#BookReview: The Taste of Salt - Martha Southgate

Everybody has something that they're trying to hide or that they're ashamed of or would like to pretend never happened.  In a family where addiction is your legacy, it's a safe bet that if you don't confront the issue head on, it's guaranteed to rear its ugly head sooner or later, and probably when you least expect it.  And so it is with Josie Henderson and her family.

I love breathing underwater but still being safe, held, protected.  I love the weightlessness.  I never feel that the rest of the time.  Life weighs a ton.  That's why I love the water.  Nothing weighs anything there.

A marine biologist, Josie has always loved the water.  It's her escape from everything that ails her, anything that weighs her down.  As a child, the water was an escape from the destruction alcoholism brought to her happy family.  As an adult, it allows her to keep that same family at bay in Cleveland while she works in the Northeast.  But you can't run from your problems forever and when Josie's brother Tick sinks into the depths of alcoholism himself, she's forced to return home once again.  And just like that, the weightlessness that water gives her is taken away.  Back on dry land, life once again weighs a ton.

While Josie is quick to point out her father and brother's addiction, it takes her much longer to realize its affect on her.  She goes to great lengths to avoid anything that will weigh her down.  Though she's married, it's apparent that her husband loves her much more than she loves him.  Having kids would weigh her down, so even as she's approaching the time when her biological clock should be ticking out of control, she has no desire for them.  And when the weight of being in an interracial marriage weighs on her even slightly, she seeks something easier, something that weighs less.

Told from the perspectives of Josie, Tick and their parents, Ray and Sarah, The Taste of Salt is simply amazing.  Watching Ray's drinking spiral out of control so much so that it costs him the family that he dearly loves and to watch Tick do the same years later is scary, but makes you ask why would he follow his father's path knowing where it would end, having experienced it as a child.  What makes Sarah love so hard and for so long? And at one point does Josie realize that the water can't save her from everything.

What did you like about this book?
Martha Southgate's book always make me think. While I can easily breeze through works by other authors, I find that I have to give myself time to read, think and savor each word with her.

What didn't you like about this book?
I can't think of a thing.

What could the author do to improve this book?
Nothing.

288pp
Published September 2011

Theme: Aguas de Marco by Antonio Carlos Jobim & Elis Regina

#BookReview: Third Girl from the Left - Martha Southgate

There comes a time in every woman's life when she realizes that her mother is human.  I mean, logically, you know that your mother is human, of course.  And to any other observer, it's extremely obvious.  But there's a point, as a daughter, when you realize that she's just as imperfect and capable of making mistakes as anyone else.  Martha Southgate's Third Girl From the Left beautifully exposes the flaws of three generations of women who are anything but perfect.

Raising a family in 1950s Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mildred finds her escape in film.  Weekly matinees at the local theater provide an escape from her role as wife and mother.  As the wife of the town's only black pharmacist, Mildred's place in society means she must abide by a strict set of rules.  A blossoming friendship with the projectionist would be frowned upon if anyone were to find out about it.

Though they often butt heads about other things, one thing Mildred and her daughter, Angela, can agree on is their love of film.  Angela knows she's not the daughter Mildred wants her to be (and the feeling is mutual) and dreams of the day when she can escape her small town living for the bright lights of Hollywood.  Once there she finds that Hollywood is full of small town girls with the same dream.  That doesn't stop her from trying to get her big break.  Along the way, she also finds love in the most unlikely person.

As the daughter and granddaughter of Mildred and Angela, respectively, Tamara has the love of movies in her blood.  Angela wasn't the best mother, but she saw to it that Tamara's basic needs were met.  Her emotional distance has left Tamara struggling to maintain a relationship not only with her, but with her film school boyfriend as well.  When Mildred takes ill, it is Tamara and her camera that build a bridge between Mildred and Angela.

What did you like about this book?
I loved each of the women.  They were all amazing in their own right.  And I LOVED that Southgate set this story in Tulsa and highlighted Black Wall Street and the 1921 riots.  As someone that has visited Tulsa several times, I was familiar with the history, but I was excited to see it used as part of the back story for Mildred.

What didn't you like about this book?
I wish Angela had more of herself to give to Tamara.  Like I said before, she provided basic needs, but I almost felt like Tamara got in the way of the life Angela wanted and she kept her at a distance as punishment for that.

What could the author do to improve this book?
Absolutely nothing!

288pp
Published: September 2005

 

Theme: Wide Open Spaces by The Dixie Chicks

#BookReview: THE FALL OF ROME by Martha Southgate

The Fall of Rome really is a play on words.  The opening character is Jerome Washington, the only African American faculty member at a prestigious, predominantly white, all boys boarding school, The Chelsea School, in Connecticut.  Jerome firmly believes in pulling one up by one's own bootstraps without reaching back to help anyone else that might be struggling along the way.  Thanks to his hard work and his Harvard training, he's been on staff at The Chelsea teaching Latin for numerous years.  One of his greatest passions is studying Rome.

...but I share the view of those scholars who have argued that ancient Rome was a place of racial egalitarianism.  I am not so naive as to believe that this country's long history of racial prejudice has been eradicated.  But I do believe that those of us whom Du Bois called "the darker brothers" could profit from accepting the values that Chelsea at its best espouses.   And while I see this school's standards softening under the relentless onslaught of preferential treatment, I want to continue to uphold the values that the school's founders held dear.

Mr. Washington can barely disguise his contempt for Rashid Bryson, the young freshman from New York.  Rashid has come to Connecticut after the death of his brother, a death that has left his parents shells of their former selves.  Adapting to Chelsea, and its student body, will be difficult for a brown boy Brooklyn.  When he notices that the Latin class is taught by Mr. Washington, he takes the class in hopes that he'll find an ally or mentor in him.


There are so many factors at play within this story.  Rashid is looking for acceptance in a world in which he's unfamiliar.  Mr. Washington is haunted by the ghost of his past and is determined to keep boys that don't belong at a place like Chelsea out of it.  Jana needs a chance to redeem herself from her last failure to save a promising student.

What did you like about this book?
I absolutely loved this book!  Any time you find yourself talking back to the pages and wanting to punch a character in the throat, it's got to be a great book.  Martha Southgate has done an exquisite job of creating such a character in Jerome Washington.  From page one I hated him and, while I kept hoping he would have at least one redeemable quality by the end, he had none.

At one point Rashid gives a speech that sounds like something straight from the mouth of President Obama.  Given that the book was written in 2002, either the author is psychic or it's just a coincidence.  In either case, the speech he gave is just as applicable to the present day real world as it was in the fictional world in which Rashid resided.

What did you dislike about this book?
Nothing. I'm only sorry that more people haven't read it.

What could the author do to improve this book?
Not a thing.

224pp
Published January 2002




Theme: Can't Truss It by Public Enemy