Eloise Movie, Quote of the Day, Outlander's Final Season on March 6, the Housekeeper Movie, The Seamstress of New Orleans by Diane C McPhail, Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall, The Paris Notebook by Tessa Harris, and Mystic Pieces by Ada Bell

First of all, welcome to February, the month of Valentines Day and when spring is just around the corner, as temps warm and the earth springs back to life. I'm so excited to read some great new books and finally get our home cleared of Jim's malevolence following his death this past December. Whenever it all seems overwhelming, I sometimes wander over to the great science fiction writer John Scalzi's humorous web blog, Whatever, to hear what's new in his world. He never disappoints. Here's a link to his page. Enjoy! https://whatever.scalzi.com/

I used to read the Eloise books, and I loved them because they were so far outside of my experience as a child of middle class suburban Iowa. This movie should be fantastic, especially with Gilmore Girl's Amy SP on hand to direct.

Movies: Eloise

A live-action movie adaptation of Eloise is in the works, with Netflix recently boarding the project to distribute, Deadline reported. Based on the children's book series written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight, the film will be directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino from a script she co-wrote with Hannah Marks and Linda Woolverton.

The cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Sally Hawkins, David Haig, Victor Garber, Max Casella, Isaac Bae, and Mae Schenk. Reynolds will produce through his Maximum Effort company, along with George Dewey, Ashley Fox and Johnny Pariseau. Woolverton will also produce, with Molly Milstein and Sophia Travagliae exec producing for Maximum Effort.

"The family film's logline is currently under wraps but will be a wholly original adventure," with Reynolds playing a new villain, Deadline noted. Independent film and TV studio MRC acquired rights to Eloise in 2019 and is overseeing production. Handmade Films will work in conjunction with MRC on the production. MRC is collaborating on the film with the Thompson estate, Knight, and Simon & Schuster, the book series' publisher.

HECK YEAH! We need to stand up, as a people, to the jack-booted thugs of the current fascist POTUS and his evil eradication of anyone who doesn't believe in his cruel sexist, racist and homophobic administration and its policies. I can hardly believe this is happening in a peaceful place like Minneapolis. 

Quotation of the Day

'Time for Us to All Stand Up Together'

"At least 8 people have died at the hands of ICE just this month, including Alex Pretti and Renee Good who were brutally killed in Minneapolis. The people of DC know what it is like to have armed goons roaming the streets accosting and even abducting our friends and neighbors. We have been living under federal occupation for the last six months, and there is no end in sight. Across the country, every day, ICE, Border Patrol and other enforcers of Trump's racist agenda are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear. It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!

"The people and small businesses of Minnesota have shown the way for the whole country--to stop ICE's reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN. "So, on Friday, January 30, join in a nationwide day of no school, no work and no shopping."Solid State Books will be closed tomorrow in support of this national shutdown.

"As much as we hate closing our doors, we believe in standing up for what is right and supporting the rights and safety of our neighbors. So please join us in this nationwide strike if you can, but, above all, deprive the big corporations of their commerce for the day. This Friday, do not shop on Amazon, at big box stores, or buy from the tech companies that sell us out."--from an e-mail to customers from Solid State Books

I can't believe its been 8 seasons of the delight that is Outlander, though there are parts that were extremely difficult to watch. As a rape survivor, it seems impossible to me that Claire has been raped so many times, and yet seems to suffer no long-lasting PTSD from it, and just goes back to her near perfect relationship with Jamie, where she welcomes his sexuaThe Housekl attention. I could barely look at a man after I was raped, for over a year. The drift here seems to be that if you have someone who loves you with all their heart, you will be just fine in no time, which is unrealistic and misogynistic at the same time. Still, I will watch the final season, just to see how they end it.

TV: Outlander, the Final Season

STARZ has released an official trailer for the eighth and final season of Outlander, which is inspired by Diana Gabaldon's bestselling novels. The time-traveling drama returns on March 6, with new episodes streaming weekly on Fridays, on the STARZ app and all STARZ streaming and on-demand platforms in the U.S. The first seven seasons are available on STARZ platforms.

Outlander stars Caitríona Balfe as Claire Fraser, Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser), Sophie Skelton (Brianna MacKenzie), Richard Rankin (Roger MacKenzie), John Bell (Young Ian Murray), David Berry (Lord John Grey), Charles Vandervaart (William Ransom), and Izzy Meikle-Small (Rachel Murray). 

STARZ noted that as season eight begins, "Jamie and Claire find the war has followed them home to Fraser's Ridge, now a thriving settlement that has grown and flourished in their absence. With new arrivals and changes made during their years away, the Frasers are confronted with the question of what they are willing to sacrifice for the place they call home and what, more importantly, they would sacrifice to stay together.

While the Frasers keep a united front against outside intruders, family secrets finally coming to light threaten to tear them apart from the inside. Although they've left the war for America's freedom behind, their fight for Fraser's Ridge has only just begun."

This movie has a huge and magnificent cast, and it sounds like they adapted the book into a great script. I will be keeping an eye out for its premier.

Movies: The Housekeeper

Helena Bonham Carter, Caitríona Balfe, Emma Laird, and Anthony Hopkins will star in The Housekeeper, directed by Richard Eyre (The Children Act) from a screenplay by Rose Tremain that is based on her short story and forthcoming novel, Deadline reported. Shooting will begin this month.

"Rose Tremain has written a brilliant screenplay which is dark and surprising and mysterious, and we look forward to making a film which lives up to its promise," Eyre said. 

Producer Julia Taylor-Stanley of Artemis Films added: "Assembling a cast of such caliber speaks to the power of Rose's storytelling, and to Richard's standing amongst the great British directors. We are excited to be working with our talent on bringing this compelling story to the screen."

The film's synopsis: "Set against the wild, brooding landscape of Cornwall, Danni (Balfe) is the housekeeper at Manderville Hall, a grand historic house owned by the wealthy and widowed Lord Grenville-Whithers (Hopkins). When the young writer Daphne du Maurier (Laird) arrives, Danni is drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair. For one, it is an all-consuming love; for the other, an awakening of long-suppressed desires. Their fragile secret threatens to unravel under the watchful gaze of Adelaide (Bonham Carter), Lord Grenville-Whithers' calculating niece."

 

The Seamstress of New Orleans by Diane C McPhail is a historical turn of the 20th century novel with just enough romance and intrigue to keep readers glued to the page. Here's the blurb: Set against the backdrop of the first all-female Mardi Gras krewe at the turn-of-the-century, the acclaimed author’s mesmerizing historical novel tells of two strangers separated by background but bound by an unexpected secret—and of the strength and courage women draw from and inspire in each other.

The year 1900 ushers in a new century and the promise of social change, and women rise together toward equality. Yet rules and restrictions remain, especially for women like Alice Butterworth, whose husband has abruptly disappeared. Desperate to make a living for herself and the child she carries, Alice leaves the bitter cold of Chicago far behind, offering sewing lessons at a New Orleans orphanage.

Constance Halstead, a young widow reeling with shock under the threat of her late husband’s gambling debts, has thrown herself into charitable work. Meeting Alice at the orphanage, she offers lodging in exchange for Alice’s help creating a gown for the Leap Year ball of Les Mysterieuses, the first all‑female krewe of Mardi Gras. During Leap Years, women have the rare opportunity to take control in their interactions with men, and upend social convention. Piece by piece, the breathtaking gown takes shape, becoming a symbol of strength for both women, reflecting their progress toward greater independence.

But Constance carries a burden that makes it impossible to feel truly free. Her husband, Benton, whose death remains a dangerous mystery, was deep in debt to the Black Hand, the vicious gangsters who controlled New Orleans’ notorious Storyville district. Benton’s death has not satisfied them. And as the Mardi Gras festivities reach their fruition, a secret emerges that will cement the bond between Alice and Constance even as it threatens the lives they’re building.

The prose is elegant and detailed enough that the reader can feel themselves falling down the rabbit hole of life in 1900, and yet the unusual circumstances that these women find themselves in, wherein they must battle society and its conventions as well as gangsters and evil wealthy men set to exploit them, is relentless enough that you just keep turning pages until there are no more left. The plot is full of twists and turns, yet it never lets the dry details slow its progress. I'd give this fascinating book a B+ and recommend it to anyone interested in fabrics, sewing or fashion in historical New Orleans.

 

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall is a historical (1963) coming of age novel about a young girl's journey to find her mother and find a family to love and care for her in the deep South. Here's the blurb: 

From an award-winning author comes a wise and tender coming-of-age story about a nine-year-old girl who runs away from her Mississippi home in 1963, befriends a lonely woman suffering loss and abuse, and embarks on a life-changing road trip.

Whistling past the graveyard. That’s what Daddy called it when you did something to keep your mind off your most worstest fear...

In the summer of 1963, nine-year-old Starla Claudelle runs away from her strict grandmother’s Mississippi home. Starla’s destination is Nashville, where her mother went to become a famous singer, abandoning Starla when she was three. Walking a lonely country road, Starla accepts a ride from Eula, a black woman traveling alone with a white baby. Now, on the road trip that will change her life forever, Starla sees for the first time life as it really is—as she reaches for a dream of how it could one day be.

 

This book, as noted by one critic, is a deft marriage of Stocket's "The Help" and "To Kill A Mockingbird," with a protagonist who, after running away from her nasty abusive and cruel grandmother, sets out to find the idealized dream of her mother, whom she's not seen since she was a baby. Unsurprisingly, she discovers that her mother is an alcoholic waitress who isn't a famous singer, and who really doesn't want to care for or raise her daughter because, like many alcoholics, she's a selfish, cruel and vain person who can't be bothered with her adult responsibilities. Sadly, her father isn't much better, but at least he believes Starla when she explains how horribly she's been treated by his mother. While on the road, Starla meets an abused black woman, Eula, who has taken in an abandoned white baby, and whose husband is a murderous abusive asshat. Fortunately, Eula knows how to parent and love children, so Starla and little James soak up her kindness and love like sponges on their road trip fleeing their horrible pasts. The prose takes a dense and painful subject and floods it with light and life and humor, making the plot streak past like a rocket. I'd give this novel an A, and recommend it to anyone interested in road trip women's movies and in the national zeitgeist in 1963, which was the year JFK was assassinated. 

 

The Paris Notebook by Tessa Harris is a WWII historical fiction book that looks at the war from the angle of a librarian who discovers that a professor she knows was once Adolf Hitler's psychiatrist. He wants her to type up his medical findings about what a nutter Hitler is, and scuttle his rise to power. Here's the blurb: 

A secret big enough to destroy the Führer’s reputation. . .

January 1939:

When Katja Heinz secures a job as a typist at Doctor Viktor’s clinic, she doesn’t expect to be copying top secret medical records from a notebook.

At the end of the first world war, Doctor Viktor treated soldiers for psychological disorders. One of the patients was none other than Adolf Hitler. . .

The notes in his possession declare Hitler unfit for office – a secret that could destroy the Führer’s reputation, and change the course of the war if exposed. . .

With the notebook hidden in her hat box, Katja and Doctor Viktor travel to Paris. Seeking refuge in the Shakespeare and Company bookshop, they hope to find a publisher brave enough to print the controversial script.

But Katja is being watched. Nazi spies in Paris have discovered her plan. They will stop at nothing to destroy the notebook and silence those who know of the secret hidden inside. 

I found this book fascinating, as it would totally make sense for any mental health professional to realize that Hitler was a meglomaniac after treating him for hysterical blindness. The fact that he developed a cadre of other sick and twisted men around him who would stop at nothing to gain power and wealth didn't surprise me as much as the reality that so many European and American newspapermen and diplomats and government officials refused to publish the notes or take the step of showing the world how ruthless and horrifying Hitler and his regime could be. No one wanted to take any risks, (unless you count the protagonists), and their cowardice cost millions of lives. It seems to me that the "greatest generation" has more than a few people who should have spent their post war years hanging their heads in shame. I'd give this novel of vigorous prose and stalwart plot a B, and recommend it to historical fiction fans who might not have known of this part of Hitler's life.

 

Mystic Pieces by Ada Bell is a paranormal cozy mystery with light and zingy prose and a fast plot that reels you in and doesn't let you go until the final page. Here's the blurb: 

Aly doesn't believe in psychics. Too bad she just had a vision.

Between finishing her biology degree, taking care of her nephew, and starting a new job at the antique store while drooling over the owner's gorgeous son, Aly has no time for visions. But when cranky customer Earl is killed, and Aly's new boss Olive is the prime suspect, she must use her newfound power to save the only person who understands Aly's gifts. Who hated Earl enough to kill? Police would rather make a quick arrest than investigate, so it's up to Aly to clear Olive's name.

This small town is reeling from the first murder in decades. If Aly can get her hands on the right object, she'll know what happened. Can she learn to control her visions before the killer sets their sights on her?

Welcome to Shady Grove: where science meets seances. Mystic Pieces is the first book in the Shady Grove Psychic Mystery series, which is perfect for readers who like small towns, antiques, supernatural sleuths, and slightly nerdy STEM heroines. Okay, really nerdy heroines. Fans of Stella Bixby, Annabel Chase, Amy Boyles, Lily Harper Hart, and Samantha Silver will be captivated by the secrets of Shady Grove. Join Aly on a suspense-filled journey to prove her boss's innocence.

 

This is a book that I would consider a "palate cleanser" to read after you've indulged in a heavy 400-500 page novel that pulls on all your heartstrings and leaves you wrung out and slightly depressed (some call it a book hangover).  I liked Aly and her newfound powers, though I always get impatient with the women in these books who get all faint-hearted when they learn magic is real...just go with it and enjoy, already! I was surprised that I didn't know "Whodunnit" before the final chapter, but once Aly walked everyone through her vision in the bowling alley, it all made sense. I'd give this cozy mystery a B-, and recommend it to anyone interested in small town shenanigans.