Six Degrees of Separation: June 2021

Six Degrees of Separation is hosted by Kate of booksaremyfavouriteandbest.com.

This month's starter book is The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld.

I decided that I would (for once) read this book. Luckily my excellent local library acquired it for me in days - and after I'd read it I was especially grateful for that, as this is not a book I would have wanted to buy and keep.

The Bass Rock is set mainly in East Lothian, and moves between three time periods - the present, in which Viviane is returning to North Berwick to look after her recently deceased aunt's house, the 1950s, in which Ruth (the aunt) is living in the house with her new husband, his two sons from his first marriage, and their housekeeper, Betty, and the 1700s, in which Sarah is on the run, accused of being a witch. 

I used to live near North Berwick, so know a little about the witch trials, but I felt that Wyld hardly explored this issue. I appreciate that the book is about male violence (physical and psychological) against women, and I know that many readers have found it powerful, compelling and even brilliant, but I'm sorry to say I was unable to engage with any of the characters. Both Viviane and (especially) Ruth were so wet; Ruth, living in the largest house in the town, and with hardly anything to do all day, wanders about being non-stop miserable. Viviane seems to have no idea what she does or doesn't want, and again spends a lot of time navel-gazing. I really wish I had been able to appreciate The Bass Rock, but there it is, I didn't.

Continuing with the theme of witches, on a particularly wet holiday in Northumberland some years ago the only children's book I could find in our rental house was Roald Dahl's The Witches. I read it aloud to my son and daughters, and we all loved it. Dahl's stories are a million miles from Enid Blyton; his characters can be evil, they can be eccentric, but never are they boring. In The Witches the narrator,  a 7 year old English boy, is living with his grandmother in Norway. She explains that she is a former witch-hunter, and that secret societies of child-hating witches exist all over the world. The Grand High Witch is planning to go to England to carry through her plan to turn all the children there into mice. The boy and his grandmother must somehow save the day. There follows a gripping adventure story, and one with a very unexpected - and very Dahl-esque - ending. 

Another Roald Dahl character with (albeit temporary) supernatural powers is Matilda Wormwood, the hapless child of neglectful criminal parents. When Matilda goes to school she encounters the horrific headmistress Miss Trunchball, who terrorises the children, and treats the lovely Miss Honey abominably. Eventually Matilda uses her telekinetic powers to deal with Miss Trunchball and restore Miss Honey to her rightful position - and there is more to come, for unlike The Witches, Matilda does have a happy ending. I especially like Matilda because, in order to escape from her chaotic home, she visits the library almost every day, borrowing as many books as she can. My very favourite line is;

'These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: "You are not alone."'

 

A young girl who also feels very much alone is 12 year old Cecelia Rose Honeycutt.  CeeCee's mother Camille was once the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen, but now it's 1967 and things have gone a very long way downhill. 

On her marriage, Camille moved north to Ohio, but her mental health is fragile, and as her grip on reality loosens she longs for the life she had in Georgia. As CeeCee's unpleasant father comes home less and less often, she is left to cope with her mother's irrational behaviour and increasing psychosis, which leave both of them cruelly ostracised in their small town. When the inevitable happens, CeeCee's wealthy great aunt Tootie - of whom she previously knew nothing - arrives on the doorstep in the most amazing car she has ever seen, and whisks her back to Savannah and a new life in her beautiful home, run by her fearsomely efficient housekeeper, Oletta. In Beth Hoffman's Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, there are fascinating descriptions of the culture and traditions of the south, and some wonderfully eccentric characters - but it's not all plain sailing, as Hoffman does not shy away from the dark side of life in Georgia; racism and snobbery are just beneath the surface, while CeeCee also struggles to conquer her fear that issues from her past life will catch up with her. I loved this book, and look forward to reading Beth Hoffman's only other novel, Looking for Me.  (My full review of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is here.)

Like Beth Hoffman, the writer Sue Monk Kidd comes from the Southern states - in this case, Georgia itself.  Her immensely successful first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, is set in 1964, against the backdrop of the American Civil Rights movement. It also tells the story of a young girl, Lily Owens, in a desperate home situation. When the family's maid Rosaleen is arrested for pouring snuff oil onto three racially abusive white men, Lily helps her escape from hospital and they decide to hitchhike to South Carolina. They eventually end up at the rural home of the Boatwrights, three black sisters who keep bees, make honey, and hold unusual religious services centred on the Black Madonna. Lily and Rosaleen move in with the sisters, where Lily learns more about bee-keeping, racism, the history of the Boatwright women, and ultimately what happened to her deceased mother. 

In her 20s, influenced by the writings of the theologian and mystic Thomas Merton, Sue Monk Kidd began to explore her spiritual life, and eventually moved from her traditional Christian beliefs to those of feminist theology. In the Boatwright women she draws a magnificent picture of feminist theology in practice, although The Secret Life of Bees is by absolutely no means a didactic religious tract.  This excellent book was also made into a great film starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonado.

My final book this time is also set in the South, though it's about a rather different kind of 'running away'. 

In The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love, the first in Joan Medlicott's Covington series, three ladies of a certain age are definitely not enjoying their retirement in Olive Pruitt's run-down Pennsylvania boarding house. When one of them inherits a derelict farmhouse in Loring Valley, North Carolina, they decide to take a chance. The books chronicle their lives together as they renovate the house, meet new friends (and sometimes lovers), learn about the history and customs of this rural community, and have lots of adventures. The first book has now been followed by nine more, and although they are essentially 'cosy' novels, they also explore issues; the pros and cons of development in a poor but scenic area, the pitfalls and pluses of new relationships in older age, the sometimes scary freedom to make one's own decisions, and above all, how to give support, receive it with gratitude, and make the very most of life. 

So this month I have gone from a book I did not like at all to five that, for different reasons, I treasure. From Scotland I have somehow travelled to the Deep South; from a story of unrelenting misery I have moved on to five that, although none is an entirely smooth ride, all feature strong women, and end with feelings of redemption and hope. And I think that's what we need at the moment. 

The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld is published by Jonathan Cape
The Witches and Matilda, both by Roald Dahl, are published by Puffin
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman is published by Abacus
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is published by Tinder Press
The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love by Joan Medlicott is published by St Martin's Press