We Hope for Better Things Erin Bartels

We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels was a pleasant surprise for me. The novel is about three generations of women who live in Detroit and rural Lapeer, Michigan, spanning from the Civil War to the 1960s to today.

I found the novel to be engaging, with interesting storylines and settings, nicely paced, and with well-drawn and sympathetic characters. As a Christian novel, Bartels message is, "God has a plan." 

Elizabeth has lost her job at the Detroit Free Press.  She is asked to visit her great-aunt Nora to determine if she is the rightful owner of a camera and photographs in the possession of an African American family. With nothing holding her back, Elizabeth agrees and leaves Detroit for Lapeer.

Nora is confused and reclusive. Over time, Elizabeth pieces together a family history that involves the Underground Railroad, forbidden love, and the Detroit riot. 

I was interested in reading the book because of its setting. I grew up and now live in Metro Detroit and remember vividly the 1967 riot. Other connections include my husband's family roots in Lapeer and adjoining villages including a great-grandfather who married a Farnsworth, a name which appears in the novel.

20th c scrap quilt, African American, Detroit MI

A bonus for me was the quiltmaking that takes place! A 19th c. Crazy Quilt, a yellow hexagon quilt, and a contemporary crazy quilt are central to the story. I love that Nora is a fabric hoarder, her stash spilling out of the closet and filling dresser drawers!

Crazy Quilt

Piecing a life, piecing the mystery of the past, piecing things whole--the book's theme could be said to be the work of taking the worn scraps life hands you and creating something of beauty out of it.

A kaleidoscope of color, it was formed from varied patches of jewel-toned velvet and silk, each piece edged with multicolored embroidery thread in a hundred different patterns. from We Hope For Better Things by Erin Bartels

1903 Crazy Quilt

Crazy Quilt Detail

Historical fiction fans will enjoy the book. Women's fiction readers will respond to the challenges the women face. Plus, there is romance and heartbreak and hope. The story addresses racism throughout American history.

19th c Hexagon quilt owned by Diane Little

Learn more about what inspired the book at 

https://erinbartels.com/home/media/interviews-articles/

Bartel's amazing photographs of Michigan can be found at

https://erinbartels.com/home/photography/

Trip Around the World, late 20th c, African American, Detroit

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

We Hope for Better Things

by Erin Bartels

Revell

Publication January 1, 2019

ISBN: 9780800734916

PRICE: $15.99 (USD)

Detroit Motto: We Hope for Better Things, It Shall Rise From the Ashes

A Christmas Crime Story: Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon

Mystery in White was a great book to read in these last days before Christmas, entertaining and atmospheric. The descriptions of the deep gathering snow as it stopped a train, piled against doors, and hid bodies, had me convinced I was also snowed in. I kept reminding myself that we had not seen snow for weeks!

I enjoyed the diverse characters, a group of passengers from a snowbound train. They decide to walk to the next station but, driven by the elements, find refuge in an empty country home. Empty, and yet with tea set and fires roaring!

The mystery is why the house was abandoned in such horrid weather--where can the inhabitants have gone? Clues include a torn letter, a bread knife, an open door which had been previously locked. Meantime, a young woman nurses several passengers and determines they will have a jolly Christmas Day even in unlikely circumstances--including a possible murder.

I first heard about the novel at the Battered, Tattered, Yellowed & Creased blog run by my son. You can read his thoughtful review here.

The British Library Crime Classics series reprints best selling works from the early 20th and 19th c. Other books in the series which I previously reviewed include:

The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2015/08/domestic-noir-from-notting-hill-mystery.html
The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2015/08/domestic-noir-from-notting-hill-mystery.html
Death of a Busybody by George Bellairs
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/09/amusing-classic-crime-story-for-grim.html

Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life

Recent books and films have overturned the popular image of Queen Victoria as a dour recluse widow of ponderous dimensions to include the lively, stubborn girl-queen who loved dancing and wine and the young wife who enjoyed sex.

Lucy Worsley wanted to expand Victoria's story beyond the "dancing princess to potato" to include the woman who preserved the monarchy and ruled an empire. Worsley draws from Victoria's diaries and journals, probing behind the polished exterior presented for posterity. Her Victoria is a fully human, complicated, person, someone we can admire and dislike at the same time.

The book concentrates on twenty-four days in Victoria's life through which readers come to understand her family background and relationships, her love for Albert (who both supported and limited her as queen), the places she loved, her political alliances and battles, the few people who became more than servants and valued as trusted friends, and her grief, loneliness, and physical incapacities in old age.

Worsley writes in the preface, "I hope that seeing her [Victoria] up close, examining her face-to-face, as she lived hour-to-hour through twenty-four days of her life, might help you to imagine meeting her yourself, so that you can form your own opinion on the contradictions at the heart of British history's most recognizable woman."

the young Queen Victoria in an idealized portrait by Winterhalter, 1843

The physical woman Victoria is given attention. At her prime, Victoria was 5 feet and 1 1/4 inch tall, with tiny feet, large blue prominent eyes, and a "fine bust." Her lower lip hung open, but she also had a wide-open smile when delighted. Her weight yo-yoed with health, illness, pregnancy, dieting, and the incapacitation that in old age left her unable to walk. And she loved to walk on a brisk, cold day. 

Queen Victoria, 1899

Victoria ruled throughout most of the 19th c when monarchies across Europe were ended by revolutions. She came to the throne with everything against her, especially being a young and inexperienced girl. 

She was constantly being watched for signs of madness, both genetic and related to the "female problems" which were believed to trigger hysteria and madness. 

It was imperative that she marry and it was arranged she marry her German cousin Albert. She fell in love with his beauty and goodness. To compensate for his parental scandalous infidelities he was committed to being a loving father and husband. But Albert was a German and he had to win the British people's trust and love. His German coldness and exacting values could be hard to live with. He did not approve of Victoria's love of dancing and drinking.

With Victoria perpetually pregnant (nine times!), Albert applied himself to fulfill her duties. Victoria came to rely on his guidance; his early death was devastating to her as queen as well as wife. 

In spite of her liaisons with unsuitable friends, the gilly John Brown and the Muslim Abdul, Victoria became the public image of the proper Victorian wife and widow, an "ordinary good woman."

I found the book to be vastly interesting and enjoyable. It expanded my understanding of Victoria. It amazed me how much of Victoria's life Worsley covered in those twenty-four days! 

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

Worsley's previous book was Jane Austen at Home, which I reviewed here.

Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life
by Lucy Worsley
St. Martin's Press
Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 9781250201423
PRICE: $32.50 (USD)

I had previously read Victoria the Queen by Julia Baird; read my review here. And also Victoria and Abdul, read my review here.

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny was our library book club pick this month. The response from the group reflected the response in my own household: my husband disliked the book and I laughed my way through it.

The characters Graham and Audra are hilarious, Graham so staid and passive and Audra so extroverted as to be an embarrassment to her husband. Audra is oblivious to the consequences of her impulsive decisions, leading to many awkward moments of great comedy. Their son Matthew has Asperger's syndrome and enjoys origami. His parents support his interest and help him become involved with an origami group full of people as unique. Audra fosters Graham's relationship with his ex, the perfectionist ice queen Elspeth, even though Audra was the cause of their break-up.

All kinds of people are invited by Audra into their lives, adding to the discord and the source of much laughter for readers. Favorite scenes include a disastrous Thanksgiving dinner and Audra's discussion with a priest about God and the stock market.

Most of the group enjoyed the novel but thought it was "forgettable," perhaps a three-star read. We did appreciate the insights into Asperger's and Graham's coming to terms with his son's condition.

I enjoyed the novel as a comedy of manners and as an exploration of marriage and parenting. And it made me laugh, page after page.

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg is a charmer of a novel that will capture the hearts of readers.

At 96, Doris is frail and bears the marks of her age, the wrinkles and the thinning pure white hair. But Doris knows she still has something to offer--her story--and with the aid of the red address book her father gave her as a child, Doris writers her recollections on her laptop, a gift of love to her grandniece Jenny.

Hearing that Doris is hospitalized, Jenny leaves behind her husband and two children to manage on their own in America, taking their baby with her to Sweden. Jenny won't let the woman who saved her die alone.

Doris writes about the early death of her beloved father, her time in service, her life as a mannequin in 1920s Paris. She tells about her loves and losses, the devastation of WWII, her struggles to survive in America and eventual return to Sweden. Her story is rife with losses and hardships that show #metoo is born out of a timeless and universal concern.

The secondary plot line of Jenny's life, born to an addict mother and her struggle with feelings of being unloved, brings to the novel another relatable layer for contemporary readers.

The Red Address Book has been an international best-seller and I expect it will meet with huge success among American readers. I would recommend it to book clubs as an easy to read book with likable characters, interesting historical settings, an engaging plot line, and as a heartbreaking romance story.

I received an ARC through BookishFirst in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Find a Reader's Guild at
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fRtiOeqE4mDEtrvnSErr7rL4Ih1ALKLS/view?usp=drive_open

The Red Address Book
by Sofia Lundberg
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hardcover $25.00
ISBN-13/EAN: 9781328473011
ISBN-10: 1328473015
Publication Date: 01/08/2019

Laura's Heirloom Recipes

My mother-in-law Laura O'Dell Bekofske created a recipe book of her favorite recipes. She included recipes from her family.

Laura's Mother Charlotte Grace Nelson O'Dell

Mother's Suet Pudding recipe is likely 100 years old! Charlotte Grace Nelson O'Dell was born in 1877 in Lynn Twp, St. Clair County, MI and died in 1951. In 1896 she married John Nelson and they lived on a farm in Lynn Twp. near Brown City, Lapeer Co., MI. Here is the recipe that Laura shared.

Mix together:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, allspice, and cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup molasses

Grind together:
1 cup suet, dates, and raisins
1 cup chopped apples
Add to the eggs/sugar mixture.

Add:
1 cup milk
1 tsp soda
2 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 c flour

Mix well. Put into a  greased pan or tin can and lay a cloth over top. Allow room to raise.

Put 1 qt of water in pressure cooker and steam at 15 pounds pressure for 30 minutes. Or, it can be put in a kettle with molds or tin cans but cover with parchment paper with rubber bands to hold in place. Also, cover with aluminum foil pressed down around sides. The parchment cover should be greased to prevent sticking. Never cover molds with water, just up to cover a third of the mold.

Serve with a sauce made with:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
chunk butter
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tb vinegar.
Cook until thickened

Laura also shared her family's Vinegar Punch which she grew up drinking as their "cold drink" instead of iced tea or soda pop as my generation grew up with.

5 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp ginger
2 quarts water
Mix well.

*****

Laura made Cabbage Balls, which she called Glompkes, a recipe from "a Polish Friend."

1 lb hamburger  and 1/12 lb ground ham, or all ground ham
1 1/2 cup rice
onions
1 egg
paprika, salt and pepper

Pour boiling water over a cabbage and let steam for a few minutes. Cut backbone out of the cabbage leaves. Roll meat mixture up in the leaves and tuck ends in. Put in a kettle as follows:
Cut up remaining cabbage and put it in the bottom of a large kettle, put in a layer of cabbage balls then a layer of sauerkraut, then repeat the layers, then pour over cabbage balls a large can of tomatoes. Cook slowly until rice is done.

*****

Pasties are a Michigan "Up North" tradition. Laura created her own version. My husband tells how the family would stop for lunch on their drive to the Upper Penninsula and warm her pasties on the car engine! I made these long ago.

Laura used her Never Fail Pie Crust recipe.

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup shortening
Add a mixture of one egg, 1 tbsp vinegar, and 5 tbsp cold water beaten together
She rolled the pie crust into ten 6" circles.

Filling:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups potatoes diced
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 large onion chopped
Season with salt, pepper, spices as desired

In each pie crust circle add 1/3 cup meat mixture, fold over and seal edges. Cut some steam slits on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Laura noted that she liked the pasties with catsup but her husband preferred gravy!

Newsy Stuff: Quilts, New Sewing Machine, Shibas, and Books

Life has been very busy, and I have hardly prepared for the holidays!

I bought a new sewing machine! I have used a Bernina 850 Record made in 1974 my entire quilting life. When my original machine died of old age I replaced it with an identical machine.

But it was time for a change. I wanted a machine that threaded the needle and had other nice features. I bought a Baby Lock Soprano at a local quilt shop, on sale half price.

My new Baby Lock with the Bernina in the background

We have a grandpuppy! Our son adopted a Shiba Inu! Ellie is now the fifth Shiba Inu we have had in our family. She was rescued from destruction after the puppy mill didn't want her anymore.

She is a real sweetheart.

My weekly quilt group had their annual Christmas Party. Every year they have a gift exchange playing Quilto. People can take each other's wins. This year we were to make pillowcases or placemats.

My placemat with a Singer sewing machine was very popular, and the gals took it from one another to the bitter end. The pattern is from Quiltmaker's 100 Quilt Blocks Volume 2. Thank you to designer Jina Barney!

I got the last of my quilts back from the longarm quilter! The Big Block quilt is for my livingroom. I previously made this pattern in another colorway for my son.

Icicle Days is a pattern from Bunny Hill. The fabrics were a win from an AQS Facebook giveaway.

My version of Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts pattern Fox Kits was custom quilted. I just love it!

Kona Fox Kits

I was contacted by Ryan of the ETWN Global Catholic Network. He is making a documentary film about Father Aloysius Schwartz and the World Villages organization.  He googled Operation Hanky and found my post about Father Al's Korean Relief organization.  Father Al masterminded Operation Hanky, a cottage industry of Korean women whose embroidered handkerchiefs raised money to built schools and hospitals.

I have been working on my quilt projects, serenaded by the Seeburg jukebox. We found my stash of  50s and 60s 45 records and now the jukebox is nearly filled up! New additions include Wimoweh, I Ride an Old Paint performed by the Weavers, Scarlet Ribbons, Tom Dooley, What Now My Love by Herb Alpert, My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, Color My World by Chicago, and more.

I am reading like crazy to get in all the January publication books! I am reading The Cassandra by Sharma Shields and Overrun, about the Asian Carp crisis, by Andrew Reeves.

New on my shelf are:

The Red Notebook by Sofia Lundberg and The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson, won through Bookish.
I also won Make Me a City by Jonathan Carr from LibraryThing.

Make Me A City by Jonathan Carr
painting by my mother Joyce Gochenour

New from NetGalley I have
The King's Favorite by John Vance, a historical fiction/mystery about Charles II and his court
The Peacock Feast by Lisa Gornick, historical fiction "about love, class, and the past we never escape."

Just finished galleys include
Jane Austen for Kids including background history and activities to help younger readers experience Jane's novels
We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels, set in Detroit in the 60s and Underground Railroad eras

I am way too busy to be prepared for the holidays!