Initial Impressions, Keepers of the House, Feb, 2014

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

Here's the spot to begin our initial discussion of Grau's novel. No spoilers, please. I read this one in high school more years ago than I care to remember. This should be almost a first time read for me after all these years. Enjoy!

Mike

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

Jim wrote: "Ten pages in, my impression was, why have I never heard of this book or this author? I just arrived at page 135 and am savoring every page. This is one powerful book, told in a leisurely pace, bu..."

Brother Jim,

Having been in the trenches for nearly two months on the WWI Group, I'm taking R&R and beginning Graus's novel tonight. I'll be interested to see how quickly the story returns to me.

Mike

[Connie]

There's an interesting article about Shirley Ann Grau in the Oct 2013 Deep South Magazine. She has a funny story about how she hung up the phone when she was notified that she won the Pulitzer Prize because she thought her friend was pulling a prank.

http://deepsouthmag.com/2013/10/the-u...

[Connie]

I'm about 30 pages into The Keepers of the House now. She had me hooked by page 6 when Abigail is thinking about her ancestors:

"They are all dead, all of them. I am caught and tangled around by their doings. It is as if their lives left a weaving of invisible threads in the air of this house, of this town, of this county. And I stumbled and fell into them."

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

Connie
I'm reading The Clearing right now but that quote makes me want to read the book when I'm finished. My husband started last night and said it draws you in quickly.

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

Article of Note: Shirley Ann Grau's House, on the Street Where You Live, Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post. March 8, 2005, one of a series of articles periodically posted by the Post's book critics, who take a glance at significant literary works of the past.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...

I took a break from my WWI reads to pick this one up. As our other commenters have indicated, I have been drawn into the book and I know it will be a more memorable read than my long forgotten read of this book in high school.

Mike

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

About Shirley Ann Grau

For a great look at Grau and her works see, Shirley Ann Grau at Open Road Media: http://www.openroadmedia.com/shirley-...

Mike

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

Laura wrote: "Connie
I'm reading The Clearing right now but that quote makes me want to read the book when I'm finished. My husband started last night and said it draws you in quickly."

Indeed it does!

Mike

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I am reading "The Clearing" this month. I assigned "Keepers of the House" for my book club a few years ago. It was one of the best discussions we've ever had, and went on the longest. Shirley Ann Grau deserved all the praise and awards garnered by this book, and I've read others by her since then. She knows how to tell a good story.

[Patricia]

I will be following this discussion with great interest. I have recently enough reread KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE that I will have to let it get very cold again before I can go back to it. It's a novel for which the adjective "delicious" comes immediately to mind.

[Josh]

I'm 25% of the way in and loving it. Like Jim points out the author takes some total switchback turns shifting from one storyline to another on a dime and rather than annoy me it draws me deeper in. I'd suspect her to be quite a story teller in real life just like the characters she introduces us to along the way. I can already tell I'm going to love it start to finish but I'm just now to the meeting at the baptistery so off of goodreads and back to my book!!

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

Jim wrote: "Mike and Connie - thanks for posting these links. The Deep South Magazine interview and the video are excellent. She still sparkles at the age of 86!

I think I'm going to have to read that New..."

Brother Jim, Glad to oblige. I try to post additional materials on our reads and it's great to see Connie adding to the materials. I think it's always a good thing to put things out to flesh out the author's life and materials that lend themselves to making the reading a more exceptional experience.

Glad you like the additional materials.

Mike

[Josh]

I am so glad whatever book I voted for in this poll did not win! This is one HECK of a book. I've got to say that had this group not nudged it along, I would have missed out. Itching not to put a bunch of my thoughts in the no spoilers thread, but I think this is the best read we've had in some time. Finished it tonight and was glad I forced myself to stay up on a Friday night finish. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Judith]

I am scrabbling around the house, to find my copy of this wondrous book...I first read it, back in the early 70s....and i still remember the sense of Awe, i felt...through the strength of the "writing".....I'm sorry, that's all I have to offer...

[Sue]

Just began reading this this evening and found myself 13% in effortlessly. What writing and wonderful story. I'm so happy I bought this for my kindle last fall (before we had even chosen it for this month!) I'm sure I will look further into her writing too.

[Meran]

For some reason, I had a hard time getting into this book. Yes, I enjoyed everything I read in it, but mentally, I just wasn't grokking it.

No fault of the author's. ;)

Finished it 20 min ago, and it was worth staying up until dawn...

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Grokking?

[Meran]

You really haven't read one of the topmost SF books of the 60s? "Grok" from Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, means understanding the situation in a most complete manner, best as I can explain ;)