Monday flash non-fiction

Yes, it's summer and my posts are a little messed up with vacations. So I missed the last couple of Friday flash fiction posts, and now I'm writing a bit of non-fiction for a Monday! Bear with me, okay? In any case, the "flash" part of it is apropos. In 360 words:

Fear and Trembling in a Tent

It is midnight in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and suddenly we are not sleeping. The weather was pleasant when we went to bed, and two days of hard hiking made it easy to drop off. I wouldn’t have been surprised had I slept soundly all night.

Thor and Odin and the crew have a different idea. The first boom of thunder—if it was the first; it was the first I woke to hear—is loud and close. The flashes of lightning sear the retina even with the eyes closed. We count off the seconds between flash and boom. Do the math. Two miles. One. Half a mile. A quarter. Then: holy shit it’s in the tent!

It isn’t. The mind knows that, because the mind is still there to think about it. But when the gap between lightning and thunder drops to near zero, and the ground shakes with the booming air, the mind is given very little say in my reactions. The gut takes over.

I am not scared of thunder. We are camped below tree line, well back from the lake and not atop anything, in the trees but not near a particularly tall tree. Even with the storm right atop us we are reasonably safe. As a general rule, I like thunderstorms.

And yet. My gut is haunted by the memory of a friend who died under a fallen tree, asleep—we can only hope—in his hammock. This isn’t at all the same thing; the wind is oddly light, though the same can’t be said of the rain. Some of it might be hail, but I’m not looking out to see. And if a tree has my name on it…there is nothing to be done now.

The storm is moving away. Because we are among big peaks and big canyons, the thunder continues to echo ominously even as it moves on. Eventually I drift off again, when the flashes no longer burn my vision.

Every time I wake up to roll over or adjust my sleeping bag, I can hear thunder, however distant. The storms go on all night, but I sleep anyway.

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2015

Mystery Review: Leaving Everything Most Loved

Title: Leaving Everything Most Loved
Author: Jacqueline Winspear; narrated by Orlagh Cassidy
Publisher: Orig: Harper, 2013, 336 pages. Audiobook by HarperAudio, 2013.
Source: Library (digital).

Publisher's Summary:
London, 1933. Two months after the body of an Indian woman named Usha Pramal is found in the brackish water of a South London canal, her brother, newly arrived in England, turns to Maisie Dobbs to find out the truth about her death. Not only has Scotland Yard made no arrests, evidence indicates that they failed to conduct a full and thorough investigation.

Before her death, Usha was staying at an ayah's hostel alongside Indian women whose British employers turned them out into the street--penniless and far from their homeland--when their services were no longer needed. As Maisie soon learns, Usha was different from the hostel's other lodgers. But with this discovery comes new danger: another Indian woman who had information about Usha is found murdered before she can talk to Maisie.

As Maisie is pulled deeper into an unfamiliar yet captivating subculture, her investigation becomes clouded by the unfinished business of a previous case as well as a growing desire to see more of the world, following in the footsteps of her former mentor, Maurice Blanche. And there is her lover, James Compton, who gives her an ultimatum she cannot ignore.

My Review:
As usual with this series, I enjoyed the book very much. I have been listening to many of these books, and Orlagh Cassidy does a very nice job of reading and voicing the characters. In a British novel of this period (or any?) the accents of the characters say so much about them, and I thought she did a great job, though I'm no expert.

The story is complex and intricate, and deals with a number of timely issues about prejudice and discrimination (and about colonization and imperialism). There is throughout the book a sense that everything is changing, and characters are spinning off into their own lives, as may happen. I had some amorphous feelings of dissatisfaction while reading, and on reflection think they are due to these changes. I've gotten used to a certain structure of relationships, and apparently don't like change. Clearly the author has some new plans for Maisie; I was a little worried this might be an end to the series, but observe that the next book is already out, so that's safe.

In the end, I found the book very well-written, and the mystery convincing. There is no easy solution, and the challenge that her discoveries presents Maisie and the reader is part of what gives the story meat. 

Recommendation:
I strongly recommend this series for those who like mysteries that are character-driven but dig into a serious and challenging puzzle as well. Winspear doesn't pull any punches about social issues, not all of which are limited to the 1930s. I recommend reading the series in order, as the characters and relationships grow and develop throughout and may be a bit confusing if you start in the middle.

Full Disclosure: I checked Leaving Everything Most Loved out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Mystery Monday: Aunt Dimity and the Summer King

Title: Aunt Dimity and the Summer King (Aunt Dimity #20).
Author: Nancy Atherton
Publisher: Viking, 2015. 240 pages.
Source: Library

Publisher's Summary:
There’s trouble in Finch. Four recently sold cottages are standing empty, and the locals fear that a developer plans to turn their cozy village into an enclave of overpriced weekend homes. But for once Lori Shepherd can’t help.

Her infant daughter, her father-inlaw’s upcoming wedding, and the crushing prospect of her fortieth birthday have left her feeling inadequate and overwhelmed. Until, that is, she has a chance encounter with an eccentric inventor named Arthur Hargreaves. Dubbed the Summer King by his equally eccentric family, Arthur is as warmhearted as the summer sun. In his presence, Lori forgets her troubles—and Finch’s.

But Lori snaps out of her happy trance when she discovers detailed maps of Finch in the Summer King’s library. Next, a real estate agent comes knocking. Is Arthur secretly plotting Finch’s demise?

With Aunt Dimity’s otherworldly help—and her new daughter in her arms—Lori mounts a crusade to save her beloved village from the Summer King’s scorching greed.

My Review:
Since I think I've given the last couple of Aunt Dimity books lukewarm reviews, I thought it only fair to review this one so I can note that I think it's moved a bit more in the right direction. There has definitely been a turn away from any hint of violence or physical threats (as there were in a couple of the books back a few years, which made Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea one of the strongest in the series), but this was less saccharine than the Wishing Well or The Lost Prince.

The story builds a nice sense of a threat to the village of Finch, and Lori's usual trouble with jumping to conclusions, before she manages to stumble her way to the solution. I have to say that although I think this was better than the last two, I miss something that the early books had--maybe less of a sense of everything coming up kittens and sparkles. Maybe I just think that a mystery needs a little more real threat to give it a sense of urgency. In any case, the books remain nice little confections, a little too sweet and without much substance, but still a pleasure to nibble with your tea.

Recommendation: 
For fans of the series, and those who like their books completely unthreatening.