book reviews

Godfrey Hodgson, A Great and Godly Adventure: The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving - It's an interesting idea, tracing the development of what we consider "Thanksgiving" from the earliest days of the landing at Plymouth and adding a firm grounding in the changing definitions and ideas of Thanksgiving over time, but overall I found it dryly written and not particularly engaging.

Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring - Chevalier's writing is pretty, sprinkled with carefully described detail and heavy on setting. But in the end, it's like a play you go to for the props and costuming and scenery and not for the acting or the story, because Chevalier provides little in the way of plot or characterization. Her main character, the maid Griet, has no particular personality. Chevalier strives to create one by means of the simple detail of the maid covering her hair at all times, but since we never see the unfettered creature Griet might become if she let her hair down, the conceit has little impact. Vermeer is painted as an unbelievable creature - in complete dominance over the household, yet in so little control that he can't even step in when Griet is accused of a transgression that is obviously his fault in many ways. In the end, the denouement is trivial, even for the times, and Griet's personality remains a cipher. Overall, this appears to have been a book written because Chevalier wished to use the setting, and she created a thin story to support her descriptions.

Elizabeth Peters, The Deeds of the Disturber - A refreshing departure from the Egyptcentric first four installments of the series, this one placed the Emersons in London, in a fascinating exploration of how their typical skills and attitudes are altered in the more genteel atmosphere of what they considered "civilization." One of her better efforts, I thought.

Freeman, Mary E. Wilkins, The Revolt of Mother and Other Stories - A set of stories about homely women, and their strength. Sometimes it's hidden strength, shown in their defiance of those who want to change their lives, or their stubborn clinging to their views of the right way to do things, and other times it's overt, as in the title story when the woman takes over her husband's new barn instead of living in the dilapidated house he's never taken the time to improve. They are simple stories about simple people, but the more powerful because of their simplicity.