The Babysitter

Tags

1960's, serial killer, Tony Costa

The next book which caught my attention was “The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer” by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan. The book is not a typical true crime book and it’s not devoted entirely to the details of murders made by the infamous Tony Costa. Actually, it’s two books in one – the first part of it is about the murderer and obviously, it’s written by Jennifer Jordan; the second part is childhood recollections of Liza Rodman who was a girl somewhat associated with Tony though not a close friend.

The book has controversial reviews and many comment on the fact that two parts do not match, or Liza talks too much about her childhood troubles and is not fair towards her Mom, or that Liza’s part is quite boring in comparison to the part about Tony’s bizarre behaviour. I partly supported this opinion as well, but when I was nearing the end, the real sense that might be put in the book by the authors, dawned on me, and the plot was crystal clear. I think Tony was quite an “ideal man” for “little Liza” – she liked him and his mother Cecelia in contrast with her strict and demanding mother who always punished her. Possibly it’s one of the reasons that Tony’s crimes were concealed from Liza by her mother and their friends; and when Liza started to re-evaluate her childhood, she recognized the “hero of her childhood” as “Cape Cod cannibal“. The contrast of Liza’s troubled childhood with mostly imaginary or minor dangers (yes, her Mom did not love her, but it’s better than to have strange visions, marry a minor and practice drug abuse) and the real life of an accurate, polite and city-smart “Tony” is really dazzling. Another good detail saved till the end is the real fate of three women whose paths crossed with Tony’s: Diane Federoff, Bonnie Williams, Barbara Spaulding. All of them were found alive later and had children of their own. The book is worth reading if you are patient enough to wait until the end (where the grim detail about Tony’s mother Cecelia is also discovered). The book is full of compassion towards Tony’s victims: Christine Gallant, Sydney Monson, Susan Perry, Patricia Walsh, and Mary Anne Wysocki. They did not deserve such early and awful deaths.

As for me, I found the language of this book quite challending for a non-English reader; it contained many words I do not spot in other books. And until the end when I was hooked with the real sense of comparing Liza’s and Tony’s lives, the part connected to Tony’s mother, and the life of three “missing” women, I read it as a story of the 60’s. I was born in 1970’s and know that outside of the big cities, life in Russia in 1960’s did not much differ from 1950’s. The real outburst of freedom in our country happened in 1990’s when the country opened to foreign guests, free market, democracy, freedom of speech, religion, New Age, sex revolution and other things unknown to Soviet citizens before. This period was also marked by the criminal “boom”. But never ever Russia enjoyed such measure of freedom as the USA in 1960’s. Another very surprising fact was that Tony’s drug abuse started with the doctor officially prescribing him pills. Here in Russia, it’s very difficult up to to get any strong sedatives even for the sick relative dying of cancer and having unbearable pains. You can get some only in the expensive clinic which most of us cannot afford. In addition, unlike our time with cameras everywhere, tracking devices built in cell phones, DNA analyses, etc. – it was quite difficult to find and convict the murderer. I would not be interested in Tony Costa’s case if not this book.

A father’s story

Tags

family issues, jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer, true story

When you are interested in true crime, you may want to get familiar with all sides of the stories – PoVs of victims, detectives, prosecutors/attorneys, psychiatrists; but the info from the perpetrators, their family members and even “groupies” may also be insightful. While I am not very interested in murders done by Jeffrey Dahmer though he was the first serial killer who caught my sight many years ago – I am very curious about the minds of the serial killers, and how it REALLY feels to live with a serial killer. In the last respect, the book “A Father’s Story” by Lionel Dahmer proved invaluable. I did not expect a lot of details about Jeffrey’s killings in it (and they were not there), but it sounded like his father’s confession, his analisys of the past and the attempts to explain what was wrong with his son “Jeff” and find the dark aspects of Jeffrey’s nature (or rather describe how they were overlooked).

In short, Lionel Dahmer is not psychologist and it seems the book was written when his murderous son was still alive. Lionel being a good son and husband, a devout chemist, was an introvert when a child, and had difficulties to adapt to the new people, surroundings, etc. He got over it when he achieved success in the chemistry field and got a girlfriend. His childhood obsessions with fire, power over another person, and bombs did not go beyond school pranks and did not become morbid compulsions. His son Jeff was born in an unhappy marriage (Lionel preferred not to acknowledge he did not go well with his wife) and while his father was a reserved, unemotional, but responsible and hard-working introvert, Jeff’s mother Joyce was a mentally unstable lady with fragile inner world and strong emotions. Perhaps, motherhood did not fit her at all. Nevertheless, Jeff was born after his Mom was on serious medication – taking a lot of pills each day – which could harm the child’s nervous system.

Early childhood harmed by his Mom’s problems and painful surgery was followed by the youth where Jeff was detached from the people around, not capable of concentrating on any good aim or way of life, not interested in sports, books or business. Lionel always offered both money and advice to his son. Reading the book now, it’s obvious that Jeffrey was not normal and had mental problems. However, even nowadays – are we able to force a person get rid of some part of him or her? What if the person does not confess when he or she thinks about when being alone? After Jeff was charged with the child molestation, Lionel knew nothing good would ever come of Jeff. He got used to helping Jeff out, but he did not expect his son to be a famour murderer known later as “Milwakee Cannibal”. The burden was so hard on Lionel that he naturally thought how to protect HIMSELF. Even when Jeffrey was in jail, Lionel continued to give him “positive advice” on how to live in prison though Jeffrey’s life was clearly ruined – he did not resist to his morbid desires and they did not cease even in jail. This is a very desperate, unhappy story of a father who was devastated to know about his son’s crimes, unable to change the past and give Jeff treatment and attention he might have required, and sorry for the victims whose lives his son took. You will not find the profound analisys by the profiler or psychiatrist in this book, only a true story how to expect the worst and to live with this further.

The Last Victim

Tags

jason moss, profiler, serial killers

If you are interested in true crime, you can’t miss the book by Jason Moss “The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer“. The book was first published in 1999, and though more than 20 years passed since, it still intrigues the true crime fans.

Jason Moss was quite a successful attorney and writer, the Last Victim being his only book, but much discussed; however he ended his life shooting himself in the head when he was still young (31). In this book, Jason described his high-school experience of communication with various serial killers. He grew up a very independent youth aimed at success in every field he participated in. But everything he took up, ceased to interest him quite soon. Sports, stamp collecting and other hobbies did not satisfy him; he managed to be the best and leave before being beaten by someone else. I can say he was after thrill and victory; that trait possibly united him with serial killers he strived to contact later. At some stage, he became aware of his apprehension towards death, torture, horrible details and either trying to win over himself, or moved by other impulses, Jason wanted to go into the criminal field as a FBI profiler. The best form of preparation he found was “befriending” serial killers and establishing a stable contact with them.

The serial killers he mostly mentions in this book were Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Ramirez; there were others given less attention, but the primary one with whom Jason developed “the relation” was John Wayne Gacy. His tactics was to find and study as much info as he could about the person, then write to him a convincing letter which would “lure” the person out making him answer; if possible, extract some drawings, photos or autographs which he could later sell or produce as a proof of his communication. Studying his “objects” as exotic insects, he delved into dark territories like murder, Satanism, rape, homo sex (which can be provoking and kind of unpleasant for a non-interested straight person), to prepare an image of “a perfect victim” or “associate” which would interest and satisfy the specific serial killer. I do not know why he chose John Wayne Gacy as his primary “target” – may be, because Gacy was the first person whom Jason had a lengthy correspondence with; or Gacy chose Jason in the first place; but getting replies from the serial killers definitely boosted Jason’s courage and self-respect.

I read a lot of reviews on Jason Moss’ book and there is much criticism about it which mostly deals with the following: the travel detailed in the book is not to the serial killers’ minds, but Jason’s (I agree with it), or that Jason decorated the truth or blatantly lied about some details (I cannot check that). For me, the book was very interesting even if not 100% true – I am well aware that it was not written by Gacy, Manson or Ramirez. I made my own conclusions about it. Primarily, I think that Jason Moss was the person who really could manipulate people, and first persons to live under the manipulation were his parents (I can hardly imagine parents which are OK with the son or daughter under legal age, writing and meeting a serial killer). Second, I find Nietzsche’s phrase “If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you” very accurate. Not that serial killers drove Jason Moss to suicide – they at large and beyond the bars are quite different people. But delving into such dark topics requires caution; Jason was too bold to bother much with it. Third, the truth is always “out there” – I cannot really rely on Jason Moss’ book as a source of info on the serial killers. Obsession of incarcerated men with sex is widely known; except that, I did not find any unknown details about murders or new conclusions which would help us identify the potential serial killers. For me, the book is an interesting read mostly due to the exotic topic and Jason’s unique experience, and it’s a warning for true crime fans not to go too far and keep their obsession in check.

The Pale-Faced Lie: A True Story

Tags

family life, native american, true story

We often read books about criminals trying to solve the riddle of their crimes and understand what made them do what they did. Some women attracted by their “deadly charms” tend to love or marry them. But what if you are brought up by the person who has a violent temper and committed various crimes including murder? The book “The Pale-Faced Lie: a True Story” by David Crow holds an answer!

The book is a TRUE story of David Crow’s childhood and youth. David was the second of four children by Thurston and Thelma Lou Dalton Crow. His earliest memories date back to the time he was three years and a half, and even those memories are poisoned by hate and uneasiness. Since that time in El Paso, the family switched homes several times. They used to live in El Paso, TX; Belen, Gallup, Albuquerque, NM; Fort Defiance, AZ; Washington, D.C. At each location the kids were explosed to different surroundings; people around were either industrial workers and their families; drunk and degraded Native Americans; poor but hostile Navajos; rich educated kids whose parents owned nice houses and presented them with new cars for birthdays. David, the eldest son, felt like he did not belong anywhere. But was the constant life on the move the reason?

I think not, outside reality shapes us, but what matters most is the atmosphere in the family and examples which parents give. It’s often said that children ALWAYS reject what parents teach them. Then it’s no wonder that the family of devout Catholics holds the future Satanist inside; the son of an undertaker becomes a rock star; the descendant of hippie commune craves for order and goes to the military. What about the son of an ex-con? David’s parents were both full of problems; his Mom, Thelma Lou, was on the depressed side, always out of vigor, lying down or complaining, yelling and violent at times. But his Dad, Thurston Crow, was a real pain and problem to everyone. He was full of life and spite at the same time; living in a dog-eat-dog world guided by the principle “might makes right”. He was also unpredictable, loved to curse, criticize and punish his children. But worst of all, he made David his confidant. He let David know not only of his childhood and origin (he was identifying himself as a born Cherokee) or heroism during the war (most his tales were blantant lies), but also about dark aspects of his youth and adult life. When Thurston was young and married Thelma Lou, he assaulted a man together with a friend protecting the honor of his wife. The victim was seriously injured and almost lost his eyesight. For that crime, Thurston served a sentence in San Quentin State Prison, but his lies to the court and the prison’s staff reduced it to three years instead of seven. He did not reform, felt sorry for betraying his friend George or his victim Cleo; when he was released, he was convinced more than ever that a man should be free to do what he wants, no rules should stop him. And he really lived up to his principle.

Did David share the same views as his father? NO! During this lengthy tale, it was described how his principles and conclusions were formed. David was a very risky and brave kid, and prompted by his Dad, he sought every kind of trouble. The “jokes” he played on people were somewhat cruel (check the “rolling tyre” case for example or what happened to the “Query Man”). But as David grew older, he wanted to enter another level of society – middle-class people with no criminal records who are kind and charitable, and prefer to negotiate peacefully than argue or kill. However, the book is quite an insight to the “criminal mind”; Thurston taught David how to fight, how to conceal what he did, and “talked murder” a lot of times. David meticulously inserted that “murder philosophy” into the book when he described his Dad. But he was not vulnerable to it though he participated in all kinds of petty tricks as a child. The reason why David might not find his father’s image attractive was that he had to become an adult when still a child because his Dad poured his relations with his wife over David, and made David his Mom’s judge and executioner. To think constantly about your parents’ relations is unhealthy and difficult for a boy who needs to have hobbies and ideas suitable for his age. Therefore, while David took part in some “schemes” of his Dad, his participation was never an active one, and he never enjoyed it. But both because of fear and to honor his Dad’s memory, he told the whole story only when his father passed away, and he never reported his Dad to the police (only threatened that to stop Thurston).

The book has controversial reviews everywhere, but it’s very rich in detail, full of events and absorbing. What strikes the reader most – depends on his or her unique experience.

The Phantom Prince

Tags

serial killer, ted bundy, true story

If you watched the movie “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” then you would definitely need to read the book by Elizabeth Kendall “The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy”. I knew of Ted Bundy all along (his crimes are well-known), but I was not interested enough before to see how attractive the criminal could be. Especially when Zac Efron played his role. In that movie, it seems like Ted was much more dazzling than any of the “regular good” guys, and Elizabeth’s evidence was the only one against him. Otherwise he would seem normal, just restless, excessively active, and a bit weird… but who of us isn’t?

(image from Amazon)

I chose this book to read by chance (yes, I already watched Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes – which I found pretty boring in comparison with Hotel Cecil or Night Stalker mini-series, and found Confessions of a Bundyphile – an amazing blog by E.J. Hammon), but I could drop this book at any time. Several things prevented me from that: the book is written in a pretty easy language (an advantage for non-native English reader), the authoress is not a model woman and mother, the book is rather focused on Ted’s love life and character than on his crimes. At the moment I read it, I needed the info what it’s like to live with a narcissist so I’ve got the complete idea.

It was very interesting to read this book from the point of view of a girl from Russia. Here in Russia, we do not have many really attractive serial killers (they usually look mentally deficient); books, autographs, pictures or other killer-related stuff is not that popular as in the US; you can be banned on the net just for delving into true crime (posting the pics of some “maniac” means that you are soon into the same, according to the public opinion). So in our country, writing such a book won’t make you popular or rich; it may get you into TV or give many followers – but ONLY if you are young and beautiful; so for us, writing about a serial killer might help you relieve your pain. And I think Elizabeth Kendall had much of that motivation. She could not resist thinking afterwards that “Ted” could be caught earlier, and more innocent lives could be saved. Also, I saw the reviews saying Elizabeth was a heavy drinker and is not a good mother – for Russia, she is not that bad. We do not judge that as much since “half of the women” are non-ideal mothers, and alcohol abuse is widely spread in Russia (if you are older than 40, high chance you are the heavy drinker, too).

I found that very touchy and intimate how Elizabeth described her abortion, love for Ted, her dependancy, sex with him, his behavior before the trial when he was with her – and it struck me that it is how the “average” woman feels when her partner is unstable, insecure and weird. Most often, that happens when he is actually married or has another affair. With Ted Bundy, it was more complicated than that. He cheated on Liz, but what he concealed was really horrible. The excerpts by Molly, Elizabeth’s daughter, are quite sobering because she was not in love with Ted, she did not sleep with him, and she did not hold on the idea he might be innocent. She knew he was bringing trouble to her Mom, and tried to protect Elizabeth (saying nothing of his non-appropriate behavior towards the girl).

To express the idea in the few words, I liked the idea of the book which described the killer outside his killings – what kind of a man he was. And I think Elizabeth managed this task in an excellent way. Also, in many ways she acted like a typical Russian woman – who holds tight even to an insecure man and tries to “eat or drink” off her problems. Weird as it may seem, but that was my perception and I apologize if I got everything totally wrong.

Women who love men who kill

Tags

prison wives, psychology, sheila isenberg

Since I am shifting away from the historical fiction, I will cover other topics and share the books here which I read in English. Hope the opinion of the person who lives far from the UK/USA and never speaks to the family/friends in English will be of interest to those who visit this website.

The first book to tell about after the long break would be “Women who love Men who Kill” by Sheila Isenberg. I was always interested in “true crime”, but this topic comes to life sporadically; it comes and goes, there are “crime-free” periods when I do not look at the news, do not read detectives or search info on the crimes and killers, etc. It’s difficult to be fascinated with true crime, but not interested in the psychology of the criminals, investigators, victims, fan groups, etc. There are a lot of people on the net which say they are fond of criminals, but there are not many persons who actually MARRY them. This book is devoted to women who made that bold step.

(the book’s image is taken from Amazon, I do not have a paper copy)

The book is divided into chapters; some of them are devoted to the specific women who married/loved men which had killed people in the past and were convicted for that. The men were neither serial or mass killers; the authoress mentions that phenomenon (the popularity of serial killers), but those women’s husbands or lovers killed policemen, strange men in the street, girlfriends/wives – usually due to extreme anxiety not to be caught during shoplifting or some other illegal activity, or family quarrels. It is difficult to say if those men would have killed again if given the second chance. The women’s lives were different – some of them deserted husbands and families, others defended the criminals or served in the medical service, or just visited the lonely inmate without intentions to have any love affair. Sheila Isenberg describes the complications of their lives – no material support from the guy in jail, no sex, doubled responsibilities, etc. Despite all, those women were not going to leave their beloved prisoners – some unions lasted for years.

Along with the everyday details, the book contains a lot of psychological talk and opinions – and primary conclusions are that women who choose murderers come from problematic families, they are desperately fighting “peer pressure”, they want to settle scores with their fathers, used to violence. The authoress concludes those women are not able to have the real, “complete” relations and they are ok with the illusions – the men in prison depend on them, the women do not really love either, and everybody is happy. But if the prisoner is released – then both ways are possible. Either the couple lives happily “ever after”, or the killing spree continues and the savior becomes the first victim!

I am in two minds about this book. First, I do not agree calling only the union we are used to (house-husband-wife-kids-cat-and-dog) the completed one. In my mind, love can be expressed in multiple forms. Second, I cannot deny that the women who find themselves “prison wives of men killers” are often broken persons in many aspects, they may need serious treatment (not medical), but there is always a but… Are there many ways to be happy for those women? I think not, to be sincere. Complete healing of all wounds costs a lot of money; it does not guarantee a reliable partner. May be, this way is safer for them, after all, though the killers may not deserve it. But men are always luckier in the respect of love than women, that’s an universal truth.

In Russia, we also have girls and women who are called “zhduli” (originated from the verb meaning “to wait”). They correspond with the inmates who smuggle cell phones to jail, send them money and food and wait patiently until they return “home”. When a woman marries a prisoner, the couple is given the possibility to meet in person and spend three days together having full physical contact. Those women are widely despised in Russia since they come from families with low income, they are often not educated and they are mostly after “free sex” as well as their “husbands”. There is a short documentary movie “Zaochnitsa” (the word stands for “the girl who corresponds with the prisoner”) which shows different examples. One of the women filmed in the movie suffered from ex-prisoner – he beat her up so severely when he was released that she cannot walk at all now. Surprisingly a good example from the movie – a happy couple – showed a year later after the man was released from prison – proved unhappy afterwards – the man was a clever drug addict and the woman “ran for her life”, had to change the city and probably her name, to escape him. Sometimes ex-prisoners come to visit their “prison lover” only to r$pe and kill her child. The book by Sheila Isenberg does not show such “low” examples and does not delve into lives of people without good income or perspectives, but the authoress warns: beware of people who were violent in the past, that may happen again!

Lolita

Tags

modern prose

It’s been ages since I read a historical fiction book so I have decided to add to this blog my impressions about non-history books read in English. The first book I read in 2020 was “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov. This is a great work of fiction and I had a chance to read it both in English and in Russian. However I chose English – and I will explain the reasons below.

Vladimir Nabokov is a Russian by origin , but he has long lived in Europe and the USA. Some of his works are written in Russian, but “Lolita” was originally written in English. I did not know that and when I checked the Russian version, I was just entangled in the very complicated text. Some physical descriptions were nauseos, I did not like the Russian transcripions of the American places (Ramsdale and the like). But mostly I was just skipping through a lot of words to the core, because when we read in the native language, we tend to read fast.

Therefore I decided to give a try to the original English version, and it proved the right choice! Some things which sound so meaningful in English (I am guilty of killing Quilty for example, Dolores HAZE) were almost lost in translation. The word “nymphet” sounds in English like a butterfly’s development stage, in Russian “нимфетка” sounds like “coquette” and has a bit of contemptuous and diminutive note. In English, I read the book slowly and this pace perfectly suits Nabokov’s style!

Just a side note – the paper book I bought (you can see its image on the left) was weird – it lacked the introduction – foreword in which we know that both Humbert Humbert and Lolita already died, and the book itself was so badly glued so its pages got separated from each other very soon, and it was completely to pieces!

Plot and my impressions. “Lolita” is a multi-layer book which you can hardly call “nice”. It contains a lot of puzzles and literary allusions as Vladimir Nabokov, its author, was a chess player, scientist and highly educated person. To me, it’s a story of a person who can be hardly called sane. It is both repulsive and attractive. A deep introvert bearing his secrets inside him, and at last imprisoned by his own lust. The second part of the book is even more mysterious than the first. Some critics think the second part is an illusion of Humbert Humbert who made it up in the asylim while the girl he possessed (Lolita) died of some infection in the hospital. If not, the second part is really beautiful. It shows how the lust can become love, and how the coward may turn into lion. This does not mean I approve Humbert Humbert’s actions. But the scenes of him and pregnant Lolita, or Quilty’s killing captivated me and I consider them best in the novel. It was courageous of the author to include them in the end of the book (most people quit books in the very beginning, and the beginning may seem bleak in comparison with the end).

The note by the author was a real surprise to me. With the novels like “Lolita“, I prefer to read the book itself than the critical works on it. I never knew that publishing houses to whom Nabokov has posted his book originally, complained that the book had too few sexy scenes. And one of them even wanted “Lolita” to be a guy, and Humbert Humbert to be gay!

I cannot but mention that the name of the novel is the biggest puzzle to me because despite it’s called “Lolita“, it tells us very little of the girl’s mind – this is actually a story of Humbert Humbert who came across a teenage girl and changed (ruined) her life. Modern writers would surely write it in a different way – say, Dolores’ granndaughter would find Humbert’s diary and wonder which “skeletons in the cupboard” their family has. The story would have a family secret, a mysterious death, a villain, a person suffering of guilt and willing to confess, a love union in the present. Modern author would surely show the situation with the eyes of both Humbert Humbert and Lolita. Luckily Nabokov is not a modern author! And just because the most part of the book is “written by Humbert Humbert”, it’s difficult not to “symphatize” with him in the end though he was not behaving right!

This novel came out a complete suprise to me, and it showed to me the nature of passion – where it can come from and how it can be expressed. It also reminded that if a passion is devoid of love, and people cannot communicate normally, it will certainly have a tragic end!

Doomed Queen Anne

Tags

anne boleyn, england, henry VIII, tudors

Winter is a perfect time to re-read Carolyn Meyer’s young adult novels, especially about the Tudor women. All those women possessed unique personalities, but it is Anne Boleyn who thrilled me most. She managed to keep King Henry VIII enchanted for several years and was the only queen from non-royal family to marry whom the king divorced his legal wife and broke from the Roman Catholic Church! Her daughter was known as one of the wisest women ever, and I am sure that she inherited her mother’s wit. Carolyn Meyer traces the path of this brilliant woman in her novel “Doomed Queen Anne“.

Per my quess, when Carolyn Meyer prepares the facts for her books, she tries to build the whole view on some unique side each famous woman had, at least in her novels. This is most obvious in the Tudor series as those women shared the same time period and spoke the same languages. For Anne Boleyn, the key word was PRIDE. Born as not attractive daughter of  “newly rich” but ambitious father, she left home in early age, and she knew from the very beginning she was her sister’s rival. Trying to outrank her sister in every way, she set the difficult goal – the King of England! Anne determined to make him have her as a wife, and after achieving this but failing to provide the king with the sons, she died as a Queen, not as a common woman. She did much to be sorry of later, but she never regretted striving for power.

There can be doubts if the story is true to history; Wikipedia says not. However, there are a lot of versions about Henry VIII and his wives which allow different points of view, some of them fresh and interesting. The book is very sad, because Anne was very lonely, but I could not call her “poor”. Proud to the end, she died with her head high. And will be remembered as an extraordinary queen of the cruel time when men ruled, but at least one woman DARED to challenge them.

Where the broken heart still beats

Tags

america, carolyn meyer, indians, modern history, women in history

The US history does not date back long like Rome’s or Great Britain’s, but it is nevertheless full of tragic and bloody events. When white people came to the North America populated by Indians, the process of their accomodation was far from peaceful. There were victims – one of them Cynthia Ann Parker, the main character of Carolyn Meyer’s novel “Where the broken heart still beats: The story of Cynthia Ann Parker“.

During the long break I had from “young adult” and history books in English, I really missed Carolyn Meyer’s style. Her descriptions are very detailed and accurate, the character’s feelings are sincere, the writing is clear and a bit naive which makes it good for English learners and true to life as real people did not talk like Middle Ages’ scholars.

The book about Cynthia Ann Parker does not cheer the reader though. Her fate was truly remarkable. Kidnapped by Indians as a child, she lived with them for more than twenty years, learned their ways and most important, she learned to live up to THEIR principles. When she was brought back to her relatives, she was not a white Christian woman, but a NERM (a name The People – the tribe Cynthia Ann lived with – called themselves). Being with white people required great patience and courage. Unlike the characters of fantasy stories, and though stronger than the majority of white women, Cynthia Ann did not win wars, or walked through great distance to return to “her” people. She just waited, did the female chores and tried to survive. Cynthia Ann hoped that her daughter Topsannah (Prairie Flower) will return to where she belongs. Alas! Her hopes died vain.

I do not think each person who changed their life and language would accept the new notions as their own. Looks like Cynthia Ann’s personality was in harmony with the Comanche way of life. I do not know if there really was a person who could understand and symphatize that, but the author gave Cynthia Ann a wonderful companion – her cousin Lucy Parker. It was Lucy who kept the records of the family life while Cynthia Ann lived with them. Cynthia Ann’s voice is also heard when she tries to resolve her moral dilemma (how can she love people who killed almost all her family?) and desperately fails.

Also I cannot keep from mentioning that as a Tarot reader, I came across several decks which use the Red People’s symbolism. The book by Carolyn Meyer shows the difference of Comanche’s ways from our usual routine. Even without cell phones, computers and planes, the lives of white people and Indian tribes went different directions. The book contains the nicest and easiest description of “vision quest” I ever read about. I was sorry to learn of Cynthia Ann Parker, but would recommend the book to anybody willing to read the “young adult” prose.

 

Daughters of Rome

Tags

ancient history, history, kate quinn, rome

All of a sudden, I have shifted from England and France to the ancient Rome. This actually started with “reappearance” of Cleopatra in my life, but the books I read about her were not in English. Searching for some other book on the Roman topic, I found the new author – Kate Quinn. I liked her “Mistress of Rome” but her “Daughters of Rome” entirely carried me away!

The events take place during the very interesting period- the year of four Emperors. Galba was replaced by Otho, then came the short reign of Vitellius, and finally Vespasian took the throne. Four patrician girls (Cornelii) are introduced to the reader from the very beginning. They grew up very different women – a perfect wife Cornelia Prima, a wise and history-loving Marcella, Lollia in love with the life, but forever changing husbands. The fourth is Diana who dreamt of driving the chariot and spent all the time in horse stables.

Kate Quinn was able to intertwine the facts and the novel’s idea beautifully that the reader does not even want to question her version. All four women changed during that difficult year. But the most stunning change was the change of Marcella’s fate. From the unwanted wife she turned into the prince’s spouse, she stopped writing history for the sake of creating it. However we will encounter Marcella only briefly in the next novel because her participance in history was cut short by her new husband. It is quite difficult to describe the novel when reading it seems the only logical way! “Daughters of Rome” created the ancient Roman atmosphere and made me feel as if the events were my own experience. This novel is really great, and definitely worth reading!