Novel Pursuits © 1994
By Pilar Webster


Hot New and Old Books
Visit our online catalog or click on a link below to see if these books are on the shelf.

Fencing Master
Arturo Perez-Reverte (1999)
Translated into English, "Fencing Master" is a fascinating mystery set in Madrid during the 1800s. The novel follows the exploits of Don Jaime Astarloa, the fencing master who teaches a dying art to fewer and fewer students. No longer a young man, Astarloa maintains his strength and dignity from many years of swordplay. He lives in a dangerous world of corruption in politics during the reign of the Bourbon queen, Isabella II. Just as fencing is becoming passe so is the fencing master who resists any change but remains true to his important values of honor. His life takes on new dimensions when he meets the beautiful and mysterious Adela de Otero. His life is never the same again. A great read.

Seabiscuit, An American Legend
Laura Hillenbrand (2001)
One doesn't have to be an avid horse racing fan to be captivated by Laura Hillenbrand's absorbing account of Seabiscuit, the horse who became a symbol of hope in the middle of the American Depression. (In the 1930s horseracing was America's most popular spectator sport regularly drawing overflow crowds to the tracks). The public was so captivated with their champion that in 1938 Seabiscuit received more news coverage than FDR. An unlikely hero, he was a ragged looking horse that didn't reflect any of the beauty of his forebears. Hillenbrand chronicles Seabiscuit's rise to fame and the three pivotal people who helped him on his way to greatness. The world of horseracing is brought back to life in this spellbinding documentary.

Wait Till Next Year
Doris Kearns Goodwin (1997)
Once again, this unlikely sports fan finds herself reading a book about baseball. Actually, it is a memoir written by Doris Kearns Goodwin, an historian and Pulitzer prize recipient for her biography of the Roosevelts entitled "No Ordinary Time."

Goodwin's memoir is about her adolescent years growing up in the 1950s in a suburb of Long Island. An avid fan of the Dodgers, she was hooked on baseball from the time her father taught her how to fill a scorecard. She was loyal through every Pennant or World Series loss, which prompted fans like her to say," Wait till next year." But the memoir is also about the seemingly innocent 50's and the changes that take place in history - the advent of television, the beginnings of the Cold War. She is still a baseball fan, but now as a resident of Massachusetts, her allegiance is to the Boston Red Sox.

The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood (2000)
In her Booker Prize winning novel, Margaret Atwood gives us a tale of two sisters, Laura Chase and Iris Chase Griffen. Narrated by Iris, the story spans most of the 20th century.

Like many tales throughout the ages, this book opens "in the middle of things," with Laura's death in 1945 after she drives her sister's car off the bridge. The layered narrative gradually provides clues, which lead to an astonishing conclusion. Some of the hints are contained in occasional chapters from Laura's posthumously published science fiction novel with the same title - BLIND ASSASSIN.

Margaret Atwood is an elegant writer who brings to life the fashions and manners of the 1930's and 40's. Both in content and style, The Blind Assassin is a highly unusual reading experience.

Waiting
Ha Jin (1999)
Waiting is a National Book Award winner, which evokes the struggle of a Chinese doctor during the Cultural Revolution in China. Lin Kong returns year after year to Goose Village, to divorce Shuyu, his wife through an arranged marriage. Soon after the marriage Lin knew that he didn't love her and moved to the city as an army doctor. He felt, "If only his wife were pretty and her feet had not been bound."

He is in love with a nurse named Manna. Lin wants a marriage based on love to a woman with whom he can communicate. Jin creates a love story that in some ways is stifled by the rigid system and blind adherence to it. Lin Kong's character seems to be paralyzed by the Communist Party which has designed a system that determines a person's every move, leaving little room for true human emotions. According to the New York Times Book Review, "character is fate, or at least some part of fate, and Ha Jin's achievement is to reveal the ways in which character and society conspire." The author succeeds in subtly depicting the effects of time upon love.

Beautifully and poetically written, one would never know Ha Jin learned to speak English as a second language.

At Home in Mitford
Jan Karon (1994)
At Home in Mitford is the first in the popular series of novels featuring Anglican priest Father Tim.

The rector of Lord's Chapel in the picturesque New England village of Mitford, Father Tim finds himself experiencing vocation "burn-out" and questioning his usefulness to his flock. The bishop, a personal friend, urges Father Tim to give himself one more year before seeking a different assignment.

In that year, several things intervene to influence Father Tim's decision. A gigantic dog moves in with the Reverend and refuses to leave. A beautiful woman becomes his next door neighbor. Father Tim assumes responsibility for a troubled boy. In the course of a year, some long term mysteries are solved by the priest.

At Home in Mitford is rich in small town atmosphere, off-beat characters, and a sincere, if undemanding theology. These qualities have charmed many readers.