Cynthia Sally Haggard's Blog: Cynthia Sally's Blog, page 40
March 29, 2021
Pagano Family Tree
Giuseppe Girolamo PaganoGiuseppe Girolamo PaganoGiuseppe (m)1835-10-231835-1897-12-121897UnknownUnknown Francesco “Franco” PaganoFrancesco “Franco” PaganoFrancesco (m)1855-08-081855-1921-09-211921 Teresa Graziella GiardiniTeresa Graziella GiardiniTeresa (f)1864-06-041864-1892-03-031892 Paulina PaganoPaulina PaganoPaulina (f)1868-05-051868-1922-06-131922 Francesco “Franco” PaganoFrancesco “Franco” PaganoFrancesco (m)1855-08-081855-1921-09-211921 Teresa Graziella GiardiniTeresa Graziella GiardiniTeresa (f)1864-06-041864-1892-03-031892 Paulina PaganoPaulina PaganoPaulina (f)1868-05-051868-1922-06-131922 jQuery(document).ready(function($){ var scene = jQuery("#tree-container2-754cb2377a41c9f9e63ba595f40c9c09"); for (var i = 0; i < scene.length; i++) { panzoom(scene[i], { onTouch: function(e) { return false; } }) } });
Regina Doman’s RAPUNZEL LET DOWN
In this re-telling of RAPUNZEL, we are in modern-day USA. It is summer and we are in a vacation spot in New England. Raphaela and her mother have an unusual tower of a house, which sounds wonderful, until you realize that the mother is paranoid about her daughter meeting men, and locks her up. Then there are the McCaffertys, with three teenaged sons, a somewhat indeterminate mother, and a father who is a Senator.
When Hermes, the youngest McCafferty son, goes exploring and climbs up the stone tower only to discover a lovely 15-year-old girl, disaster ensues. Even though this is set in the USA at some time in the past 50 years, the plot line is very close to the story originally told by the Brothers Grimm. Which is to say this is NOT a volume for young children as it deals with some sordid realities of life (teenaged pregnancy, jail cells) and is therefore much darker than current retellings, having nothing fun or lighthearted about it.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t read it. It is just much more suitable for the YA crowd, than for early teens or tweens. Four stars.
#reginadoman #rapuzelletdown #rapunzel
March 28, 2021
Reading Sundays: THE END OF CHILDHOOD (Part 1), a short story by Cynthia Sally Haggard
“Ten thousand pounds, Clayton. That’s my price.”
“I haven’t got the money.”
“Come now! I hear you’re to marry an heiress with thirty thousand.”
“Why should I pay? Your daughter is a slut.”
Papa bared his teeth. “I think you should be very careful what you say. I have witnesses.”
* * *
“This cannot go on,” murmured the doctor in a low voice. “Look at her, she hardly has the strength to hold her head up.”
Mrs. Clayton was propped up in bed, her face matching the color of her fine linen.
Mr. Clayton turned down his mouth. “She is my wife.”
The doctor gave him a sharp look. “More babies will kill her.”
Mr. Clayton nodded briefly, but his blue eyes hardened as he stared at his wife. Suddenly, he caught sight of me. There was something about his smile I did not care for. Nevertheless, I felt duty bound to put on my best smile for Mr. Clayton. As the only surviving child of John Lee, Master Shipwright of the King’s Navy, I was expected to behave well towards the gentleman who had bestowed his charity by taking me, the best friend of his daughter Maria, into his home. Papa had taken me there, saying that it was a great honor to be brought up with the Landed Gentry, with a family such as the Claytons
who could trace their lineage all the way back to William the Conqueror. [To be continued.}
March 26, 2021
MOONFLOWER MURDERS by Anthony Horowitz, narrated by Lesley Manville & Allan Corduner
This is the second volume, that follows on from author Anthony Horowitz’s wildly successful MAGPIE MURDERS. Like that novel, we have a novel within a novel, as the protagonist is an editor. Sue Ryeland’s career went up in smoke (literally) at the end of MAGPIE MURDERS and since then (two years ago) she moved to Crete to run a restaurant with beau Andreas Patakis. Two years later, she is badly in need of a holiday when an English couple, Laurence & Pauline Traherne ask her to return to England to find their missing daughter.
Intrigued, and seduced by the enormous amount of money they will pay for her services (the restaurant is barely surviving) she agrees. Solving this disappearance involves (of course) reading another Atticus Pünd novel, this time “Atticus Pünd Takes The Case” by Alan Conway (who was murdered in MAGPIE MURDERS.)
I really loved experiencing the Atticus Pünd novel, as well as Sue Ryeland’s numerous criticisms of it (which I agreed with.) This was simply a tremendous read, although if I had to pick my favorite, I would choose MAGPIE MURDERS as I felt it was technically more accomplished. Five stars. #atticuspund #sueryeland, #anthonyhorowitz, #magpiemurders, #moonflowermurders
March 24, 2021
MAGPIE MURDERS, a novel by Anthony Horowitz, narrated by Samantha Bond & Allan Corduner
I love it when I experience a really clever piece of writing. That is why I am such a fan of Georgette Heyer’s THE MASQUERADERS, John Grisham’s THE RUNAWAY JURY and Agatha Christie’s THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD.
And here (courtesy of my sister) I recently experienced another book that I absolutely loved for its cleverness. For MAGPIE MURDERS is not your ordinary detective murder mystery set in Britain in the 1950s (a nod to Agatha Christie), but it is also a meta-analysis of such detective fiction set in the frame of present-day London.
The frame (naturally) opens the novel. Susan Ryeland, an editor at Clover Books, has to spend her weekend reading the manuscript of a new whodunnit by star author Alan Conway. There is nothing to tell her that this manuscript will change her life. After meeting Susan and her surroundings, the novel plunges into Conway’s manuscript so convincingly that I actually forgot that it was a manuscript.
The manuscript was enjoyable enough, but the real cleverness comes out when we are pulled back into the frame, about half-way through the book, and taken into a whole new set of issues that begin with the news that Alan Conway has suddenly died.
I will not say more, so as not to spoil it for people who have yet to read this gem. But I cannot say enough good things about it. Five stars. #anthonyhorowitz #magpiemurders
March 23, 2021
The audio version of “Thwarted Queen” recently dropped…
…and here is what one listener had to say about it on Twitter: https://twitter.com/barbaralunz/status/1374426252719710210?s=20
March 22, 2021
RODHAM by Curtis Sittenfeld, narrated by Carrington MacDuffie
Like AMERICAN WIFE, 
RODHAM filled me with alarm, not because of the story but because of the risks this author was taking. Whereas AMERICAN WIFE was a poke at George W. Bush, RODHAM accuses a former president of rape.
But once I was able to put these feelings aside, I loved this novel. Ms. Sittenfeld is a gifted mimic. Not only does she get Donald Trump down pat (with his peculiar use of the word beautiful), she also nails Bill Clinton. Indeed, Bill is one of the most compelling characters in this novel, taking up a great deal of psychic space with his outsize charisma. I was absolutely gripped by this novel whenever Bill was around.
Ms. Sittenfeld also caught Hillary’s emotional dimensions, her awkwardnesses, her shyness, her repressed emotions (especially as a young woman) as evidenced in her speech. Her way of thanking people, for example, was to say repeatedly “Thank you so much!” She almost never got more personal than that.
For those of us who were absolutely stunned & devastated by Hillary’s defeat, this book is much needed medicine, especially as it so clearly shows that one of the her greatest weaknesses was Bill. Five stars. #curtissittenfeld #rodham
March 21, 2021
Reading Sundays: THE WAYWARD DAUGHTER (Part 10), a short story by Cynthia Sally Haggard
The front door banged open, and suddenly I’d had enough. Spencer wouldn’t be around for the next few days, so now was time to act. In two strides I was in the vestibule. I seized her wrist and pulled Stephanie into the parlor with me.
“Ow! You’re hurting me!”
“You snake!” I spat at her. “How could you do it? How could you tell such lies about your own mother and bring disgrace on your family?”
Stephanie stared at me, her large eyes hard. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I recoil, shocked that she isn’t ashamed, even more shocked that she isn’t sorry for the damage she’s done.
“Didn’t you tell Mrs. Alvanley that I abandoned a husband and family back in the States to marry your father?”
“Oh, that.” Stephanie languidly brushed away my question with her hand. “That was just a joke.” She made for the door.
“Oh no you don’t.” I gripped her wrist again.
“Stop it, you’re hurting me.”
“You listen to me, Stephanie.” Something about my voice made her go still. “You have made it very evident that you don’t want to obey my rules while you live under my roof, so from this day forward, I think you should find somewhere else to live.” I picked up my purse
and fished around, counting out the coins. All I could find was forty shillings and I could ill afford to part with it, but it was a sop to my conscience. “Here, take this.”
She stared at me, her face white. “But where will I go?” She sounded just like a child.
“I’m sure a girl like you can figure that out. What about all those friends you’ve been telling us about? I’m sure the Alvanleys could put you up. They believe your joke, you know.”
She turned the corners of her mouth down.
Ordinarily, I would have softened, but I’d had it. Taking her arm, I marched her up to her room and helped her pack, my heart throbbing in my chest as I folded her dresses, blouses, skirts, underwear. Was I actually doing this? My head pounded and I could scarcely believe I could be so cruel to my own daughter. When it came time to see her off, I almost couldn’t bear it. I nearly threw my arms around her neck and begged her to stay. Bitter experience prevented me from doing so.
I spent the rest of the day turning Stephanie’s bedroom into a nest for dear Jessie. At least I had one daughter I could be proud of. As I scrubbed and dusted I reflected that Spencer and I were luckier than most. Yes, we had lost two children. But our four remaining children, Jessica, Beryl, Sylvia and our young son Bevil were good people. Somehow, we would all survive this loss.
I never saw my daughter again. As I’d feared, she showed bad judgment, squandering her reputation on a series of men. Eventually, she became the common-law wife of a man old enough to be her father. Upon his sudden death, facing a lonely pregnancy and disgrace, she managed to cozen someone else into marrying her. I did not attend the wedding.
I never prevented the children from visiting her once they were grown. I never prevented Spencer from visiting his eldest daughter, or from attending her wedding. I never confronted Spencer about the fact that when he visited her, he would give her money, even though we could not spare it. He never told me about it, but I kept the accounts and I figured out where the money was going. It was a matter I chose not to discuss.
Perhaps I did all this so that I could, in some tenuous way, keep Stephanie in my life.
But I never forgave her.
THE END
This story is unpublished. If you would care to publish it, please contact me at “cynthia [at] spunstories [dot] com.”
March 19, 2021
LORD OF EMPERORS (SARANTINE MOSAIC #2) by Guy Gavriel Kay, narrated by Berny Clark
I read this volume straight after Volume 1 (SAILING TO SARANTIUM) and found this to be equally as strong, if not better.
The author’s descriptions are the best I’ve ever read. The description of the mosaics set into the interior dome of the Great Sanctuary of Jadd, how they were done, how the tessarae were colored, how they were expertly angled to catch the light from the sun, moon & torches – this writing was absolutely breathtaking in its power & ability to bring them to life.
But author Guy Gavriel Kay was not done with those brilliant descriptions. He outdid himself with a description of that chariot race (readers will know what I’m talking about) in which a badly injured charioteer with a genius of a mind managed to do something so unexpected that this race became a legend that was talked about for years & years.
The sheer amount of research that Guy Gavriel Kay had to do on chariot races – in which ONE driver, standing on a 2-wheeled chariot drawn by a quadriga
Quadriga, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Paris
(4 horses) with the reins around his waist, went down that track & around those corners at insane speeds, only able to communicate to his horses by leaning to one side or the other, or using his whip – is astounding. (BTW, if you want to see a good example of a quadriga, look at the top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, or wander to the Thames Embankment in London to gaze upon the statue of Boadicea.)
I loved the characters, I loved the story and I highly recommend this book! Five stars. #guygavrielkay #lordofemperors
March 17, 2021
SAILING TO SARANTIUM (SARANTINE MOSAIC #1) by Guy Gavriel Kay, narrated by Berny Clark
Empress Theodora (500-548), former dancer, then wife of Emperor Justinian I.
SAILING TO SARANTIUM is Guy Gavriel Kay’s alternative take on the Byzantium of the Emperor Justinian (482-565 CE.) In Kay’s novel this emperor is referred to as “Valerius II” and his wife as the “Empress Alexana.” But it is clear that the reference is to the Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, who, like Alexana, was originally a dancer, and whose marriage to Justinian caused a scandal (so much so that various laws had to be changed to allow that marriage to go ahead.)
As in his Chinese novels UNDER HEAVEN and RIVER OF STARS, much of this novel consists of court drama, in which calm, well-bred aristocrats delicately play deadly games of chance with each other. This might sound deadly dull (pun intended) were it not for the character of Crispin the Mosaicist, and the fantasy elements of this novel
Crispin the Mosaicist, is a Rhodian (read Roman) who is summoned from the quiet backwater of Verena by the Emperor himself, to work on a new sanctuary for Jadd, (read the Hagia Sophia in what is now Istanbul.) Crispin is a curmudgeon of a fellow with a talent for swearing, who refuses to tone his rough edges down, even as these sharp edges in his character increase his chances of assassination.
Then there are the fantasy elements, which I absolutely loved. *SPOILER ALERT* How wonderful to have a talking bird as your companion, especially one with an acid wit! The bird and Crispin make the perfect couple, and I was so disappointed when she had to leave him. Five stars. #guygavrielkay #sailingtosarantium
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