CONTEMPORARY WOMEN AUTHORS -WONDERFUL STUFF

WELL, HERE I AM BACK AGAIN AND I HAVE READ LOTS OF BOOKS SINCE MY LAST BLOG, BUT HAVE TO SHOWCASE MY VERY FAVOURITES AS THEY HAVE TAKEN ME ON A MAGIC CARPET-RIDE THROUGH AUTUMN WHICH IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA IS VERY STUNNING!!!

i thought i would start with a biographical synopsis of ALICE HOFFMAN.

She was born on March 16, 1952 in New York City and lived on Long Island. She received a prestigious writing scholarship to the Standford Univesersity Creative Writing centre and gained an MA in creative writing. Her first novel was written at the age of 21 years (Property Of).

Since that time she has published a total of 24 novels, 3 books of short fiction and eight books for children and young adults. She also wrote "Here on Earth" a modern reworking of themes from Emily Brontes "Wuthering Heights"which was made into the film "Practical Magic".Many other works have been made into film and have featured numerous prestigious magazines.

Her books are so well researched, often presenting historial accounts with wonderful fictional characters who narrate their spell-binding stories which makes the books breathe with life.

THE MUSEUM OF EXTRAORDINARY THINGS

The book cover notes tell the reader that New York during the volatile first decades of the Twentieth Century. The city itself becomes a rivetting centrepiece as Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance and masterful storytelling as she presents our two enigmatic narrators.

Coralie Sardie (Our Mermaid) is the daughter of the sinister impressario behind the Museum of Extraordinary things, a Coney Island boardwalk freakshow that thralls the masses. She is an exceptional swimmer and is trained to be the Mermaid, alongside performers like the Wolfman, Malia the Butterfly Girl and numerous other exotic oddities.

She likes to train in the Hudson River and one night spies Eddie Cohen , a striking young man who is photographing trees in the silvery moonlight.

Eddie is a Russian immigrant who runs away from his father's Orthodox Jewish community, because has a tragic story of his own. WhenEddie photographs the devastation of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman's disappearance.

Her writing evokes the atmosphere of the time. The huge discrepancy of wealth between the rich exploitive entrepreneurs and New Money businessmen and the poor, who are nothing more than work fodder for the huge new factories that take over the once pristine country-side around Manhattan and the Hudson. 

She also writes about the explotive use of so called 'science' and quackery that flourished, where the common masses were so desperately in need of relief and entertainment that they spent their meagre earnings frequenting side-shows, gawking at so call 'oddities ' caused by tragic birth defects or exotic animals, birds and exotic animals brought in from far-away places.

She also highlights the explotation of women who had no means of support and were forced to sell themselves to put food on the table, and the horribly damaging effects of bootleg alcohol and manufactured drugs that ruined peoples lives.

All of these observations are counterpointed with beautiful imagery, magical observations of nature and highlights the resilience of the downtrodden who cling on to hope and love. A truly magical book.

Again, to quote from the book cover notes:

In 70 AD, 900 Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on a mountain-side outside the Judean desert Masada. 

Two women and five children survived.

Based on this tragic event The Dove Keepers is a spell-binding tale of four extraordinarily bold and resourceful women, whose life intersect in the desperate days of the seige.

Y'aels mother died in childbirth and her father, an expert assassin never forgave her for that death. Revka a baker's wife watched  the brutal murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers.

Aziza is a warrior's daughter raised as a boy, a fearless rider and expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah is wise in the ways of ancient medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power, as loyal as she is dangerous.

All are dove-keepers and all have deep secrets- about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them and whom they love.

I just loved this extremely powerful and moving novel, with its strong enigmatic female characters who all too often are the true heroines of the tragedies of war and conflict and who demonstrate incredible human resilience and strength, unity and love.

The descriptions of the landscapes, the savage beauty of their surroundings and theinteractions and dialogue between the women is moving and eloquent. Again this book is so full of brutal realism but beautifully counter pointed with beautifully delicate imagery that lift the spirit.

This novel would make an amazing movie, I can almost hear the haunting music that needs to accompany these richly evocative scenes.

Again a magic carpet-ride of a book, that gives you insight into real historical events and the imagined impact of ruthless war and tragedy that wipe out so many people. Again it encapsulates hope and the human spirit to survive.