WWW Wednesday: October 28, 2020

WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m currently reading Kingdom of the Blind (2018), the 14th book in Louise Penny’s Three Pines series.  I am a little annoyed with myself for reading the 15th first – blame the library for sending them in the wrong order – I didn’t notice until I had finished.  There are no enormous spoilers but I think that is why I put the series away for a whole ten days (ha).  Maybe I should try to save the new book to read on Christmas so there is something to look forward to?

I just finished The Blue Castle (1926) by L. M. Montgomery, as part of a wonderful group discussion led by several LMM scholars on Facebook.  Unusually, for her books, it is set in the Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada, not Prince Edward Island.  This was fun for me because I have been to Muskoka twice – it is a vacation district north of Toronto where families go to enjoy the lakes and cottages.  I definitely need to return to see Bala, which LMM visited and based the fictional town of Deerwood, and visit the museum, which looks like Green Gables, don’t you think?  The story of how the museum was created is charming.

Bala's Museum, Ontario

The heroine is 29 and oppressed by controlling relatives who verbally abuse her, mostly for still being single, so that she is miserable and has no self-confidence.  Luckily, her imagination is vivid and she has conjured up a Blue Castle in her mind where she goes to mentally escape.  When Valency receives bad news she is determined to break free from her family and enjoy life while she can: a vivid blue dress, new acquaintances, exploring the outdoors (LMM’s love of nature and the outdoors is supremely on display in this book), reading whenever she feels like it.   This was definitely intended for an adult audience – one of the characters had a child out of wedlock and although she is sweet and was clearly taken advantage of, a minister’s wife like LMM had to administer justice so first poor Cissy lost her child and then she dies herself, while Valency practically loses her reputation just for nursing her.   Ultimately, the message of this book is that Valency makes her own luck by fighting for her own happiness, even if that means rebelling against her family’s authority.

Next up will be Shamed (2019) by Linda Castillo, which is waiting for me at the library. This is an interesting crime series set in the rural town of Painters Mill, Ohio (too bad I couldn't continue a Canadian theme), where Amish and “English” residents live side by side, sometimes uneasily.   Kate Burkholder encountered tragedy as a teen and left her home and faith but came back as an experienced adult to be the chief of police.   There are an awful lot of murders in Painters Mill (well, this is the 11th book; you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs) and Kate has to use her understanding of both communities and come to terms with her own past in order to maintain order.  Or should I say restore order out of chaos?  That is what crime fiction is all about.