When Faye Travers, an estate agent in New Hampshire, inventories the home of John Jewett Tatro at the behest of his niece and heirs, she is aware that Tatro’s grandfather was once an Indian agent on an Ojibwe reservation and that his grandmother was Indian. Faye, of Indian heritage herself, is hoping to find some Indian artifacts that can be sold or donated to a museum on behalf of the estate. Neither Faye nor Sarah Tatro notices the drum, at first—three feet in diameter, hollowed out from a single piece of cedar wood and covered by a moose hide. Suddenly, the drum “speaks” to Faye, resonating with a single, deep note which only she hears. The story of the “Little Girl” drum (with no spoilers here) takes the reader from Faye’s life and love story in New Hampshire to an Ojibwe reservation in Minnesota. Tightly organized, with stories spanning three generations and interconnecting three different families—Faye Travers and her mother Elsie, Bernard Shaawano, and Shawnee and her mother Ira— The Painted Drum is a powerful novel which taps into universal feelings and hopes, even as it depicts some of life’s most terrible events. (On my Favorites list for 2005)
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When Bostonian John Quincy Winterslip is sent to Hawaii to retrieve his elderly Aunt Minerva, who has stayed with relatives in Hawaii long past the time she (and they) had originally intended, he fully expects to return home quickly. Though his family tree has long had “wanderers,” one of whom has settled in Hawaii, John Quincy knows HE is far too sensible to succumb to Hawaii’s charms. His Boston Brahmin roots, his successful investment business, and his “appropriate,” family-approved fiancee are all luring him back home. Shortly after his arrival in Honolulu, however, his uncle Dan Winterslip, with whom he is staying, is murdered in his Waikiki home. Assigned to investigate this murder is Honolulu Detective Charlie Chan. First published in 1925, the House Without a Key broke new ground in American publishing by starring an Asian detective.
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Set in 1875, this Merchant-Ivory film focuses on the post-Civil War intellectual community of Boston and Cambridge, bringing to life the suffragist movement, which passionately involved many of its women. Verena Tarrant (Madeleine Potter) is a beautiful and charming young woman who draws large, paying crowds to hear her speak about “the just revolution,” which would free women from their second class status. Though Verena describes herself as “only a girl, a simple American girl,” her strength as a speaker quickly brings her to the attention of Olive Chancellor (Vanessa Redgrave), an older woman whose dedication to the movement, and eventually to Verena, is single-minded and all-consuming. When Verena moves in with the overly protective Olive, Olive wants her to promise that she will never marry, but the inevitable happens. Basil Ransom (Christopher Reeve), Olive’s cousin, arrives from the south, and is immediately smitten by Verena. (To see the full review, click on the title at the top of this excerpt.)
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When “the Europeans” arrive unexpectedly to stay at the New England home of their strait-laced cousins, the Wentworth family, the conflicts between European and American values, so often highlighted in the novels of Henry James, are quickly established in this 1979 Merchant-Ivory film. Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala stays close to the tone, themes, and action of the James novel as she brings to life a strict and pious New England family which is suddenly exposed to a whole new way of life. Felix Young (Tim Woodward), a charming and energetic European artist/actor/traveler, without prospects in Europe, has accompanied his sister Eugenia, Baroness of Munster (Lee Remick), to America while her marriage is being dissolved. Here, where no one knows them, Eugenia believes that “natural relations,” as opposed to the “artificial relations” of Europe will prevail. Young Gertrude Wentworth (Lisa Eichhorn), always the most iconoclastic member of the family, is immediately smitten by Felix, finding him a welcome relief from the earnest but stuffy Rev. Brand (Norman Snow), who has been courting her. (For the full review, click on the title of this excerpt.)
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Written in 1937, when the Depression was still affecting all aspects of the farming community, this powerful novel depicts the lives of migrant workers–grim, pessimistic, and offering little hope for an improved future. Focusing on two characters who arrive in the Salinas Valley during peak season, Steinbeck creates touching scenes between Lenny, a big, severely limited worker who does not know his own strength, and George, a whippet-thin man who serves as Lenny’s constant companion and protector. Both Lenny and George have dreams of one day living on their own farm, where Lenny, who loves the feeling of soft things–even dead mice–wants to take care of rabbits. George hopes one day to benefit from his own hard work on his own farm and to create an environment where Lenny can be safe from his own impulses. As Steinbeck brings the characters on the ranch to life, he shows how every person there has dreams of a different life but few opportunities to change the lives they already have. (To read the full review, click on the title on this excerpt.)
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