"Fever" by Mary Beth Keane

"There is nothing new under the sun."

A good look at history will tell you that. The recent Ebola outbreak led to soaring sales of The Hot Zone, quarantines established - and fought - throughout America, and a widespread media-induced panic. Since I'd already read The Hot Zone I turned to another medical story, a novel called Fever which traced the path of Mary Mallon, the infamous "Typhoid Mary" of turn-of-the-century America.

Rewind about 110 years and a similar - though I'd argue far more frightening - disease was overtaking cities, creeping into the homes of the rich and poor, and often taking its victims among the youngest members of society. Typhoid was not so contagious that it required hazmat suits and disinfection chambers, but rather, good hand-washing and basic hygiene was all that was required to prevent the spread of this deadly illness.

It says a lot about America as the time that the disease spread so rapidly. We were not a clean society. At the turn of the century cities had grown at breakneck speed in the headlong rush of laissez-faire capitalism. Urban sanitation systems simply could not keep up with the exponential rise in population. Additionally, Americans, historically a rural agricultural people, lacked experience in effective city planning and management. Early 20th century America looked quite a bit like cities in the developing world today where typhoid and a host of other preventable diseases still threaten the world's poorest populations.

Into this context came Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant who made her way to America on a 19th century famine ship. Through her own stubbornness, hard work and persistence she became a renowned cook in the homes of New York City's elite. Yet, she brought disease along with her delicacies. Mary was an asymptomatic carrier of Typhoid. She infected a confirmed total of 53 people over the course of her career, and was dubbed "Typhoid Mary" in the papers. She fought the NYC Health Department at every turn. After Mary was forcibly quarantined for three years, she was released after signing an agreement to never cook for hire again. However, she worked her way back into the profession, first in a bakery and then in a hospital kitchen, working under the pseudonym Mary Brown. When an outbreak of Typhoid wracked the hospital Mary was once again caught and sent to live out the rest of her life in quarantine.

Mary Beth Keane's book Fever humanized Mary Mallon's story. Perhaps Mary Mallon should be vilified for going back to work as a cook (in a hospital kitchen no less!) but throughout the story, the author gave us a glimpse through Mary's eyes. She simply could not understand how she could be a carrier of such a deadly disease. In this era, medical knowledge of bacteria was still very new. Most ordinary citizens did not understand how bacteria was carried from the bathroom to the kitchen. It's hard to imagine this today, in our society of obsessive attachment to antibacterial soaps, disinfecting cleaners, and hand-sanitizers marketed in every size, shape, and scent. All Mary knew was that she'd never been sick a day in her life. She had trouble believing the doctors' claims that she was carrying invisible microbes of death. Additionally, this was well before the era of worker's compensation, minimum wage, or effective unions. When Mary was told she could no longer cook she was relegated to one of the lowest-paying jobs in the city - working as a laundress seven days a week. Mary felt compelled, out of necessity and out of pride, to once again seek work in her chosen field. She could not accept the evidence that was presented to her, that she was a sick woman actively infecting others with her cooking.

Mary's delusions did not end there. The author introduced an ill-fated love story between Mary and a shiftless alcoholic named Albert. Ironically, I think I had less patience for Mary in her romantic life than in her lethal professional life. One can understand why she ached to return to cooking, but I could not fathom why such a strong and independent woman kept trying so hard to have a relationship with such an undeserving creature - especially when another, far better, prospect presented himself! I have not been able to confirm rather the relationship was real or made up for dramatic effect, but it served to further emphasize Mary's persistent personality. She would not give up on her career, just as she would not give up on Albert. She should have given up on both. In the end, Mary's stubbornness was endearing, but was also her greatest flaw - at fatal flaw that did not kill her, but ended the lives of many others.

"Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

Set in Minnesota and Maine in the 1930s and 2011, respectively, Orphan Train weaves together the stories of two orphans, living in the same town, two generations apart. When Molly, a seventeen year old foster kid, steals a book from the local library she finds herself doing community service in an elderly woman's attic. Day after day Molly, and the 90-year-old Vivian sift through boxes of Vivian's things, purportedly to clean them out. In reality, the attic holds a Pandora's box of memories, memories that are not thrown out or donated, but neatly folded, boxed, and labeled while stories are told.

Vivian tells Molly of her journey from Ireland to New York City, her life in the tenements and the tragic night when she became an orphan. She was packed on an orphan train bound for Minnesota. In Minnesota she is at first taken in by a couple who forces her to work as a seamstress in the family business and sleep on a cot in the closet. When the Depression sinks their business, Vivian, then called Dorothy, becomes a "mother's helper," little more than a slave of the Grotes who are a poor and shiftless family living outside of town with too many kids. Her only solace is school and her teacher Miss Larsen. Miss Larsen ultimately saves her from an abusive situation and finds her a kind and upstanding family to take her in. Her name is changed to Vivian and she is gainfully employed at the couple's general store. She gradually builds the business into a thriving enterprise.

As Vivian tells her stories of loss, heartbreak, and ultimately, second-chances, she is at the same time offering a second-chance to Molly. Molly in turn, uses the internet to help Vivian track down and reconnect with long-lost family. In the process this unlikely friendship between a 90 year old woman and a teenager sporting the Goth look becomes a serendipitous chance at redemption for the both of them.

What I enjoyed about this book was its wholesome, neatly packaged conclusion. Every once in awhile you need a book like that to remind you that there is good in the world, that the quest for unconditional love and "family" can be found - even when that family is unconventional or unrelated. There is nothing quite so hopeful as the story of an unloved waif, taken from the streets to a warm and clean home where goodness and compassion gradually build into love.

"The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win WWII" by Denise Kiernan

After recently reading Full Body Burden, the story of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, I felt compelled to go back and review Girls of Atomic City, a book that I finished a few months ago, just before life got busy again with school.  However, Denise Kiernan's book has stuck with me, and thus gained the right to a place in my blog.

I first heard about the book when the author was interviewed on The Daily Show. I immediately put it on my reading list because I correctly sensed that it contained several topics I love: American history, WWII, women's rights - oh, and atomic bombs - because that's always fun (just kidding NSA...I know you're reading this). The book is about the women who went to work at the Clinton Engineer Works (CEW) in Tennessee, better known today as Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The author follows  the stories of several women employees, most of whom were young and single since married women were still expected to remain at home. The plant acquired large amounts of uranium and was responsible separating out the unstable isotopes of uranium 235. This fissile uranium was then sent on to New Mexico's Los Alamos facility where Oppenheimer and others became the "destroyer[s] of worlds." Secrecy at CEW was paramount. The community surrounding CEW had no real idea what was going on there. Inside, you found a weird microcosm. Families with children lived in prefabricated housing, single women lived in dormitories (where their activities were closely monitored to prevent any scandalous carousing), and African-Americans, still segregated, lived in substandard "hutments." There were schools, community centers, cafeterias, stores, and of course giant buildings housing the uranium-separation facilities. After work, people gathered for sporting events, barbecues, dancing, and all the other normal activities of 1940s life. But no one was allowed to talk about work. Under no conditions could you say anything about where you worked within the compound, what you did, or who you worked with. Wives could not ask their husbands how their days went, and the children never knew exactly what their father did to earn a living. The authorities even recruited some of the workers to moonlight as spies and report anyone who talked about work in their off-hours.

The weirdest part of this microcosm was that most of the people actually staffing the facility did not know exactly what they were doing or what they were working with. There were theories, to be sure. Some of the higher-ups obviously had a more accurate knowledge of what was going on, but few people knew that they were all part of a massive plan to create a technology that could destroy the earth. The women profiled in the book served in a variety of roles. Some worked as secretaries, others as chemists, others monitored the machines controlling the enrichment process, and African-Americans were relegated to the janitorial tasks. Not many people knew that they were working with or near a dangerous element. Those tasked with monitoring the machines had no idea what these machines were creating. They were told to just turn the dials and keep needles and gauges within a certain range. Additionally, nothing in the Manhattan Project was called by its real name; even the bomb itself was referred to as "the gadget." You didn't ask questions. You just did what you were told.

Somehow it all worked. Before reading this book I had no idea how many people were actually involved in the project. The number of workers at Oak Ridge alone peaked at around 82,000. Had Clinton Engineer Works not taken such careful precautions to keep its workers in the dark while using propaganda and fear to ensure that lips remained sealed, the Manhattan Project could have easily fallen into the lap of the enemy. (We found out later that the Soviets had infiltrated the project in Los Alamos, but fortunately they were on our side until 1945.)

In contrast to the Rocky Flats book, Atomic City did not address any of the potential environmental and health hazards of uranium enrichment. After reading about Rocky Flats I began to wonder how the workers at Oak Ridge fared and whether there were any noticeable environmental impacts in the area. While Rocky Flat tended to verge more on the anti-government side, this book really emphasized the  patriotism of the workers who joined the ranks to win the war.  Once the bombs were dropped and the war came to an end, the secret project was revealed. Most the women were overjoyed and proud of their part in the war effort. Many were just as happy to be off the farm and on to a new life.

Now whether or not you agree with how the United States chose to end the war, you have to admit that WWII permanently expanded opportunities for women in America. Many of the girls coming in off the farms and mining towns were carving out a new kind of future for themselves - one that had never been attempted by their mothers and grandmothers. The "Rosie the Riveters" of this war moved women's rights forward. Of course, it would continue on a slow trajectory. The 1950s would pose a setback as women returned to the realm of babymaking and fine china, but their daughters would go to college right along with their sons.Those WWII women had a taste of freedom, a taste of a life outside the confines of domesticity and they wanted their daughters to have that same opportunity. They opened up the eyes of a nation. Women could and would achieve more than tradition had dictated. They could not be held back.

(And to the NSA agent who is reading this post because of all the trigger words herein - be assured, I have not taken chemistry or physics since high school, and I remember very little of it. I can't even work my husband's Playstation, let alone build something destructive.  I'm a history nerd, and a bit of a feminist, but still, completely harmless. However, thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.)

Transatlantic by Colum McCann

This is the first work I've read by Colum McCann, and I'm sure now that it will not be the last. In Transatlantic, he artfully weaves together several stories of Irish and Americans on both sides of the Atlantic. At first it is odd how he takes the reader back and forth through the decades with no real semblance of order. But soon the puzzle comes together as the second half of the book unfolds. The various characters are connected through time and through a mutual love and reverence for the land of Ireland.

The book begins with the historic transatlantic flight of WWI veterans, Alcock and Brown. Their endeavor to fly from Newfoundland to County Galway sets the stage for the subsequent journeys throughout the book. We meet an American diplomat in Ireland working hard to broker a peace deal between the North and the South - all the while promising his wife and son that he'll be home by Easter. His efforts lead to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, an historic step forward in relations between the North and the South. We meet a mother and daughter journalism team, a poor servant girl named Lily Duggan, and Frederick Douglass himself. Douglass's story intrigued me the most. I am ashamed to admit that I did not know Douglass traveled to Ireland during the Great Potato Famine. He was struck by the enduring dilemma that all great reformers must face - a sincere desire for justice coupled with an utter inability to solve all the world's problems. The abolitionist could not at the same time work to free his own people and free the Irish from their starvation and economic bondage to England. We know from the history books that the famine would bring many Irish to American shores where they would desperately seek jobs in the Northeastern factories, crowd into tenement slums, and eek out meager existences amidst a xenophobic American population.

Lily Duggan, an Irish servant girl was one such immigrant, hoping for a new life in America. Inspired by Douglass, who stayed in the home of her employer, she courageously set out for the new world, alone. After many years she would find the American Dream, if only for a fleeting moment in her life. While enduring her share of adversity and misfortune, Lily laid the foundation for future generations of strong women. These descendants eventually found themselves back in Ireland, making the country their home during the decades infamously called "The Troubles." The violence between the Catholics and Protestants hit close to home for many Irish families, and McCann does not skirt around this issue either. There is no political agenda, just a reminder of how sectarian violence instantaneously and often arbitrarily leaves families mourning in the wake of tragedy.

The stories woven together through time remind us to cherish the histories in all of our families. Our lives often take us beyond the borders of our homelands, but the lessons passed down from our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents will always travel with along. I too am grateful for my own family legacy - for hardworking men and women who, nearly two centuries ago, carved out a livelihood despite the brutal Western New York winters. I'm so thankful that I grew up in a family that placed a high value on education, hard-work, and personal responsibility. And I am blessed to be following in the footsteps of forefathers and foremothers who've left a heritage of strong, unwavering faith in God.

Lastly, for all you fellow lovers of the Emerald Isle, it is important to understand that Transatlantic does not portray a quaint and touristy Ireland. The book honestly depicts the joys and sorrows facing Irish, Americans, and the immigrants to both continents. But Colum McCann does this beautifully. He is a true artist, whose ability to put words together on paper draws me in and kindles my own writing ambitions.

"Full Body Burden" by Kristen Iversen

Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Shadow of Rocky Flats is a riveting blend of history and science, memoir and investigative journalism, personal awakening and academic research. It's hard to imagine such an amalgam of styles - but it works. Kristen Iversen's memoir begins in her childhood during the Cold War. It is an era where America was obsessed with "keeping up appearances," keeping secrets hidden, keeping problems buried under the surface. That is the theme in Iversen's life.

Her family lived in a country neighborhood where they owned horses, dogs, and various other creatures. Her mother stayed home, her father owned his own law practice. Down the road was a factory that purportedly produced cleaning products.

But that was only the surface. Underneath is a much more harrowing story. Kristen's dad was an alcoholic, their finances were in disarray, and her mother struggled with bouts of depression. And the plant? It made bombs. Nuclear bombs.

To be specific, the plant down the road made plutonium pits, the core of a nuclear bomb. The area residents had no idea that two fires - one in 1957 and one in 1969 - released significant amounts of plutonium into the air. The second fire nearly led to a major nuclear accident; but for a small stroke of luck Denver would have experienced a nuclear disaster on the scale of Chernobyl. The newspaper story was buried deep on page 23.

Residents also did not realize that the local water sources were contaminated with plutonium run-off. Radioactive waste stored in rusty and leaking barrels at the back of the plant ran into the creek which fed the nearby lake where neighborhood children swam. The plant's incinerator also illegally burned plutonium waste while families inhaled it downwind. Plutonium got lodged in their lungs and local children began dying of cancer.

Yet none of this was made public. Employees were required to maintain confidentiality - in the interest of national security of course! Whistleblowers lost their jobs and environmental protesters were jailed. Finally, in 1990 the government listened. The FBI raided the plant and uncovered a litany of incriminating evidence documenting years of mismanagement and 3000 pounds of "missing" plutonium - plutonium that can be found in the sediment, soil, and animals surrounding Rocky Flats. In 1992 a Grand Jury indicted the contractor with criminal charges. However, they got off easy with a plea bargain. A few years later residents of the area tried to collect damages in a class-action lawsuit. Research had shown that one-millionth of a gram of plutonium can put a person at high risk for cancer, and medical doctors ran studies in which they found significant levels of plutonium in the bodies of those who lived near Rocky Flats. However, the claimants lost in an appeal. They appeals court said they could not prove a direct connection between the nearby nuclear weapons plant and the residents' deteriorating health.

Today Rocky Flats is a wildlife refuge. The Forest and Wildlife Service's website says nothing about plutonium's 24,000 year half-life (meaning that it'll be 240,000 years before the plutonium manufactured in the 1940s is gone.) The website does say that they monitor the soil and a water to promote optimal growth for plant life and managements of the animal populations. However the controversially haphazard cleanup of the 1990s failed to remove much of the  plutonium that escaped from the plant in its 30+ years of operation. Today, a burrowing animal can kick it up into the air, a deer walking into a pond or creek can bring plutonium-laced sediment to the surface, and any wildlife that comes into contact with plutonium particles can carry them afar. As a result hikers, bikers, and schoolchildren get to bring home a little souvenir from the Cold War (to be fair, the DOE claims it's not enough to pose a significant health risk).

Iversen's book comes with extensive footnotes that include court documents, interviews, scientific studies, medical reports, and news releases. However, just to make sure that I wasn't embarking down the road of anti-government conspiracy theory, I did my own research externally. A brief round of fact-checking confirmed much of what I'd read, though there are disputes as to how much plutonium can cause a significant health risk. Regardless, I found no significant rebuttals to Iversen's research, only numerous awards and accolades associated Full Body Burden. 

So, if you don't really think this book is up your alley, that's fine. However, if you are ever in the Denver area stay on the safe side and avoid the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge!


To hear an NPR interview with Kristen Iversen, click here

Ireland by Frank Delaney

My husband and I plan on traveling to Ireland next summer, so I have begun my preparatory literary tour. This book was the first to come up in the library catalog when I typed "Ireland," and thus it become the first of several books about Ireland that I plan to read before leaving on our trip.

Frank Delaney's Ireland fuses history with legend, present with past, and old age with the inquisitiveness of youth. It is a book about heritage - the heritage of an entire people and a single family. It is the story of a young boy named Ronan whose life is radically altered by one of the last itinerant storytellers to traverse the hills and valleys of Ireland. The story begins in the 1950s when an elderly storyteller happens upon Ronan's house and asks for lodging in exchange for stories. The storyteller stays with Ronan's family for several nights and captivates the town with his telling of Irish folklore. When the storyteller abruptly leaves, giving no address and no other contact information, Ronan is devastated. Yet the storyteller knows that this young boy, so enraptured by the tales of Ireland, will grow up to be a storyteller in his own right. Throughout Ronan's teenage and young adult years he seeks to find the storyteller. Though the storyteller leave clues for Ronan along the way, the old man's whereabouts remain cloaked in mystery. Yet throughout these years of searching, Ronan travels the Irish countryside and learns the history of his land. Sometimes he hears the storyteller's own tales, recounted secondhand by a farmer or tavern-keeper, sometimes he learns the history from other voices, like those of his scholarly professor. All the while Ronan is not only piecing together the history of his beloved country, but he is also gaining insights into his own rich and scandalous heritage. And yet, Ronan's quest for the storyteller is ever haunted by the fear that he will never reach him, that the old man will die before Ronan can learn the trade. Why, you might ask, does the storyteller remain so elusive? Well, to find that answer you'll just have to read the book!

Delaney alternates between Ronan's story and the tales of Ireland's history. The history told here is a mixture of folklore, personal stories, and memory. To me, this is the only way to tell Ireland's history. Ireland is such a rich and mythical place that legends and fairy tales must form an integral part of its past. For centuries before the Irish were literate, their history was passed down through storytellers who brought the past alive through their captivating and sometimes fantastical tales. Thus, we the readers, must throw textbook history aside and embark on this journey with imagination in tow.  The storyteller provides us with some facts, some myth, and many riveting stories of the people whose ordinary lives have integrally shaped their homeland. He transports us back to the Neolithic era, when tribal peoples roamed the green island amidst fairies, spirits and other mythical creatures of old. He will take us through the age of Viking invasions and the coming of St. Patrick, then up to the Norman invasions and the Great Potato Famine. The Normans, who came to Ireland via Britain initiated the slow seizure of Irish political independence. However, the Irish spirit remained alive and free, fueled by the stories of their forefathers. Their gallant fight against Britain brings the Southern counties out from under her thumb in the early 20th century, leaving the Northern counties seething even to this day. By the end of the book we have met kings and queens, warriors and monks, landlords and peasants. Thus, it not a top down history or even a bottom-up history. It is a collection of stories - stories that encapsulate all the allure that Ireland has to offer.

This is not a textbook, and by no means should it be considered a full account of Ireland's history. Yet, legends and stories allow us to really understand the character of the Irish people. They are not all descendants of the early tribal natives, but rather a fiery mix of native Irish, redheaded Vikings, and Normans. They've fought famine, and they've fought Britain. Both were strong foes, capable of winning many battles, but never capable of eradicating the Irish spirit. Delaney's book, in many ways, is the history of the oppressed, for Ireland is a land always dominated by stronger civilizations. While most of history is written by the victors, the stories of the Irish themselves are stories written and told by the conquered, passed down through the years and now told to their children, who still see their land divided, their religions at odds, and the turbulent forces of division ever-looming.

For one who is used to reading rather dry history texts full of facts and dates, this was an exciting journey for both the intellectual and imaginative facets of my mind. I felt that Delaney's book a beautifully written, fascinating start to my literary tour!

Book Review: Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody

Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi was a hard book for me to wrap my mind around. Not because it wasn't a good read, but because I still cannot seem to get how, only 50 years ago, white society could have supported - vehemently supported - the de jure segregation and blatant racism that was rampant throughout the South. I certainly know the causes of racism in terms of the sociological and economic forces as play, but I just do not get it. There is nothing in me that says: "Yeah, I think he or she is misguided, but I can certainly see the rational reasoning for thinking African-Americans are inferior." Nope. Don't get it.

I get classism. I get elitism. I just don't understand arbitrary racism. I understand why people railed against Rachel Jeantel when she testified at Zimmerman's trial. I even kind of understand why George Zimmerman might have racially profiled (if in fact that's what he did) a teenage African-American kid lurking about in the rain. There was crime in the neighborhood and statistics show more African-Americans are in gangs and found guilty of violent crime. While I would not have quickly jumped to the conclusion that Trayvon was up to no good, I can see why someone might have that reaction. There is some logical reasoning there and even some facts to back it up.  But I don't understand the mentality that says African-Americans have to use the back door, or they can't sit in a restaurant, or we're going to kill them for registering to vote. It's completely irrational.

After reading Anne Moody's account of growing up in poverty in rural Mississippi, working for whites and eventually leaving her dysfunctional family to attend college and join the Civil Rights Movement, I was stunned not only at the complete irrationality of southern whites, but also by how far we've come in such a short time. I mean, my PARENTS were born during this era. They are old, but not THAT old. When I read about Anne getting ketchup dumped on her for sitting at a "White's Only" lunch counter and compare her struggles to the racial battles we're fighting today, I think we've come a long way. However, the media's agenda was not crafted with that sense of historical perspective in mind. While I was reading this book, I found it ridiculous to turn on the T.V. and see all kinds of African-American pundits arguing that America is still racist or that the legal system is still racist, etc. African-Americans voted in a black president (because they aren't subjected to ridiculous literacy tests or KKK violence) and they are allowed on juries. (Most likely the reason they were not on the Zimmerman jury is because they knew too much about the case beforehand, thanks to media hype) Of course, there are still some individuals who are racist, but society as a whole, including the media, the government, and the justice system is NOT rallying behind those skinhead quacks. They are the outliers now. White supremacists used to be the rule, you couldn't get into office in the South if you weren't racist. Now, any remark that could be even remotely racially charged constitutes political or economic suicide. (think: Paula Deen) Racist whites were ruling the media in the 1960s. Now CNN (based in Atlanta, a former hotbed of white supremacy) and many other major news outlets are actively supporting and rallying for racial, gender, and sexual equality. I'm not complaining. The end of racism and sexism is a very good thing, but I think as a society we need to celebrate these strides rather than make mountains out of molehills. I often feel that the media, aided by publicity-starved feminists and civil rights activists are trying to advance an agenda that that racism and sexism are widespread in this country. Now, I'll rant particularly against the feminists (because I'm a woman and I can do that.) I don't believe my society as a whole is sexist. I believe there are sexist people (i.e. Daniel Tosh ) and people have their sexist and demeaning moments (i.e. when they watch Tosh.0 or look at pornography), but overall, women aren't held back from doing what they want to do just because they are women. I believe that women make less than men because they get to a point where family becomes important and they CHOOSE to not accept certain promotions. I believe they do have natural God-given instincts toward mothering and that causes them to pursue a different path from many men. If you want to see REAL sexism read my post on the Bin Laden book - or just go to Saudia Arabia. If there is some racism and sexism still lurking about in society, I think it's of the more rational sort. We may link African-Americans with higher rates of crime (which is at least statistically proven) or guys may think of women as sex objects because they appear scantily clad on the covers of magazines. In short, racism and sexism are still subtly here, but they are present because some members of those communities won't change their negative behaviors. That's a whole different animal than the racism (and sexism) that was present in the early to mid 20th century.

So, if you want to see racism, I'll show you racism. Or rather I'll give you Coming Of Age in Mississippi. Yet, be prepared - it's an honest picture of whites and blacks. Anne Moody doesn't mince words in talking about members of her own community that are "Uncle Toms," or sell outs. Furthermore, she decries her own family and other poor, rural African-Americans who choose to bury their heads in the sand and accept the status quo rather than be a part of change. However, I can understand that. A lot of African-Americans never cared about registering to vote, never spoke up for their rights, and even decried those who did. Why? Because they had to feed their families. If speaking out meant you lost your position as a servant or field hand, then how are your kids going to eat? If registering to vote meant the KKK was going to come burn your house down and lynch you in front of your children, would you register to vote? You can understand then why the Civil Rights Movement depended so heavily on the contributions of young people. College students had less to lose. And yet, as Anne pointed out, many of them did risk their lives and put their families in danger. The KKK came after members of The Movement and their families. As Anne was actively campaigning to get African-Americans registered to vote, her mother and siblings were living in fear that the Klan would burn their house down and kill them.

Which leaves me wondering...would young people today be that brave? Perhaps they would if there was something compelling enough for them to fight for. But even the Zimmerman protests a few weeks ago died out rather quickly because, let's face it, it's not a huge problem - at least not compared to what it was in the 1950s and 1960s. History helps us put things into perspective. I just wish more journalists and pundits had a sense of historical perspective.

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

I just finished a rather harrowing journey back in time to the Belgian Congo via Adam Hochschild's book King Leopold's Ghost. In this non-fiction work Hochschild pummels the reader with a barrage of information from government records, personal accounts, and news articles that leave your head spinning and your mind envisioning severed hands, starvation and disease, and whips made of hippopotamus hide juxtaposed next to overwhelming opulence. King Leopold, the Belgian king who, along with his young country, was late into the Scramble for Africa, ended up with  the interior - or the Congo River basin. But he made the best of it. Proclaiming himself to be a grand humanitarian, ridding Africa of those evil Arab slave traders, he put the native to work, first in bringing ivory and then in wild rubber harvesting. Of course, Leopold never went there directly. He obsessed about the Congo from home and had officials go there to explore and set up camp and force the "lazy natives" to bring in their quotas. In the meantime, the profits from their labor went into building and expanding Leopold's grandiose residences and lavishly providing for his very young mistress.

Leopold was quite the con-man, a talented manipulator. When negative press exposed his violent control of the Congo, he was able to weasel and bribe his way out.  Though this is first and foremost a work of historical non-fiction,  Hochschild's vivid characterization of King Leopold gives it a bit of the flair of a novel. You also meet several other notable figures. For example the explorer H.M. Stanley, African-American missionary William Sheppard, and the reformers who seek to expose Leopold: Roger Casement and journalist E.D. Morel. The author holds these latter two in high esteem as the first human rights reformers of the 20th century. They laid the groundwork for Amnesty International and a host of other organizations that seek to expose and correct human rights abuses.

I'm very glad I read the Afterword, because the author makes some excellent points by providing some insightful historical perspective. First, the Congo was by no means unique.  Hochschild references the German genocide of the Harero people in Namibia, and the Portuguese abuses of forced laborers harvest cocoa beans (whose chocolate was purchased by Congo reformer and Quaker, William Cadbury.) However,  the story of colonialism in the Congo provides enough fodder for a 306 page book, so he doesn't go into great detail about the other European colonies. Secondly, I like his point that Africa's problems today should not be fully blamed on European colonialism. Yes, that did have a share, and a very significant one. However, as Hochschild points out, other countries like South Korea and Ireland have come out from under colonialism to "build reasonably just, prosperous, and democratic societies." (pg 318) So what's the difference? What makes Africa so ill-suited to this end? Well, first, according to Hochschild, Africa's long history of chauvinism. Subjugating women generally has negative effects on society as a whole. By keeping women down, he argues, governments keep themselves down. I couldn't agree more. True, some societies are prosperous and chauvinistic (i.e. Saudia Arabia) but they are unique examples, often attaining their wealth by cornering a certain market (a.k.a OIL) and in the end, they are not really very nice societies to live in (unless you're really into high-end shopping, and not so much into human rights). Another reason for Africa's developmental crisis is the legacy of slavery. It's not just European slavery we're talking about here. Africans enslaved each other well before we started enslaving them. While the West was swept with abolitionism in the 19th century, Africa never had an abolitionist movement. Now that sounds a little paradoxical. Why would AFRICA need an abolition movement? I would argue that they do. The abolitionists fought for human rights, for the value of human life. It said that ALL people, regardless of race, class or national origin should be treated equal. Most of us Westerners have bought in to this ideal (although I'd argue we're secretly all a little racist in our own way - but that's a discussion for another time). Africans, for the most part have never had a movement that says "Hey! People have inherent value and rights and you should stop treating them like CRAP!" So, there you have it -  child soldiers, blood diamonds, gang-rapes, tribal violence - all legacies of a mentality that says some people are just inferior. True, Europeans certainly made it worse, but I am going to go out on a politically incorrect limb nonetheless and suggest that Africa needs to take some responsibility for its troubles.

Book Thoughts: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Here's a book that will make every woman thankful she was not born in 19th century China! Snow Flower and the Secret Fan chronicles the life of two Chinese girls who are paired as laotong - a form of friendship that is meant to be closer than a husband-wife relationship. In a society where women are valued merely for their ability to produce sons, this kind of relationship is important.

In this book Lisa See grants us a peek into what it must have been like for women living in the isolated "inner sphere" of the home. For Chinese women the female world is both a source of great comfort and great strife.  The main character, Lily, finds comfort in her laotong, a wealthy girl named Snow Flower. Yet throughout her life Lily is forced to live up to women's expectations. First, she must satisfy her mother who wants her to marry up, thus securing her future. Second, she must please her mother-in-law, the very proper Lady Lu.  Most importantly however, Lily must live up to her husband's expectation that she will produce sons. If a Chinese woman cannot bear sons she is relegated to a low status among the women of her household. She is often treated cruelly by her mother-in-law, looked down upon by other women in the household, and forced to accept her husband's concubines.

In a society where women are beat down and forced to submit not only to the men, but just as often to other women, they find one method of release for their thoughts an emotions - the written code of nu shu. Nu shu is considered "women's writing" because it is in a slightly more feminine script than man's writing. Nu shu uses less characters and depends heavily on context. For many Chinese women this type of writing was a valued skill and an art form that the most prestigious young wives worked to master. As Lily becomes more adept in this script she finds freedom. Unfortunately, along with the freedom of literacy, comes the greatest mistake of her life, a mistake that leads to the undoing of her closest friendship.

While I have a decent amount of textbook knowledge on the subject, See's novel helped me to really understand two realities of life for Chinese women. First, women had no choice whatsoever. Their friends and their husbands were chosen for them. Lily and Snow Flower were matched by a local matchmaker. Their pairing was, in the eyes of Lily's mother, a tactical move to advance Lily into a good marriage. Later, Lily was paired in marriage with a wealthy man from a nearby town. Like so many women before her she was forced to marry a stranger and live with his family. Second, women were bound by duty. In the filial constructs of Chinese society, performing tasks out of duty is more important than love. It is a mother's duty to bear sons. If she is unfortunate enough to have daughters it is her duty to prepare them for marriage by binding (i.e. mutilating) their feet. Likewise, a woman is forced to serve her husband  and his family out of duty.

As a 21st century female, I found this society extremely hard to comprehend. While I know about filial piety and the low status of women in Chinese culture, it was a rather disturbing glimpse into what it felt like to be a woman. The early part of the book describes the torturous practice of footbinding. Footbinding does not, as many people believe, result simply in a miniature foot. Footbinding is a process by which four toes are bent to meet the heel, leaving the big toe to walk on. Footbinding leaves women with a 3 inch foot, making them severely limited in their movement. Many girls die in the process. The bones break, the feet bleed and are subject to infection and gangrene. And yet, when the painful two-year process is over and they are leave with this 3 inch triangle of deformed flesh it is somehow considered attractive. I have a hard time with that.

This book also addresses what it is to love in this society. Though Lily and Snow Flower were matched to become laotong their love for one another was unconditional. Even during the turbulent periods of their relationship, Lily realizes how much she genuinely cares for Snow Flower. However, the other relationships were purely conditional. Lily loved her mother until she found out that her mother had been scheming behind her back. After Lily comes home from a grueling experience fleeing the Taiping rebellion we see a form of love between her and her husband. Yet, this love is based upon the fact that she is a proper woman who has born sons. I'm still left wondering - did husband-wife relations ever go any deeper? How sad it must be to live in a society where inability to bear sons meant a woman was of low character, where her value was tied to how she conformed to the standards and the amount of love she received was totally dependent on forces outside her control.

Perhaps trying to earn love is part of the natural human condition. I would venture to guess that in most of our relationships there is a level of filial piety. At work, school, church, even among friends we often have to perform a certain way and complete certain tasks to win approval and even affection from others. Yet hopefully most of us have more than one "Snow Flower" in our lives. Hopefully when we come home or talk to our best friends we find a place where duty is eclipsed by love.

Book Thoughts: The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen

This summer I am enrolled in a course for American History teachers focusing on the use of primary documents in the classroom. As part of our course reading, we were required to read the historical fiction book entitled The Secrets of Mary Bowser. While this book is fiction, it is based on the life of an African-American woman who worked as a spy for the Union. It was a truly fascinated read and it taught me a lot about the Civil War and the years leading up to the conflict.

The book starts off with Mary as a child. She and her mother are owned my the Van Lews, a merchant family in Richmond that originally hailed from the North. Because Mary's mother, Minerva, used to be a slave in the North she was literate and passed this on to Mary. When the Van Lew's Northern-educated daughter, Bet, comes back from Philadelphia spouting grand ideas of abolitionism, she is pretty much ignored until the day she acquires the resources to buy her mother's slaves and offer them freedom. Unfortunately, freedom does not mean much for Mary's mother. Minerva is married to Lewis, a blacksmith enslaved to another Richmond gentlemen. Since freed slaves are not allowed to stay in the state of Virginia at the time, Minerva must make a choice about whether to stay with her husband or go North with her daughter. She chooses to stay. Bet pays for Mary to attend school in Philadelphia were she meets free blacks of all classes and becomes involved in the Female Anti-slavery Society there.

As Mary grows up she realizes that she wants to be more intricately involved in abolition, especially as the country moves closer to war. She also wants to be near her family. She moves South, marries, and work to support the North and the causes of freedom. Through a series of opportune circumstances Mary becomes a "slave" in Jefferson Davis's household. Really, Mary is a spy. She plays into the Davis's stereotypes of a dumb, illiterate slave, all the while ferreting messages out to help the North win the war.

Below I've included a few thoughts in response to some of the discussion questions we were asked to answer for class:

1.       Pick an episode or a detail that you found surprising in the book. Why did this particular facet strike you as unusual?

When Mary is freed by Bet Van Lew she is sent to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love to attend school. Philadelphia was originally settled by Quakers and in the mid-1800s it remained a major haven for that sect of Christianity. I had always believed that Quakers were rare among Americans for their tolerance and charity toward others races. However, I learned that not all Quakers subscribe to full equality for the African-Americans who attend their churches. When Mary visits the Arch Street Meetinghouse she is directed to a bench in the back reserved for the black attendees. Later, when Mary questions here Quaker friend Zinnie about this practice, Zinnie emphatically declares that not all Quaker meetinghouses are so segregationist. Zinnie is a Hicksite Quaker. Their principles are more consistent with the tolerance and charity that I have always believed characterized the Quakers. What I learned from this episode however, is that no group of people can be painted with such a broad brush. For the sake of time in our classrooms we tend to speak of people groups in generalities, though there is much variance among individuals within those groups. Similarly, most Northern blacks remained poor and servile, but there were some, such as Theodore and Philippa, who came from wealthy black families. Their haughtiness seemed to overcompensate for their race’s inferior position in society. The snobbery and pettiness that characterized those circles mirrored the attitudes of grand houses of the South.

2.       How does The Secrets of Mary Bowser complicate your ideas about slavery, the abolitionist movement, and the Civil War.

One of the qualities that I loved about this book was that it did not draw simple categories of good versus evil. There is a lot of gray in this story. Bet Van Lew, the wealthy, white abolitionist who freed Mary and her mother was well-intentioned, but misguided and vain in some of her pursuits. Throughout the book I believe the reader warms up to her as she remained loyal to the cause and to Mary, and became by the end, a true friend. Another example of such murkiness came about when Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published. We teach that the book sparked controversy in the South and was lauded as a great work of abolitionism in the North. However, among African-Americans there is no such consensus. Some railed against is for its stereotypical portrayal of slaves, others for the fact that Stowe expected slaves to escape to Canada in order to keep them out of the United States. Many blacks criticized Uncle Tom. Some blacks distained his submissive ways and the fact that he chose to stay rather than to escape. This of course engenders fierce opposition from Mary, who understood why her parents chose to stay in the South rather than risk the perilous consequences of the Fugitive Slave Act.

Before reading the book I did not realize that Virginia law in the mid-19^th century required free slaves to leave the state within a year of their freedom. In order to stay with her husband, Mary’s mother, Minerva, could not act upon her freedom, but had to keep up the appearance of being Bet’s slave as long as her husband Lewis remained enslaved to Mahon. Truly, the choice between slavery and freedom during this era was complicated by all sorts of considerations about family ties. Those families who were fortunate enough to remain together often had to do so at the cost of their freedom.

How has the book changed or reinforced your ideas about the role of women and African-Americans in this chapter of American history?

Women play a pivotal role during wartime. This is a fact that I emphasize in my classroom. It was during America’s major wars that women made their greatest strides toward equal rights. They led boycotts during the Revolution and became respected as “Republican mothers.” During the Civil War they acted in many capacities in both the North and the South. Mary’s role was most remarkable. Mary was installed as a slave/spy  in the Davis household. She played into all of the stereotypes of slaves as stupid and illiterate. She uses this stereotype to her advantage and is never suspected (as least by the Davis family) of helping the North win the war. Bet, on the other hand showed the influence that prominent white women could have on both sides of the conflict. Bet herself made it her mission to care for the federal prisoners. Many other women during this time took up jobs in field hospitals where they cleaned and bandaged wounds, administered medicines, and a host of other menial tasks that freed doctors to do the surgeries and amputations. During the Civil War modern nursing was born.

Many others women assisted in less direct ways. Many performed secretarial work during the war. This would open up a new form of “acceptable” employment for women, which would bring the movement forward, allowing women to expand their role in the workplace. Others, such as the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, formed sewing circles. This was perhaps the safest and most passive role for ladies. However, a passionate young girl such as Mary Van Lew was not content to sit on the sidelines. That is why she left the comforts of Philadelphia to aid the Union from the South. 

This book is a truly fascinating adventure into one of our nation's most infamous eras. I've taught AP U.S. history for six years and I still learned a lot about The Civil War from reading this book. I came away full of admiration for the courage and the personal sacrifice of those who fought for the dream of real freedom. Truly, the quest for equality does not end with the end of the the Civil War. We know that blacks would keep on fighting for at least another 100 years. But Mary Bowser and others during the Civil War helped the nation take that next step toward real democracy.

Book Thoughts: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

You may be wondering, 'what on earth is a potato peel pie and what would induce a sane person to make such a thing?' Well, that much I'm not going to explain.  After reading this post you may be able to venture an educated guess as to why such a dish might come about - especially at a time when normal pie ingredients are not readily available. However, to get the whole story, you'll just have to read the book.

It would be well worth your time. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is just as quirky and charming as its name indicates. It is a fictional account of a very real series of events and it is written entirely in letters. The book tells the story of the German occupation of the the Channel Islands during World War II and  how these ordinary, yet heroic islanders leaned on one another to rebuild their lives after the war ended.

The story begins in the years immediately after the war when an author in London happens to receive a letter from a reader in Guernsey. Their exchange of letters leads to a remarkable journey into the lives and reminiscences of a wonderful cast of characters who turned to books to survive the war. This eclectic group of farmers, artisans, and homemakers were, by a remarkable set of coincidences, thrown together in a literary society. They began reading the classics, finding not only something to take their minds off the war, but friendships that would deepen and thrive long after the war ended. When Elizabeth, the real architect of the Literary Society was imprisoned, they became a true family to her daughter Kit. After the war they rebuild their homes and lives, passing their mutually-adopted and much-loved Kit, around from home to home.  Into this scene enters Juliet Ashton, the successful author looking for her next great story. Her chance correspondence with one of the Society's core members, Dawsey Adams, opens the door to a story that desperately needs to be told.

We all know (or should, if we were paying attention in history class) that London was bombed for 57 nights in the Battle of Britain, that Londoners held up under extreme duress, and the Royal Air Force drove the Germans back to the Continent. But history teachers (myself included) do not teach about the British Channel Island which were indeed occupied  by German forces. The islanders' experiences were uniquely harrowing as they lived in complete isolation and deprivation. The book itself is a perfect blend of history, humor, depth, and yes, even a little bit of romance.  The story at times takes a very sobering tone, because really, it is impossible to write a book about WWII without discussing its vast inhumanities. Yet the Germans are not characterized as fully evil, and there is a glimmer of goodness among their ranks.

The Guernsey Islanders remind me a tad of my friends in Avonlea. (Maybe something about living on an island just makes one more charming than most.)  Of course, you also can't help but love the main character, Juliet Ashton, who, though not a Guernsey Islander herself, finds that she belongs there. Juliet is pretty and intellectual (my kind of a heroine). Her blend of wit and sarcasm, along with her rather clumsy forays into romance, give the book a lighthearted feel that counterbalances the backdrop of tragedy. In fact, I think what makes all the characters so endearing is that they really don't take themselves too seriously. That is, I believe, a good quality to possess - and one that makes people far more likable.

Now, I believe I will go and make a potato peel pie.

Book Thoughts: Worst, Hard, Time by Timothy Egan

Last week a tornado swept across the Oklahoma prairie. It leveled a town, destroyed livelihoods and took children, parents, and pets. While this happened I was in the midst of reading another story about this same part of the country. It was the story of the Dust Bowl. It was a story that left me even more in awe of the hard-core men and women who settle in the Great Plains. It was a story that allowed me to look at the faces on CNN with a different kind of respect - the respect that one has for those who persevere during hardship, who pass the lessons of hard work and determination onto their children. It was a true story. What's scary about Egan's book is that it is a work of nonfiction.

The people that live in the Great Plains today are the children and grandchildren of the people who never gave up. Of course my respect and admiration for the "Greatest Generation" of the Great Plains is mitigated by the fact that they created, or at least aided and abetted, their own troubles. Timothy Egan's book starts in the latter half of the 19th century. He talks about the cowboys on the Plains and the gradual transition to farming which became more rapid as the First World War shot up crop prices. The Great Plains never has been (and never will be) good farming land. It was the land "where the buffalo roamed." The vast grasslands held the soil in place for millennia despite the wind and drought. But our government's policies pushed the buffalo and the Native Americans out in favor of homesteaders and railroad companies. It was the last area of the country where men and women could have a piece of ground to call their own, and after the Civil War many took advantage of this offering.

Timothy Egan artfully tells the story of the Dust Bowl through the eyes of several families. Their stories take us through the prosperity of the war years where every inch of the land was plowed up to feed the U.S. and all of Europe. It takes us through the 1920s where prices fell due to decreased demand, yet fields were still plowed up year after year to break even. Farmers did this with no thought of what they were doing to their tomorrow.

Tomorrow came with a crash and a storm - or rather, many storms. The Depression hit the country about the time the skies dried up and the soil began to blow. Interwoven between the pages of this book is the story of Hazel Lucas, a teacher who got married, had a baby, and despite all her efforts lost her child to dust pneumonia. There are the housewives who sweep their floors and chairs and tables only to have the wind instantly blow more earth through the covered windows. The inability to provide for their families breaks even the strongest of men. Most leave. Entire towns disappear and are left covered in dust, their former inhabitants eeking out a living elsewhere. Yet it is the ones who stay that I admire. The ones who weathered the storm they helped to create. These were the people that were tied to their land, their home. Their children and grandchildren live there today. They will survive. They are made of the right stuff.