Door Stop: Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

The time has come to tackle another door stop. On this blog, a 'door stop' is essentially any book that is 500 pages or more, and this week, it is Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. In this tale, Dickens tackles poverty, debtors' prisons, and bureaucracy and red tape in 19th century England.

The Situation: Life inside of the Marshalsea debtors' prison is the only life Amy Dorrit, or Little Dorrit, has ever known. She was born in the prison, and after her mother died when she was very young, she has spent her life being of service to her father, older brother and sister, and their uncle. William Dorrit entered the prison over 30 years before, and has become known as the "Father of the Marshalsea," while trying to hold onto the class and status in which he was raised. Though it would anger her father if he knew, Little Dorrit works as a seamstress for various individuals, one of which is the stern and harsh mother of Arthur Clennam. Arthur suspects that his family may have something to do with William Dorrit being in the debtors' prison, and resolves to find out and right any potential wrong.

The Problem: It is clear that Arthur's mother is holding back on some vital piece of information regarding Arthur's deceased father, so he must make his own investigation, while also entering into a business partnership with a local inventor. Meanwhile, the kind and good-natured Mr. and Mrs. Meagles worry over their spoiled daughter's potential attachment to a young artist who does not make much money, and who is also friends with a mysterious and potentially dangerous man known only as Blandois. Throughout the story, Little Dorrit remains sweet, and good, and hard-working, and while it is clear some take advantage of her goodness, including her own father, she would never hear of going against any of them, and remains a true and faithful servant.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a story of fiction written by Dickens and was published in 19 monthly installments, beginning in December of 1855. Little Dorrit may be the title character, but there are large chunks of the novel when the character disappears completely, while the story focuses not only on Arthur, but also the Meagles, Blandois, and a few other key characters. One major theme is that of imprisonment, as several characters end up bound to their locations for various reasons. Another heavily explored subject is that of government bureaucracy, as the narrator talks at length about the Circumlocution Office and their specialty of not getting anything done. And then there are several characters who experience sudden and severe turns of fortune.

My Verdict: This book is long...like Bleak House long. If there was ever a reason to be thankful for jury duty (and in my mind, there are few), it is because of the long stretches of time in which it allowed me to make headway with this book. The character of Little Dorrit is indeed incredibly good, and sweet, and pitiable, but she is also frustratingly naive, and good to the point of not wanting to cause anyone trouble, including those who do her wrong. Those familiar with Dickens will recognize the style of writing, the fun character names, and the dialogue that often feels to be going in circles (and sometimes it is). If I had to give it a ranking among the other Dickens books I have read, I would have to put it somewhere between Bleak House and David Copperfield, with A Tale of Two Cities still being my favorite.

Favorite Moment: Little Dorrit's older sister Fanny takes advantage of her younger sister's good nature, much like her brother and father. But even with all of her bluster and boasting, there is a moment when even she seems to admit that her situation is not ideal, though she does not do so with words.

Favorite Character: Mr. Pancks is a rent collector who, naturally, is viewed as a villain by those he has to collect rent from, but also enjoys a sort of side hustle as someone who restores people's lost inheritances, therefore helping to reverse the fortunes of a few characters. 

Recommended Reading: Middlemarch by George Eliot is even longer, but also follows a variety of characters in 19th century England. 

Contemporary Fiction: The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

Reader's absolutely adored last year's The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer, so this year I went ahead and picked up the follow-up, The Lost Story, which was inspired by C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, specifically The Silver Chair. Shaffer leans even more into the magical realism for this story, offering up a fantasy book for adults who are not too old for fairy tales.

The Situation: Jeremy Cox has a seemingly supernatural ability to find lost girls and women. He is known all around the world for the people he has found, and is currently appearing on a documentary TV show as a special guest, which is where Emilie Wendell meets him. She desperately wants to meet Jeremy to see if he will help her find her sister, who went missing 20 years ago. The thing is, Emilie's sister went missing in the Red Crow State Forest of West Virginia, which is the same forest Jeremy himself went missing, along with his best friend Ralph 'Rafe' Howell, 15 years ago. Both boys emerged six months later, mostly physical okay, but definitely different. Only Jeremy remembers what happened during those six months, and if he is to return to Red Crow to find Emilie's sister, he will need Rafe's help.

The Problem: Even though Jeremy remembers where he and his friend were while they were lost, he has always refused to tell Rafe anything about it, who cannot remember a thing. In fact, the two of them have not spoken in years. While Jeremy has become a famous missing persons investigator, Rafe has become somewhat of a reclusive artist, mostly emerging from his home to protect his property and the animals on it from poachers. But if Jeremy is to find Emilie's sister, it means telling Rafe the truth. A strange truth about the magical land they were in while they were gone. It was a world full of beauty and magical creatures, but also incredible dangers, and haunting memories. Emilie is not the only one looking for something she has lost, and Jeremy and Rafe will have to confront their shared past to find it.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a fantasy book set primarily in West Virginia, specifically the fictional Red Crow State Forest, but also the magical realm of Shanandoah. Nearly half of the book is set in the world we know, and the other half in Shanandoah, where evil and mischievous entities known as the Bright Boys cause havoc, but are almost always outdone by the queen and her Valkyries. Occasionally, the book's storyteller will interrupt to provide background, or let the reader know that certain details are being skipped intentionally, or to even give props to the reader for noticing specific details. The book also confronts the pain of traumatic memories, and considers if beauty and love are worth it if they bring pain, sorrow, and grief along with them. 

My Verdict: The part of the story that involves Jeremy, Rafe, and Emilie moving around in our world has moments that are incredibly compelling, and help build the mystery about Shanandoah. The part about the magical place with unicorns and insects with wings of fire is enchanting and wonderful. But for some reason, the bringing of the two worlds together does not quite work for me, and I do not know what the disconnect is. It is like two separate stories smashed together. Also, I will admit to not being a fan of the interrupting storyteller, as I did not fully see any added value in the mechanic. Fantasy lovers may still enjoy the adventure, and it seems there is a chance there will be more in the future.

Favorite Moment: There are two horses in Shanandoah who are incredibly loyal and helpful, and come in clutch when dealing with an enemy.

Favorite Character: Rafe's mom will not let him into her house unless he shaves. But once he does, she feeds him and his friends, and together they are able to deal with what happened when Rafe was a child.

Recommended Reading: I recommend Shaffer's previous book The Wishing Game, and also the entire The Chronicles of Narnia series.

Young Adult Fiction: Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus

Another year seems to mean another YA thriller from author Karen M. McManus. This time it is Such Charming Liars, set in a remote New England town where a jewelry heist plot goes terribly wrong, and two teenagers with a complicated past must work fast to solve the puzzle.

The Situation: Sixteen year-old Kat has always considered her and her mother Jamie to be a team. For as long as she can remember, it has been the two of them sticking together through everything. And after a career of being a jewelry thief, Jamie has decided that life is no longer for her. One more job, and the two of them can move on to some sort of normalcy. Liam has never considered himself and his serial con artist father Luke to be a team. And it is no surprise when Luke seems to have designs on the daughter of a wealthy man, whose birthday party they are attending at the family's compound. But what is a surprise is the appearance of Kat and Jamie, the latter of which was once married to Luke for 48 hours, 12 years ago, and whose latest jewelry heist assignment is at the same compound. 

The Problem: The 48 hours that Jamie and Luke were married are full of memories that neither Kat nor Liam care to revisit, but they still manage to treat each other as something closer to step-siblings, even after all these years. And when a murder takes place on the compound, throwing everything and every plan into chaos, Kat and Liam must stick together. Even with security on high alert, it becomes clear that the threat of danger is still very real, and the newly reconnected stepsiblings may now be targets. Kat's past experience and street smarts will come in handy, and Liam is just charming and naive enough to be endearing, but it may not be enough to save them, or at least help them solve an ever-growing mystery.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult thriller novel set mostly in and around a small town in Maine. The majority of the action takes place on the Sutherland Compound, where billionaire Ross Sutherland's birthday party is to take place. There are two narrators, though Kat is allowed more chapters than her former stepbrother Liam. While Kat has essentially been raised by a jewel thief, who has worked for years for a woman who has used a cleaning business as a front for a theft ring, which meant having to move often, Liam was raised by his mother, before her death meant moving in with his scam artist father. The story is similar to McManus' other thrillers, but this time being centered more around a jewelry heist, and moving away from the usual setting of a high school or camp.

My Verdict: No matter how many twists and turns a McManus book takes, I always remain invested and interested in seeing where everything ends up. Each twist and bend in the story may be slightly more ridiculous than the last, but it is never quite enough where the believability goes completely out of the window...though I will say that this book got closer to that point than any of the seven McManus books that came before it. The story is exciting and intense, the setting is refreshing, and I think YA thriller lovers have another fun book to explore.

Favorite Moment: Kat's lockpicking skills are impressive, and they come in handy more often than they probably should. 

Favorite Character: From the beginning, it is clear that Liam knows exactly the kind of man his father is, and even takes active steps to ruin many of his plans.

Recommended Reading: For a different sort of YA thriller, I recommend Holly Jackson's Five Survive. 

Historical Fiction: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

Author Kate Quinn has become one of my favorite historical fiction writers in recent years, so I was excited to pick up The Briar Club, her latest book set in Washington, D.C. in McCarthy's America, when some of the population was scared of communists, while others lived in fear of being accused as one.

The Situation: It is Thanksgiving of 1954, and two detectives have arrived at the Briarwood House to find a dead body on the top floor. The Briarwood House is a fairly ordinary boarding house for women, run by the penny-pinching and nosy Mrs. Nilsson, and her young son Pete. But since Mrs. Nilsson was out at her bridge club, the detectives must look closely at the other residents and some of their guests. There is the policeman's daughter Nora, who is wanting to create a life away from her family and past; Reka, the older woman who came to the U.S. to escape Hitler; Fliss, an English woman and mother who is somehow always so frustratingly put together; Bea, a former baseball player; Claire, a woman who dreams of a house of her own; Arlene, the one no one likes but is desperate for everyone's approval and attention; and then Grace, the mysterious newcomer who says little about herself, but whose apartment it is in which the dead body was found.

The Problem: The story begins four years ago, when Grace March first arrived at Briarwood House and agreed to rent out the available room on the top floor. As the fateful night of Thanksgiving 1954 approaches, each resident of the boarding house tells their story and how they got to be where they are. They each have their own views on what McCarthy has done, and their own feelings about communism, and they all certainly recognize that the young Pete deserves a better fate than the one Mrs. Nilsson has carved out for him. While they are all different, what they now have in common is that they are all being looked at as suspects, and each one must decide what truth they will tell.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a historical fiction book with the majority of the action taking place in Washington, D.C. between the years 1950-1954. Along with the young Pete Nilsson, each female guest at the boarding house gets their own chapter and the chance to tell their story and how they ended up at the Briarwood House. In between the chapters, the story returns to where it started, Thanksgiving night of 1954, when the police find a dead body in Grace's room. As each resident tells their story, time moves forward, slowly revealing a full picture of how it came to this, all against a backdrop of the McCarthy era and the paranoia of post-World War II America. 

My Verdict: Sometimes, stories told by multiple narrators suffer that fate of having some characters be less interesting than others. What is smart about The Briar Club is that instead of switching back and forth between the different narrators, each one simply gets their own chapter, giving the readers the details for that specific point in time, and then moves on to the next character. Each chapter has its own sense of closure, while also continuing the story, and allowing room for the story to continue. And while readers will certainly have characters they like more than others, none of them are boring, and each detail has a purpose and a payoff. Quinn has weaved together yet another intricate and intriguing story with several strong women at the forefront of the action. 

Favorite Moment: Ever Thursday night, the ladies of Briarwood House meet in Grace's room for dinner, which is how the term 'Briar Club' comes to be. Included in each chapter is one or two recipes that are relevant to the story, and I am usually a sucker for food details in almost any story.

Favorite Character: Baseball player Bea may be obsessed with a sport that I have never had the patience for, but she is tough, knows what she wants (to play baseball, be around baseball, and be involved in all things baseball), and her enthusiasm for the sport may be grating to some, but is endearing to some of the least likely people in the book. 

Recommended Reading: I recommend both The Nightingale and The Women by Kristin Hannah. 

Contemporary Fiction: One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon

As a long-time fan of Nicola Yoon's young adult novels, it was easy to decide to pick up and cover her first offering for adult readers, One of Our Kind. With a description that likened the plot to Get Out, and a promise that it would appeal to lovers of Paul Beatty's The Sellout, I was more than intrigued and interested to see where this story would go.

The Situation: Jasmyn Williams is a public defender, committed to helping young Black men stay out of the system. With one young son, and another one on the way, Jasmyn is certainly interested in creating the best possible life for her growing family, but that does not mean she is completely sold on moving to Liberty, California, the so-called utopia that is 100% Black. Not only are all of the residents Black, but so are the teachers, the service industry workers, even the cops. Even the 'modest' houses are large and expensive, and Jasmyn's husband, King, is convinced this is the right move for them. Since affording it is not a problem, especially with King's career taking off, Jasmyn pushes down her feelings of abandoning her roots and the people she serves and makes the move.

The Problem: Residing in a house with three living rooms may take some getting used to, but what Jasmyn is having the hardest time getting used to is some of the other residents. Being that Liberty was created to be a safe haven for Black people, she expected to find like-minded individuals just as interested in activism and the fight for equality as she is. Instead she is met with blank and apathetic responses to the latest shooting of an unarmed Black person, and comments that not only leave her perplexed, but angry. When she fears that King is becoming a little too comfortable with the Liberty way of life, she decides to dig deeper into the city's history, but what she finds may destroy everything.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a work of fiction, set in the made up town of Liberty, California, a place that was built specifically for Black people, granted they are wealthy enough to be able to afford to live there. Jasmyn fears that moving there will turn her 'bougie,' only giving in to her husband's wishes when taking into consideration the kind of safety a place like Liberty could give her husband, her young son Kamau, and the baby boy she is due to have in a few months. Divided up into five parts, there are excerpts from various articles and interviews that give more information on the founding members of Liberty, some of its other important residents, and also a few current events. The book looks at the wide range of opinions on police brutality, protesting (peaceful and otherwise), and even black hair care.

My Verdict: This is a pretty fascinating premise: A young and growing Black family moves into what is supposed to be a Black utopia, but the wife has a feeling that something is not quite right. It is a great set up for a thriller; unfortunately, the execution is more than a little off. I have to admit to being almost immediately turned off by the protagonist within the first 15 pages. Jasmyn is incredibly judgmental, and mostly of other Black women, and to the point that her assertions of someone else not being enlightened ends up showing how unenlightened (and insecure) she is. The protagonist is unlikeable and tiresome, and the constant mentions of police brutality and the suffering of Black people was heavy-handed and unnecessary. Instead of providing a good story, the plot got lost, and the book became cumbersome and almost hard to take seriously.

Favorite Moment: From the beginning, it is amazing how Jasmyn begins to accept her upgraded life, despite how critical she likes to be of others 'not doing enough.'

Favorite Character: Jasmyn's friend Tricia does not show up much in the book, but she is pretty much the only one to mention the positive aspects of being Black. She does what Jasmyn constantly fails to do, and that is look for the joy.

Recommended Reading: The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson is a YA thriller and a re-telling of Carrie by Stephen King. 

Nonfiction: The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum by Margalit Fox

While some readers will flock to any book about a serial killer or cult leader, I have always been more interested in con artists and organized crime. The title of today's book by Margalit Fox immediately caught my attention: The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss. A hopefully in-depth look at a little known figure from America's crime history certainly sounded exciting to me.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction book that looks into the life of Fredericka Mandelbaum (who was also referred to as "Marm" Mandelbaum, "Mother" Mandelbaum, "Ma" Mandelbaum, and even "Mother Baum"). She would arrive in New York City, after leaving what is now central Germany, in 1850. But by 1870 she would be the picture of wealth and status, even though it was well-known by many around her how that wealth was accumulated. While chronicling Mrs. Mandelbaum's rise to prominence as an underworld figure, the book also explains what her role as a "fence" would entail; explores the lives of the men and women of the time who helped her grow her empire; gives detailed explanations of what it would take to successfully rob a bank in mid-19th century America; and lists all the reasons why Mrs. Mandelbaum was able to do what she did at that particular point in history. 

My Verdict: As is common with many nonfiction books out there, this one often feels like it is a magazine article that has been stretched out into enough pages so that it can be printed and sold as a book. With actual content that makes up only 206 pages - followed by 70 pages of references - not all that much of those 206 pages is actually about Mrs. Mendelbaum and her life. What I was hoping would be more of a biography of the woman's life is more of a look at how fences operated in the middle of the 19th century in New York City. The details concerning her inevitable fall from prominence are indeed fascinating, along with the lengths officials went to in order to catch her. But it felt like something was missing from the whole account, or perhaps maybe there was not quite enough material to fill out the book.

Favorite Moment: Included in the book are many illustrations and photographs, my favorite of which were diagrams of certain buildings and schemes that were important to how Mrs. Mandelbaum's enterprise operated.

Recommended Reading: I recommend Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, a work of fiction whose main character is a reluctant fence operating out of his own furniture store.

Contemporary Fiction: Fire Exit by Morgan Talty

Literary fiction is a genre I am always willing to experience more of, and yet the amount of books that can be labeled as such are somewhat few and far between on this blog. These more character driven stories move at a different pace, and are often viewed as books where 'not a lot happens,' though that is not necessarily true. Morgan Talty's Fire Exit has the 'literary fiction' tag attached to it in Goodreads, and it makes sense. With the focus on a man who must come to terms with the past, it explores our relationship with the truth, and whose right it is to share it.

The Situation: Charles Lamosway has spent many hours on the porch of his home, watching another family's life unfold from across the river. That family lives on the reservation, where he himself grew up with his mother, Louise, and stepfather, Frederick. Charles has watched that family since the day the couple brought home their daughter, Elizabeth, from the hospital. It was a day that changed his life in more ways than one, mostly because the man who ends up raising Elizabeth is not her real father, and Charles has spent the years wondering if she should know the truth.

The Problem: Now Elizabeth is an adult, and is clearly struggling. But she is not the only one. Charles not only wrestles with the truth about the daughter he did not get to raise, but also the guilt he still feels over his stepfather's tragic death. His primary relationships include his often-drunk friend Bobby, and his still living mother Louise, who everyday sinks deeper into dementia, and may still harbor resentment over what happened to her husband. When it becomes clear that Elizabeth is in trouble, Charles makes a decision that will effect more lives than his own. The truth is important, but may not be his to share. And could it be too late?

Genre, Themes, History: This is a work of fiction, set in and around the community where Charles lives near Overtown, Maine. The character of Charles grew up on the Penobscot Reservation with his mother and stepfather, but had to move off the land once he turned 18. With no family of his own, and a strained relationship with his mother, Charles has spent much of his adult life observing and wondering about the family across the river, where his daughter lives with the man she believes is her real father. While Charles mostly wrestles with his own guilt over the past, and remorse for what his life could have been, he also struggles with the truth and how to handle it. Plus, there is the extra layer of caring for a parent with dementia. 

My Verdict: With Charles as the first-person narrator, there are many moments that are not overly descriptive, and several actions are completed seemingly without much forethought. He simply knows something to be true - or at least believes something to be true - and acts accordingly, having to deal with the consequences later. With most of the page-turning action happening in the final quarter of the book, Talty holds the reader's attention throughout the story by carefully revealing Charles' past, and why the characters are how they are now, including Elizabeth. I enjoyed the exploration of our relationship with the truth, and how both sharing it, and withholding it, can be a dangerous thing.

Favorite Moment: After reading that individuals with dementia often enjoy having something to take care of, Charles gives his mother a stuffed elephant, which remains by her side for the rest of the book. 

Favorite Character: Bobby is a mess. But he can be a helpful mess, and he does care a great deal for Charles' mother, Louise.

Recommended Reading: I recommend Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera. It is a different kind of story that also looks at complicated family relationships, and how communities attempt to hold onto the area where they live.