The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

Although I’m not done with this book, I wanted to mark its publication date with a special but short message: Read it!

While I have learned about WW II in school and have read many novels set during this time period, I don’t think that I ever grasped the extremely precarious position that Great Britain found itself in at the start of 1940.  Most of Europe had fallen, and Hitler had his eye on the British Isles for his next conquest.

In Larson’s account, Winston Churchill’s tremendous resolve is the characteristic that shines through during his first year as prime minister, which also coincided with Great Britain’s entry into World War II.  How close to complete annihilation this country stood is breathtaking, and the war would have gone very differently without the courageous leadership of this man.

This is a hefty volume that covers just this one year, but it is a compelling account of the time, since it includes much personal information, with writings from Churchill’s secretaries, as well as diaries and letters from Churchill’s family, particularly his youngest child Mary who was 17 at the time; from common people, some of whom wrote for a special governmental project documenting the war; from statesmen who were working for Churchill; from war correspondents; and from Germans, including the combat pilot and flying ace Adolf Galland. 

There are glorious descriptions of people watching the air battles from behind their curtains at night, sitting in their gardens or lying in fields near the English Channel.  Larson has created a very strong sense of being there, contrasting the terrible beauty of it all.  The title of the book comes from Churchill’s young secretary John Colville, who described the amazing lights and flashes of London being bombed with the utter devastation that followed.

Perhaps what makes it so intensely readable is the combination of military information with the mundane details of daily life, such as how people relied on tea for sustenance and the strength to deal with the trauma of living in a war zone.

Hitler’s plan for Britain was to get them to surrender—to accept a peaceful treaty—without the war in the air that ended up happening.  What Churchill accomplished is jaw-dropping.  Put it on your reading list!

Thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for an advance copy.

Eden Mine by S.M. Hulse

In 2016, S.M. (Sarah) Hulse was the fourteenth and final author for the one-book program “A Tale for Three Counties,” sponsored by the libraries in Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties (NY).  In her talks at Genesee Community College, at area libraries, and in two high school classes, she spoke about being interested in the aftermath of big events and in decent people who make painful mistakes.  Her new novel, being published on Tuesday, February 11 by Farrar, Straus, Giroux, takes these ideas and explores them in brilliant ways.

    From its first line—“My brother’s bomb explodes at 10:16 on a late April Sunday morning.”—S.M. Hulse’s new novel Eden Mine continues dropping figurative bombshells in her story of Jo Faber and her beloved brother Samuel in the small town of Prospect, Montana.

    Jo and Samuel have been orphaned and have lived a life unfair in its cruelty, including the death of their father in a mine collapse and their mother in a way that unfolds throughout the story.  Their most recent devastation is the impending loss of their family home, being sold through eminent domain for the construction of a new road that will bypass—rather than repair —the recent land erosion over Eden Mine.  

    When Sheriff Hawkins appears at Jo’s door to tell her that Samuel has been caught on video camera at the county courthouse right before the bomb explodes, she is not entirely surprised, as he has had a history of following crackpot conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies.  The horrifying thing to her is that people have been wounded while worshipping in a storefront church nearby, including a young girl in critical condition; Jo is sure that this is unintended on Samuel’s part as he has tenderly cared for her through recent years of her own special needs.  So starts the dance between Jo and Sheriff Hawkins, a family friend who has assisted them during the tough times, and between Jo and Will Devin, the FBI agent who asks her deeply unsettling questions about her brother’s motivations and where he could be.

    Besides the obvious destruction, the bomb also causes other things to happen, like propelling Jo out of her safe and narrow world into the town of Elk Fork to attend the prayer vigil for Emily, the young daughter of the church’s pastor Asa Truth.  There, she has to confront the ugly reality of what Samuel has done as well as the anger of people who recognize her and blame her for his actions.  She also meets Asa Truth, who reaches out in Christian charity, beginning a tentative friendship.

    The book is told in the first person by Jo with brief sections narrated by Samuel (as a letter to Jo written on a road map) and by Asa (as conversations with God).  It is a highly effective method of telling the story, and the slow revelations about Jo and Samuel and Asa make it deeply compelling.

    As in S.M. Hulse’s first novel Black River, the author uses art to reveal her main character.  In this novel, Jo is a painter whose experimentation with her artistic style shows personal growth and an evolving comprehension of the world.  Also like her first novel, there are wonderful descriptions of Jo’s mule Lockjaw, which highlight Hulse’s understanding of horses and their relatives. 

    The best part may be the way that the story is concluded, since the reader knows that a showdown is inevitable.  The whole thing is beautifully done and rightfully will be a favorite of book discussion groups who will enjoy the character development and the themes of art, faith, morality, and paralysis, set within the wide spaces and dying towns of Montana.  

This review also appears in the 2/8/2020 edition of The Daily News, Batavia, NY.

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for an advance copy.