'Lila' by Marilynne Robinson

Summary: Marilynne Robinson, one of the greatest novelists of our time, returns to the town of Gilead in an unforgettable story of a girlhood lived on the fringes of society in fear, awe, and wonder.

Lila, homeless and alone after years of roaming the countryside, steps inside a small-town Iowa church - the only available shelter from the rain - and ignites a romance and a debate that will reshape her life. She becomes the wife of a minister, John Ames, and begins a new existence while trying to make sense of the life that preceded her newfound security.

MY THOUGHTS:  

This third novel in the Gilead Quartet plumbs the background of Lila, the enigmatic mother of John Ames' precious young son, born to him in his old age. As a tiny girl, Lila was kindly kidnapped from her kin by a tough lady named Doll, who evidently thought they were a bad lot. Yet life for Lila is rough notwithstanding, including a nomadic, hard-working lifestyle on the road, some very undesirable jobs, and the unsolved mystery about her real family's identity. Life deals her some trust-shattering blows, so when she meets her future husband, she has plenty of emotional baggage to sort through, with his loving support.  

Marriage to a Protestant minister has emotional perils of its own though. Lila picks up some very concerning details from listening to the silver-haired, theological Dream Team, (her husband and old Boughton). She quietly deduces that loved ones from her past, especially Doll, her surrogate mother, might not be among the 'elect'. In other words, since considering Christian ways was never remotely on their radar, their souls are bound straight for hell. In turn, this notion had never occurred to Lila either. She understandably tends to stew over it. Lila's own sense of justice chafes at the idea of 'souls just out of their graves having to answer for lives most of them never understood in the first place.' 

I love the comforting words Marilynne Robinson (a self-proclaimed 'hopeful universalist' herself) places in John Ames' mouth at this point.  

'Thinking about hell doesn't help me live the way I should. And thinking that other people might go to hell just feels evil to me, like a very grave sin. So I don't want to encourage anyone else to think that way. Even if you don't assume that you can know in individual cases, it's still a problem to think about people in general as if they might go to hell. You can't see the world the way you ought to if you let yourself do that. Any judgment of the kind is a great presumption. And presumption is a very grave sin. I believe this is sound theology in its way.'

(Whew, heady stuff for certain. I'm sure many of us have come across other ministers and pastors who don't share Ames' scruples, and would, in fact, think he's talking heresy. What a thought-provoking novel, prompting us to consider two sides of a question. We get no definitive answers, of course. 'The old man always said we should attend to the things we have some hope of understanding, and eternity isn't one of them.') 

There is a fair bit to shock in this book. The main couple's courtship and marriage strike some members of the congregation as unconventional bordering on scandalous. If I was among them, I'd probably agree. It is such an unlikely romance, and the age gap merely scratches the surface. John Ames instantly accepts Lila's sudden marriage proposal, when she's only ever behaved in a prickly, brusque, and secretive manner toward him. What a reckless impulse from a long-time shepherd of men and women. No wonder he can't relax in their early months of marriage, anxiously worrying that she might abscond with their child (when it's born), leaving no trace.

 As for Lila, referring to her husband, in her own thoughts, continuously as 'the old man' strikes me as odd. Granted, she also thinks he's 'beautiful', but it's still strangely generic and impersonal. Although Robinson makes it work for these two, I'd never recommend any readers to follow suit. So if you're an elderly minister and a wild child who are contemplating marriage, please think carefully before going ahead.  

What makes Lila, the character, so special and memorable, though, is the boldness of her contemplative, Mary-style heart. Lila knows full well that she's a tabula rasa, a blank slate, but delves into her study of Scripture anyway. Grappling with theology is brand new to her, but instead of growing intimidated and overwhelmed, she simply resolves to understand what she can. I honor her for that. Lila is resistant to the discouragement that comes from knowing she'll never grasp it all. And perhaps approaching study with an open heart, free from biases picked up after years of well-meant indoctrination, is a great springboard.  

She is definitely a character to remember, and draw from her mojo, for those moments when we think, 'This is too hard to bother trying to understand.' The snarls and mysteries of theology are particularly thorny, but if Lila can attempt to hack through them, so might we. (I now have a Post Grad Diploma in Divinity and this holds true more than ever!) 

Check out my reviews of Gilead and Home. And now stay tuned for my upcoming review of the fourth and final novel in the quartet, Jack. 

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'The Penderwicks at Last' by Jeanne Birdsall

Summary: Nine years, five older siblings, a few beloved dogs, and an endless array of adventures--these are the things that have shaped Lydia's journey since readers first met her in The Penderwicks in Spring. Bursting with heart and brimming with charm, this is a joyful, hilarious ode to the family we love best. And oh my MOPS - Meeting of Penderwick Siblings - does Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks at Last crescendo to one perfect Penderwick finale.

MY THOUGHTS:

To me this finale is the strongest and finest of all. The wonder of classic kids' series is how they transform simple and ordinary pleasures and events into something fun and magical. I found the first two books in the series lacked that elusive quality and relied more on unlikely sensationalism. But this one gets it right. I was smiling almost all the way through. 

Sadly, however, several other reviewers claim that in their opinion, the Penderwick series grows weaker and this was the worst. It makes me wonder whether our era of being constantly switched-on erodes people's tolerance for gentle, meandering tales. It's a slippery slope I always aim to avoid.

The remainder of my review will be a defence of this book. Then under the red line of plot spoilers, I'll add my two cents worth about how the elder sisters' romances pan out, for that seems to be what pressed several angry reviewers' buttons.   

In a nutshell, Rosalind is finally going to tie the knot with Tommy Geiger. The wedding venue of her choice is Arundel, now under complete management of their honorary bro, Jeffrey Tifton, who gives the green light. So the Penderwicks converge on the majestic place where their adventures all started. Jeffrey promises that his formidable mother usually stays away in New York City these days... but uh-oh, this is one time she doesn't. And Skye seems immune to pressure to make it a double wedding with her boyfriend, Duŝek, but will she hold out?   

Lydia, the youngest Penderwick of the blended family, takes centre stage. The only offspring of both their father and mother, she's a joyful spirit who loves impromptu dance. She also likes everyone she meets, except for rare occasions. It doesn't surprise me that Mrs Tifton considers Lydia to be the least abrasive of all the Penderwick kids, since Lydia demonstrates more tact and diplomacy than her sisters did at the same age. Her sensitivity to the feelings of others (including Mrs Tifton!) makes her my favorite Penderwick. 

Cagney Pelletier (remember Rosalind's crush from Book 1) is now a family man with a wife and two kids. Lydia strikes up a firm friendship with the ebullient Alice who is forever trying to best her older brother, Jack. These two turn everything into sibling rivalry. Even though he's away visiting other relatives for most of the story, Jack's input is still significant, thanks to modern technology. The humorous plot thread with the competitive Pelletier kids makes me understand, what other readers mean when they call this series modern YA classics. 

The same point applies to members of Lydia's own family. Ben, now aged 16, is a budding arthouse movie director, and Jane, now 25, is waitressing to enable her to devote the best of her energy to writing her time travel novel. 19-year-old Batty is a singer studying music, and as random as it seems, her ex-boyfriend Wesley, along with his three-legged Great Dane, Hitch, shows up and makes friends wherever they go.  

So we readers get caught up in the rush of wedding preparations which we don't need to lift a finger for; my favorite type. I love the incidents, including one in which Mrs Tifton comes sailing in with a stern warning for Jane. I'll leave you to discover the subject of their altercation for yourself.  

I really applaud the final scene. It not only concludes this book itself, but is an extremely clever wrap-up of the entire series. Jeanne Birdsall bring us full circle to the very starting point, but there's even more to it than that. I'll bet it's a subtle prophetic hint. I believe that, after pondering the theme several times prior to this point, Lydia collides with her destiny! 

So although the Penderwicks took a while to grow on me, the alchemy finally set in.

Note: Before you arrive at this point, check out The Penderwicks, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, and The Penderwicks in Spring. 

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Extra: My thoughts regarding the older sisters' romances!

Whoa, Jeanne Birdsall has singlehandedly recreated an inflammatory scenario from the nineteenth century. She echoes Louisa May Alcott's Little Women series plot progression back in 1869, and the resulting uproar is equally raucous.

Here is how the two situations converge. We have a strong-minded and outspoken heroine who is the second of four sisters (Jo March/Skye Penderwick). She gains the romantic attention of a lovable, 'boy-next-door' style character (Theodore 'Laurie' Laurence/Jeffrey Tifton). Unfortunately for him, our powerful girl simply can't force herself to muster the same feelings for him. She ends up marrying a total newcomer with a foreign name and background (Professor Friedrich Bhaer/Duŝek). This poor guy gets thoroughly hissed down by irate fans. And to add insult to injury, everyone's favorite boy, after suffering the sting of unrequited love, quite happily settles for the strong heroine's little sister (Amy/Batty).  

There we have it. After the flak that Alcott received from a huge contingent of former fans, I wonder that Birdsall had the nerve to make the very same move. But she did! And the repercussions are just as resounding. I spent some time reading Goodreads reviews of this book which prove that nineteenth century and twenty-first century fans throw equally big tantrums. 

Thankyou to all the aggressive 'Skyeffrey' shippers who may stumble upon this, for giving me a good laugh and proving that history repeats itself. I have to say that in both cases, I didn't really mind. I was quite happy with Batty for Jeffrey, just as I was with Amy for Laurie. Come on dudes, if Jeffrey himself ends up chill with the idea of Skye marrying Duŝek, why should we not be?

Poor Duŝek is the most unpopular guy in the Penderwick series, hated by fans who find his very inoffensiveness totally offensive. I tend to think these irate readers might have been more pacified if Skye, in the style of Nan Harding from Jo's Boys, decided not to get married at all. Duŝek is booed for even existing.

I guess if you're an author who considers writing a triangle of this nature, you ought to think very carefully, unless getting readers' knickers in a knot is your aim. In which case, this appears to be a very sound formula, so go right ahead.   

'The Other Bennet Sister' by Janice Hadlow

MY THOUGHTS:

The recent Binge series starring Ella Bruccoleri was delightful so I followed it up with a re-read of this hefty novel, which I bought back in 2020 when it was first published. 

It focuses on poor, nerdy, lonely Mary, the middle Bennet girl. Of course Jane Austen, her initial creator, never intended for us to admire this character. In Pride and Prejudice, Mary is depicted as a bluestocking in the worst sense of the word, with no sense of humor. Her scholarly ambitions are poked fun at as pompous and try-hard; the polar opposite of Lydia's and Kitty's giddy frivolity, but equally silly in the eyes of others. 

Yet the popularity of this novel along with the TV series proves how many of us are eager to take Mary to our hearts. Not only does she fail to impress people on any account, despite trying so hard, but she has no close sister companion. Mary Bennet is a representative for those of us who ever felt outshone or eclipsed. She's unsought and invisible unless mocked. 'Plain like a potato, a length of unbleached calico, a flat, white dinner plate.' 

This story follows Mary to London, where she seeks refuge with her uncle and aunt Gardiner to escape Lady Catherine de Bourgh's overbearing plans to set her up as a governess. But in the big city, Mary catches the eyes of two young gentleman. First is Tom Hayward, a hard-working young lawyer with a passion for poetry, and second is William Ryder, a wealthy university drop-out whose luxury loving motto may well be YOLO or 'Seize the day.' 

Being all about Mary, one of the novel's themes is the limitations of trying hard. Since I've worked on all sorts of projects with Mary's white-knuckled determination to excel, I really understand her earnestness. Yet some attributes simply elude effort. For example, Mary simply doesn't sparkle, while Lizzy does it naturally. Then later, the kind-hearted and whimsical Tom describes the sort of mindset necessary for appreciating poetry. Rather than doggedly trying one's best to figure out the poet's intentions, a more helpful approach is to come at it with a simple willingness to be swept up in the grandeur, inviting it to yield its meaning. (This may, in fact, hold true to some extent for all literature and not just poetry.) 

Janice Hadlow is sensitive in extending several secondary characters' stories too. She never contradicts the personalities Austen has given them. I love it when Mary goes to stay with the Collins family, and our sympathy for poor Mr Collins is properly stirred. At the same time, Hadlow leaves us wondering whether Charlotte just shoved poor Mary under the bus. But the wonderful Gardiners of Gracechurch Street step up even more graciously than they do in the original classic. And mean girl, Caroline Bingley, gleams at her catty and malicious best. Once again, she's trying to sink her claws into an extremely eligible bachelor before a Bennet girl gets him. This book is a very cool example of why I love fanfic style works that stick strictly within the parameters of canon. 

I do think the novel could have been condensed quite a bit. For example, the TV series compresses a couple of the ball incidents into a single one, for good reason. But never mind, even though it tends to ramble, at least we're in Austen's Regency era, a very fun time period to get bogged down in.

 Also, of course, is the question that can't be hedged. Is it a stretch to believe that awkward Mary, after merely moving to London and buying a few brighter dresses, suddenly attracts the serious attention of not one but two bright and appealing young gentlemen? It would seem that since they are both literary and cultured fellows, Mary's unconventional depth of reflection appeals strongly to them. I can buy that. 

Overall, Janice Hadlow's aim is probably to help modern Mary counterparts grow more generous toward themselves. Its potential to do just that makes it a book worth reading. As Mr Collins and Aristotle help her to understand, true happiness depends on ourselves. And the most important habit to conquer is the habit of misery itself.  

You might also like to visit my fanfic page.

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The Bottom Line - Some ways in which the TV series embellishes or improves upon the book. These may be spoilerish so proceed with caution. 

1) In the series, Mary accidentally smashes Mr Ryder's prized momento from his father. It's a shattering end to one episode. 

2) In the series, Mary's four sisters are actively snooping around while Mary ponders whether or not to accept Mr Ryder's proposition, (which only later becomes an actual proposal). This adds a nice comical touch, especially when Elizabeth does her utmost to convince Mary that Ryder's first idea is demeaning. 

3) The series starts Tom Hayward off with a fiance, Ann, who never exists in the book. This possibly does add a bit more necessary tension for the screen. 

4) Now, here is an adjustment I really like. In the series, Mary offers some impromptu assistance to Caroline during that stormy day on Scafell Pike, when Caroline falls and badly twists her ankle. Hence, Caroline's letter to Tom shortly after this event humanizes this mean girl, as she decides to return a favor. In the book, this formative accident never happens. Therefore, Caroline's motive for writing to Tom remains essentially selfish, as she wants Will all to herself. Kudos to the series, for excavating a grateful, generous side to Caroline Bingley, be it ever such a fleeting flash in the pan.  

5) As I mentioned above, some handy editing takes place in the series. For example, the ball in which Lizzy is first offended by Darcy is one and the same as the ball in which Mary is forced to offend poor John Sparrow. Yet in the book, they're needlessly stretched out. 

6) Also as mentioned above, Lady Catherine de Bourgh gets way too bossy in the book, insisting on trying to find Mary a position as a governess, until Mary appeals to her uncle and aunt hugely to prevent this happening. The series didn't feel it necessary to add this detail, which I consider a strength of the book. Poor Mary was beginning to feel cornered like a rabbit in a hole, which thoroughly stirred my empathy. 

Taken together, the visual excellence of the series is a great treat after the effort of getting through the thick book. I wouldn't miss it. You can watch the series without reading the book, as many viewers have done, but I recommend not doing it the other way around. If you've read the book alone, it simply must be followed by watching the series.     

 

'The Screwtape Letters' by C. S. Lewis

Summary: A Masterpiece of Satire on Hell’s Latest Novelties and Heaven’s Unanswerable Answer

C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the unique vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.” At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the wordly-wise devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.

MY THOUGHTS:

 This is the first time I've ever read this spiritual classic through from cover to cover, although I've dipped into it here and there over the years. But I decided this year would be the year.

It is an epistolary novel. We all know humans are said to have guardian angels, but it seems we are each assigned personal demons from hell too. Wormwood is a novice tempter whose Uncle Screwtape writes him a series of letters, instructing him in the treatment of his human charge at a pivotal moment. Not only has a serious war just broken out, but the young man has just turned to the enemy's camp and become a Christian, and the two fiends aim to get their own claws stuck back into him. 

Okay, from the very outset, we must get used to topsy-turvy references. God is always referred to as 'the Enemy' while Satan is depicted as 'our father below.' Once we have that straight in our heads, we are treated to a wealth of diabolical wisdom full of snares, traps, and subtle attitudes tweaks that have proved effective against humans for generations. 

Don't let its modest size fool you. It's a really dense little book, full of pithy prose slabs. Some of the letters are worth pondering several times. 'The fact that devils are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you,' Screwtape tells his nephew. Therefore, Lewis didn't make the book overly funny. It is full of witty, pointed satire rather than comedy. 

'Humans are amphibians, half spirit and half animal. The Enemy's determination to produce such a revolting hybrid was one of the things that determined our father to withdraw his support from him.'

And how about, 'You first allowed the patient to read a book he really enjoyed because he enjoyed it and not in order to make clever remarks about it to his friends.' Ooh, is that a call-out to all book bloggers to assess our own motives? 

Throughout the story, the pair of demons aim to set the young man up with dodgy women, but he falls in love with a nice, pure girl from a squeaky clean Christian family. They then realize that they might be able to use this young lady's fixed, somewhat judgmental opinions to infuse the young man with spiritual pride. And so it goes on. I appreciate how Screwtape identifies the young man's mother as a glutton, even though she eats extremely sparingly, for the vice is not a matter of quantity but rather the extent to which our consumer habits grip our passions and priorities. 

My problem is the ending. I got to Letter 31, the culmination of the book, after a long day in hospital where I'd had some day surgery. At home that same night, I thought nothing could lift my spirits better than finishing off one of the bestselling, uplifting classics of the last century. But the ending broke my heart!

It devastates me in the same way the The Last Battle hurts me at the end. And I partly blame myself. I should have seen where Lewis was going with this. I should have! I should have!

As it is, I suspect these same two demons have now been assigned to me. I can clearly imagine Screwtape telling Wormwood, 'Use timing to your advantage. Be sure this woman ends the book during a moment of personal fatigue and vulnerability. Then she'll always remember one of the most sublime and insightful novels of the 20th century with a touch of trauma.' 

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No Platform Jumping Here!

 Over the past year or so, I've noticed a new trend. Bloggers I follow (often with their own custom built WordPress blogs) have been abandoning their domains in droves to begin fresh with Substack, even though their old blogs still appear to be extremely interactive and frequently visited. This suggests they must expect a lot from this new platform. My daughter, who is in her mid-twenties, recommended that I follow their lead. She went so far as to tell me that she only ever reads articles or opinion pieces on Substack. If a post from a Google blog like this one popped up on her search engine, she claims she'd scroll straight past.

That surprised me. 'Even if it's a topic that really interests you?' 

'Yes.' 

Whoa, did you know platform snobbery of this nature is so rampant? It seems to be especially the case with the younger generation. My youngest son tells me he admires humble blogs on vintage platforms, but he might be an outlier.

Anyway, back to these bloggers and their new Substack accounts. Since I enjoy these people's writing, I subscribed to their Substacks, careful to remain on their free settings. As a low income family, if I start paying subscription fees to read people's material that used to be free, the budget will balloon into something unaffordable in a heartbeat. It's not that I don't think thought-provoking writing deserves pay, because I definitely do. I simply can't afford to allocate money which is already spread to its limit to read bloggers' content. And getting selective about whose Substack I'd be prepared to pay for when many people have started putting a price on it isn't a road I want to travel down.  

But I've considered my daughter's suggestion, and do understand some of Substack's appeal. It seems to have a simple start-up process, a nifty way of dropping into followers' in-boxes, and that option to try to earn a bit of money by charging readers to access some articles. I've been told it's also a great forum for writers of all types to rub virtual shoulders. In many ways, jumping off Blogger to begin over there seems like a sound move for possibly gaining more traction and followers.

There's just one thing though. I'm still invested heavily into this blog!

My heart doesn't want to jump ship to some new, trendy platform. During this past decade, people have recommended that I change to WordPress or try writing on Medium. While I was still assessing the Medium idea, that platform seemed to fade from my radar, although I know it is still around being used. (And see here, my justification for leaving Bookstagram which I did try my best at for a while.) But now Substack is surging to the fore.

I've spent every week since 2014 adding to my history here. When I introduce new pages with common themes, it feels a bit like adding new wings to my castle. What's more, my dedicated building has begun to reap benefits by showing up high on search engines. Often when I google some vintage book or other, my reviews pop up near the very top. Over a decade of quiet, regular updating seems to have bestowed on this blog a credibility of its own, which even search engines seem to pick up on in their own impersonal way. My blog has taken years of steady updates to nudge search engines that it is around, filling a valuable spot. I'm loath to turn my back on that by starting over fresh with Substack. 

This is an extremely modest blog, which is undoubtedly evident, but page views remain in triple or quadruple figure averages, which increase over time. (Surely they can't all be bots!!!) I don't often see these readers, for they rarely comment, but I appreciate this secret evidence that they're out there. Some of my blog posts do amazingly well. My ranking of the Bronte sisters' seven books has collected around 20000 views to date. My pages on my Trixie Belden Marathon and the Pollyanna series have also got far higher traffic than I expected.

Hopefully the readers who visit are researching, browsing quietly, saving links, and simply enjoying my takes on books, both vintage and in the current spotlight. The stats seem to promise that they are. 

Hey, I invite you to type 'The Vince Review' into the Google toolbar of your phone and wait for the AI blurb to pop up. It consistently boosts my mood with its accurate (and complimentary) summaries of what I do here. 

In a nutshell, I'm going to doggedly stay put. This blog is not trending or going viral or being talked about, and that will never happen. I know nothing about adding bells and whistles and incentives. But I have reason to believe it is quietly doing its job. It serves as a reading room, a quiet resource library of sorts, where people can pop in, spend some enjoyable minutes or hours, take what they need, and hopefully return. 

This blog is over a dozen years old as I write, which can't be said for too many. I read somewhere that the average lifespan of a blog before they crash and burn is three to four years. So I'll resist the siren call of Substack, or any other shiny new platform, and still be here in the future with reliably free content. And I'll finish with this friendly reminder that you are welcome to subscribe to my feed in the toolbar, and then it will show up in your inbox anyway, even though it is not Substack.       

'The Penderwicks in Spring' by Jeanne Birdsall

Here is the fourth instalment of a five part series about a family of girls which has been likened to modern classics. This follows The Penderwicks, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, and The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

MY THOUGHTS: 

The first three books in this series cover a fairly short time span, but this fourth skips ahead six years, which I welcomed because of the potentially changed dynamics. Batty, now 11 years old, takes center stage. She's the same age as her elder sisters during most of their earlier escapades. So rather than spreading the focus around, it now seems more concentrated on one specific Penderwick.

Still, I find it refreshing to have a shy and sensitive heroine, when feisty, bold young girl protagonists seem so popular with readers and publishers alike. Batty is such a private person that she hates writing book reports for school because a person's opinions are her own business. It's ironic, in a way, that she proves to be endowed with such an up-front talent as singing.

But at the heart of the story is 'The Conversation'! Batty accidentally overhears a devastating revelation Skye makes to Jeffrey. The news sheds a horrifying light on Batty's position within the Penderwick clan, making her consider herself as 'The Girl who Brought Death.' 

Grief is a major theme of this book. At the very start, we learn that beloved old Hound died six months earlier, and Batty still struggles to cope with his loss. One song her music teacher coincidentally chooses for her to practice is 'Not a Day Goes By' with that very motif. Even Lydia, the smallest sister, is aware that her kindergarten teacher had to bury Frank the guinea pig in a box. Perhaps this book should come with a warning for middle-graders who simply expect a bright, comical read. Even the title gives the impression that this is exactly what we'll get, but it's not the case.

Meanwhile, Rosalind has split up with Tommy and currently dates Oliver, a crashing bore with a gorgeous face. Skye, who still doesn't do emotions well, tries her hardest to keep Jeffrey at arm's length now that he extends romantic feelers toward her. Jane keeps her notebook of story ideas, still keen on becoming a published fiction author. I would've liked even more of Jane's bookworm antics now that she's sixteen, although there is one fun incident in which she tries to embellish Batty's dreaded book reports. 

This book starts off fairly slow. We're nudging the halfway point with still nothing more than a young girl walking dogs to save up some money for singing lessons. Sweet as that is, it could've been condensed. The second half is when all the real action starts. In all honestly, these Penderwick books tend to drag in spots. 

But characterization is their saving grace. I love Batty, even though she does a ton of crying. Even Skye has grown on me a bit, in her prickly way. (Surely these two sisters' relationship must always be fraught and awkward from now on. A sensitive soul like Batty will surely never forget how Skye expressed what she said.) 

Skye, as we know, is Jane's opposite, and she is also Batty's, but in an entirely different way. Rosalind still does the eldest sister role in the style of Meg March, and Ben adds a bit of brotherly spice which does the story no harm. Now a free-thinking eight-year-old, he provides dashes of comic relief with his passion for digging up rocks. And we have a brand new baby sister, Lydia, who brings a fairy princess vibe. I have a hunch that Lydia will assume the pivotal role in the fifth and final book. 

But I can't believe there's no lock on the bathroom door, with all those teenage sisters floating around! I agree with Ben, what the heck? 

Look out for my review of the fifth and final instalment, The Penderwicks at Last. 

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'Are you there God, it's me, Margaret' by Judy Blume

I'm always on a quest to revisit retro books from my youth and work my way through books I have on hand on my physical piles. This one ticks both boxes. 

MY THOUGHTS: 

Essentially, Margaret Simon, our 11-year-old protagonist, moves from New York City to New Jersey with her parents. She makes new friends, conscientiously tackles school assignments, grapples with a crush on the boy who mows their lawns, and tries to compare different church services to choose the most outstanding. On the face of it, this doesn't sound like a book which deserves to have been banned many times since its publication in 1970. Yet it has been, even though it's now considered a classic! 

To me this novel is less of a revelation than a recognition. I first read it in the early 1980s when I was the same age as Margaret and her tweenie friends. Back then, my own secret girls' club certainly found our current fixations mirrored in theirs. 

It's a world of trainer bras, which are basically strips of fabric for kids who don't really need them but simply can't wait. My friendship group also had the same unofficial race to start our periods, consequent period envy, and fascination with our changing bodies, not to mention those of the boys in our classes.

 But the book's critics deem it too frank a forage into the mindsets of enquiring adolescent girls. The content has been dubbed, 'inappropriate' by many parents, teachers, and librarians, which sadly suggests these gatekeepers diminish the preoccupations of pre-teen girls as unworthy of attention. 

Sure, I find my own behavior a bit facepalmy in hindsight, but this novel reminds me that the physical aspect of adolescence really seems the substance of magic while we're living it. Our metamorphoses are like spiritual portals into the secret (and sexy) world of adulthood. I think being reminded of our feelings, and having them normalised is probably a healthy thing.

The book has a great cast, including Mr Benedict, their young teacher fresh out of college, poor, well-endowed Laura Danker, who puts up with so much rubbish from her peers, and Philip Leroy, who behaves like a crass clown but gets away with it, because all the girls agree he's so handsome. And Nancy Wheeler, Margaret's best friend, is such a diva, using water-works, exaggeration, truth stretching, tale telling, and gossip like weapons. I do pity her older brother, having to live with her.

The second reason for frequently banning this book is its other main preoccupation, in which Margaret undertakes her personal quest to discover her ideal religious faith, or at least one that gels with her. Her community itself, in that time and place, seems divided between Judaism and Christianity. Throughout this story Margaret attends a Jewish temple with her paternal grandmother, and three different Christian denominations with friends. Yet the fact that she ends up even more confused if not downright disillusioned is assumed by some readers to be Judy Blume's indictment against organized religion. 

Some reviewers object to the idea of an 11-year-old embarking on her own independent examination, without the guidance of any clergy-person, such as a priest, rabbi, or minister. Yet to me it's clear that Margaret, knowing herself to be a clean-slate, instinctively intuits that seeking professional guidance would instantly enmesh her in the webs of institutions she might choose not to continue with. She isn't ready for that yet. It is a jungle out there, for a young person in Margaret's position, and after what happened to her parents, she fears getting burned too. 

From the start, Margaret has always felt slightly bereft to be known as the girl with 'no religion.' Her parents have been seriously hurt in their past in the name of their faith. (My own youthful background has parallels but I won't go there and blow out this review.) Her mother's piously Christian parents disowned their daughter for marrying a boy with Jewish roots. I don't blame Margaret for finding this horrifically over-reactive and dreadfully sad. 

One of her most private habits is talking things over quietly with God, who she assumes is not only interested in her but active in her world, shaping her personal events behind the scenes. Hooray for Margaret, who has successfully managed to place the main thing in its rightful spot without any input from anyone. 

The ending disappoints some readers, when Margaret apparently rejects all of the religious services she attends. But surely the end is not really the end. Margaret is still only twelve years old. Although this novel finishes, her search for faith presumably doesn't. And for the record, I believe encouraging people as young as eleven to research and think for themselves rather than blindly following any type of herd is a great move. 

I can't help thinking that if Judy Blume had written this story in such a way that Margaret did feel drawn to any of the denominations she attends, she couldn't have possibly pulled it off without appearing agenda driven, and then she would have been accused of outright propaganda. 

It's simply an extremely hot topic she's chosen as a main theme. 

Overall, it is amazing to think that, having been first published in 1970, this book is over half a century old. Its content still seems so fresh and evergreen, with a few exceptions. (Class visits to the library to consult encyclopedias for school projects. Margaret's father's Playboy subscription, which his wife and daughter never turn a hair at. I don't remember noticing this dodgy detail when I first read it as a twelve-year-old. I also discovered more recent editions, including mine, have been subtly updated. Sanitary belts in the original have been changed to adhesive pads, which are all I've ever known, and I sincerely hope I'm not far from menopause.) 

Bottom line: for such a slim, simple, enjoyable, and fun little story, the content has certainly pushed lots of people's buttons over the years. Human nature is a funny can of worms. Prod and poke it with care. 

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