by Noella Noelophile®
A few years ago, I was on a long-haul flight. A stewardess approached me purposefully.
“What are you reading?”
In the ensuing pleasant conversation, she mentioned that during lulls in long flights, she and her colleagues were always looking for great books.
(And what I was reading was Jacqueline Briskin’s Dreams Are Not Enough. Both a compelling novel with believable characters and an excellent escape into another time.)
With summer here and lots of people traveling, here are just a few great books to check out, take to the beach, or just curl into for an afternoon. These are not new but they are favorites. All of them fall into the “I want to read it again” category.
(And, just in case you Christmas-shop year-round for special people on your list, any fellow readers that don’t have these already, will probably curl up in a comfortable chair and start them on the spot!)
The Mistress of Spices, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
A truly magical novel.
To the casual observer, Tilo is just an old woman, operating a spice store in a run-down section of Oakland.
In actuality, though, she is an immortal being from a distant island. Her arthritic, old-woman body is a form she has taken. And she has trained to become the Mistress of Spices, with the gift of using those spices to magically change lives.
As Tilo observes her customers, she receives visions. Seeing into their day-to-day lives, she instinctively knows which spices will solve their problems.
Cardamom, clove and cinnamon, for a bullied schoolboy. Turmeric, for an unfulfilled young wife longing for a child. Dashmul tea for a man in a stressful job.
And in return for her powers, Tilo has dedicated herself to the spices. They, and they alone, are to be her life, and her love.
But then, she finds herself restless…and temptation creeps into her store, and her mind, in an all-too-human way…
…and the magical forces that gave her her gifts, are not amused.
Written in an almost-poetic style, the beauty of the language and the compelling story will keep you “hooked”.
I first came across Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s work through her novel Sister of My Heart and the sequel, The Vine of Desire. The Mistress of Spices is a very different type of novel, but every bit as firmly in the “can’t-put-it-down” category.
Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, by Fannie Flagg.
Since Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, I’ve loved everything Fannie Flagg has ever written.
But Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, the third book of her Elmwood Springs series, is especially fun.
I’ll never get enough of the cast of characters from Welcome to the World, Baby Girl and Standing in the Rainbow.
Appearance-conscious and anxiety-ridden Norma, down-to-earth Macky, hard-luck hairdresser Tot Whooten and life-loving Aunt Ellner are all familiar figures. Who hasn’t known one or more of these people in real life? And Fannie Flagg appears to know them inside out–bringing them to life yet never letting them become “stale” or overly predictable.
(Royalty-free image by Gretta Blankenship from Pixabay.)
In the opening pages, Aunt Ellner takes a tumble from a ladder, after being stung by wasps while gathering figs. She then embarks on an odyssey–a near-death experience, as seen from her down-home perspective.
Believing her dead, all the people whose lives she’s touched react to her tragic “passing”.
Their reactions are moving, funny and believable.
“She was one of the oldies but goodies”, remarks neighbor Tot Whooten–just before she wonders, “What’s going to happen to the Sunset Club now…and who’s going to do the Easter egg hunt this year?”
After hearing the news great-niece Linda remembers the good times from her growing-up years with Ellner, and the guidance her great-aunt offered, for her adult life.
“Why didn’t I find more time to go and visit her, and let my daughter get to know her better?” she thinks.
And rough-hewn trucker Luther Griggs recalls the “terrible fudge” Ellner gave him when he was eight. Along with the mentorship that began, shortly thereafter, and changed his life. (Ellner, who actually gave the boy a chocolate laxative, in retribution for throwing rocks at her cat, repented shortly afterwards with a gift he does like–and life guidance.)
As her friends remember her, Ellner is on the ride of her life–or death. Which proves to be a funny and engaging romp through what may be the afterlife.
The first person she meets is her sister Ida. Ida wastes no time in taking her to task for letting the less-than-competent Tot style her hair for the final time, years ago.
But Ida is Ellner’s escort, on the way to meet her Maker. Ultimately loving despite the sibling quirks, she throws open the double doors to the inner sanctum…
Funny, beautiful and inspiring would all be words to describe what comes next. I won’t ruin it with “spoilers”. Except to say, if the afterlife really is the way Fannie Flagg has envisioned it, I’ll feel no fear whatsoever when my time comes.
)Royalty-free image by Ylanite Koppens from Pixabay.)
Evening Class, by Maeve Binchy.
Another author whose work falls into the “can’t-get-enough” category.
Like so many of her fans, I was shocked and sorry to hear of Maeve Binchy’s sudden passing in 2012. She certainly has a legacy of great storytelling.
And Evening Class is my go-to novel, of hers, to give friends who are navigating rough times. It’s both the perfect “escape” book–transporting the reader to Dublin in the 1990s–and a great read that involves you in the characters’ lives immediately.
Evening Class starts with Aidan Dunn, who is very much at odds with his own life.
His wife and daughters are increasingly distant. Pouring his heart and soul into his work as a Latin teacher at the local school, he believes he is next in line to become principal. But then, the position goes to a younger colleague whom Aidan detests.
And Aidan is given a “consolation prize” of sorts.
(Royalty-free image by Michelle Raponi from Pixabay.)
The new principal wants him to spearhead the school’s new pilot program: adult evening classes.
And unexpectedly, Aidan finds himself engaged in the new project.
The first evening class, on Italian language and culture, is taught by Nora O’Donoghue–a woman with a past. Her ailing parents and self-centered siblings alternately shame her and take her for granted.
But Nora, or “Signora” as everyone calls her, finds an outlet for her talents, as she shares her love of Italy with her students and learns about their lives.
Those students include practical, reliable Bill–hopelessly in love with childlike Lizzie. Sisters Kathy and Fran enroll; with the goal of ultimately preparing sixteen-year-old Kathy, for whom learning doesn’t come easily, to college. And streetwise Lou, whose rough life has led him to inside jobs for a local gangster, is a student as well.
Together, the evening class explores Italy. Signora, Aidan and the evening students form a bond. And their studies will take them further than anyone initially imagined…
Warm, engaging and memorable, Evening Class may well have you reading “just one more chapter” on your next trip or “staycation”–even if you’ve read it before.
Have a great summer, a great read, and don’t forget to tell me which books have captured your summer imagination.