Satire Needs a Spine

Recently I bought two books. It was an event, and I’ll tell you why. First, it came after I gave a talk at the Abbott Library in Sunapee NH about my book, Belle. It was a joint event, with Morgan Hill Bookstore of New London NH providing a buying and signing opportunity. (It went great, thanks for asking!)

I’d never been to Morgan Hill, so after my talk, I drove the 15 minutes from the library and popped in. Great little bookstore—I’m so glad I went. I bought two books I’d been hearing a lot about, Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke and The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.

So, yeah: author talk, in-person visit to a real brick-and-mortar bookstore, and buying not one but two books—in hardcover no less! That is a big day out for this introvert with an energy-limiting chronic illness.

Erasing women

By luck of the draw (it was on top of the stack), I read Yesteryear first. A lot has been said about this one, and I won’t belabor the point. I found the book a disappointment. It was billed as a satire, but it wasn’t. There wasn’t enough meat in there to make it a satire. Also, I didn’t find the main character (Natalie) believable, that is, I didn’t believe in her as a fundamental or evangelical Christian. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but many have pointed out that details of Natalie’s religious upbringing and beliefs were lacking.

Before I got to crack open The Correspondent, I heard about Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra and thought it might make a good comp for my crime novel that I’m about to start submitting. So I bought a digital copy on Bookshop.org and dove in.

This one I loved. I was amazed at how the author managed to hold my attention while the main character is trapped in a hiding spot. We have only her thoughts and not much action until almost the halfway point. If that sounds boring to you, all I can say is, read it and decide for yourself. I thought Sierra built her characters and amped up the tension quite skillfully and kept me turning pages.

I will say that I saw the ending coming. I realized about 75% in how it had to go, but that didn’t take anything away from the experience. Far from ruining the book for me, it heightened the suspense. I knew what was coming, and could only watch from the edge of my seat as events carried the main character straight towards the inevitable.

But in the experience of reading Nightwatching right after Yesteryear, the thing that really jumped out at me was that it showed far more psychological insight into the characters than Yesteryear. Sierra brings them to life as real people. We understand why the main character does what she does and what drives her.

The book also showed more insight into society and what it asks of women and what it grooms them for. The main character of Nightwatching is never named; she’s only ever referred to as “the woman” or “the mother.” This is an important bit of characterization. The whole book is about the effacement (self- and by society) of the main character. This concept would have been a rich vein for Yesteryear to tap into.

I read a couple other books between Yesteryear and The Correspondent, but I’ll save those for another post.

Sybil would have something to say about this

If you’ve read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, you know that the main character, Sybil Van Antwerp, is a prolific reader and a woman of opinions that are strong and plentiful and seldom unvoiced. The book tells her story through the letters she writes, and some she receives.

Sybil corresponds with many people, and she doesn’t hesitate to write to people she doesn’t know, including authors to share her thoughts on their work. As I’m writing this, I can’t recall if she wrote letters of criticism directly to authors. I think mostly she would tell them what a book meant to her. But if Sybil felt failed by Yesteryear, she would not hesitate to write to her best friend Rosalie and tell her exactly what she thought those failings were.

I can’t say enough good about The Correspondent. It was flat out the best book I’ve read in a while. It’s so brilliantly done, and the life Sybil lived is at once ordinary and extraordinary. The letters slowly reveal a complicated woman, with all her faults and and her virtues, in a tapestry of a whole life in all its beauty and pain.

High hopes, mixed results

These two books, Yesteryear and The Correspondent, will forever be linked in my mind. I bought them at the same time and had high expectations for both. But in the end, my assessment of each couldn’t be more divergent. And Nightwatching gave me more to think about regarding women in society than I ever would have expected out of a thriller.

I’m curious—have you read any of these? Do you agree with me? Disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you have a suggestion for a book you loved, drop it in the comments. Full disclosure, 95% of what I read is mysteries and noir. But I love hearing about other people’s reading experiences.