Our reviews of Winging It: Dispatches from an (Almost) Empty Nest, Rosewater and Soda Bread and Converting Kate.
Memoir
Winging It: Dispatches from an (Almost) Empty Nest
Catherine Goldhammer, Hudson Street Press, $21.95
In a small town she has nicknamed Six Mile Beach, Catherine Goldhammer and her daughter Harper live with a dog, a cat and six chickens, originally intended to placate Harper during the chaos following her parents divorce. As described in Goldhammer's earlier memoir, Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea, the chickens were a distraction for both mother and daughter, providing fluffy bits of disorder to center them in a time of upheaval. Catherine and Harper have lived in Six Mile Beach for three years when Winging It opens, but change again appears on the horizon as Catherine confronts her daughter's impending departure for college. First, however, there is the question of high school. Dissatisfied with the school she has been attending in their former hometown a wealthy suburb known by Catherine as "Stuffed-With-Money" Harper requests a different education, and Catherine allows her daughter to experiment with options, including home schooling, college classes, a tiny Catholic boarding school two hours away, and finally a local public school with a less-than-stellar reputation. Catherine's ambivalence about her daughter's choices reveal a conundrum: Though she desires the best possible education for her daughter, she is not quite ready for an empty nest. Harper grows more and more independent, from dating to getting her driver's license, and the chickens reach their natural lifespan, dying one by one. Meanwhile, Catherine's personal life becomes more interesting as two former lovers get in touch, and she wonders how and with whom she will fill her life once her child leaves home. Written with the poetic, self-deprecating humor that marked Goldhammer's first memoir, Winging It is a treat. 
Fiction
Rosewater and Soda Bread
Marsha Mehran, Random House, $14
Marsha Mehran's second novel chronicles life in the same small Irish town of her first book, Pomegranate Soup, in which three Iranian sisters open a cafe to the consternation and delight of their neighbors. In Rosewater and Soda Bread, those who love eldest sister Marjan's saffron chicken, quince jams and bergamot tea have begun to outnumber the still skeptical, and the three sisters feel more and more comfortable in their new home. Ironically, it is the presence of an outsider from closer by that causes conflict. When a young woman is rescued from drowning and is unable to speak, it is suspected she is an unwed teen whose attempt to induce a miscarriage went too far, an illegal act in 1980s Ireland. When Marjan helps an elderly friend care for the girl, all three are placed in danger of being charged with a crime and are at the mercy of malicious town gossips who would like nothing better. There is a romance as well to provide an entertaining subplot, as Marjan is wooed by a wealthy landowner returned from afar, but this novel is ultimately the story of three sisters. Middle child Bahar has a secret her sisters cannot figure out, and youngest daughter Layla and her young Irish boyfriend may be getting too frisky for Marjan's liking.  Young adult
Converting Kate
Beckie Weinheimer, Viking, $16.99
Beckie Weinheimer's young adult novel also follows a female heroine in the wake of a transformative move. Since her father's recent death, 15-year-old Kate has resisted returning to her mother's conservative church. Not only is Kate stung by her grief, but also by her mother's attempts to rid their lives of her father's worldly influence. For example, his book collection deemed drive her further and further into seclusion, until mother and daughter relocate to live with Kate's paternal great-aunt. Coming from life in Arizona dominated by her mother's religion, coastal Maine is a refreshing change, and Kate slowly begins to re-engage with life. Kate's process is smoothed by her great-aunt Katherine, whose kind manner softens relations between Kate and her mother. Katherine also introduces Kate to a religious congregation presided over by a young, progressive pastor. The pastor allows Kate to question her beliefs in a way her old church did not, and the youth group meetings Kate at first viewed apprehensively become a delight. Kate also enters an unknown world at the local high school, where she runs cross country, reads previously forbidden books and begins making friends. This new life is less structured than her old one and consequently often more confusing. What does it mean when a boy kisses you and the same day you see him flirting with another girl? Why would someone fired as penalty for an offense they did not commit ask Kate to keep silent about the real offender? In her closing notes, author Becky Weinheimer reveals she once was a member of an insulated conservative congregation. This history adds a rich, verisimilitude to the struggles of faith faced by both author and character in this charming, thoughtful young adult novel. These books are available at Pomegranate Books, located at 4418 Park Ave., Wilmington, NC. For more info, call 910.452.1107.
Anagnost grew up in Wilmington, NC, and has lived
and attended school in New York and Ohio. Her interests include
literature, music and contemporary art. In addition to writing for Focus on the Coast, she has written book and art reviews for publications including Wilmington's music magazine The Beat, Los Angeles-based art journal ArtUS and the brief-lived New York publication Work Magazine. |
