Caitlin Hicks's Blog: Book Reviews, page 14
May 21, 2020
A Grape Drink in Phoenix
The year is 1983. Meet Karen, “Daddy’s little princess”, a successful commodities trader at The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the mistress of Sam, a high-stakes market maker and billionaire trader in the S & P 500 pit. In this podcast, Karen recounts an incident when she was eleven that turned her life upside down.
Meet Dorothy, Sam’s wife, and the mother of their twin daughters. Imagine these two women getting to know each other as the last guests at a lavish, decadent party at Dorothy and Sam’s home. Imagine that one of these women must trust – and rely on the other — in just a few moments from now, as life takes a sudden, irrevocable turn.
In this podcast, Dorothy discovers in a quiet moment, that her life has already changed profoundly. Both women experience these moments, after which nothing will ever be ‘normal’ again.
This #podcast is part of a theatrical production called JUST A LITTLE FEVER, written by Caitlin Hicks and produced in Toronto, Vancouver and Gibsons, at the Heritage Playhouse on the Sunshine Coast.
Sound design & Illustrations by Gord Halloran
Music in this podcast written by Rose Kirchner and used in the film SINGING THE BONES:
Other podcasts in the series SOME KINDA WOMAN, Stories of Us can be found here:
Patreon.com/SomeKindaWoman
Each podcast is like a song, a short story collection of ideas and experiences we can all participate in from our own perspective. It’s a cultural invitation to further exploration for discussion; an opening to sharing your own experiences with others. To join the conversation, sign up to SOME KINDA WOMAN, Stories of Us Group Page on Facebook
And please SHARE! To receive extra content, as well as other perks related to these podcasts, while supporting their creation, both hard costs and artist’s contribution, visit: http://Patreon.com/SomeKindaWoman
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May 14, 2020
Gertie, outrageous woman
It’s not always easy to have your way of thinking challenged by someone else’s life experience.
Here is Gertie!, the the most ‘outrageous’ character I have written, other than the pivotal moment in Six Palm Trees, when Annie Shea accuses her father in front of the entire family. Gertie is outrageous because she speaks the unspeakable. And she’s good with it.
Years ago I sent a written copy to my niece who had just given birth, to celebrate the realization of her connection to everyone – as a mother at the birth of her child. My brother intercepted the monologue. He told me never to send my ‘art’ to him again. It was a thin time in our relationship, when I almost hated him. After all, I’d sent it to his 19-year old daughter. What was he doing in that conversation?
Gertie! is not for everyone.
Listen at your own risk. You may choose to be offended. You may laugh.
Gertie is a woman in a wheelchair keenly observing the details of what it means to be human.
Sound design &
Gif/ Illustrations by Gord Halloran http://www.gordonhalloran.com
Other podcasts in the series SOME KINDA WOMAN, Stories of Us can be found here: https://www.caitlinhicks.com/wordpress/podcasts-some-kinda-woman/
Patreon.com/SomeKindaWoman
Each podcast is like a song, a short story collection of ideas and experiences we can all participate in from our own perspective. It’s a cultural invitation to further exploration for discussion; an opening to sharing your own experiences with others. To join the conversation, sign up to SOME KINDA WOMAN, Stories of Us Group Page on Facebook. And please SHARE!
To receive extra content, as well as other perks related to these podcasts, (while supporting their creation: hard costs and artist’s contribution), visit: http://Patreon.com/SomeKindaWoman
The post Gertie, outrageous woman appeared first on Caitlin Hicks.
May 5, 2020
Nicht meine kinder! – A piece of paper
The last moments of a mother’s life and how she saved her child in an unexpected act of kismet and courage.
From history and true stories: the sorrow and hope in the hearts of thousands of people, very near the end of World War II. A small moment of redemption amidst unspeakable brutality that marked the end of a young girl’s childhood.This monologue is part of Singing the Bones, the international, touring theatrical play and feature film of the same name.
Gif/ Illustrations by Gord Halloran
Music from this podcast was written by Cameron Smith and was used in the film, Singing the Bones.
Shared as a podcast in remembrance of the 75th anniversary liberation of Mauthausen camp on May 5th, 1945. And to celebrate the liberation of Holland, by Canadian forces during World War II. And to celebrate the end of World War II, when the madness ended, at least for a little while.
Here are other podcasts in the series.
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Nicht meine kinder!
This podcast tells the story of the last moments of a mother’s life and how she saved her child in an unexpected act of kismet and courage.
It tells of the sorrow and hope in the hearts of thousands of people one day, at the end of World War II, when they were asked ‘give us the best you have – give us your children’. This monologue is part of Singing the Bones, the international, touring theatrical play and feature film of the same name.
http://fatsalmon.ca/themovie/about/me...
Gif/ Illustrations by Gord Halloran http://www.gordonhalloran.com
Music from this podcast was written by Cameron Smith and was used in the film, Singing the Bones.
Shared as a podcast in remembrance of the 75th anniversary liberation of Mauthausen forced labor camp on May 5th, 1945. And to celebrate the liberation of Holland, by Canadian forces during World War II.
Other podcasts in the series can be found here: https://www.caitlinhicks.com/wordpres...
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May 1, 2020
The Book of Longings
Release Date:
April 28, 2020
Publisher/Imprint: Viking
Reviewed by
Caitlin Hicks
“The Book of Longings is well named, well inspired, and well imagined—a superlative effort from a writer at the top of her game.”
The Book of Longings tells a sweeping story that has never been told: of a woman named Ana, who might have been the wife of Jesus. She begins with the sound of rumbling that Jesus heard in her while they slept together, a thunder, or “my life begging to be born.”
And yet, the Jesus quoted in the bible, the Jesus who is conjured in the hearts of billions of Christians, this Jesus has been assumed to have been celibate. In all the places He’s been brought to life—the bible, the scriptures, the endless repetitions of his adventures passed down from generation to generation, his teachings, his words, his miracles—among all these stories, there is no record of a woman who might have been his wife. It’s a testimony to the strength of patriarchy that few to date have dared to imagine this blasphemous scenario.
But novelist Sue Monk Kidd takes on this high concept challenge and gives it her best. She does her homework many times over in all directions, digging for and finding many details that paint a vivid picture not only of Jesus the man, but the interwoven intricacies of the natural, political and religious world surrounding Jesus prior to his ministry. As part of this world, we see Jesus, a young man meeting Ana as a young woman, both of them recognizing that spark in the other, and falling in love. It’s an intriguing premise, but the best part is that this story is told from the point of view of a woman.
We first meet Ana at 14 years old, learning the meaning of an incantation bowl at the hands of her aunt, Yaltha. Already Ana is full of rebellion and ambition that the sexist world of the time does not allow. Her aunt’s “mouth was the wellspring of thrilling and unpredictable utterances,” says Ana, as they sneak out of the house up onto the roof and Ana learns about “Jewish women who led synagogues, studied with philosophers, wrote poetry and owned houses. Egyptian queens. Female pharaohs. Great Goddesses.” Ana’s ambition is to write stories about women. “We know from her opening narrative that this girl will not only encounter Jesus, but that she is also trouble with a capital ‘T.’”
In a distressing parallel to today’s world where in many countries women are not allowed to learn to read and write, Ana’s “audacities” were reed pens, a writing board, vials of ink, other writing tools as well as the fierce passion to have a voice.
The daughter of a wealthy counselor to the tetrarch, Herod Antipas, Ana has spent her young life cajoling her way into literacy. Initially Matthias had a soft spot for his daughter. “My father suggested that while God was busy knitting me together in my mother’s womb, He’d become distracted and mistakenly endowed me with gifts destined for some baby boy,” says Ana as she explains how he reluctantly gave into his daughter’s begging to be tutored. Although a member of the privileged class, Ana’s troubles are inherent in her gender and throughout the book, her life is threatened not only by her rebellious spirit, but by the many ways women were kept under control simply because of their sex.
In this practically perfect historic novel that fits the well-documented events of Jesus’ life into a very believable narrative, there are many parallels to the distressing reality of women’s status in the world today. Yet there is also a section of the work that is thoroughly ordinary and satisfying to read: the years Ana has with her husband after they marry. Their relationship seems so plausible and it’s easy to imagine Jesus, a kind and truly empathetic soul, who has the utmost respect, admiration, and genuine affection for his feisty bride. Christians who have tried to imagine what Jesus must have been like will come away reassured by Kidd’s portrait. The sense of longing that she creates between these two souls as they endure many forced separations bears testament to the novel’s title and makes for an emotional journey.
Particularly intriguing for those who know all the biblical stories: Ana’s adopted brother is Judas! This alone would have you reading on to see how that could be so, but the novel itself is so well told, with so many believable details and convolutions that you have to stay on board just to see how it all devolves. Details of the times, the scripture, the politics, the attitudes bring to a new focus the context of a story we’ve all heard thousands of times.
Anyone who reads this novel will feel the impending doom inherent in this historic tale. So artfully does Kidd involve the reader with the vibrance and passion of Ana, of the hazard she experiences in a man’s world, of her determined persona and her love for Jesus – that by the time she reunites with her beloved after a long absence, as he struggles barefoot and bleeding with an enormous wooden cross on his back, there is little to buffer feelings of loss and tragedy and sorrow.
The Book of Longings is well named, well inspired, and well imagined—a superlative effort from a writer at the top of her game.
This review appears on New York Journal of Books.
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April 29, 2020
Gladys, and The Pig Man
This story was told to me by Pixie Daly, a lovely woman who lived her life here on the Sunshine Cost and had many friends until she died in her nineties in 2011. Her stories touch on the early days: one road, no cars, travel by boat, being a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital, fishermen lost at sea, frozen lakes in the winter, the perils of long distances between the logging camps, the hazards of fog on the water when everyday you travelled by boat. A ‘marvellous regatta”, a nurse lost for 24 hours, an unforgettable character named Gladys — and her husband, the Pig Man.
Two questions: What is the ‘greasy pole’? #2. How does this orange fits into the story? Jot down your answer on Facebook on the Group Page SOME KINDA WOMAN, Stories of Us
Pixie’s stories were featured in the theatrical production called THE LIFE WE LIVED and share space with other stories told here in these podcasts.
If you want more stories in this podcast series go to https://www.caitlinhicks.com/wordpress/podcasts-some-kinda-woman/
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April 20, 2020
The Window to the Universe
This podcast, “The Window to the Universe” is taken from my theatrical play SINGING THE BONES, which toured internationally and was later made into a feature film that screened around the world. http://www.fatsalmon.ca/themovie/home.html
Music for this podcast was created for the film by Rose Kirchner. http://fatsalmon.ca/themovie/about/castandfilm/music.html
Illustrations by Gord Halloran. http://www.gordonhalloran.com
The play itself was inspired by Sunshine Coast midwife Wendy Clemens, whose deep beliefs in the strength of women and the common-but-extraordinary elements of birth inspired her life’s work: being alongside women at their most powerful and vulnerable moments: when the window to the universe is wide open.
Join me on Patreon:http://Patreon.com/SomeKindaWoman
If you’d like a copy of SINGING THE BONES, the film, you can send me an interbank transfer for $5.99 to caitlin at caitlinhicks dot ca or through PayPal. Contact me at this email and I’ll set you up.
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April 10, 2020
Women of Essondale
How can you know the person you love? No matter how close, there are still mysteries and secrets — hidden things that can reach up and steal someone right out from under you.
The following is a true story.
A nurse falls in love with a man in uniform. And marries his best friend few months later.
She works at Essondale Mental Hospital, during World War II, at a time when people who caught syphillis, died of it. Before the antibiotics came in.
Just after the tranquilizers became available.
When many of Essondale’s residents were not mentally ill at all – rather simply disabled, recovering from rheumatic fever, post traumatic stress, or retired prostitutes, too sick with sexually transmitted diseases to continue working.
This podcast is dedicated to the ambulance attendants and nurses at Sechelt Hospital Emergency department in 2020 especially Christine, Vanessa, Vicki, Debbie, Jen and Erin. Everyone behind a COVID mask, helping.
Illustrations by Gord Halloran
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March 24, 2020
A Stormy Night on Seymour Narrows
This Thursday, a new podcast inspired by the lore of Ripple Rock.
It’s the Fifties. The daughter of Coastal B.C.s Travelling Dentist witnesses a surprising secret but is distracted by falling in love. Years later, in the face of a woman she’s never met, she discovers what she missed that stormy night she and her father took a boat in treacherous waters of Seymour Narrows.
“When I saw her face for the first time, I could see she had no idea. It was just the expression on her face; she was an innocent.”
“And to me, the silence around it sounded like a train screeching into the station. The bigness of it, an obligation. . . A dead body would have rotted in all that time. But the secret – it’s still alive.”
More, on Thursday.
Visit: Patreon.com/SomeKindaWoman
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March 15, 2020
Fighting pandemic the Canadian Way
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