The Secret Chord - Geraldine Brooks

The Secret Chord

Title: The Secret Chord

Author: Geraldine Brooks

Publication Date: 10/6/15

Pages: 302

Genre: Historical / Fiction

How I Found It: I really enjoy Brooks' writing.

Date Completed: 12/21//16

Summary: A fictional look at the life of Israel's King David, told from the perspective of the prophet Nathan.

What I Thought: I have been a fan of Brooks' writing ever since I read Year of Wonders for a grad school class. She as a way with words and characters and I enjoy her tone. I am slowly working my way through her body of work. 

The Secret Chord seemed a natural next step for me. It reflects on the life of King David, an important figure in both the Jewish and Christian faiths. As with The Red Tent, I went into this book expecting exactly what it is: a fictional representation of events I believe really happened. We don't know all the details. This is speculation, as is any historical fiction. If you can accept that premise, I think this book is a fascinating, thought-provoking read.

The story is told from the perspective of the prophet Nathan, or Natan, as he is called here (Brooks reverted most names away from traditional English transliterations). At first, I was startled that Brooks chose him as narrator, but ultimately I liked his voice. She added significantly to his story to make him present for more of David's, but having a his relatively neutral outside perspective gave balance to the story.

March - Geraldine Brooks

March

Title: March

Author: Geraldine Brooks

Publication Date: 2005

Pages: 280

Genre: Historical / Fiction

How I Found It: I became a Geraldine Brooks fan a few years back.

Date Completed: 7/15/16

Summary: While the Little Women lived and loved back at home, Captain Robert March exists far away on the battlefields of the Civil War. He doesn't arrive on the scene until late in the famous novel. Readers are given just pieces of his life away from his little women. Brooks' Pulitzer Prize winning novel has created and shaped his own history.

What I Thought: Since being introduced to Geraldine Brooks' work back when I was in grad school, I have been an ardent fan. I'm slowly working my way through more of her litany of work. This novel, her most recognized and lauded, was an easy next step for me.

I had been a bit hesitant to read it as I normally do not enjoy authors who build upon someone else's work, world, and characters. So many do it poorly. I'm not of the mind to respect canon and let the characters lie where the original author left them. Hence, you can understand my trepidation regarding a novel of which the entire premise is filling in the blanks for one of the most famous family's in American literature.

People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

People of the Book

"Of course, a book is more than the sum of its materials. It is an artifact of the human mind and hand."

This sentence encapsulates the feeling of Geraldine Brooks's novel, People of the Book. The novel traces the life of a valuable Jewish haggadah backward in time, slowly revealing its secrets and the history that shaped it.

You may remember earlier this year when I read and reviewed another Brooks novel, Year of Wonders. That one, I read for grad school. This one, however, has been On Reserve since I read Will Schwalbe's memoir, The End of Your Life Book Club. He mentioned the book and spoke well enough of it then to grab my attention. 

The novel, which focuses around Australian rare book expert Hanna Heath, begins when the Sarajevo Haggadah needs restored in order to be returned to the Sarajevo museum after the destructive war of the 1990s. Heath is called in to do the job. 

In the course of her work, she finds a few interesting qualities about the ancient text. A small white hair, indentations which indicate missing clasps, a deep red stain, a salt water stain, and a mysterious picture which shows an African woman sitting with a wealthy Jewish family around the ceremonial table. Each represents a mystery in the book's past and Heath embarks on a journey to uncover the forgotten history. Along the way she meets a variety of book experts and learns about her own history, as well. 

Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks

Year of Wonders

Another grad school pick coming your way today. It's a good one, I promise!

I have had a different Geraldine Brooks novel On Reserve since Will Schwalbe mentioned it in his memoir The End of Your Life Book Club. Because of that, I was pleased to find Year of Wonders on my required reading list for my Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts course. I figured if Brooks had written one winner, chances were decently good for another.

Year of Wonders was actually Brooks' first published novel. It became an international best seller and both the New York Times and Washington Post have honored it. And for good reason. 

The historical fiction novel takes readers back to the 17th century Plague in Britain. The protagonist, Anna Frith, lives in a small village with her two young sons. Her husband passed away in a mining accident, so she supports her family by serving as a housemaid for the local rector and his wife, Michael and Elinor Mompellion.

Anna also takes in boarders in her small home. This source of income, tragically, sets the story moving. A renting tailor catches Plague, presumably from the London cloth he receives for his work. As the epicenter of rippling water, the disease spreads from there.