The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan

The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan

Death is a part of life.  Everything that lives will suffer a death. The Hummingbird is a book about death but most importantly it is a book about the human experience, about our life which is full of war and peace and the mistakes we make and the apologies we give.

There are three intertwined stories within The Hummingbird. Nurse Birch is a hospice nurse whose current patient is a retired history professor named Barclay Reed.  His area of expertise is the the Pacific campaign of WWII and he has written a book that remains unpublished about a little known incident that takes place in Oregon during the war.

As he lay dying of kidney cancer, Barclay asks Deborah Birch to read to him from his book, The Sword, and to decide if it true or not.  So the end of every chapter contains part of The Sword.

When Deb leaves work she returns home to her husband, Michael who is a three tour Iraqi veteran, dealing with PTSD and some serious anger and depression issues.  He hasn't touched her physically since he's been home and she is worried sick about him and the state of their marriage.

The Hummingbird is a emotional, thought provoking and beautiful novel.  I was reminded of the thoughtful work hospice nurses and workers do to help our loved ones pass into death and help us grieve our loss in a beautiful, loving way. Death can be beautiful, with a room full of loved ones surrounding the bed, singing and laughing, holding hands with their dying relative.  But not everyone
gets a beautiful death.

I frequently thought of my grandparents while reading this and was reminded of their impact on my life.  My grandfather was stationed in Oregon before he was sent to England to join the Europe campaign during WWII.  My grandmothers were both amazing influences in my life.  I miss them all so much.

The Hummingbird will make you think deeply about the world we live in, the wars we engage in, the stories that are built or erased by intention or human error.  You will rejoice in being alive, hope for a beautiful death and cry for the loss of your loved ones.  The Hummingbird will make your heart flutter with hope.

The Hummingbird teaches us that every human life is valuable and we all have a powerful story to tell.  We just need someone to listen and understand.

Disclaimer:  I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.



 

Books, Women and The Atomic Bomb

Books, Women and The Atomic Bomb

Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of the poetry collection, The Robot Scientist's Daughter grew up in Oak Ridge Tennessee, near the nuclear facility that created the Atomic bomb.  The poetry in her book reflects her experience growing up in 1970's with a hazardous nuclear plant in her backyard.  In fact, her father was a scientist at the plant. Jeannine's poetry is environmental with a science fiction/fantasy twist.  The Robot Scientist's Daughter is creative and gives the reader a lot to think about and discuss.  So many issues are covered within the pages of this book.  Some of these poems pack a powerful dose of reality and some will scare the pants off of you.

Here is a few lines from one of my favorite poems.

Phosphorous Girl (page 57)

is the shadow in white dust you left behind.

I imagine she either went off with a jazz musician 
or followed her dream of veterinary school
somewhere in the Midwest. She dresses in discarded 
prom dresses and dances around to the Psychedelic Furs.

White phosphate hidden in her bones, she ignites
the paper caps in cap guns and snaps her fingers 
like she's striking a match.

I love this poem.  Gailey is such a master at crafting a striking, visual poem.

Shortly after I finished reading The Robot Scientist's Daughter, I heard about The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan.  I think pairing these books for a book club or discussion would be great.  I haven't read The Girls of Atomic City yet but I'm going too.

Here is the synopsis of The Girls from Atomic City from Goodreads:

The incredible story of the young women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, who unwittingly played a crucial role in one of the most significant moments in U.S. history.

The Tennessee town of Oak Ridge was created from scratch in 1942. One of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities, it didn’t appear on any maps until 1949, and yet at the height of World War II it was using more electricity than New York City and was home to more than 75,000 people, many of them young women recruited from small towns across the South. Their jobs were shrouded in mystery, but they were buoyed by a sense of shared purpose, close friendships—and a surplus of handsome
scientists and Army men!

But against this vibrant wartime backdrop, a darker story was unfolding. The penalty for talking about their work—even the most innocuous details—was job loss and eviction. One woman was recruited to spy on her coworkers. They all knew something big was happening at Oak Ridge, but few could piece together the true nature of their work until the bomb "Little Boy" was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, and the secret was out. The shocking revelation: the residents of Oak Ridge were enriching uranium for the atomic bomb.

Though the young women originally believed they would leave Oak Ridge after the war, many met husbands there, made lifelong friends, and still call the seventy-year-old town home. The reverberations from their work there—work they didn’t fully understand at the time—are still being felt today. In The Girls of Atomic City, Denise Kiernan traces the astonishing story of these unsung WWII workers through interviews with dozens of surviving women and other Oak Ridge residents. Like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, this is history and science made fresh and vibrant—a beautifully told, deeply researched story that unfolds in a suspenseful and exciting way. (less)

There you have it.  These two books go together like Mac and Cheese.
Have an awesome reading day.

The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy

The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy

The Baker's Daughter is a novel that will warm your heart and tease your palate.   Germany is a country of people with mountains of pride and a somewhat painful past.  It is a country of beer, bratwurst, bread and war.  Elsie,  the baker's daughter lives in Garmisch, Germany during the second world war.  Elsie is young and naive and becomes a witness to shocking horrors that she didn't believe Germans capable of.

Fast forward to El Paso, Texas in 2007 where we meet Elsie and her daughter Jane, as they are interviewed by local reporter, Reba Adams.  Reba is drawn to these two women, their stories and of course their delicious baked goods.  A picture hangs on the wall of Elsie and her mother on Christmas Eve, 1944, in Germany, and Reba is curious is about what really happened that night all those years ago.  Reba has her own secrets that Elsie and Jane work to pry loose as they wonder why she wears her engagement ring around her neck.

In this amazing parellel storyline, we learn Elsie's and Reba's story and how their two histories intertwine.  My grandmother was 100 percent German and Elsie reminded me of her.  My grandmother was not a baker by trade but she did bake.  Her cinnamon bread was the best.  The Baker's Daughter contains some recipes for the delicious bread mentioned throughout the story and I can't wait to try one of them.  I loved the German words, the culture, the historical setting and time period in the book, all of which made me long for my lost German heritage.

My grandfather flew in Ninth Army Air Force during the war and McCoy mentions the Ninth in the book as a group who visited Garmisch, Germany.  It makes me wonder if my grandpa was stationed there or visited after the war.  This book contained a lot of personal connections for me.

The Baker's Daughter is a multi-layered book with themes of war, immigration, and human cruelty.  It is also a story of full of love, food, compassion and survival.    This is a book you will definitely want to savor.
Gutenacht.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Paris is the city of love and lights and on the fateful day of July 16, 1942, it became a city of unspeakable horrors.  On July 16th, 1942, Jewish families were forcibly removed from their home by the French police.  The police came for Sarah's family in the middle of the night and Sarah made a decision that would affect generations. She locked her little brother in a cupboard in their bedroom and promised to release him when she got home.  The Jewish families were brought to the Velerdrome d'Hiver, to await transportation to a nearby camp and then many continued to Auschwitz. Sarah was not going home.

Fast forward to 2002, the 60th commemeration of the Jewish roundup.  Julia is assigned to write a news article about the roundup that most French people would rather forget.  As Julia begins investigating the past, she discovers a story that will change her life.  Sarah's story.

In this amazing duel storyline, every other chapter switches narrators from Sarah to Julia.  Half way through the book Sarah's narration ends as Julia tries to solve the mystery of what happened to Sarah.  Julia becomes consumed by Sarah's story and unraveling her husband's family secrets.

Sarah's Key is a compelling historical drama that had me riveted from the first page.  I was also consumed by Sarah's story and was hopeful for a positive outcome.  The personal tragedies that people suffer and overcome are a testament to the resilience of humanity.  Sarah's Key is haunting, compelling, emotional and mesmerizing.  I couldn't tear my eyes or my heart away from this remarkable novel.  Make sure you have a handful of tissue for the ending. 

The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife.  A War Story by Diane Ackerman

This astonishing true story takes place in Warsaw, Poland during World War II. Jan and Antonina Zabinski own a successful zoo and enjoy a supreme love of animals.  Unfortunately when the Germans attack Poland in 1939, their zoo is bombed and many of their animals are killed.  The Zabinski's are fighters and right away, Jan joins the underground and works to sabatoge the Germans while Antonina stays at home to protect her children and the many "guests" that hide out in animal cages on their way to freedom.  

This is not just another ordinary story about the Holocaust.  This non-fiction book compliments many other great books that take place during Warsaw in World War II, like Schindler List, The Pianist, and Milkweed.  Reading about the same city during the same time period presents a well rounded picture of what really happened from multiple perspectives.  As a woman of Polish heritage whose grandfather found in Europe during WWII, I am drawn to books from this time and place.

Many people compare the Holocaust to other episodes of genocide found in History and while each instance of Genocide is important to study and denounce as horrifying, The Holocaust of WWII was different.  "The Holocaust was different, far more premeditated, high-tech, and methodical, and, at the same time, more primitive."  Biologist:  Lecomte de Nouy argues that "Germany's crime is the greatest crime the world has ever known, because it is not on the scale of History:  it is on the scale of evolution." page 92.   Ackerman does a excellent job of defining how the Germans meant to change the human and animal species permanently.

Many people don't realize that the Germans not only meant to destroy Jews but also the Polish people and their entire nation.  "According to the German plan, Poles were to become a people without education, slaves for the German overlords." page 332.  Poland lost 22 percent of its population, more than any other European country.  "6 million jews were killed, 3 million Catholics died, " but what is even worse, Poland lost its educated classes, youth and any elements which could in the future oppose one or the other of the two totalitarian regimes."  Page 331-332.

People who lived during WWII and the Holocaust were secret jugglers.  They had to balance secret telling with secret keeping.  Here is an excellent quote by Gdansk-born philospher Arthur Schopenhauer.  "If I maintain my silence about my secret, it is my prisoner, if I let it slip from my tongue, I am its prisoner." pg. 255
It is important to read books about difficult subjects that make us uncomfortable and to learn about what really happened in History.  We must read, write and tell the secrets of the past so that they will continue to haunt us and make us remember what really happened.  We must remember and never forget!