Piano Girl: A Memoir by Robin Meloy Goldsby

I read this book back in July, but forgot to post it. I enjoy memoirs, and this one about a bar-room pianist ( as Michael Barnes wanted me to be!) captured my interest. Robin started out as a bar pianist to pay her way through college, but it ended up being her career. The foreword is probably the most interesting part of the book, as she sums up her career, although she's had some interesting experiences, travelled the world, and met all kinds of people.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion ***

An associate professor with Asperger's sets up a questionnaire to find a wife. Rosie and Dan become very close, but he considers her completely unsuitable as a life partner, and sets out instead to find out who her biological father is. A delightful novel, easy to read, with a good narrative. there's some wonderful scenes, especially the cocktail party where Dan serves all these weird cocktails to professors.

The Diairies of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing: II. If The Old Could.....

I wasn't sure if I would read this second novel, but it only took a few pages of reading for me to be thoroughly immersed in it.  Jane meets Richard just by chance one afternoon, and the two take an instant liking to each other, and embark on a quite intriguing relationship. At the same time, another niece, Kate, sister of Jill, asks to come and live with Jane, and she turns out to be an absolute slug. No one, including Jane herself, understands why Jane continues to put up with this nineteen-year-old who spends her days on the couch in Jane's pristine apartment, eating crisps and Mars Bars, forgetting to bathe and actually destroying furniture.

Jane has also continued to visit Annie, another old, sick, angry, poor woman who regards Jane almost as a daughter. Once more, we are treated to wonderfully rich illustrations of Annie's condition and the pattern of her days, as well as those who come to help, especially Maureen, who is stealing what little money Annie has.

Jane and Richard are a usually followed about when they meet by Richard's daughter Kathleen, who could be a shadow for Kate, back in Jane's apartment. Kathleen just.....follows them, that's all, a dark brooding presence. 

It was a real revelation for me to read these two novels, and I'm so glad this volume was the one I chose to read!

The Diaries of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing: I. The Diary of a Good Neighbour

Our Book Club theme for September is Nobel Prize Winners, and since we're doing an Alice Munro book later on this year, I chose Doris Lessing, who won the Nobel Prize in 2007, the most recent woman winner other than AM. I've never read her books, since I understood she was a very intellectual writer, but I took myself off to our library and found this one.

This title covers two books actually, originally written by Lessing under the pseudonym Jane Somers , and titled "The Diary of a Good Neighbour" and "If The Old Could". When she revealed thenauthor's real name, they were re-published In this form. As Lessing says in the Preface, writing under a pseudonym was an experiment, and she always intended to "come clean".First, she wanted to be reviewed solely on merit, not on her name. she also wanted to "cheer up" young writers by illustrating that their efforts to become published don't have anything to do with their talent.

Jane is an assistant editor of a fashion magazine. Both her mother and her husband have recently died; she has remained unaffected by their deaths, and feeling guilty as a result. ONe night she meets an ancient woman named Maudie Fowler in a pharmacy, and finds herself increasingly involved in her life. Maudie lives in a state of filth, and is herself unable to care for her own physical needs, and she has no money to purchase food. She has refused help from social agencies,but seems to accept Janna's help most of the time. Janna visits her often, nearly every day.

Quote from the second novel, which sums up everything: " As I went in at her door, I entered the world I once hardly knew existed, that of the poor, the old, the sick; and those people who minister to them,,social workers, Home Helps, Good Neighbours, Church Visitors; a world so different from mine, which is populated with those who keep themselves successfully balanced on life, people who do not expect to trip, fall over, and find themselves incapacitated in a bed sitting room somewhere, being kept going by visits, food brought in, moral support; a world which few of us, ever, want to think about until,we have to"

The author did an excellent job of depicting the life of an old woman living in poverty, the life of the Home Helps, her sister Georgie, with whom Janna has an uneasy relationship. The various characters, all of whom are women, are clearly drawn; the only man in this novel is Charlie, who becomes editor of "Lillith", the magazine  and he is an ineffectual person at best. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. It was extremely well-written and easy to read. I can't see how reviewers or publishers wouldn't think the writer was experienced in writing, because it is so well-structured.. Just when the reader starts wondering where the story of these two women can go, she introduces both Annie and Eliza, two other old women who need help, plus her niece Jill,comes to live with her. When Maudie goes into hospital, there is another world presented- the big doctor who brings his students into the ward to poke at Maudie, how the nurses really do all the work, and get little credit for doing so. 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. *****

I absolutely ate up this book, loved every minute and didn't want it to end! 'Nuff said.