Our Funny Valentine: aka The February ’24 Newsletter

Saint Francis of Assisi (Francie) Buchanan

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, this newsletter features a little love story. And, like any love story, it’s emotional.

So, if you don’t like emotions, jump over the next block of text and head straight to the book reviews toward the end of the post. (You’ve been warned.)

First, Get Your Kleenex

When our youngest son left for college, our nest felt too empty. So, we did what any sane, albeit mildly grieving, parents would do–we found another baby. A baby born in a barn, which, if you think it over, has divine implications.

We always have named our dogs for saints or theologians. We’ve had Dietrich Bonehoeffer, Corrie ten Boom, and Blaise Pascal. Dietrich and Corrie came to sad ends, their sweet lives cut short by speeding cars (They both ripped right though our invisible fence with the mistaken idea that the grass was greener on the other side. Learn your lesson from them.) Blaise, a border collie running phenom, had to relocate to the country. She just didn’t have enough room even though we had a big yard.

So, we’d had our hearts broken three times when we adopted our next fur baby. But, it’s always a risk to love, isn’t it?

On that cold, gray December day, when we learned of a show Corgi who had dabbled with a Yorkie (these things happen), we knew we had to see this accidental designer dog. We drove over hilly, country roads to the western Kentucky farm and promptly fell in love with a fuzzy, fidgety, floppy-eared dynamo. In no time, we had a name for her: St. Francis of Assisi. We called her Francie.

Francie was a bundle of fun right from the first. When those Corgi ears eventually stood up like soldiers at attention, nobody could resist her charms. She was energetic, playful, smart, and compassionate–always ready to comfort me with those soft brown eyes when I was upset.

As you have probably figured out by now, this is a eulogy. We had to say goodbye to our dear girldog this week. She’d been faithful, loving, and adorably ornery for seventeen years, but she was ready to go to those green pastures where there are no fleas, where those big brown eyes of hers would be restored, her hearing renewed, and her dignity revived.

I’m crying as I write this. It’s just so hard, darn it. We miss her tap-dancing around the house. I swear she clicked each nail individually when she made her nightly rounds. We miss her cold nose nuzzling us into action. We miss her helicopter ears flapping in the night and her soft snore as she dreamed of rabbits and squirrels and birds. But mostly we miss her unconditional love. Joyful. Playful. Personality plus. That was our Francie.

There’ll never be another like her.

Okay, thank you for indulging me. We now return to our originally scheduled programming…

A Few Good Books Coming Out This Month…

Set for Life by Andrew Ewell, Pub Date: 06 Feb 2024

As an author, any book about writers, novels, or the publishing industry is like catnip. Set For Life absolutely captivated me and, even though the protagonist was extraordinarily flawed, I couldn’t help but root for him. Andrew Ewell’s writing is gorgeous and his character development is spot on. Themes of marriage, friendship, failure, and success are explored against the backdrop of art, university life, creative productivity, and originality. Questions abound—who has the right to tell “your” story? being the primary one. But questions about fidelity, integrity, and morality are asked in every chapter, and the reader is tugged along by a man’s journey toward defeat or redemption.

 Queens of London by Heather Webb, Pub Date: 06 Feb 2024I love a well-drawn underdog, and in Queens of London you get not one, not two, not three, but four! Set in London after WWI, these featured characters—gang leader Diamond Annie, department store clerk Dorothy, orphan Hira, and Scotland Yard Detective Lilian Wyles—are all underdogs. Based on a real all-girl gang called The Forty Elephants, Diamond Annie led the female thieves in shoplifting raids of quality stores in London’s West End. She may have been my favorite character because she was equally likeable and detestable. Author Heather Webb did a fantastic job of presenting the reader with fully-developed characters and not stereotypes. The theme of misogyny was equally well-crafted and a large part of why these four characters were all underdogs. The detective was also based on a real historical figure, Chief Inspector Lilian Wyles was the first woman to serve as a fully attested, ranking officer in the Criminal Investigation Department, having already been among the first women to serve in the “Women Police” instituted after the first World War. I wish the author would write another novel based solely on her. I think she’s got many stories to tell.   A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman, Pub Date: 13 Feb 2024A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman is an intimate portrait of the glamourous Hollywood star Lana Turner. I love watching old movies and so I was familiar with Lana Turner, but I didn’t know anything of significance about her. It’s always fascinating to see behind the scenes when a façade has been maintained for so long. Beautiful, successful, and famous, Turner’s life was far from trouble-free. While everyone knows the story of how she was discovered at a soda shop, the details of her emotional and physical abuse may not be as well-known. It may have been considered the “Golden Age” of film, but women involved in the industry might recall an environment far from golden. This story has everything—celebrities, mobsters, dysfunctional relationships, money, movies, and murder. If a movie about Turner’s life was produced, they’d have to leave out chunks just to make it believable and an appropriate length. Author Casey Sherman’s detailed research reveals, sadly, that the life of this beautiful woman was tragic and dark.   The Trouble with You by Ellen Feldman, Pub Date: 20 Feb 2024Loved this historical fiction gem set in New York City right after World War II. The protagonist, Fanny Fabricant, goes from having it all—a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, and the perfect house—to being faced with an uncertain future, one that she’ll have to forge on her own. Though Fanny was raised to be a wife and mother, circumstances force her to work outside the home. A secretarial job for the “queen” of radio serials leads to new relationships that challenge her and offer the possibilities of a very different kind of life. Which will she choose—the safe or the uncertain? The predictable or the unexplored?With themes revolving around family, friendship, expectations, security, loss, and love–the influences of any woman’s life–The Trouble with You examines questions about how we, as women, are molded by the life we’re born into. The story asks, If we don’t decide what our lives are going to look like and take responsibility for ourselves, can we ever truly be satisfied?  

The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes, Pub Date: 27 Feb 2024

Emily Howes delivers a beautiful, haunting story that explores family dynamics, mental illness, love, and devotion in The Painter’s Daughters. The painter is the renowned 1700s artist Thomas Gainsborough and his two daughters, who were the subject of many of his canvases, are Peggy and Molly Gainsborough. The sisters are as close as two sisters can be. When they’re young they play together, wandering the countryside to their mother’s dismay. They spy on their father together, learning things they’re not sure they understand. And they grow up together, navigating relationships with young men. But they also share a secret that began early in their lives when Molly begins to experience bouts of severe confusion. From the start of Molly’s mental troubles, Peggy feels compelled to manage things for her, to sweep reality away from everyone’s attention. With gorgeous language, Howes paints a portrait of two sisters’ relationship, revealing a complicated equation of love and control. The book rings with truth, insight, emotion, and candor. I loved it.

 After Annie by Anna Quindlen, Pub Date: 27 Feb 2024This family drama by Anna Quindlen may be tough to read for those whose grief is fresh. My father passed away in March 2023, but—maybe because his story was nothing like this one—I didn’t find myself bawling through it. After Annie is a thoughtful, tender story, rich with insight. It’s not spoiling anything to tell you that Annie Brown, a wife, mother, friend, daughter, and sister, dies unexpectedly and leaves a giant hole in the lives of those who loved her. This book unfolds what happens over the course of the next year. With views from Annie’s husband, her oldest daughter, and her best friend. I especially felt for the daughter, who had to grow up overnight and who managed to find a healthy way to handle her emotions. Nobody writes about emotions better than Quindlen. I’ve been a fan of hers since she was writing columns for the New York Times. She handles a universally tough topic without being maudlin or resorting to syrupy sentimentalism. Showing how one woman’s life profoundly affects so many other lives, the author manages to offer hope to all of us. And she does it with beautiful language and images that will linger in your thoughts and hearts. 

As always, thanks to NetGalley and the various publishers for allowing me to read advance copies of these books.