Vermont Books

This is one of the best Archer Mayor books and I have read them all. My only disappointment was in the ending where I was left to wonder about the final fate of the characters in the subplot. It was hard not to wish for a better outcome because 2 of those characters were written so sympathetically as to give hope that second chances are possible. Was Joe honest with Nancy or leading her on? What happened to her after all was said and done? Did Mel receive just punishment or remain a threat able to haunt Nancy even from jail? When character development is done so well, a bit more closure is important. Looking at the other reviews, no one else seemed to feel shortchanged at the ending so I am no doubt a minority. I agreed with another reviewer about hopefully getting rid of Joe's previous long term relationship. Most of the women the "heros" get involved with seem to end up being a royal pain. It's good to dispose of them so the guys can have another interest, but they never seem to learn. The next one is usually just as bad.

Some mystery writers like to limit their work to a particular city. Archer Mayor's character, Joe Gunther, used to be confined to Brattleboro, but now that he's been promoted to the VBI he ranges throughout all of Vermont. Many large cities probably have more murders in an evening than the Green Mountain State has all year. Mr. Mayor is forced to dredge up evil flatlanders from New York who drift into Bennington and commit mayhem.

I am quite familiar with Southern Vermont, and read this novel with keen interest. Congratulations to the author for his careful recreation of towns, streets and buildings. Everything seems accurately described and his directions are perfect. (I can think of a couple big-time mystery writers who are very casual about geography- streets misnamed, directions backwards, etc.) Of course, no Vermonter would tolerate an author who didn't know the quickest way to Wilmington.

Joe Gunther may lack some urbanity, but he is a shrewd investigator with an appealing laid-back style. Archer Mayer's prose continues to sparkle. He's not on the P.D. James level, but certainly as good or better than most of those famous guys.

I loved the book as I have enjoyed all of the books in this series. I am originally from the southern Vermont area and feel Mayor does a splendid job of describing the weather, the terrain ,the locals and the "flatlanders" who infiltrate and others who are up to no good. The cast of characters is consistant and Joe Gunther is portrayed as a real human being. There is not a lot of action per se in this particular book but Mayor sets a mood piece much like Donna Leon in her observations about Inspector Brunneti in Venice. It is a wonderful armchair read and I didn't want to put it down until I finished it.

Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther mysteries are always well written, and full of interesting (and realistic, as far as I can tell from occasional ventures to Vermont) local color. I'm giving this a full 5 *'s because two traits that had bothered me somewhat throughout the series are abated: First, Joe is in at least temporary remission from his self-obsessed, on-again-off-again long time significant other Gail. (Why can't New England mystery guy's find girlfriends that don't make your teeth crawl -- think Spencer's Sarah Silverman, and Roxanne in Gerry Boyle's Jack McMorrow series.) Second, unlike so many of Mayor's books, the action and mysteries don't revolve around bad guys from out of state or country.

The book has two threads of crime. First, Joe (who works for Vermont's fictional major crimes outfit, the Vermont Bureau of Investigation), drops in on what seems at first to be the "natural" death of Michelle Fisher, a corpse seemingly at peace and leaving no clues other than a missing cat. There is an obvious suspect, her dead husband's father who wants her out of the house he owns, but no obvious cause of death. Second, we follow the career of three smalltime South Vermont lowlifes, the hapless Ellis and Nancy and Nancy's brutal and dominating husband Mel, as Mel's penchant for violence escalates. Joe also goes to bat for longtime colleague, chief medical examiner Beverly Hillstrom, who is threatened with blackmail and political revenge, and they even advance to first name basis (astonishing as that may seem to long term readers of the series).

Mayor expertly tugs at our heartstrings as we follow multiple threads of love/relationship, as well as our whodunnit logic as we try to anticipate what's going to happen with Mel's posse and to figure out what happened to Michelle. The resolutions of both threads, as well as Joe's resolution of Beverly's problems, are satisfying and surprising. Altogether the best read in the series for some time.

In my quest for serious mysteries Mayor ranks near the top and it's a pleasure to find one I haven't read. Several strands this time including the end of a longterm relationship Joe has had and the possible beginning or change with a doctor he respects and worked with for years. The team looks into a possible suicide or murder and ironically this leads to the second crime involving drugs and small-timers trying to make it big and plus a sad love affair that ends with a bang. The Vermont scene is well described and the characters including the less important ones all come alive. I'm looking forward to more.

This was a fun read. If you want depth, read "Stranger in the Kingdom" by Mosher. But the characters in THIS book were too outrageous to take TOO seriously. Yet each character was remarkably interesting and quirky. A little campy at times,and certainly they behaved in unrealistic ways but that's what made this book fun. You had no idea what would happen next. I liked it- it was a great beach book.

This was a fun read. If you want depth, read "Stranger in the Kingdom" by Mosher. But the characters in THIS book were too outrageous to take TOO seriously. Yet each character was remarkably interesting and quirky. A little campy at times,and certainly they behaved in unrealistic ways but that's what made this book fun. You had no idea what would happen next. I liked it- it was a great beach book.

Mr. Mosher has a great love of time and place, and this love shows quite clearly in his series of novels about the fictional Kingdom County, Vermont, in the mid part of this century. I've read several of his works, and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. When I began this latest one, I had assumed, because of its structure, that it was simply a series of short stories. Eventually I realized that it was, indeed, a novel, and a wonderful one at that! I loved the characters and the often bizarre situations in which they found themselves. Readers will, I'm sure, be way ahead of the narrator in discovering what is going on around him, but the charm of the writing, and the pure beauty of the story (and its perhaps too-sentimental ending) will enchant you. If you yearn for things the way they used to be, when life just seemed to be simpler and more fulfilling, you'll enjoy reading this book.

I was quite impressed with the first half of this book, the first I've read by Mosher. Each early chapter stands almost as a self-contained short story about colorful, but well-developed characters in a small Vermont-Canadian border town, mid-20th century. Some outstanding writing, with quirky details about family histories done especially well. Unfortunately, as the connections between the stories get developed, you can see from a mile away where the main story is going, and after all the characters are introduced you focus more on the dialogue, which isn't quite as well-written. Still, the strengths of this book encouraged me to read more Mosher. Stranger in the Kingdom was a huge disappointment--trite, predictable, and with nothing new to say. But I'm still going to read at least one more Mosher.

The Fall of the Year is a wonderful book, especially for dedicated Mosher Fans. I'd like to point out to first-time readers of his novels that his masterpiece is A Stranger in the Kingdom and I strongly recommend reading that first. Most of the people in the town and county where his books are set are featured in considerable detail in that book. That is the place to really get to know them, so that when you pick up one of his other books, you recognize the person being written about and have a better understanding of his/her character. Also, don't be surprised that he sprinkles many of his books with touches of the surreal or supernatural. You wont get a concrete explanantion of some of these phenomena, but it's obvious that Kingdom County (real life Orleans County, Vermont) is a magic place for him and he makes both wonderful and terrible things happen there. I'm proud to own every one of his books, I was hooked after A Stranger in the Kingdom and even led my book discussion group in it a few years ago. You can re-enter a time and place that is fast disappearing from this country; many things about the way of life he describes are already gone for good. But dont pass up Mosher, whatever you do. If you read this book and felt you didnt get much out of it, read Stranger in the Kingdom and then come back. All his books run through the whole history of the area and are worth having as collectors items.

I read this as a child and it gave me a wonderful perspective of the Loyalists that you may not get in a biased setting in the classroom. Also, the story of Pheobe and her journey was wonderfully written. It had adventure and self discovery all together.

it was so interseting!! you never know whats going to happen next!! there is so much going on you really have to pay attion!! You just can't put the book down!!

I found The Hollow Tree to be a wonderful but sad book. The book got more and more interesting as it went along...I also found it interesting because it relates to American and Canadian history. The book was exciting throughout...

Very good book! I have never read a book on where the point of view was from a Loyalist. I think that this is very important, to show that they are human beings too! Phoebe Shows courage and impluse as she rushes off to deliver a message with only the river for direction. She meets Jem Morrisay on the way and learns even more, about love and life. I won't spoil the ending for you, but expect the unexpected. AN altogether successfully told and written story. I totally recommend it for you historical fiction lovers (thats me!)

Phoebe Olcott's mother died when she was young and she had to look after herself and her father. He was a teacher in New Hampshire and in 1775 he went to war to fight for independence from England. He died and young Phoebe went to live with her relatives who were Loyalists. She is a timid girl but determined as she finds herself trying to complete a mission for her cousin who was caught and hung for being a Loyalist spy. She wants no part of this war that separates families and drives neighbours out of their homes with very little to survive on.

This well researched historical fiction tells the story of how one girl found the courage and strength to do what she believed was right unbeknown to the people that she joined as they traveled towards Canada where they would be safe. On the way, she proves herself useful by taking care of other young children that no one seems to want. She also finds a special love with Jem Morrisey.

Some people just have to grow up fast and in strange and difficult circumstances. Phoebe is a girl who puts many of the other characters in the story to shame as she rises through all her challenges to be a shining star.

I really enjoyed this book.

In a small town in Vermont, Graham Payton loves Jane Gregory, but Jane loves Ned, Graham's brother. And when it all goes terribly wrong, Jane flees Pendleton. Seven years later she is back with her son, Alex, who has never spoken a word in his life, and a heart filled with guilt. Is she strong enough to rescue her son from silence, to love again, and to believe, at last, in her own wild magic?

It's often easier to write a bad review than a good one, easier to explain why something went wrong than to tell a reader why a book made you laugh or cry or touched some resonant chord, why the writing took you into the perfect realm of imagination that all readers long for, but so seldom are able to find. "Magic Spells" struck me almost immediately as a book I wanted to recommend very vigorously. The more I read of it, the more caught up I became in the warmth of Yorke's affection for her characters and the beauty of her prose. But by the end I found myself disturbed by the resolution to the point where I had to rethink my enthusiasm for the story. The happiness of the protagonists depended, in the end, on the unhappiness of another decent, loving character.

As a result I found myself spending some considerable time weighing each aspect of the book more carefully than ever. The plot is simple enough, even complicated by magic which plays a subordinate role here: Woman overcomes the fears and failings of youth to find love with the right man. How often have we encountered that plot? And yet Yorke never allows her story to become old or stale. Rather, Jane's tale seems both painfully new and completely timeless; love is an old, old battle that each of us have to fight anew. Characterization is equally deft, reminiscent of Stephen King at his best, presenting us with a cast of players all of whom we recognize and yet each of whom is as individual as a snowflake. In a few paragraphs, Yorke makes us care about the joys and sorrows of her characters' lives, about why they love who they love, about why one man is drinking himself to death and another woman wears too much makeup. Even the most insignificant player becomes significant, a real person with a real life. This is, perhaps, one of the greatest gifts an author can have.

It's impossible not to respond to Yorke's prose; there's a simple, honest beauty to it that elevates even the saddest, most mundane life to a sort of nobility. Gestures are not only significant, they touch the heart. The moment when Alex's great grandmother reaches out to wipe frozen tears off his face, and they shatter like glass in her hand will stay with me forever. Yorke understands the value of the small thing, the details of life. And in the end, what weighed most heavily in favor of the book really was the very thing that disturbed me: The story is real. Not magic as some external power since in the end it's really just a symbol of the power of love, but the story about Jane and Ned and Graham and the others, about their love and their hate and their weakness and strength. Yes, people do love inappropriately. They do fall in love with one person and marry another, they do leave wives and husbands to take a chance on finding someone or something that completes their soul. Because of that and because the book is so beautifully, simply and powerfully written, I recommend it highly.

"Magic Spells" is one of the most extraordinary books I've read in months, and if you want to be reminded of how grand it is to be alive and how hard it is to be human, if you want to remember the joy and pain of real love, I suggest you rush right out and get this book.

Few books have captured my imagination like this one did. A big, wonderful, surprising and uplifting book of love and friendship. Ranks with Deborah Smith's A Place to Call Home as one of my all time favorites - and to think I literally stumbled upon it. I have only one question - why isn't a book this good being promoted by the publisher and published in hardcover like other books of its quality?

For all you witches out there this is not a book on how to do spells it is just a dumb love story.

One thing I liked about the book was that the magic spells/thoughts was a background theme unlike Practical Magic that tried to make the characters and the magic front focal spots. This book had the characters front and center, with the magic being a background thread of thought to connect them together and to better explain Esther's approach to many things in her life.

The character developments were interesting! Alex, the child, was so developed in character that you could easily visualize him and his facial expressions in your mind. Christy had you hoping Esther would give in to Robert's loving thoughts, and yet had you understanding why Esther hesitated to do so. Ginny was perfectly created, a woman trying to fight back her jealousy but at the same time unable to not let it show and fighting to keep something alive that was never really alive except on one side of viewing.

Having Ned "reappear" in the image of another person's attitude and appearance was a nice touch, making Devon someone you wanted to hate and yet allowed you to understand the catalystic effects Ned had earlier on the main characters being replayed out due to his appearance to the story.

The ending was not a suprise, but it was interesting reading the book to get to the ending all the same. The subtle twists and turns that they took to get there was interesting, although I wish the athletic competiveness was toned down between Graham and Devon or done more sparingly - I could also see why this was included as Graham was "fighting his past" and a "ghost" from it as well.

Although you knew from the start who would wind up with whom, it was still an interesting read.

The thing I liked most about this novel was the way the main characters rang true. Hasn't everyone loved someone they couldn't have? If you've ever loved the wrong person, or someone who won't love you back, this is the book for you. Jane and Graham each have a love they can't shake, and I kept reading to know how they'd come through. The last half of the story has you cheering for them. I loved this book.

I thought that Preacher's boy had an intresting first couple chapters but after that i started to notice it got boring. i think there should be more of a plot in the book. it is basically about 2 boys named robbie and willie who pull pranks and get in trouble. After Robbie meats Zeb and Vile it gets a little better but I still think it could of been a little more well-written.

I thought this book only disurved 3 stars because I really didn't get into it that much. I almost just sat it down and found a new book after reading the first chapter of it. I mean all that was in it was that Robbie and his friend Willie were basically in some kind of prank pulling contest. Them against the Weston boys. It sounded really boring. Anyway it ended up getting a little bit more interesting when Robbie's bigger brother Elliot, who is kind of mest up in the head, gets lost on the forth of July. Then the next day when Robbie and his friend Willie were supposed to be going fishing Willie Grandma has him working. So Robbie to there secret hideout and that's when he finds so poor people living in their now. That's all I can really tell without telling the end.

At first I was skeptical about this book because in the beginning of the book Robbie and Willie just play pranks on the other townspeople. I soon realized I was wrong. It was jam-packed with action,adventure,love and care. It made me feel as though I was joining Robbie on his big adventures. This book is thrilling and is a must-read. I would recommend this book to anyone of any age. This was a swell read.

I picked out this book to read because of the author. I had read 'Bridge to Terabithia' two years before for school and I loved it, so I figured that anything else written by Katherine Paterson would be just as good. I was right. I started the book because of the author, and I finished it because of the story.
Preacher's Boy is about a young boy in 1899 who thinks that the world will end with the year. His father is the town preacher, but Robbie, the boy, thinks that the ten commandments are too confining. He thinks that since he can't do wat he wants while he is a Christian, he will become an atheist. Unfortunantly, he doesn't know what they are areally called, so he spends the entire book calling himself an apeist.
This book is filled with laughs and funny situations, many of which made me laugh out loud. I would definantly recommend this book to anyone that wants a good laugh. This book is probably best for ages 7-14, although I think that anyone would enjoy it.

A book by Katherine Paterson is always difficult to judge. The main reason is because she has written a truly great book--"Bridge to Terabithia"--and a number of others that are nearly as great. Because of this, there is a tendency to be a tougher judge of her books as if every new novel should be a masterpiece. Fortunately, Ms. Paterson lives up to the challenge time after time.

I am constantly amazed at how well Ms. Paterson is able to write in the voice of young person, creating very realistic characters. Though a bit older myself these days, I can identify very well with Robbie as he stuggles with the difficulties in his life. I am particularly impressed with the depiction of Robbie's relationship with his father and how he struggles to understand him. Also, the difficulties he has in being himself while at the same time trying to be the son of a good man who has an important and public job in his hometown.

Though I don't think any good book is really gender-specific to an active reader, I can see where young boys would find this book speaking to them a little more. Still, I would encourage anyone with a love of good literature to read this book. It is a stong depiction of an interesting character.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Anna Salter. I thought her character Michael was likable despite having some quirky almost neurotic character traits. I found that I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough towards the end.

Fault Lines is the second in what I hope will be a long line of stories involving Dr. Michael Stone. This time Dr. Stone is really the main target in the story. No one has ben killed...yet. Within the first chapter we learn the our favorite sadistc child molester has been let out of prison on a technicality. This puts Michael in a dangerous position because after several "interviews" with Willy, many of which she has recorded, he has admitted to, and actually bragged about a lot more than was ever uncovered in court, etc. Obviously with the possibility of a retrial, her information could be damaging to his case. Her best friend Carlotta and her part time lover/police chief, Adam, would like her to run and hide. But, as anyone who has read her first book, Shiny Waters, will know, Michael does not take orders well. And she certainly does not "run and hide". There is a rather simplistic game of cat and mouse that Michael and Willy play via email, and the impending confrontation. There are also several important clients of Michael that play key roles in the story. Once again, we learn more about Michael and her psyche. We watch her friendships and relationships, grow and suffer huge violations of trust. You find yourself understanding her and why she does what she does and yet at the same time comiserating with her loved ones and their great desire to just shake her sometimes. The climax of the book does not leave us disappointed in the slightest. That's 2 for 2 for Anna Salter

Fault Lines and Dr. Michael Stone could lead to a television series. Why? Child molester, tried and convicted, exits prison after serving his term. He plots his course against Dr. Stone, who put him there in the first place, and her clients. Does he win, or does the Doctor? Developed client histories and background scenes of the forensic psychologist, Dr. Stone, would make for a very interesting and informative series. The book is both well written, and a "can't put it down until the end" story. Bravo to Anna Salter and let's put it on the screen!

Anna Stalter works with victims of sexual violence in her profession as a forensic psychologist. She has even produced educational videos about sexual predators. Why then, does she use these types of people as a vehicle for entertainment? I can't even begin to understand what her motivation is.

This book is about a sick and violent individual, who gets his jollies from torturing children. I couldn't find anything redeeming in it. Particularly gruesome was the scene where the sexual predator described to one of the characters how he was going to mutilate her genitals. What is the point of this type of novel? Stalter should be ashamed of herself.

Psychologist Michael Stone is being challenged by a man she had studied to learn about deviant personality when he was in prison. He is unexpectedly released and Stone's world is starting to turn upside down. From suspecting that her office is bugged to a number of other diabolical efforts to get under Michael Stone's skin, this taut mystery is totally engaging. This is an easy one to read from cover to cover in one sitting.

I thought the book was a fine first novel. The language was well-crafted and vivid, the characters felt real and unpredictable, and the story kept me reading continuously. There were moments that felt a bit preachy or sentimental, for example, the various talks among the soldiers about fighting for the freedom of all men, and so forth, but those conversations struck me as things that Civil War soldiers might actually say, a level of sentimentality that was present at the time, and, while a bit out of place in our society today, perfectly reasonable for the era Hummel was writing about. I came away from the novel with its characters still on my mind, some of the lines and images still reverberating for me. In all, a very good reading experience.

"Wilderness Run: A Novel" sounded like a great novel from the dust jacket. Civil war, romance, historicalness, you name it. Then the story began. I was interested in where it was going, with it starting with the relationships of Bel and Laurence's parents, then to the cousins Bel and Laurence, and then to their separate lives in the war and at home, and then onto Bel and her tutor Louis. There were so many relationships intertwined with each other, but development was scarce and then just abandoned. I wanted more relationship growth between Laurence and Bel and Bel and Louis, but I was left disappointed. Then author Maria Hummel threw in the past triangle between Bel's mother, Faustina, and Laurence's father, George. Hummel was trying for a very rich symbolic way of writing, but she came off as artsy, and she expected her readers to grasp her method. I also sensed that she did not know which plot to expound upon. I do admit that I was at times disturbed by the war descriptions. The ending left me very disappointed, and made me ponder the entire point of the story. I was sorely disappointed. I do not recommend.

This was the kind of book that left me thoughtful and satisfied like those books I read in my teens on Saturday mornings curled up and never going downstairs to start the day. I can't wait for Hummel to write more books. She mixes insight and poetry well. It is as if she talked first hand with those who recalled specific Civil War experiences and then wrote them into this novel.

there are few civil war novels that stand above the crowded field. most hobble themselves with buddy-picture-like male cameraderie that fails to invoke the true spirit of an age that at least for the middle and upper middle class was more concerned with the etherial and transcendant than back slapping brotherhood. ms. hummel evokes the suffering, the dread, the gothic din and the warmth of the period better than any recent effort.

This is a good rainy weekend book, full of enough gory battles to keep you
riveted and enough warm domestic scenes to stop you from feeling guilty for
sipping your third hot chocolate. Beautiful writing, great historical
detail.

I have yet to hike the Appalachian trail, and I'm only 41, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author has some wisdom well worth sharing, as well as a very candid view of his experience. I didn't feel he was in denial at all. Rather, he was realizing that 65 isn't so old, after all. This book is about the physical AND emotional journey into retirement. If you are interested in human nature as well as mother nature, chances are you will enjoy it. I gave it 5 stars to make up for some of those 2 star submissions. I've given it to my Mom, who has read it and enjoyed it and plans to give it to my sister. I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it's way to my Dad after that ... Enjoy.

This book started out slow, but it really picks up and is an interesting read, especially when the author hits the Appalachian Trail. I found it hard to put down the book at that point.

"Walking to Vermont" is a worthy addition to anyone who collects, reads, and enjoys books on the culture of walking. I especially enjoyed it because it is also a worthy addition to literature related to the Appalachian Trail, and sits on my bookshelf besides Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods", Emblidge's "Appalachian Trail Reader" and Hall's "A Journey North."

This is not a book of discovery -- Mr. Wren knows who he is and is comfortable in his own shoes (but perhaps not his socks). The story reads like both a narrative and a memoir, as Mr. Wren recounts events and stories collected in a life as a foreign correspondent.

Fans of the Appalachian Trail and of the literature associated with it will be very familiar with the themes: trail magic, trail angels, trail names, and the wonderful people that make up the hiking culture.

I have been to the Hanover Ben and Jerry's and have never had a "White Blaze." I will protect my source on who informed me about it, however...

A good book for those who are interested in nature, human and otherwise. At age 65, this New York Times foreign correspondent walks out of the Times building and just keeps on walking. Four hundred miles and five weeks later, he is at home in Vermont. This book chronicles the ups and downs, humanly and geographically, as he hoofs his way on New York city streets, over highways, under bridges, through towns and villages, over the Appalachian Trail, arriving home just in time to feed the cats. Henry David Thoreau is his philosophical mentor as he ponders things like the best way to carry a backpack, filter your water, boil your oatmeal, keep the mosquitoes away, pamper aches and pains, and decide upon a suitable trail name. Along the way he meets an interesting variety of fellow travelers, most walking for reasons that go way beyond just exercise. Civilization is never far away, and the author meets up occasionally with his wife and friends, when he forsakes the Daniel Boone lifestyle for that of the aging jet-setter dining in an exclusive restaurant. He admits that after these respites he is glad to hit the lonely trail again. During the book the reader is treated to gentle flashbacks that reveal Wren's adventurous career as a reporter in Russia, China, the Middle East, and other exotic locales. These recollections seem a bit shoehorned in, but they are necessary to understand how far the author has come. After what he has seen in his life, a hike of four hundred miles is just a walk in the woods. Those like me who are generally the same age as Wren will find the book a nice reminder that we're not over the hill yet. Wren says, "Life seems sweeter once you accept that it cannot endure. The best part of growing old is that welcome relief from being merely young." Great stuff for a graying head! Upon finishing the book, I went out for a good, long walk. But I'll be back for supper.

I would call this a quiet book; pleasant storytelling with rippling rhythms of then and now. The author is a retired N.Y. Times foreign correspondent who attends his retirement party in Manhattan and then the next day starts walking to Vermont (near Hanover) where he is going to live. He walks on the Appalachian Trail where the distance is almost 400 miles and he accomplishes this in 5 weeks moving through 5 states. He tells of his experiences while on the trail with frequent interjections of incidences overseas while doing his work for his newspaper. I feel he could have elaborated more about his overseas experiences as they were interesting, but they took up from one paragraph to one page...oh well, I guess that is another book. He meets some interesting characters on the way, but because of the nature of his quest, nothing is permanent. I thought he hiked in a most sensible manner as every so often he would rent a motel/cabin, get a good meal in a local cafe, and take a shower/bath to clean off all the accumulated crud, and stop in to see past friends in their homes (which were on the way) and stay for a day or two. He accomplished lhis goal and derived great satisfaction in doing so and then wrote a book about it.

The descriptions were lovely but seemed to be the raison d'etre for the book. I kept thinking it would get better. If I hadn't bought it on CD I would have abandoned it quite early on. Characters were not engaging and seemed unapproachable. I thought it might have been the reader at first but I don't think so. Kipling seemed a caricature of himself.

Victoria Vinton, whose stories have appeared in a variety of publications including "Prairie Schooner" and "Sewanee River", has a gem of a first novel in The Jungle Law. Using what has been described as a literary footnote, Vinton has crafted an imaginative, engaging tale of Rudyard Kipling and a small neighbor boy, and the exchanges between them which led to the very famous Kipling work, The Jungle Book.

In an effort to escape increasing fame, Kipling moved his then pregnant wife to Vermont in the late nineteenth century. It is in the backdrop of the rural Vermont countryside that VInton introduces us to Kipling, his wife and their nearest neighbors, the Connellys. Young Joe Connelly's lively imagination helps to spark some of the details that any Jungle Book fan would readily recognize. Many of the characteristic mannerisms of the Jungle Book's "man-child" Mowgli are descriptions of Joe at play with Kipling urging the boy to imagine he is the man-child being raised by jungle animals.

Vinton weaves the story of young Joe Connelly through the story of the Kiplings in Vermont, but the strongest thread in her tale is that of the evolution of The Jungle Book.

Kipling spent part of his early life in Bombay. His family was filled with eccentric members whose stories infused a love of words and storytelling into the impressionable and imaginative Kipling. A move to England catapulted the writer into a literary mecca where he kept company with many notables. Because his privacy was far more important to him than fame, he moved to rural Vermont in the hopes of finding a place where he and his Daemon (the equivalent of his muse) would be able to take the seeds of a story and see it through to its end. The roots of those story seeds were in his days in Bombay. It is from the Hindi names for various jungle beasts that Kipling gave names to his Jungle Book characters: Baloo, the bear; Bagheera, the panther; Tabaqui, the jackal. Drawing from his imagined man-child's movements, he assigns the name Mowgli from the Hindi term for Little Frog.

In the jungle, there is an unspoken law by which the beasts abide. This law--The Jungle Law--becomes the backdrop for the lessons the jungle beasts present to Mowgli. The Law was "a set of rules and protocols that all the animals followed in order to live peaceably side by side, in relative good faith and order." In truth, it is in the tradition of the Law that Kipling and Joe both live among their family members and friends. The friendship between the two is, in many ways, as unlikely as Mowgli being raised by jungle animals and schooled in jungle law. Yet, their friendship is what gives voice to that man-child, his jungle family, and the simple laws of life which provide a framework for peaceful living among others.

Vinton paints word pictures as vivid as the film version of The Jungle Book. In doing so, she thrusts her readers into the nineteenth century life of Rudyard Kipling and into the mind of a creative soul developing one of his finest works. Opening the pages of this book is like opening an invitation into another lifetime, some other place, and some other realm--the realm of make-believe where those who believe can make anything seem real.

by Lee Ambrose
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Everyone seems to be raving about this book. The premise is terrific -- Kipling's interactions with a neighboring Vermont farming family. However, I just couldn't develop a sense of sympathy with any of the characters. I want to like Kipling because I like his work. I want to like Joe (the boy who befriends Rudyard Kipling) because his life is hard. Nevertheless, I don't really like these characters - or care much about them. It saddens me because I really wanted to like the book as well.

The unusual friendship between Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) and an impressionistic neighbor boy, Joe Connelly, is the crux of Kipling's Jungle Books in Vinton's imaginative tale. In 1892, the newly transplanted writer has settled in Vermont to build his dream house, inspired to write without the exotic distractions of India. Forming the skeleton of his new tale, Kipling finds both landscape and boy a source of inspiration: "The cold and the snow were like a revelation, with stark and unspoiled purity he'd never beheld before... here was a place where he could work... where the seasons went from wet to dry and the dead never seemed to stay dead."

Joe's imagination is caught by Kipling's words, the tale of the boy, Mowgli, yet forming in the author's mind. With Joe as inspiration, man and boy confer, Kipling sharing the bits of adventure yet to be written, the boy taking ownership, ignited by such freedom, the color and warmth of India, the lush jungle so different from the icy scene of Vermont. Reaching into the Vermont landscape, Kipling builds Mowgli's world, peopled with all its enchantments, dreaming Joe into the verdant fantasy, while the boy's parents watch their son with chagrin, determined to recapture him. The two families could not be more different, yet Kipling and Joe form a bond that transcends circumstances in Vinton's fictionally believable account of a creative endeavor and a budding friendship. The prose is striking, contrasting the stark Vermont countryside with the India of Kipling's youth, the tales of Scheherazade and the burgeoning adventure of a boy raised by wolves.

Joes' father, Jack, is an Irishman come to America to escape the famine, almost killed while working on the railroad, now toiling on his own small farm for meager sustenance. A man burdened by disappointment, the ideals he once nurtured dashed by the reality of hard labor, Jack finds solace in his jug at night, but the drink turns him bitter, shamed that his wife, Addie, does washing and ironing for their strange neighbors, the Kipling's. Jack doesn't trust Kipling, views him the same as the wealthy landowners who passed the starving Irish peasants without a nod. What can such a man do when his son is threatened by the fascination of new ideas, called to a world so unlike what his father can provide? In his wanderings, a conflicted Joe has come face to face with his own limitations, Kipling's words a heady drug that leads him into the dark and unforgiving night: "How foolish to think that he was heading forward... when in fact all he's done is wind his way back to another story's beginnings, one that leads only... to dull compromise and sharp regret."

Vinton has brought all together in a fierce, magical tale, filled with the intimate details of Kipling's life, his pampered childhood; his removal from the security of mother and home, placed in a hostile foster home until his mother rescues him and his sister; Kipling's friendship with Wolcott, who introduces the author to his sister, Carrie. After her brother's untimely death, Carrie marries Kipling, now pregnant with their first child. Vinton's brilliant prose introduces the reader to the inventiveness of the writer's world and the power of a fertile imagination unrestricted by geography, fashioning a compelling story from Kipling's rich history, building on the writer's life with layers of her own imaginings, the pages scattered with images that transcend time and place in the heady prose of the creative mind. Mixing fact and fancy, Vinton has indeed written her own jewel, a novel to be savored and passed along. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

THE JUNGLE LAW by Victoria Vinton brings the author Rudyard Kipling to life -- fictional life, that is, as Vinton presents her interpretation of what may have happened when Kipling and his wife, Caroline, moved to Vermont in 1892. It was there that Caroline bore a child and Kipling developed the character Mowgli of The Jungle Books. Now, this is beautiful literature.

Vinton invents the Connollys, neighbors for the Kiplings: Joe, a boy of 11; his mother, who does the Kiplings' laundry; and Joe's jealous, abusive father. The adults are kept apart by class barriers, but Kipling and the boy become friends.

For Joe, Kipling's house "is like a marvelous treasure trove, filled with all sorts of riches." And when Kipling talks, it's exciting, colorful and lyrical. Joe is fascinated by him. Kipling introduces his young neighbor to the Law of the Jungle and to the world of wonder inside his own mind.

The book centers around their relationship, but it's really about imagination -- the glorious treasures inside Kipling's head and the boy's budding curiosity about ideas and possibilities. In the midst of his mean, hard life, the boy daydreams about Kipling's travel tales. His dreams become grander and his mind becomes more free -- and his father hates the result.

Her characters are complex and she evokes vivid emotions, but it's Vinton's language that is simply gorgeous, with lush images. The book is a pleasure to read: "Light falls through the trees in bright dapples, glancing off the fruit in the trees and the wings of the monarchs that flutter and perch on the Queen Anne's lace by the roadside." Pondering the differences between India and Vermont, Kipling "knew right away that here was a place where he could concentrate and work, if only because it was so different from the India he'd known, where the seasons went from wet to dry and the dead never seemed to stay dead and the walls of gardens were set with old bones and vultures were as common as crows."

Ooh, this is a lovely book -- a graceful read, a perfect fit for the reader who loves to be in the company of splendid language.

You know how you slow down when you drive by a traffic accident, and turn your head to gawk at the cars; well that's how I looked at this book. Dalia Pagani does an amazing job developing her characters, but she had so many of them going in this book, that you never really have a feeling for any one of them. She also goes off on some really strange ideas in regard to the outdoors world. I won't even bring up my feelings about how she prorated the Rural Vermont persona. If you are one of those people who likes to look at other people's misery, you'll probably enjoy this book, other wise maybe you should look the other way when you drive by the mangles cars.

For a novel based on harsh realism, I found the character of Tina to be sureal. Mid-way, she filled many pages and I became bored with her situation. By the end, I decided that if she had been omitted entirely, she wouldn't have been missed. On the other hand, Aunt Mattie and Uncle Tom had the potential to be very strong characters, not only in the lives of Darlene and the children but most especially for Earl, for whom I felt some sympathy. He struck me as being mean and cold simply for the sake of not knowing any better. Mattie came on the scene too late, and in my opinion, dumped a lot of revelations and insight into the story that (at that point) was already complex. She was distracting when I wanted to focus on the other characters - I found myself wondering "where have you been? why now?". Overall, I really liked this novel and look forward to future work by this author. Highly recommended.

So far I've found this very enjoyable. The characters are interesting and unpredictable. I don't see the story as being so much about weather and poverty as it is the unstated emotional needs of this family. Any woman that's ever felt unappreciated can relate, in some aspects, to Darlene.
For the record, I found The Book of Ruth (Jane Hamilton) terribly depressing. Enough so, that I have not since sought any other of her novels. I do suggest Amy and Isabelle (Elizabeth Strout).

I loved it. Found it at library by chance. Beautiful writing. Totally real characters and landscape. One or two events seemed somewhat over the edge, at first - but when i think about it -life is often that way. Sid was a totally heartbreaking character. An awesome writer!

In the genre of E. Annie Proulx and Carolyn Chute, a new standard has been set by this Vermont saga of a unique family, steeped in poverty and surviving the best way each family member is able. It is poetic, creative and sensitive writing with unique characters and a compelling plot. How I hated it to EVER end! A new bench mark !