This time a review of three books by two writers, both totally different in style and content, but both worth reading at any time.
The first is THE HURRICANE SISTERS as written by Dorothea Benton Frank, a fascinating author for me, perhaps because I’ve spent time in the Charleston-Sullivans Island area. The characters are three generations of one family; each woman totally different from the other, yet the closeness of this family is admirable. However, each of these women is struggling to define her life, and often failing in that attempt. Pulling other lesser characters into the lives of these women is a talent that Ms. Frank is extremely adept; but her insight of the people involved is remarkable, and all done with a totally delightful sense of humor. And then the final pages when grandmother, mother and daughter find themselves together in the old house on the Island, facing the incoming hurricane and revealing to each other their dreams and fears are stunning!
However, an underlying theme of the book, which is elaborated on in the Author’s Note at the end of the book, is the amazing statistics of domestic violence and murder in our country. And the State of South Carolina has the highest number of cases of women murdered by men for several years during the past decade. Ms. Frank speaks of My Sister’s House in Charleston as a shelter for battered women. Locally, we have the Harbor House in Port Lavaca, which helps women and children who are victims of domestic violence. This is an organization that deserves as much help that can be given by our residents.
David Baldacci has written many books concerning aspects of the law and many being set in his native Virginia and/or Washington D.C., where he practiced law for many years. THE INNOCENT introduced Will Robie as an assassin for the CIA. His later books, THE HIT and THE TARGET continue with some of the assignments of Robie and pitting him against Jessica Reel, a highly accomplished fellow assassin. When an assignment for Reel becomes completely changed without her knowledge by some executives of the CIA echelon, Reel in essence, becomes a rogue agent. And Robie is assigned the hit to eliminate her.
THE TARGET involves both Robie and Reel (she made it!) as a team, and brings to the forefront the total lack of care by the governing body of North Korea for their citizens. Having your family sentenced to a concentration camp for the remainder of their lives for your crime against the State, is just one of the ways of punishment the Government uses to control its population. The description of life in one of those camps is horrible, and if completely true, a total blot on humanity. But how to correct that? And another question: do we really have assassins in the CIA?
DON’T FORGET: We have several shelves of books for sale; hardcover for $1.00 and softcover for $0.25. These books are great to take along when traveling; this means you never have to worry about a due date! However, during the month of September, hardcover books are selling at a reduced price of 75¢. The sale of those books makes available funds for the purchase of some needed extras for our Library. And we’ve got some good ones with noted authors available on our shelves to buy.
I know I’ve used the following quote for several years, but it really makes sense. Just think about it!
“When an old person dies, a Library burns down!”
Karin Gillespie
