Book Review: The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills

The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee. Marja Mills. Penguin Press (2014). 278 pages. Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, Biography.

First Line of the Prologue: "In the summer of 2005, I was having coffee at Burger King with Harper Lee."

Summary: Journalist Marja Mills was given an assignment to visit Monroeville, Alabama, hometown of Harper Lee.  Mills worked for the Chicago Tribune.  The Chicago Public Library had recently launched a program called One Book, One Chicago and they had chosen To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book.  The idea was to get people from all parts of Chicago reading and discussing the same book.  The Chicago Tribune wanted to run a story on the famous author of To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Harper Lee had said very little on record since the publishing of the book.  It was expected that she would refuse an interview.  So, Marja Mills headed to Monroeville with the goal of gaining as much information as she could about the author's life from other sources.  Before leaving town to return to Chicago, she and her photographer stopped by the home that Harper shared with her sister Alice.  Mills wanted to be able to tell her boss that she attempted to contact the author.  She was surprised when the door was opened by Alice Lee.  She was even more surprised when she was invited in for a conversation. 

My thoughts: I really enjoyed the author's narrative style.  The book reads like a novel. While the book is very much about Harper Lee and Alice Lee, it is really a memoir about the author's time spent with them.  So it is told from her perspective.  Along the way, the reader learns a lot about Monroeville - both past and present, and the Lee family.  You get to know Alice, Harper and their friends.  I also listened to some of the audiobook read by Amy Lynn Stewart.  She used different voices for the characters which really gave a southern flavor to the story.  

Marja Mills met Alice Lee first and made an impression on her.  It was because of this meeting that Harper Lee was willing to meet with her.  Known to her family and friends as Nelle, Harper Lee was ready to set the record straight.  For years, reporters had been trying to get an interview with her.  From their very first meeting, Nelle made it clear that, "This would not be an interview." "'Just a visit.'"  Because Marja was agreeable to that, their relationship began to grow.  When the article finally came out in the Chicago Tribune, Nelle gave her approval.  

A few months after the article was printed, Marja Mills was struggling with her health.  She has Lupus and was having a flare.  Usually flares passed in a few days, but this one was worse.  She was told by the newspaper that she needed to take a leave of absence.  She decided that would be a good time to go back to Monroeville and visit Alice and Harper.  It was during this time that it was decided that Marja would write a book about their lives.  She eventually rented a house next door to the Lees.  

If you are curious about the life of Harper Lee or just like a good memoir, I highly recommend this book. 

Quotes:

"When she moved to New York, she had little money and lived frugally.  Even after the unexpected success of her book, she still lived frugally when it came to spending on herself."

"Once home, they would get to clucking over each other, Alice telling Nelle to drive carefully and Nelle telling Alice not to work herself to death.  The two women had this in common:  Sisterly admonition aside, they did as they saw fit."

"She lamented the passing of an era she said I was too young to remember, one in which a reporter's first and only job was to get the facts right, not to inject personal opinion."

Book Review: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. Harper (2011). 258 pages. Genre:  Non-fiction, Biography.

First Line: "'Kamila Jan, I'm honored to present you with your certificate.'"

Summary:  Kamila Sadiqi has just received her teaching certificate.  The year is 1996.  The place is Khair Khana, Afghanistan.  Kamila is the second of eleven children, nine girls and two boys.  Her country has always been at war, but woman have been free to become educated.  Mr. Sadiqi has instilled in his children the importance of obtaining an education.  

The very day Kamila receives her certificate, there are rumors that the Taliban is taking over.  Within 24 hours, Kamila's life completely changes.  Yesterday she was able to travel freely around her city wearing only a headscarf.  Today, she can leave her house only for necessities and then she must wear a full burqa and be accompanied by a chaperone or risk being beaten or killed. 

As the Taliban continues to take over, Mr. Sadiqi's life is endangered.  He retired from the Army, but he is seen as a threat to the Taliban because he served the enemies of the Taliban.  It becomes necessary for him to leave the country.  Within a few weeks his wife joins him, leaving their children in Khair Khana where it is safest for them.  Kamila is the oldest child still living at home and feels it is her duty to somehow bring in some money to help the family.  Women are not allowed to leave the house to work.  But, Kamila's older sister has a tailoring business.  While Kamila never learned to sew like her sister, she is determined to learn so that she might make suits and dresses for local shops. 

My thoughts:  The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is a riveting story.  It is told by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a reporter who met Kamila while doing research for her graduate's degree.  Her topic was women who work in war zones. She had been an ABC News Political reporter for ten years before deciding to return to school to obtain a graduate's degree.  She was adept at uncovering stories that mattered.  As she conducted her research she spent a lot of time with Kamila and would consider her a friend.  This gave her some superb insight as she wrote the story.

The first thing that struck me about Kamila was that she came from a wonderful, loving family.  With a mother and father who loved one another and their children and were very involved in one another's lives.  Her father felt strongly that all of his children should become educated and successful.  The family felt like a cohesive unit, all working together for the good of the family.  There was no hint of rivalry or teen angst of any kind.  But rather, each child was eager to help out however they could. 

When the Taliban first took over and the girls were no longer able to attend school, they spent most of the day reading books owned by their family.  The girls were voracious readers and soon read all they could from their own library.  Kamila suggested that they contact some of their friends in the neighborhood and exchange books with them.

"'She reads a lot, though I am not sure what kinds of books she likes.  We have the poetry covered; maybe she can bring some of those great Persian detective stories - I think she is addicted to them.'"

It was amazing to me that Kamila could learn to sew a dress so quickly.  Maybe this was a liberty taken by the author to move the story along, but maybe when one focuses only on that and is not distracted by television, movies and social media the learning curve is much smaller. 

Before reading this book I knew very little about the history of Afghanistan.  The author includes bits of history along with the story she is telling, which is also history, but it is history that has happened during my lifetime.  It was fascinating to hear about events, such as 9/11, from another part of the world and gain another perspective. 

Some of the themes I appreciated were family, hard work, perseverance, kindness, and following rules.

I recommend this book if you like biographies of people from other countries, if you are interested in learning what it is like to live under Taliban rule, or if you like stories about strong families.  

Book Review: The Children of Henry VIII by John Guy

The Children of Henry VIII.  John Guy.  Audiobook. 2018. Genre:  Non-fiction, History.

Summary:  Henry VIII was not the heir to the throne as he was the second son.  His older brother Arthur was to become King when their father, Henry VII, died.  Arthur was married at the age of 15 to Catherine, the daughter of King Ferdinand of Spain.  However, just a year later Arthur died after an illness leaving Catherine a widow.  Because of the importance of an Alliance with Spain, Henry VIII, at the age of 12, was promised to marry Catherine.  However, he did not marry her until a few months after his father's death when he had become king in 1509, seven years later.

It had been brought to Henry's attention by his advisors that the best way to safeguard the Tudor Dynasty and reinforce Henry's kingship was to produce a male heir.  Unfortunately, Catherine was unable to produce the heir Henry longed for.  She did however, give birth to a healthy baby girl named Mary, who would later become the first female monarch.  Meanwhile, Henry took on several mistresses.  One of them, Elizabeth Blount, became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  This convinced Henry that he was able to reproduce.  A few years later he became infatuated with Anne Boleyn.  However, Anne wasn't so easily convinced to have sexual relations with the king.  In fact, she refused unless he divorced Catherine and married her because then any child she produced would be heir to the throne.  Therefore, Henry declared that his marriage to Catherine had never been legitimate because she was his brother Arthur's wife before she was married to Henry.  After a battle of almost 6 years, Henry married Anne Boleyn.  Unfortunately she also was unable to produce a male heir.  She did give birth to a daughter who would later become Queen Elizabeth I.  When Henry had had enough of Anne he accused her of adultery.  She was convicted and beheaded.

Henry would marry four other women in his quest for an heir.  He was able to produce a male heir with his third wife, Jane Seymour.  He was named Edward and would ascend to the throne when Henry died.  Edward was only 9 years old when Henry died.  Edward died at the age of 14.  He was ill and before his death was able to draw up a "device", like a will, that shut out his half-sisters from succession and named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir.  However, after nine days, Mary Tudor, the rightful heir to the throne, declared herself queen.  

Mary had a fierce devotion to the Catholic faith and much of her reign was taken up with fighting to eradicate Protestantism.  Even going so far as having her half-sister, Elizabeth, thrown in the tower.  She did finally release her and Elizabeth became queen after Mary's death. 

As much as Henry VIII wanted to secure the Tudor Dynasty, it would end with the death of Elizabeth.  All three of Henry's legitimate children were childless.  

My thoughts:  I became interested in learning more about Henry VIII after watching the 1966 film, A Man For All Seasons.  The film is based on a play written by Robert Bolt and deals with King Henry VIII attempting to annul his marriage to Catherine and the opposition he faced.

This book was told in narrative form and was easy to follow.  The lives of the children are included when they enter in the larger story and are interwoven with the life of Henry, as well as his wives and the struggles in the kingdom at the time.  John Guy includes quotes from other literature and documents when appropriate which makes the story more interesting.  I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Saul Reichlin who has a wonderful British accent that is perfect for this book.

If you would like to learn more about the Tudor Dynasty or England in the 16th century, I recommend this book.

Book Review: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less. Terry Ryan. Simon & Schuster (2001). 351 pages. Genre:  Biography.

First Lines:  "The ordinarily sleepy town of Defiance, Ohio, emitted an industrious hum on hot days, a subtle pulse of activity - like the buzzing of distant bees.  It was late Indian summer, a little too warm for an October day, in 1953."

Summary:  Evelyn Ryan was the mother of 10 children.  Money was tight so she began using her love of language to enter jingle contests.  At that time almost every brand had a jingle and in order to keep them fresh, they would hold contests requiring entrants to provide a line or two of a jingle.  The winners would receive prizes.  Sometimes the prizes were small.  But other times there were several prizes awarded to one winner.  

Evelyn was constantly working on jingles for whatever the current contest was.  She kept a notebook nearby as she worked around the house.  She loved to iron because that is where she could do her best thinking.  She would keep her notebook on the end of the ironing board to jot down her ideas.  She won many prizes, from a couple of dollars to cars, appliances and thousands of dollars.  She kept the smaller prizes in her closet and would use them as needed to replace items around the house or as gifts.  

My thoughts:  The book is written by one of the daughters of Evelyn Ryan and so is told from her perspective.  Evelyn was a woman who never gave up.  She would enter many contests and not win anything, but she never let that dampen her spirit.  Mr. Ryan worked in a machine shop where he made, "...$90 a week, barely enough to pay for food and rent."  Unfortunately, he was also an alcoholic and spent too much on his nightly consumption of liquor.  Evelyn didn't let this defeat her either.  She just continued to take care of her family and do the best she could to make ends meet.

Most interesting to me was the peek into life in the 1950's in Ohio.  

"In the days before credit cards, few people in Defiance had a checking account.  Bills were paid in cash and in person."

"She was always trying to replace the dilapidated family Chevy with something a bit more dependable.  Just to start the car most mornings required a ten-person push so Dad could pop the clutch and rumble off to work in a cloud of blue smoke."

"Back in Defiance, the rest of the Ryan family, gathered around the TV to watch Bruce on national television, saw nothing of the show.  The blizzard ruined the reception, and 'snow' was all we were able to pick up.  We sat inches in front of the TV for the entire hour anyway, unable to hear or see a thing."

I felt sad for the family as they lived with alcoholism.  Mr. Ryan missed out on so much.  But I was encouraged by Evelyn's resilience and ability to keep going even when everything seemed to be against her.  

I would recommend this book if you enjoy memoirs, history of America in the 1950's or stories about overcoming obstacles.  

Book Review: The Story of Edith Cavell by Iris Vinton

The Story of Edith Cavell

Author:  Iris Vinton

Publisher:  Signature Books (1959)

178 pages

Genre:  Children's Biography

Edith Cavell grew up in the village of Swardeston, England.  Her father was the local vicar.  From a young age Edith was tidy, paid attention to detail and did her best to tell the truth.  These were all traits that served her well when she became a nurse.  

After graduating from school, she went to Brussels as a governess for a wealthy family.  When her father became ill, she left Brussels to return to Swardeston.  In an effort to help her mother, she volunteered to become her father's nurse while he recovered.  It was during these months that she realized she wanted to become trained as a nurse.  When her father was well, Edith went to London for nurse's training.  She carried out her tasks with swiftness and attention to detail.  The head nurse in London showed great respect for Edith and gave her more and more responsibility.  

Eventually she was asked to be a Directrice of a Clinique in Brussels that would train nurses.  World War I broke out during this time and Edith found herself assisting wounded soldiers from France and England to get well and then get out of Belgium to a safe country.  Eventually the Germans discovered what she was doing and arrested her.

This is a thrilling story well told.  The theme of honesty is woven throughout.  Edith was a woman who wasn't afraid to do what was right, even at threat of her life.  She was a woman from whom peace emanated.  When her pastor came to see her before she died, she told him,

"Standing as I do, in view of God and eternity, I realize that patriotism is not enough.  I must have no hatred and no bitterness toward anyone."

Those words were engraved on her head stone at the Cathedral of Norwich in England.  

This book was written for middle school aged children, but older children would enjoy it as well.  It was enough information for me and I felt like I learned something about Edith, the history of nursing and World War I.  It would also make a great read aloud for younger children.

I recommend this book for anyone who would like to learn more about the history of nursing or World War I, as well as anyone who likes a good story about a godly woman.