Reimagining King David: The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks

Here is a man who is both great and flawed, just like those tragic heroes Oedipus and King Lear. Meredith Jaffe, The Guardian

When I read Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders:A Novel of the Plague   it changed my mind about historical fiction. I read every one of her novels as they came out: March which won the Pulitzer Prize, The People of the Book, and Caleb's Crossing. I was thrilled to get an ARC through NetGalley of her new book The Secret Chord.

The Secret Chord is a novelization about the life of King David, informed by the Bible and re-imagined from a 21st century understanding. It is narrated by the prophet Natan (Nathan) who channels the Name (Yahweh).

The book begins in the middle of David's life. Natan wants to write the story of David's life and David sends Natan to interview people from his past. With Natan we hear long pages of  David's back story, intermixed with his own memories. We learn about David through other's eyes.

The book skips through time before following a consistent chronology starting with David's rape of Batsheva and murder of her husband. The Name requires a fourfold atonement and King David suffers a series of  devastating losses. His son rapes and disfigures his half-sister, his favorite son Avshalom (Absolom )prepares an army to takeover kingship and is killed. Because of his warfare David is not allowed to build a tabernacle for the Ark of the Covenant, but Natan prophesies that David is to make his youngest son Slomo (Solomon) king, and he will build the temple and lead their people into peace.


The Old Testament, or New for that matter, is a record of faith (mythos, stories with meaning), not a scientific, verifiable history. I will warn that this a novel, story telling, a re-imagining for entertainment. Brooks has a great story to work with: there is jealousy, warfare and takeovers of cities; there is rape and lust and abandonment of women; there is fratricide and incest and every kind of dysfunctional family problem. Brooks makes Jonathan and David sexual lovers and allows the women to tell of the brutality men inflicted on them. The rape and disfigurement of Tamar and the rape of Batsheva are particularly disturbing, especially as we are aware women still are victims to this day. This isn't your Sunday School David. Even Brooks says the story is "very Game of Thrones."

I didn't enjoy reading this novel. The vividly described carnage of battle, the disjointed narrative, the layering of 21st century sensibilities (such as David's bisexuality), the raw sexual and emotional abuse of the women, left me struggling to continue reading it. Then, I am not a Game of Thrones fan.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Secret Chord
Geraldine Brooks
Viking
Publication October 6, 2015
$27.95 hard cover
ISBN: 9780670025770

A Trip To The Franklin Cider Mill

It was a beautiful September day today....I mean November...The sun was shining, it was sweater weather, and I got the wanderlust. So we went to the Franklin Cider Mill in Bloomfield Hills, MI to get some cider before they shut down for the season.

The apples were HUGE this year. We have had hundreds of apples from our two trees but we had to bring some of these monsters home!

They make Apple Cider Vinegar and have maple syrup, honey, jams, condiments, cheese, sausage, and baked goods galore!

 The mill dates back to 1837 so it is as old as the state of Michigan!

We brought home Honeycrisp Apple Cider, made with handpicked apples and unpasteurized.

 The river is full of Mallard ducks. The kids like to feed them.

We also picked up Apple Butter and Pumpkin Butter made with sugar, not corn syrup. My hubby enjoyed a Cider Dog and I had Blueberry pie from the food stand. 

What a nice way to spend a warm November day. 

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The History Behind American Ballads

Telling a story in song is one of our oldest human traditions. For hundreds of years people have sung ballads that told stories about murders, outlaws, romances, wars, tragedies, and hardships. During four visits between 1916 and 1918 British musicologist Cecil Sharp collected over 1500 American songs in the southern Appalachians.

At the same time Sharp collected old ballads new ones were being created as a response to events of the time. These new songs included responses to modern calamities involving railroad accidents, shipwrecks, and the treatment of workers and prisoners. 

Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales that Inspired "Stagolee," "John Henry," and Other Traditional American Folk Songs by Richard Polenberg explores American ballads based on historical people and events, explaining the events and persons who inspired them, and covering their first known performances, recordings, and publication. 

The songs in their categories include:

• St Louis (St. Louis Blues, Stagolee, Frankie and Johnny, Duncan and Brady)
• Lying Cold on the Ground (Omi Wise, Ballad of Frankie Silver, Tom Dooley, Poor Ellen Smith, Pearl Bryan, Delia's Gone)
• Bold Highwaymen and Outlaws (Cole younger, Jesse James, John Hardy, Railroad Bill, Betty and Dupree)
• Railroads (John Henry, Engine 143, Casey Jones, Wreck of the Old 97)
• Workers (Cotton Mill Blues, Chain Gang Blues, Only a Miner, House of the Rising Sun)
• Disasters (The Titanic, The Boll Weevil)
• Martyrs (Joe Hill, Sacco and Vanzetti)

Persons interested in folk music and its performers, American history, or music recordings will find this book informative and interesting. 

Here is a summary of the history of one song included in the book.

Tom Dooley as recorded by the Kingston Trio was all over the radio when I was a girl, selling over a million copies in a few months. It won the Grammy for Best Country and Western Recording. Everyone knew the words.

Tom Dooley was first recorded in 1929 with these words:

"Tom Dooley"
As recorded by Grayson & Whitter (1929)

(CHORUS)
Hang your head, Tom Dooley,
Hang your head and cry;
Killed poor Laura Foster,
You know you're bound to die.

You took her on the hillside,
As God almighty knows;
You took her on the hillside,
And there you hid her clothes.

You took her by the roadside,
Where you begged to be excused;
You took her by the roadside,
Where there you hid her shoes.

Took her on the hillside,
To make her your wife;
Took her on the hillside
Where there you took her life. (CHO.)

Take down my old violin,
Play it all you please;
This time tomorrow,
It'll be no use to me. (CHO.)

I dug a grave four feet long,
I dug it three feet deep;
Throwed the cold clay over her,
And tromped it with my feet. (CHO.)

This world and one more,
Then where you reckon I'll be?
Hadn't a-been for Grayson,
I'd a-been in Tennessee. (CHO.)

How many of us know that Tom Dooley was a real person, Thomas Caleb Dula, a handsome lady killer and Confederate soldier? After bedding two cousins, Ann (an old flame, now married) and Laura Foster, Tom discovered he had syphilis. So did Ann. But Tom blamed the disease on Laura. Ann blamed Tom. 

Tom Dula

Tom paid Laura several visits. Then Laura was found missing. Laura's father believed she was murdered and a warrant for Tom's arrest was issued. Tom had taken off. He turned up at a farm owned by Union veteran Lt. Colonel Grayson who hired him as a field hand. The posse tracked Tom down, but he'd high tailed it again...wearing new boots that hurt his feet. 

Tom was cooling his blistered feet when Grayson found him and brought him in. When Laura's body was found, Tom was indicted for murder, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging. An appeal was made, improper handling of evidence was proved, and Tom faced a second trial. He was again found guilty and his execution set for May 1, 1868.

Tom spent his jail time trying to cut his chain with a piece of glass--and getting baptized. Neither delayed his execution. On the fatal day a cheerful Tom insisted he was innocent and quipped, "I would have washed my neck if I had known you were using such a nice clean rope." He spoke for an hour to the crowd, maintaining his innocence and accusing witnesses of false testimony. The crowd wasn't buying it. The day before he'd written a note declaring "I am the only person that had any hand to the murder of Laura Foster."

By 1867 a song was being sung about the murder. An early folklore scholar noted the song was sung all over Watauga County. The first recording of Tom Dooley was made in 1929 by Grayson's nephew, Gilliam Banmon Grayson. Folklorists Anne and Frank Warner sang the song and recorded it in 1940. They sang Tom Dooley in every lecture and program. In 1948 Alan Lomax included the song in Folk Song:USA. Then in 1958 the Kingston Trio made the song a national sensation. NPR choose Tom Dooley as one of the most important songs of the twentieth century.

Hear My Sad Story was an enjoyable and informative read.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales that Inspired "Stagolee," "John Henry," and Other Traditional American Folk Songs

by Richard Polenberg

Cornell University Press

Publication Date November 17, 2015

ISBN: 9781501700026

$26.00 hard cover

Swiss Air Hanky

i finally bought this city scene handkerchief from SwissAir. I have wanted one for a long time!

A Quilt Leaves the Closet

I came from a long line of pickers. We just can't resist. When we see something 'good' alongside the road we just have to rescue it from oblivion. I remember walking to elementary school and crying over the good things sticking out of the trash cans on garbage day. My dad had a big ole' pickup truck and brought home chair sets and outboard motors, bicycles and lawn mowers, and trunks. He would fix them up and sell them in a garage sale, not to make a little money, but for the fun of it.
Dad picked up a trunk and when he got it home found a quilt inside. He gave the quilt to me.

It is a Carolina Lily pattern. The stitching is primitive, so is the quilting. But it has an exuberance and joy.

I shared it recently on Facebook and a collector asked to buy it. She believes it is a Southern quilt. And yesterday I shipped it. One more quilt out of the closet.

Monthly Quilts at the Library--Including Mine This Month!

My new friend arranges for quilts to be hung at the local library and this month I have four hanging.

This first quilt was made in a class. It was easier than I thought it would be!

I made this quilt two years after I started quilting. It is machine quilted with gold thread. I called it Finding Wholeness in a Chaotic World.

 I found a 1970s embroidery pattern called Country Village on eBay. It was so much fun to make!

Another very early quilt is this sampler using the Hoffman challenge fabric of that year. It is called Windows and I even wrote a poem to accompany it. Which is on the back of the quilt. Which I don't have a copy of now. 

 Gobble Gobble was made by  Maggie Robbins.

 Maggie Robbins also made this New York Beauty.

 Dot to Dot by Maggie Robbins. I just adore this!

 Shirley Leja's sense of humor:

 The City Hall also has quilts rotated by season! This is a real quilt town!

William Nelson, Revolutionary War Soldier

I now have six month's access to Fold3 military records and today I was researching my husband's third great-grandfather.

William Nelson, Jr. (sometimes spelled Nielson) was born June 2, 1760 in Fishkill Landing, Westchester, Dutchess Co, NY and died June 27, 1842 in Stoney Creek, Saltfleet Twp, Lincoln Co, Ontario, Canada.

On March 11, 1777 at age 17 he joined the 5^th New York Regiment of the Continental Army under Col. DuBois. It was organized in June 1776 from men of Orange and Ulster counties. He may have served with the 5th as a drummer boy at age 16.

As a private his salary was 6 2/3 dollars a month. Records show him 'in the field' starting from March 11, 1777.

Muster rolls records in 1777 show he was present on duty in March, July, September, and December but absent on November 1.

In 1778 in January he was on command but deserted February 1 through 8. In March 1778 he was 'confined.' May through June he was in Peeksville; July 22 through September 12 he was at Camp White Plains “in the field”; August and September he was still at White Plains; November and December 1778 he was on duty in “Scholrry” [Schoharie].

January and February 1779 he was in Cobes Kill; May he was in Johns Town and Canajoharrie; he spent the summer in Easton; and October and November at Morris Town, NY.

He was mustered out on January 6, 1780.

What does this mean?

The 5^th New York Regiment under Captain John Johnson and Col. Lewis DuBoys were involved with the Battle of the Hudson Highlands. They were garrisoned at Fort Montgomery in the Hudson Highlands in early 1777. On October 6, 1777 they were attacked by 2,100 British troops. The 5^th Regiment, with the help of the militia, held off multiple British attacks before the American forces were overrun, with 98 out of 312 men from the 5th killed or captured. The survivors joined Brigadier General George Clinton in pursuit of the British.

The winter of 1778 was the “Little Ice Age” winter. The troops wintered in Fishkill in brutal conditions, the men scanty clothed and suffering. William deserted February 1 and was apprehended February 8 and spent March in confinement.

The regiment camped at White Plains in the summer of 1778.

The Loyalists and Native Americans attacked and decimated small settlements in Cobeskill and Cherry Valley, NY in July 1778. General Washington was determined to move against the hostile Indians. He wrote General Sullivan that the objective was “the total destruction and devastation of their settlements, and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible.” Sullivan was to bring total ruin to the Indian settlements to guarantee America's future security. Sullivan would lead brigades out of Easton, PA and up the Susquehanna Valley while Clinton brought 1,600 men west from Canajoharie, NY to join with them. They would met at an Indian village at Tioga, then march through Iroquois territory. The Sullivan-Clinton Campaign was waged in 1779. The 5^th Regiment took part.

Returning to Pompton, NJ they were reviewed by General George Washington.

Luckily, William he was discharged from the service on January 6, 1780. Because the 5^th Regiments spent the winter of 1779-80 at Jockey Hollow in Morristown, NJ during the coldest winter on record. The men had to build their own log cabins and furniture. There were a dozen men to a cabin 14x15 feet. Snow storms left six foot snows; there were four storms in February and six more in March. They men had one thread-bare blanket each. Food could not be delivered. Men went for days without bread. They gnawed on birch bark and ate their shoe leather. An officer killed and ate his beloved dog. In 1780 the regiment arrived in West Point for garrison duty.

In 1791 William married Eunice Young and they had five children before immigrating to Saltfleet, Ontario, sometime before 1802 when his son Joseph was born. They had eleven children together, William died at age 82.

In 1842 Joseph's son Aaron was born in Saltfleet but by 1871 was in Michigan were he married Harriet Scoville; their daughter was Charlotte Grace. Grace married John Oran O'Dell and their daughter was Laura Grace who married Herman Bekofske--my father-in-law.