It's Cheesy Saga Time!

Just look at that cover....is that cheesy saga material, or what?  No wonder A Reader's Respite couldn't resist.  We're such a sucker for a big ol' family drama-saga and at 600+ pages, this one certainly fit the bill.

Now y'all know this one wasn't going to be winning any Pulitzers, right?  It's about as subtle as a freight train.  Published by Viking in 1978, Fred Stewart offers up a steamy dish of love, war (the US Civil War to be exact), betrayal, murder, wealth, politics, Mexican bandits, cheating spouses, faked deaths....the list goes on and on.

The story chiefly follows one young couple, married at the onset of the Civil War and follows their lives through the war, on to Paris during the reign Napoleon III and the ensuing fall of the Second French Empire, and down to Mexico for the stirrings of the revolution to come in 1910.  Whew.  It's a long ride, but a fun one riddled with enough drama for an afternoon soap opera.

Napoleon III and his Empress Eugenie in better days

Stewart's writing is sound and the man knows how to build tension in a scene.  Of course, some descriptions and scenes do stray a bit over the top, but who can blame him?  When you have the power to do things like give your character a fatal case of syphilis or bring him back from the dead, you're bound to run away with it a tad.

If you can find the book (not an easy task since it's been out of print for years and years), it's worth a read.  A Reader's Respite went on a dedicated hunt for this book upon discovery of the infamous thread over at Amazon, entitled Bar none the very best historical novels.  This thread is now 6,285 posts long chocked full of historical fiction recommendations by book lovers and if you haven't seen it yet, be prepared to be sucked in for hours and hours.  A Rage Against Heaven was the first recommendation in this long, long thread and we consider it a badge of honor that we tracked it down and read it.

We'll even leave you with our most memorable sentence (disclaimer: don't read on if your sensibilities are too delicate.  You've been warned!):

Lew rolled over on top of her and straddled her, his throbbing *enis jutting out below his belly like the bowsprit of a Yankee clipper.

We laughed over that line for about two days.  *snort*  Good luck trying to get that image out of your head.  You'll never watch the America's Cup in the same way again.

FTC crap:  A Reader's Respite purchased this book and we've gotta tell you, it took forever and a day to find a copy that wasn't listed for $60+.  And we sure are grateful we were patient because the book was most assuredly NOT worth $60.

Review: Jenford: A Short History of Upland

Jenford: A Short History of Upland, by Hendrick E. Sadi


Rating: 3 of 5 stars


Book Source: Courtesy of Author

He had seen too much killing and destruction not to want to affirm the living and now wanted to farm his way back to life.
Jenford: A Short History of Upland

This is one of the more difficult reviews I have had to write. How does one approach a novel that, at it's core, is a beautiful story idea and solid foundation, but the mechanicals of the actual writing are hampering the telling of that story?

The premise is solid: a grown man returns to his childhood home in a Northeastern farming community for a routine visit and pays a visit to one of their neighbors, an elderly man whose family had been farming their land since the Civil War. A picture on the wall sparks an interest in the history of the area and the elderly neighbor relates his poignant family history. As one of the original families to settle the area, their history is the town's history and parallels such as these are drawn throughout the book.

The telling of this insightful story, however, gets lost in the presentation. There is a overuse of ellipses in the dialogue, which is a bit distracting and confusion often arises over inconsistencies with the characters. For example,

And that was Clayborn's sermon to his oldest son that day Isak went to another side of the field with his two brothers, mumbling about it to them.
"I've heard enough from him and that book ... Isn't there another book he can get his hands on besides the black one he always wants to preach to us from?"
"Why don't we go and ask mother?" Joseph said, innocently enough.
"Mother? ... Why? ... Where would she get one for him?" Clarence asked, a bit dumbfounded by his brother's suggestion, looking at the grin that had come to Isak's face then.
from Jenford: A Novel of Upland

To be fair, one has to understand that the author, Henrik E. Sadi, is not a native English speaker, being born in Norway and growing up in the Middle and Far East. I simply cannot imagine the inherent difficulties in writing a novel in another language, so I feel compelled to applaud anyone who would try.

But again, aside from the technical portion of the writing, I cannot emphasize enough the heartfelt premise of the story. To seek out our own history and where we come from is a inherent human desire (okay, salmon have it too, but don't get picky with me here) and Mr. Sadi has struck a chord in this novel.

Our own stories, like the ones in Jenford, are filled with sadness and disappointment. Mr. Sadi does a commendable job of portraying this sadness without dragging the story into desolation. And while you shouldn't expect a happy ending, you can expect a satisfying one.

Title: Jenford: A Short History of Upland
Author: Hendrik E. Sadi
ISBN: 978-0-595-48351 (pbk)
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
Date: 2008