Slade House

It’s hard to top the news for scares these days. But if you are looking for something to read while you hide out from the trick or treaters this weekend, here’s a look back to a post I wrote in 2016.

David Mitchell’s Slade House opens in 1979 in a voice reminiscent of characters from Mitchell's Black Swan Green. (This isn’t so bad, I thought.) Nathan and his mother have been invited by Lady Norah Grayer for an afternoon of music at her city residence Slade House. After some trouble finding the address, they step through an iron gate into a beautiful garden. Lady Norah’s brother Jonah befriends Nathan and they begin a game of chase around the house. After being frightened by a dog, Nathan runs inside and finds himself face-to-face of a portrait…of himself hanging on the wall. Nathan wakes up and finds himself with his father in Rhodesia. Has the previous scene been a dream? Or is this his dream now?

Mitchell keeps us guessing until the next section opens in 1988 when another unsuspecting guest of Slade House finds himself dreaming awake and sees his portrait on the stairs. Nine years later a group of college students in a paranormal society seek out the house hoping to find the guests who have disappeared in years past. They too meet their end at the hands of the crafty twins.

There is some comfort in the repetition. Upon meeting each new narrator, the reader expects he or she also will meet his or her demise.

Breathing a sigh of relief, we find the final narrator not at Slade House, but a local pub. She is meeting an informant who tells her the life histories of the Grayer twins. In true Mitchell fashion, we get an action-packed final section in which the twins’ weakened power is overrun by a time-traveling avenger.   

All in all, although there were a few hair-prickling scenes, I haven’t had nightmares and have had no trouble falling asleep. Though if someone invites me over for afternoon tea, I will be more than a little wary. 

Opportunity Hoarding

 Although I’m relieved to be finished with graduate school, I miss the commute to Seattle which gave me the opportunity to catch up on various podcasts. Of course, when I listen to a podcast, I want to read more about whatever topic may be covered whether it’s Dolly Parton, the history of slavery, Hallmark Christmas movies, or, in this case, white parents’ impact on public schools.  

Nice White Parents is the latest from Serial. Producer Chana Joffe-Walt put together this list of books she read while researching the series. For quick reference, I’ve also listed them below.

Turns out I also miss having access to the university library which might carry these titles. Instead, I’ve pestered my local library to add them to its collection. Maybe you’ll fare better at yours.

In the meantime, take a listen. 

White Kids by Margaret A. Hagerman

Despite the Best Intentions by Amanda E. Lewis and John B. Diamond

The Lost Education of Horace Tate by Vanessa Siddle Walker

Mothers of Massive Resistance by Elizabeth Gillespie McRae

Why Busing Failed by Matthew F. Delmont

Ghosts in the Schoolyard by Eve L. Ewing

Cutting School by Noliwe M. Rooks

Lighting up the screen

I’ve been looking forward to several recent page to screen adaptations and, so far, haven’t been disappointed. The Hate U Give does justice to the YA novel of the same name by Angie Thomas. Coming later this year to HBO is an adaptation of You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz called The Undoing (fans of Big Little Lies get excited). And I’m currently mesmerized by the performances of Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in the Hulu series Little Fires Everywhere based on the book by Celeste. Ng.

Bill and Elena Richardson are raising four children in planned to perfection Shaker Heights, Ohio. Everything in Elena’s life appears to be going swimmingly:  successful husband, fulfilling career as a journalist for a small-town paper, and pride in her four above average children. Having inherited a small rental property in town that helps fund the family’s beach vacations, Elena also gets to play benevolent landlady. Her latest tenant is Mia Warren, a photographer who travels around the country seeking inspiration from each new locale.

Mia’s daughter Pearl soon becomes a fixture at the Richardson household, going shopping with the eldest Lexie, crushing on Trip, and hanging out with Moody. Meanwhile, the Richardson’s youngest daughter, Izzie, gravitates toward Mia as a role-model and, as a bonus, to piss off her mother.  

Although Ng explores a multitude of subplots, they all serve to coalesce around the dangers of best laid plans. Whether it is grappling with nascent mothering (unwanted pregnancies, infertility, surrogacy, adoption, abandonment) or adolescent parenting (curfews, friendship, rebellion, cynicism), Ng, like Mia, stages an intricate set of artifacts before burning it all down.

Banned Books Week

This week I look back at posts of books that were once banned. Click on the titles to read the original post.

Beloved

“He licked his lips. ‘Well, if you want my opinion-‘

‘I don’t,' She said. ‘I have my own.'”

Better Nate than Ever

“It turns out that custard can taste really, really depressing when you're not in the mood for it.”

George

“She’s always going on about how we’re not supposed to let people’s expectations limit our choices.”

The Giver

“Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?”

The Handmaid’s Tale

 “As the architects of Gilead knew, to institute an effective totalitarian system or indeed any system at all you must offer some benefits and freedoms, at least to a privileged few, in return for those you remove.”

 The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“It's strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book.”