Good to A Fault: The Sinister Thread of Charity

Good to A Fault by Marina Endicott, 2008. Giller Prize Finalist.

I read this a couple of months ago and so this review is from memory, a dangerous vantage point, I admit; however, the alternative is to forget this book, like the others I've neglected to blog about.

Clara Purdy is a forty-three year old, unmarried, single woman. One day her car hits another that is loaded with a family of six: two young parents, two children, a baby, and a grandmother. The Pell family is poor and are en route to find work in another town. After the accident, the mother is hospitalized, and it is later discovered that she has cancer.

Clara feels guilty and invites the family to live with her temporarily. Almost immediately she rearranges her life, work, and home to accommodate these strangers, and it is apparent that she loves it. The husband can't deal with the stress or his wife's illness and runs off. Clara keeps the children and grandmother, and as the mother undergoes treatment, the arrangement becomes more permanent.

I won't tell more plot but will ruminate. I remember being fascinated by Clara, at once pitying her needing so badly to live another woman's life, and then, rooting for her, wanting her to be happy. Yes, it was a book hinging on one event that changed people's lives, of strangers colliding and somehow filling the needs of each other; but, the most arresting thread of this book was charity -- the giving and receiving of money and help, and the social obligations and expectations resulting from a transaction that is seemingly benevolent. It is this theme that struck me and while reading, I would sometimes be furious at the Pell family's ungratefulness, while at other times I was maddened by Clara's expectation of gratitude, and almost bordering on manipulative actions.

Worth reading. Most Giller Prize associated books are generally decent.

Dime Store Magic

It is with hesitation that I post about the next book, Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong (2004), because it is "junk food". I have hangups about reading books not on the list and/or fluff pieces that have little to no possibility of inspiring me in some way, either to think about another facet of life, or understand the human condition from another perspective. (And yes, I am thinking about Twilight too) I know. It's messed. A person should read what they read, right?

With that meandering done, let me go on about how much I enjoy books on witches, especially ones set in modern day. Dime Store Magic and Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell are books that describe supernatural worlds co-existing with the human one, and this seems to make magic real.

Paige Winterbourne, age twenty-three, is the leader of the American Coven of Witches, a group comprising mostly of the Elders, three or four matronly women who wish to keep low profiles. Paige is the guardian of a teenaged witch who is sought after by the latter's father, a sorcerer and leader of a powerful cabal. Over the centuries, witches and sorcerers have become enemies, but one young male sorcerer, son of another powerful cabal leader, comes to Paige's aid as her lawyer. You see, its a legal custody battle between Paige and the teen's father. What can I say. Is it worth it to say more?

I will say one more thing. Books on supernatural beings all must define the parameters of powers and abilities. Kelley does not excel, but her take on the history of witches and their powers as well as those of the sorcerers can be entertaining and refreshing.