Here Baker gives readers hundreds of examples, some taken from the headlines of the day, some from diaries and reminiscences, of the events leading up to the Second World War and the first two years of that conflict: the decisions, right and wrong, that brought on this terrible war with its lies and propaganda, its countless brutal killings, and the suffering it inflicted on so many millions of people. Recently, I reread parts of Nicholson Baker’s “Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization.” (I would have bestowed that subtitle on World War I as well.) If you like a good mystery with solid characters, some bits of wisdom, and lots of literary talk, you’ll enjoy “The Book of Candlelight.” After Danny’s murder, it’s the women of the town who visit his beloved Marie, taking her small gifts, offering hugs and words of encouragement, and even helping her start fresh in business. As Nora says of the Society, “If I didn’t have June, Estella, and Hester, I wouldn’t be able to handle everything that’s happened over the past year.” That circumstance alone binds them tightly together. The women in the Society are bound together in part because they’ve all shared certain personal secrets with one another, with the key word being shared. Here, for instance, we learn a bit about female friendships. In the Reader’s Guide at the end of the novel, Ellery Adams asks of these quotations, “Which was your favorite?” I liked several, but these words by the Impressionist painter Edgar Degas would top my list: “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”įinally, reading novels like “The Book of Candlelight” gives us men insights into women. In addition to being amused by Sheldon, I’m a sucker for quotations, and every chapter starts with one. If None of the Above were added to the LBGTQ acronym, that would be me. “I don’t have romantic partners,” Sheldon said. When Nora gently asks him about his love life, this dialogue ensues: He keeps both Nora and the reader smiling. He’s sharp, witty, and full of good ideas for the shop.
Then there’s Sheldon Vega, an older Cuban-American newly arrived in town who begins helping Nora in the bookstore.
So the story is intriguing and well-told. When a second body turns up, the townspeople know they have a murderer in their midst, and the Society cranks up its investigation. Soon the four women of the Society become involved with what increasingly seems a crime, working with Nora’s friend, Sheriff Grant McCabe. Nora begins to suspect foul play, but she’s missing a motive. He left his house in the middle of the night without telling his wife where he was going, and his truck is found miles from the river.
April is the season when Chaucer’s pilgrims gathered before setting off to Canterbury and…Īt first, Danny is presumed to have died from drowning, only the evidence doesn’t stack up.
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