Life in 1945: Summer At Tiffany

Summer At Tiffany is a memoir which was written by Marjorie Hart, age 80, about the best summer of her life, the summer when she worked at the Tiffany Flagship in New York City.

In the summer of 1945 college student Marjorie Hart decided to leave her Iowa home and go to New York City for the summer, this book is a memoir which reads like historical fiction. Marjorie and her friend Marty are young, beautiful naïve girls from the Midwest. Marjorie packs one suitcase and heads to New York with aspirations of working at Lord and Taylor, or some other fine retail establishment. Marjorie and Marty are shocked when they see scores of young ladies filling out applications in lines ahead of them, alas, they have moved to New York for job opportunities that do not exist. I had to remind myself often that this story happened during World War II, when my grandmother would have been the same age as these young ladies (grandmother, not mother)!

 With zero hope of attaining the positions they assumed they would have, the depressed girls leave Lord and Taylor. But as they drive by Tiffany, Marty makes a snap decision and very bravely drags Marjorie into the Tiffany flagship store. The two friends somehow attain interviews despite the fact that Tiffany has never hired women on the sales floor. Two attractive young blondes with Swedish heritage may in fact be the freshness that the store needs. The ladies are soon hired to work as pages at Tiffany for the summer, their uniforms will be fantastic Tiffany blue shirtwaist dresses from Bonwits and thus the summer has begun.

The items that really stand out to me relate to the 1940s nostalgia...the war rations, the support-the-war-posters, the president (Truman) and the innocence. The rent and electricity is $65 and Marjorie and Marty were making $20 per week. Twenty dollars doesn't go too far these days, it would cover the cost of this book and two Starbucks coffees. Having studied branding and marketing, I thought it interesting that their discretionary funds would cover items like Coca-colas, Lucky Strikes, and Jergen's lotion. And when Marjorie and Marty don their Ester Williams bathing suits—it just brings to mind such an iconic description. There is a wonderful sentiment that runs throughout the book that, "There's a war going on, make do with what you've got." Isn't that something that we can take and apply today in this economy?

 What I liked the best about this novel was the history, the whole perspective of where Marjorie is while important historical events happen around her. Marjorie and Marty were living in an era of REAL history and they were in such a great location for it! They saw movie stars, wore fabulous clothes, went to the theater, celebrated the end of a war and lived a New York dream. These ladies were very lucky not only in gaining employment at Tiffany but also in everything they did, things always worked out for them.

 Author’s insight: I love that after her 80th Marjorie was determined to finish her book! She applied at a local writer’s conference where she and her Summer At Tiffany manuscript were discovered. It just goes to show that there is hope for the rest of us; it is never too late to write that novel. And what about Marjorie’s return to Tiffany sixty years later… I love Marjorie’s sentiment that in her day,” Ladies dressed like ladies and men dressed like men.”

 For me, this would be the perfect summer book which I would recommend as a travel or beach read. Summer at Tiffany is light, airy and easy. There is no pretentious language, it is a simple story told during a time when our country was at war. The main character is somehow brave naïve and innocent as she leaves her Midwest hometown during the war for the first time to work in New York for the summer.

 Summer At Tiffany was written by Marjorie Hart and is 258 Trade paperback pages.

The Enchanting Arcadia Falls

Immerse yourself in Arcadia Falls, a wonderfully woven fairy tale which combines a modern tale and a past mystery with an intertwining changeling story. At first this plot may remind you of The Forgotten Garden with which I encourage you to complete a comparison. For me, Arcadia Falls wins the comparison as it has the descriptive, elegant and engaging prose which truly enchants the reader.

 The story begins as Meg and Sally arrive at the small arts college of Arcadia in upstate New York where Meg has signed on to be the new English literature teacher. Recently widowed Meg is trying to establish a new life for herself and her teenage daughter, Sally. Meg is still reeling from the fact that her husband left them penniless which is why they had to sell their house and relocate.

 During the Great Depression, Lily and Vera founded the Arcadia Art colony, an artist escape in a time when women had to choose being either  an artist or a wife. Together Lily and Vera became famous for the fairy tales which they wrote and illustrated. Like a dark fairy tale, mystery and an untimely death happen when Lily falls to her death during a winter storm. While Vera was horrified at Lily’s death, she also felt betrayed as Arcadia soon learns that Lily was having an affair with a visiting artist…But Meg soon discovers that there is more to this tale than anyone suspected.

 During the First Night festival, Meg and Sally’s first night on the campus, a young and beautiful college student falls to her death just the way Lily did sixty plus years ago. This has to be an accident, but the coincidence is too unbelievable to dismiss. Meg, now living in Vera and Lily’s old cottage finds a secret compartment and in it discovers Lily’s diary, and soon the past begins to unravel into the present.

 Arcadia Falls was written by Carol Goodman and is available in trade paperback, 355 pages.

NEW! A Virtual Book Club: Summer At Tiffany

Hello My Fellow Book Lovers,

Are you looking for a great summer read? I am hoping that you will join my virtual book club in reading Summer at Tiffany, a memoir by Marjorie Hart. This book was chosen because it is about summer and because summer to me seems like a time to try lighter fiction. This true story is about two Iowa girls who travel to New York for summer jobs in 1945--it  already sounds like great fiction, right? I am really looking forward to reading this book with you!

I anticipate using this blog to attain comments and feedback, as well as Goodreads.com
You will have to join Goodreads. Then join the group Flit with Lit. Then RSVP to the Event!

If you aren't already a Goodreads member, you should consider joining, it is a great reader's forum. Please email me or join my Flit With Lit Group on Goodreads.com. Goodreads where I anticipate having our discussion forums!

Since it is summer, I have given us an extended reading timeline. The deadline for reading the book is August 1, 2011. However, I hope to get comments and thoughts from you as you read the book.

Have a great summer and please consider joining this virtual book club.  I am looking forward to this new endeavor.

Best Summer Vacation Reading Wishes,
Sara

Summer at Tiffany  by Marjorie Hart is 267 Trade Paperback Pages, and will be in the memoir/biography section.

Matilda: A Whimsical and Arty Romp

Revert back to your inner child as you fall in love with childhood memories and Roald Dahl all over again. It is not just the writing, it is also the illustrations—together the words and pictures intertwine to ensure a wonderfully told story. Be sure to schedule yourself a few hours with this captivating and wonderful children’s book full of kicky prose and childish cartoony illustrations. I was thrilled that even with the modern paperback, the publishers kept Quentin Blake’s fabulous illustrations.

 Matilda is an intelligent and independent child who has never known parental love. Matilda’s parents ignore her; they are self-absorbed dimwits on the grandest scale of dimwittery.  In the adult fiction world this would translate into a tragic coming of age story of Oprah Book club proportions. But because this is a children’s book, there is tremendous light and laughter mixed in with the sad happenings. And perhaps, just maybe, we can believe that there will be a happy ending.

 Early in her life Matilda discovers books; soon she is reading Great Expectations and learning mathematical equations. Matilda’s parents don’t understand Matilda; they are “gormless” TV watching losers with no life aspirations. Matilda’s dishonest car dealer father epitomizes shady and unloving. Matilda’s life and further troubles begin when her father sells a faulty car to school headmistress Trunchbull. After telling The Trunchbull about his terrible no-good daughter, she agrees to take on this pitiful student. Living up to her name, The Trunchbull is a mean hard woman who despises children; getting away with tossing them around by their pigtails. After all, whose parents would believe that a headmistress would behave that way?

 Matilda finds an unexpected and wonderful advocate in Miss Honey, her teacher. Realizing that Matilda is absolutely special, Miss Honey strives to get her into an older more advanced class in school. The Trunchbull will have none of it, Matilda is to stay put. Miss Honey doesn’t give up, and soon the bond between lonely teacher and lonely child is formed. Miss Honey also has a shocking revelation; The Trunchbull is her Aunt! Furthermore, The Trunchbull may have killed Miss Honey’s father, in order to have his house and inheritance. Meanwhile, feeling threatened, Miss Honey has had to move into a small and drafty house, especially sad since the Trunch continues to take Miss Honey’s paycheck.

 Armed with the knowledge that Trunchbull is a heartless adversary, Matilda will learn that she has the power to change the situation. When she focuses, Matilda has some special almost magical skills that she can use to stop the beastly Trunchbull. We all have hope that the evil doers will be defeated. This book will leave the reader in a good mood—if you loved Roald Dahl as a child it is even better as an adult. Do escape into the fun, whimsy and delight… I rather think that gormless is my new favorite adjective.

 Matilda was written by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake and consists of 240 paperback pages.

Alone Time with I'll Walk Alone

 It has been many years since I have read Mary Higgins Clark...and I was surprised when I became thoroughly engrossed in this modern suspense novel. I highly recommend that you take I’ll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark on your next vacation! Escape into a quiet place where you can be alone and read this book cover to cover uninterrupted.

 Unfolding like a suspense movie, the story begins when a woman makes a confession to a Father O’Brien. The unknown woman knows that a murder is about to happen but she can do nothing to stop it. The priest does not know the woman and cannot prevent the murder, so he prays. The priest has no idea that a killer has watched the young lady go into his confessional, and now he is a target.

 Today Zan Moreland is a rising star, a Manhattan interior designer about to attain the corporate design job that will firmly establish her top design reputation. Two years ago Zan’s young son disappeared in an afternoon in Central Park when he was being watched by a babysitter. Zan is trying to move on with her life, focusing on her career, but she thinks of her son daily and is especially sad on what would have been his fifth birthday. On the two year anniversary of her son's kidnapping, a photograph of Zan (or someone dressed exactly like Zan) appears in the papers and shows her taking her son out of his stroller. Zan feels crazy as the photo is impossible, and yet the look-alike is wearing the exact outfit that she wore the day her son disappeared. The photo is so convincing that Zan’s ex husband angrily accuses her of stealing their son.

 With the emergence of this new photograph, police detectives start reinvestigating the case of the missing child. Zan’s friends know that she did not harm her son, but the photograph makes them doubt themselves and her. Zan’s husband is now eager for Zan to be arrested. Zan’s interior design nemesis Bartley Longe is confident and secretly thrilled at the idea of Zan’s impending arrest; surely this means she will lose the job for which they’ve both placed competitive design bids.

 When the photo emerges, the rest of Zan’s life starts collapsing. Suddenly, Zan’s bank account has been reduced to nothing; all of her savings are gone. Someone has forged her signature for design jobs and ordered supplies against her credit; all the while that same person has purchased clothing on her credit card. Her assistant wonders why Zan has bought a one-way ticket to Argentina. Zan claims that she has not made any of these purchases, but her lawyer advises her against claiming identity theft when charges of kidnapping or worse are pending against her.

 There is a reason that Mary Higgins Clark is called the Queen of Suspense, and this novel is a continuation of her legacy. Many readers will enjoy the easy flow as the novel transitions quickly through small character chapters and story segments. First there is the priest, then Zan, Zan’s ex-husband, the kidnapper/ identity thief, and Zan’s friends. The plot moves along at a steady and interesting pace until all the pieces fall into place with a well-wrapped and satisfying ending.

Cover Judgement: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, 384 trade paperback pages

 Ahhhh! I admit to being visually shallow and adoring this book's cover art the minute I saw the book! I’d nominate this book for the Book Art Cover Awards, if I hadn’t learned that this is the exact cover from Life Magazine, March 1924. The cover art is artistic and whimsical and I love it!

There are little gems and glimpses of wonderful language mixed throughout this proper British novel. And I loved the beginning, it was what I wanted, a first Chapter that fulfilled my great expectations. It is early in the book that Mrs. Ali and Major Pettigrew meet for the “first time”. They have met numerous times throughout the year, the Major buys his tea at Mrs. Ali’s shop, but this is their first encounter outside of her village shop. Mrs. Ali shows up at the Majors doorstep while he is in shock at having learned of the death of his brother. Feeling alone and not at all himself, the Major allows Mrs. Ali into his house where she proceeds to comfort him by making him tea. And so it begins...The Major’s widowed eyes suddenly open he starts to notice how lonely he’s been and how wonderful it feels to have a woman in the house again. The only problem is that the Major and Mrs. Ali live in a small English village—a quagmire of endless gossip and prejudice. Mrs. Ali hails from Pakistan which means that she is subjected to her relative’s expectations of a Pakistani widow with no children. The Major is a proper British gentleman who heretofore has lived a rigid and uncomplicated life. For the Major and all of his manners and properness, he realizes that just being seen with Mrs. Ali will get the local townspeople all aflutter.

Well, the beginning was great but I had issues with the middle and end. Central to the storyline is the Major’s belief that his brother’s widow will honor his expectation that he will inherit his brother's Churchill gun. The Major has one Churchill given to him by his dying father and his brother had the other gun—the pair were meant to be together. The only problem is that the two Churchills together have great value…enter Major Pettigrew’s snot-faced money hungry son and his brother’s greedy widow.

One quote that resonated with me was said by Mrs. Ali early in the novel, “I tell myself that it does not matter what one reads-favorite authors, particular themes-as long as we read something.” Isn’t that a wonderful sentiment?

Overall I think readers who love English novels and literature will enjoy Major Pettigrew and his dry wit. I wonder though if book clubs will enjoy this book? I am not sure that the book is broad enough, it may be a bit too standoffishly British.


Spoiler ALERT (below):

Issues that I had with this novel:

1. The Major says nothing and does nothing when Mrs. Ali leaves town. There is no logic as to why he would immediately fall back to Grace the townspeople approved and accepted choice for him. Somehow Grace is supposed to be perceived as the right choice and better than living alone? Seriously?
2. As an educated woman, Mrs. Ali resignedly and all too easily gives up her shop to her moody and disgruntled nephew. Then she leaves town to become a slave and housekeeper for her distant relatives--I don’t see the logic as sanity would dictate trying other solutions before this one. Especially because the nephew has no likable quality and the personality of a rock.
3. Roger, Major Pettigrew’s son has learned absolutely nothing. He never gains respect for his father; his moral compass remains at less than zero for this entire book. He is a bitter disappointment to the Major and to the reader.
4. Even discovering and uncovering his feelings for Mrs. Ali , the Major obsesses continually over the stupid Churchill guns. In the face of love, I’d have liked for him to have given up his obsession, been the bigger man and aimed for love over all material goods.
5. My hope was that the Major and Mrs. Ali would skip town and happily escape into a new and better life in another small town—far away from the snarky townspeople and the insufferable Roger.

Escape into The Forgotten Garden

The Forgotten Garden

 

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton tells a sad and twisted almost-fairy-tale story, one that weaves between three generations from past to present. Mixed into the novel are little fairy tales which were written by an elusive author named Eliza Makepeace.

The beginning starts with a little girl, abandoned on a ship sailing toward Australia in the early 1900s. Months later the little girl and her small suitcase are found by the harbor master. The harbor master and his wife have been longing for children and he instantly adores the little girl, bringing her home to his wife. Soon, the harbor master and his wife are moving in order to present the little girl as their own in the next town. The harbor master knows that someone will be looking for the little girl, but she has become such a part of his family that he cannot giver her up. No one knows the little girls identity and she is very young, refusing to give her name.

In the present we meet Cassandra, a young lady who has been raised by her Grandmother. Upon her Grandmother’s death, Cassandra learns that her Grandmother has left her a cottage located in across the sea on the English coast. Cassandra’s Grandmother has never mentioned this other house so Cassandra feels compelled to visit to determine why her Grandmother held this secret. It is on the Cornish coast that Cassandra starts to unravel her Grandmother’s secret past and identity.

In the 1900s, Eliza lives in the slums on the Thames. Eliza is a strong-willed girl who makes up stories to comfort her brother every night. Eliza’s life is filled with hardship and suffering, and it almost seems a blessing when she is rescued from the slums by a distant relative. Soon she has a room in a beautiful old mansion, and she has the freedom to run by the sea. In her explorations, it doesn’t take long for her to discover the forgotten garden.

This story is winding and complex, and unfolds toward the end like a mystery. I knew that there would be parallels to The Secret Garden, but I was not expecting Eliza’s stories to be like those of the Brother’s Grimm and like those we all know through Disney, almost too similar in that they didn’t feel original. And, I had wanted the writing to be more rich and luminous. The writing style is simple and easy which was unexpectedly disappointing. And, I had figured out the mystery long before the end…
 
Still, I can see how this would lead to interesting book club discussions:

• There are three storylines that follow three different women, what are their similarities/how do they differ?
• Compare The Forgotten Garden to The Secret Garden
• How similar are the Eliza stories to the Grimm fairytales?
•  Nell’s choices on her 21st birthday impacted the rest of her life; did she make the right decision? 
•  Did you think this was a love story, a tragedy or a modern fairy tale?

The Forgotten Garden Book club: Buy flowers and place in living room and on dining table. Get out the good china (and maybe some antiques); serve quiche, tea and petit fours. Place a stack of your favorite childhood fairy tales on the coffee table. One idea: Start the book club by reading a short fairy tale.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, is 549 trade paperback pages.