in the characters kept me reading.  The author has a descriptive writing style that clearly paints the setting and makes you feel like you're there with the characters.  There is a feeling of dread that permeates the entire book, so even though you want Lucy to discover the truth, you're afraid of what she's going to learn.  I also worried for her; while some of the people in the town seem like they like her, I wondered if they would harm her to protect their secrets.

This is the author's debut novel, and I'll be curious to see what she writes next.

The Maid's Version

The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell.   164 pages.

This book focuses on Alma Dunahew, the mother of three boys who works as a maid for a prominent family in West Table, Missouri.  In 1929, her beloved younger sister is one of the 42 people killed in an explosion at the local dance hall.   Who is to blame?  Alma thinks she knows, but her pursuit of justice makes her an outcast in the town and causes a rift with her own son.  However, by telling her story to her grandson, she finally gains some peace.

This is an introspective book where it's easy to get pulled in to the story, feeling like you are a witness to what is happening. Woodrell's prose is simple, but evocative and emotional.  While this is Alma's story, it's more about the community who is facing the unexplained loss of so many people, and the suspicions and doubts that linger long after the event.

Until I looked for more information about this book, I didn't realize that there was a community disaster in West Plains, Missouri in 1928.  Woodrell changed some of the details, but there was an explosion at a dance hall which killed 39 people.  Lawyer's review on Goodreads includes a link to news stories about the actual event.

Weight of Blood

Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh, 306 pages

This book came to me both highly recommended and from the best seller shelf so it had a lot to live up to. Not only was it able to live up to the hype but it is one of those books that sticks in your mind.

Weight of Blood takes place in the rural Ozark mountains here in Missouri. It is about a girl name Lucy and her mother Lila growing up a generation apart.

It is hard to go into any detail without giving anything away but this is a very intense novel. I would also highly recommend it.