Tag Archives: WWII

Oct26

When Franny Stands Up by Eden Robbins

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When Franny Stands Up by Eden Robbins

Robbins, Eden. When Franny Stands Up. Sourcebooks Landmark, 2022. 400 pp. ISBN 978-1728256009 $16.99

****
I am a huge fan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. HUGE. By 20 pages in, this felt at first like a disappointing rip-off in a magical realism/urban fantasy setting. Like Midge, Franny is Jewish, uncensored, has a posturing lesbian mentor, and her idol, the infamous Boopsie Baxter, is a takeoff on Moms Mobley. Unlike Midge, Franny doesn’t have a husband or ex, but she does rails against some of the same 1950s era women’s rights issues in terms of labor and cultural expectations. This speculative fiction novel, grounded in a post WWII Jewish setting, quickly hits its stride.

Franny, in her late teens, escapes downtown in 1940s Manhattan to catch Boopsie’s act. Intrigued by an interview in which the comedianne talked about the IT quality that kills in the business that the paper doesn’t name, Franny sets out to discover just what a “Showstopper” is.

Fast forward a few years, and after an unsavory incident with her best friend’s brother in a back of car, Franny is so traumatized at being made to dance with him at wedding that she runs out, lands at a comedy club, and heckles until she’s tossed out (very similar to Midge’s showing up in her negligee after her husband asks for a divorce). One thing leads to another and soon she has been taken under the wing of a group of (possibly lesbian) stand up comics, trying to break into a career.

The food, slang, fashions and hairstyles of the WWII era add so much to the setting, and the writing is dreamy. The process of joke writing as emotional and physical catharsis for trauma is compelling and I cheered when Franny found her voice, took risks, defied convention and her parents, and spoke her truth. The novel addresses redlining, anti-Semitism, feminism, and family alongside the War.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #FrannyStandsUp from #NetGalley.

Jul19

Days of Grace by Catherine Hall

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Days of Grace by Catherine Hall

Catherine Hall. Days of Grace. Viking, 2010. ISBN 978-0670021765 304 pp. $

***

Elderly Nora, certain she is dying from some type of self-diagnosed abdominal or uterine cancer, attempts to absolve her guilt from incidents in her youth by taking in an unwed young mother who has been disowned by her family.

Chapters alternate between the past and present. The present focus on Rose and her baby, their fabrication of family, Nora seeing a doctor about her condition, and the hospice nurse that comes to live with them. Chapters set during the Blitz are concerned with Nora’s adjustments after being separated from her mother and a life of poverty when she is fostered in the country at the home of a pastor, his unhappy wife, and their teenaged daughter Grace. Nora has a crush on Grace that develops into a love she knows to be deeply inappropriate. Following the death of Nora’s mother, still in London where bombs are dropping, the Reverend Rivers shares the truth to Grace’s desire for a sister and the key to Mrs. River’s unhappiness, additional inappropriate behavior cause the two girls to run away to London; Grace, always precocious, falls in love, while Nora is forced to watch from the sidelines.

I anticipated this as a lesbian coming-of-age story set during WWII, but ultimately, this is a novel of atonement, redemption and friendship. It’s neatly structured with many tandems (Nora and Grace, past and present, two mothers, two inappropriate father figures, a twin birth, two deaths). Supporting characters are not very complex, and simply serve as an effective device to help tell Grace and Nora’s story. The slow pace and the reflective nature are likely to be deterrents to some readers. Hall did an adequate job of creating mystery and drama to pull me through the story and find out what secrets Nora is harboring, but I felt more curiosity than empathy while reading.

The shift from one timeline to another is marked only by action, and requires careful reading until it’s clear that chapters are alternating; in the final chapters, past and present come together as Nora opens up about her past to Rose and David.

Nov5

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Ford, Jamie. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Ballantine Books, 2009. ISBN 978-0345505330 304 pp. $26

***

The Japanese internment is something I had never heard of until I read Steve Kluger’s excellent epistolary novel, Last Days of Summer. Set in 1986, the recently widowed Henry Lee hears that the new owners of the old hotel that stands on the border of Chinatown and Japantown in Seattle have discovered Japanese artifacts in the basement that dating back to World War II. Some of the relics remind him of his first love, Keiko, before she was sent away: their clandestine meetings in front of the hotel before sneaking off to listen to jazz, and their agreement to meet again at the Panama when she returns from the camp.

The novel moves back and forth in time as reminiscences, and struggles to make a life after the loss of his wife, and connect with his college age son. This is a historical novel where Seattle and World War II should come alive, but don’t–the writing is very plain and the conclusion predictable. Instead of using literary devices to differentiate between the time shifts, the author simply labels each chapter to tell the reader where/when we are in the narrative. Characters are rather flat and static. Recommended for larger collections.

Aug3

Remembrance by Theresa Breslin

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Remembrance by Theresa Breslin

Theresa Breslin. Remembrance. Random House, 2002. ISBN 978-0552547383 304 pp. $

*****

This historical novel examines war and peace from the varied points of view of five friends and neighbors coming of age during World War II. John Malcolm gets enlists with enthusiasm, while pacifist Francis resists as long as he can and young Alex lies about his age to get into the army. Charlotte gets involved in nursing in spite of her family’s disapproval, while Maggie takes advantages of new opportunities for women and for her own self education. Amidst the social and political upheavals, life goes on, love blossoms, and loved ones are lost and mourned.

Period details are sensory and realistic, and the characters and situation are both true to the time yet have a classic tone that will make this book readable a hundred years from now.

The current crisis in the Middle East makes this a timely novel. As our leaders make those opposing war with Iraq feel unAmerican, Breslin affirms over and over that peace is the only solution, from Francis’s “disloyal talk” on page 6: “What makes a human being want to kill another who has done him no personal harm? Patriotism.” to Alex’s admission on page 291 that “killing can sicken the soul.”

The writing is lovely even in the most inhumane scenes of battle. Breslin presents all angles smoothly while leaving the reader with the haunting notion that in spite of the memorials and parades and flowers that stress the importance of remembering our mistakes, we still seem doomed to repeat them.

Suitable for classroom use in World War II units.