Tag Archives: Stephanie M. White

On the shelf: ‘The Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James

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By Stephanie M. White, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch

 

A good ghost story never hurt anyone, and this ghost story is up there with the best of them. Henry James’s famous tale of a governess, her charges, and a big, scary house is wrought with mystery and suspense. Even after you’ve finished the last sentence, you’ll still be wondering on whose side you should be.

 

James weaves the story from the point of view of a young governess whose first position is in a large, country house with only two children and a few servants. She is given strict instructions never to bother the master of the house, who lives in town. When the governess begins seeing strangers around the house, she quickly learns that they are the ghosts of the children’s last governess and the master’s valet, who may have been involved in a scandalous pregnancy. As the governess determines a plan of action for keeping the children safe, the plot thickens.

 

James’s readers, on a first reading, are likely to trust the governess when she tells us of the apparitions. As the story continues, though, it becomes more and more difficult to understand whether she is really seeing ghosts, whether the children are trying to trick her, or whether she is trying to trick them. The less their governess trusts the sweet children, the less readers trust the governess.

 

While this short novel will leave you wondering about who’s seeing ghosts, it will also leave you amazed at James’s talent for weaving a tale with such ambiguity and suspense.

On the shelf: ‘Bodies in Motion and at Rest: On Metaphor and Mortality’ by Thomas Lynch

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By Stephanie M. White, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch

 

Funeral home director Thomas Lynch’s essays are as much about poetry as they are about undertaking, as much about life as they are about death.

 

Acclaimed essayist and poet Lynch runs the family funeral home in Milford, Michigan. Bodies in Motion and at Rest is a collection of essays that addresses both of Lynch’s professions but, more importantly, links them wholly to one another. Lynch writes about the struggles of each profession and the struggles of mixing them. “Reno,” an essay that touches on marketing strategies for a poet/undertaker, contains moving passages comparing words of a poem to words spoken at a funeral.

 

In essays such as “Bodies in Motion and at Rest” and “Johnny, We Hardly Knew You” Lynch writes with the knowledge of an undertaker and the wisdom of one who has experienced the death of loved friends and family. He speaks against those who pretend that death may never affect them, and against those who allow the drama of celebrity deaths to overshadow their own losses.

 

Lynch doesn’t shy away from other serious topics. In “The Way We Are” he describes the alcoholism that runs in his family, writing with honesty about his own collisions with the disease and, more tragically, his son’s. As a victim of and a witness to alcoholism, Lynch writes with sensitivity and honesty about the grief of alcoholism.

 

These essays contrast with the funny, lighthearted tone found in the other essays of this collection. “Notes on ‘A Note on the Rapture to His True Love’” is a step-by-step approach to writing a good poem. With humor and satire, Lynch makes it clear that he is a humble, sincere poet. “Y2Kat” is a hilarious account of Lynch’s despised pet and adored son.

 

Like good poetry and good funerals, Lynch’s essays contain some death and some life, some humor and some sobriety, and plenty of honest wisdom.

On the shelf: ‘The Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James

Books, Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Reviews, , , , ,

By Stephanie M. White, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch

 

A good ghost story never hurt anyone, and this ghost story is up there with the best of them. Henry James’s famous tale of a governess, her charges, and a big, scary house is wrought with mystery and suspense. Even after you’ve finished the last sentence, you’ll still be wondering on whose side you should be.

 

James weaves the story from the point of view of a young governess whose first position is in a large, country house with only two children and a few servants. She is given strict instructions never to bother the master of the house, who lives in town. When the governess begins seeing strangers around the house, she quickly learns that they are the ghosts of the children’s last governess and the master’s valet, who may have been involved in a scandalous pregnancy. As the governess determines a plan of action for keeping the children safe, the plot thickens.

 

James’s readers, on a first reading, are likely to trust the governess when she tells us of the apparitions. As the story continues, though, it becomes more and more difficult to understand whether she is really seeing ghosts, whether the children are trying to trick her, or whether she is trying to trick them. The less their governess trusts the sweet children, the less readers trust the governess.

 

While this short novel will leave you wondering about who’s seeing ghosts, it will also leave you amazed at James’s talent for weaving a tale with such ambiguity and suspense.

On the shelf: ‘Ellen Foster’ by Kaye Gibbons

Books, Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, , , ,

By Stephanie M. White, Grand Rapids Main Library

 

In her first novel, Kaye Gibbons tells the story of Ellen Foster, a strong, funny, and honest girl. Or rather, she lets Ellen tell us herself. Gibbons brilliantly plays her characters’ voices, allowing each to ring true. But Ellen’s voice is strongest of all as she tells us about her family, her friends, and her search for a place and a life she can call her own.

 

Ellen begins her story with her mother’s death and continues with the journey of her own life. It is indeed a journey; while Ellen moves  from house to house and family to family,she begins to form her own traditions and ideas of how to survive in this world. She learns to take care of herself, to take care of her friends, and to decide for herself what is right and what is wrong.

 

Ellen’s story is gripping because she tells it so well. As she talks about living with different families, dealing with death, living with emotional abuse, and finding friends along the way, she convinces the reader to trust her and to be a part of her life. We come to feel sadness for a girl who must develop her own sense of who she is and where she stands in the world, as she gets little help from those around her.

 

Yet, we also trust Ellen because we can relate to her. We may not have had such tragic childhoods, nor had to address racism, alcoholism, abuse, and death at an early age, but we have all had to come to grips with these and other issues at some point. We may be five or ninety-five but, like Ellen, we will always be making choices about who we will be, what we will stand for, and with whom we will share our lives. Gibbons’ readers will learn something from Ellen, no matter who they are now and who they hope to become.