All posts by MJS

review

Five Wives by Joan Thomas

Leslie L spoke of three books she recently read but particularly wanted to highlight Five Wives by Joan Thomas, which won the Governor General Award a couple of years ago.

The events at the centre of this book took place in 1956 in Eastern Ecuador.  A group of evangelical American missionaries was trying to make “friendly” contact with an isolated tribe of indigenous Ecuadorians living in the Amazonian basin.
Five young men with their wives and children arrive and settle in with different personalities and backgrounds and different attitudes towards their mission.  It is a doomed attempt and the five husbands/fathers are killed.  The wives and a sister of one of the men continue the mission with predictably unsettling results.  The author has fictionalized much of the story and has added a modern twist.  An excellent and compelling read!  Joan Thomas is a Canadian author living in Winnipeg. published 2019.

review

The Personal Librarian

Jeanne C’s description of The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray had us all wanting to read it!

Here’s her review:
J.P. Morgan, the famous New York City financier of the early 1900s chose Belle da Costa as his personal librarian to help him locate and acquire the masterpieces of the celebrated Pierpont Morgan Library. Throughout the book, Belle struggles to hide her origins as the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and to pass as White. The story follows her as she navigates through upper-class society and outmaneuvers her colleagues to negotiate for valuable artworks. The reader catches glimpses of well-known historical figures as they are portrayed in Belle’s own writings from the time.

review

Local history treasure by Brian Dawe

Jean F’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she regaled us with anecdotes and historical tidbits from Old Oxford is Wide Awake! Pioneer Settlers & Politicians in Oxford County 1793-1853 by Brian Dawe. She got it for a steal at a used book sale but the question is, will she ever lend it out? Likely not!

Here’s her review:

THE BOOK I HAVE BEEN READING – Jean Farquharson

Old Oxford is Wide Awake: Pioneer Settlers & Politicians in Oxford County 1793-1853.  Privately published by Wm Brian Dawe. c1980. This book is an absolute treasure I found at the Symphony Book Sale.

This local historian researched deeply about the opening up of Oxford County and local struggles for power and wealth, and follows through the War of 1812 and the 1837 Rebellion. Actors in the performances were the Tories and Reformists; Loyalists and Americans; the British settlers and officers who made up the local militias; the would-be aristocrats, including the military officers who were retired on half pay and Family Compact members. Those who settled in Oxford County faced deterrences when the isolated backwoods of newly formed Upper Canada was being settled with mills and connecting roads being cut out from Indian paths and military surveys; inns, industries and businesses created; schools founded; church groups struggled with domination by UC’s official Anglican church favoured with land grants by those in power.

The growth of settlements depended on the policies of Lieutenant-Gov. John Graves Simcoe who believed in loyally following the British aristocratic system.  He created boundaries and assigned townships in Oxford, Middlesex and Norfolk Counties to favoured developers requiring them to survey lots and develop roads to bring in settlers to his newly named communities. He appointed his associates to be local magistrates, justices of the peace, roadmasters, etc.

From primary sources – letters, reports, personal papers, government documents, maps, portraits, paintings from archives and libraries, Dawes found the stories describing squabbles, threats, bribes, self-serving antics of the people vying with each other to get control and the government fumbling and uncommunicative. Does it sound familiar?

Because Brant County did not yet exist, the story includes Burford and Oakland (Burford Gore) Townships which were part of Oxford. The book filled in a lot of details for me about their history as well as Oxford, where I grew up.

 

 

review

Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor

What could be more Canadian than a wendigo killer and an Indigenous hockey player hero? Wry, amusing, and so entertaining — this isn’t the usual description for a larger-than-life-horror-thriller but it fits Drew Hayden Taylor’s Cold perfectly. I loved the tight writing and the tension of this page-turning thriller. I also appreciated the homage to so many great Indigenous Canadian writers. This refreshing and entertaining novel will amuse every reader who is willing to suspend their disbelief for just a few hundred pages.

review

Strange Sally Diamond — review by Marsha S

What a story! Almost like The Maid meets Room. The layers peel back so breathlessly that I read this straight through. My heart went out to Sally, her mother and Lindy. Given all that she went through, Sally was the least strange character of all. Uplifting, brutal, humorous and sad.

Brantford news, Meetings

Our Speaker for the November 22 General Meeting

The Honourable Justice Gethin Edward was born and raised in Brantford, and is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
He attended Pauline Johnson Collegiate in Brantford, the University of Waterloo, and received his law degree through the
University of Western Ontario. Justice Edward began his law career with the highly respected firm of Howard Staats, where he
practiced law for 14 years, after which he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice. Justice Edward has taken on complex
projects such as the founding of the Indigenous Persons Court of Brantford, sometimes called the Gladue Court. He changed
how medicine was practiced in Ontario in his 2014 ruling that Aboriginal people have the right to use traditional medicines and
health practices for themselves and their families, a controversial decision at that time. In his personal life, Justice Edward has
been married to Vicki for 34 “wonderful years” and has two children. Justice Edward is generous with his time, often speaking
to local community groups, and we look forward to his talk to CFUW.

Brantford news, Interest Groups

Book group

Four of us were able to attend the book discussion group over lunch yesterday,  but we were able to talk about a dozen or so books. Marian brought her copy of Significant Lives, which was self-published by our club a number of years ago.  She was on the committee to produce it and told us many interesting anecdotes.

Leslie took notes with her beautiful script: