Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Klara and the Sun is the story of an artificial friend or “AF” as she is referred to in the novel. She is a sophisticated, animated doll with artificial intelligence brought to a level as close to a human as possible—all in a toy for a teenager. The story is told entirely from her point of view. Klara is unusual among the AFs because she can observe and evaluate events that are happening around her on a level that has never been seen before, at least not by the manager of the store that sold her.

Klara sees things we can recognize, but she sees them with the eyes of someone who is totally naive. Most of the time we readers end up shaking our heads and laughing at how Klara thinks in such an odd way. But as the novel goes on some of Klara's observations turn out to be different than what we expected. This lends an interesting, spiritual slant to the novel.

There is also a subplot in Klara and the Sun concerning the people surrounding Klara. This technologically enlightened society has come up with a new form of prejudice. Although this other plot does not directly affect AFs, it is woven into Klara's story in a way that demonstrates the level of empathy Klara has reached.

The humans in the story are well portrayed. Although we see them all through Klara's eyes, we get to know their strengths and their flaws. Josie, the teenager who chooses Klara, is loyal and fun, but she has her moments when she gets jealous or argumentative. Josie is suffering from a health issue that might cause her death. The people around her such as Rick, her best friend, and Chrissie, her mother, are all impacted by Josie's health and show their concern in different ways. Paul, Josie's father, shows up later in the novel and also demonstrates his love for Josie in an entirely different way. The minor characters, such as Henry Capaldi, a portrait artist, are also believable and unique. The relationships between these characters keep the story going every bit as much as Klara's ability to observe and learn.

This is the most imaginative novel I've read since Kazuo Ishiguro's other book, Never Let Me Go. It's SyFy but I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good novel.

Across the Great Lake by Lee Zacharias

The great lakes are fresh water lakes. Fresh water freezes at thirty-two degrees fahrenheit, a few degrees warmer than the temperature where salt water freezes. This increases the likelihood that freshwater ice will form quicker and be thicker, which is a problem for ships crossing Lake Michigan.

Across the Great Lake is the story of Manitou, a railroad ferry, in service in the early twentieth century. Railroad ferries were huge boats designed to carry railroad cars. Train engines would load the cars onto tracks built on a deck in the boat, then other engines would unload them when the boat reached the other side of Lake Michigan. This way the railroad could avoid traveling a huge distance to go around the lake.

Manitou was nicknamed the Bull of the Woods because it was a sturdy boat, capable of breaking through thick ice. It had such a great reputation for this it was often sent out to free other ferries trapped in the ice.

Lee Zacharias' novel is written from the point of view of Fern, the five-year-old daughter of the captain of the Manitou. The book has been thoroughly researched and is beautifully written, describing all the details of the boat and of the problems the crew takes on as they cross this massive body of water. By choosing to look at the boat through the naive eyes of a child and have her speak with experienced seamen, Zacharias is able to explain everything from the most elementary details to the more complicated ones. I knew very little about this part of American history and I was fascinated by it. She also managed to accomplish this without stopping the flow of the story.

At the beginning of the book Fern's mother is depressed because she has just lost a baby at the end of her pregnancy. She cannot find the strength to get out of bed to take care of her daughter, so Captain Halvorsen is left with no choice other than to take Fern on his scheduled journey across the lake. Once on board he assigns Alv, a fourteen year-old-boy, the youngest member of the crew, to watch out for her. Their relationship pushes the story along on a personal level.

The narrative bounces back and forth between Fern at age five and Fern as an adult looking back on her experiences. Among the characters other than Fern, Alv is the most important, but we also follow her relationships with her father, her mother, her stepmother and many of the members of the crew. This book captured me and I recommend it highly.

Across the Great Lake won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for fiction, a Michigan Notable Book Award and a silver in the Independent Publisher Book Awards.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles was the first of Agatha Christie's published books. It is a good read, but not exactly what I was expecting. Hercule Poirot did not come into the story until about a third of the way in and kept disappearing as he was investigating the case.

The story is told by Arthur Hastings, a wounded veteran of the First World War who runs into his friend, John Cavendish. John invites Arthur to stay at the estate owned by his family. While Arthur is there, John's mother is poisoned. She was a very wealthy and cantankerous woman with a husband who is much younger than she.

Arthur again runs into a friend of his. This time it is Hercule Poirot, whom he first met while he was in France. Poirot is soon involved with the case and along the way, attempts to teach Arthur tricks of the trade for successful detectives.

The book is filled with interesting characters including the Cavendish family and Alfred Inglethorp, the victim's second husband. Emily Inglethorp's money provides a motive for almost every character in the story. There's also a will that has been partially burned, doors that may or may not have been bolted and lots of other clues. The story has plenty of twists and turns and was fun to read. 

I read Father Melancholy's Daughter decades ago, before there were sites to post reviews. All I remembered about the book was that I loved it, especially when combined with its sequel, Evensong. So I decided to read them both again.

Father Melancholy's Daughter is the story of an Episcopal priest, Walter Gower, whose wife, Ruth, leaves him and his daughter, Margaret, in search of a life with more excitement and creativity. She takes off with an old friend who is a professional set designer for stage productions. It was expected that Ruth would be gone for a short time, but that time keeps growing. Eventually an event occurs which makes the departure permanent.

Walter Gower suffers from periods of depression he refers to as “The Black Curtain.” These existed prior to his wife's departure, but that event didn't help. Margaret, who is just six-years-old when her mother leaves, must step in to take on parts of the role her mother filled. She needs to help her father deal with his issues and also with problems around his church. As the year's go by, they grow closer. Although Margaret goes through the normal events of adolescence, such as her first sexual experiences, her studies, her college choice, and her first love, she is tied to her father in ways that are unusual and demanding.

Gail Godwin writes with a level of detail which builds a complete world for her readers. I loved the way she showed the inner workings of a church. The people are real and talk more about literature, building issues and rituals than about God. These people also have their failings, including a tendency to laugh at some of their parishioners behind their backs. If I may adapt a quote from Matthew, the novel shows us that “wherever two or more are gathered in my name” there will be gossip and arguments as well as love and help.

I'm glad I went back and reread Father Melancholy's Daughter. I'm looking forward to Evensong.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

 Agnes Grey has been on my “to read” list since I read and enjoyed D.M. Denton's novel Without the Veil Between, Anne Brontë: A Fine and Subtle Spirit. I am familiar with the most famous works of her sisters, Charlotte (Jane Eyre) and Emily (Wuthering Heights), so I was expecting a novel that had more excitement in its plot. Instead this is a character study of a strong willed woman living in an era where women have limited options.

When Agnes' father loses most of the family savings through a failed investment, Agnes decides to become a governess to help with their financial problems. She has to deal with another problem of that era, class prejudice. The parents of the children she is charged with educating treat her with little respect. The children are even worse. She is supposed to be in charge, yet they run all over her and she receives no backing from the parents.

I was somewhat disappointed that Agnes never took responsibility for any of the problems she encountered. Although she was placed in many no-win situations, she often came off sounding whiny and defensive. Later in the book Agnes moves on to a different family and encounters more problems tied to her role, including lies told about her.

Agnes Grey presents an interesting picture of the problems working class women faced in nineteenth century England. I intend to read Anne Bronte's other novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which has a reputation as one of the first feminist novels.