I read a lot. Which is not news to my regular readers. I am delighted when I find an author new to me who can draw me into a story and keep me interested, even enthralled, for hundreds of pages. I especially like to read the books of authors who have continuing characters.
Some of the grandest authors in my lifetime are Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series. I also enjoy Robyn Carr, Sherryl Woods, Wendy Wax, Susan Wiggs, Clive Cussler and the scores of authors who write in his name in the various series under his brand. My favorite, though, is The Oregon Files.
I used to read Vince Flynn and his character Mitch Rapp. Though his brand continued after Flynn died, the character Rapp changed when taken over by another author and I didn’t enjoy him as much. I also enjoyed Brad Thor’s character Scot Harvath for a long time, but Thor’s political leanings and mine became irreconcilable and I eventually had to divorce him.
There are scores of other authors I enjoy reading, many of whom just write hit after hit. As I’ve written many times, I have so many books my goal over the next few years is to read, then donate them so others can enjoy them as well. And to clear room on my book shelves so I can bring in more books without overflowing them.
Those shelves hold a few classic books that I have to be in the mood to start and read. Sometimes I’m not particularly excited about a book, but I understand that it’s an important book and one I should read in my lifetime. For example, I have a copy of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Some have called it the greatest book ever written and I am going to read it, but I have to be in a certain mood on a certain day (whenever that may be) to actually pull it off the shelf and begin what I’m expecting to be an marathon reading effort. Many of James Michener’s epic historic tomes are also like that. I have thoroughly enjoyed some of them already, but I have to be in the right mood to undertake the intellectual and time commitment they require.
Because I’ve been toying with an idea for a novel that I could self-publish as an e-book on Amazon, I clicked on an ad in my Facebook feed for a self-published book series Kindle was offering for 99¢. I ordered it thinking I’d like to see what’s out there for unknown authors self-publishing fiction for little to no investment. That triggered another 50 or so ads for self-published book series in my Facebook feed so I ordered another 5 or 6 more “books” for 99¢ each. I read one of them a few days ago and I gotta say, it was one of the worst books I’ve ever read. I stuck with reading it because I was doing research, but man, I’m pretty sure I can do better…if I can get the story telling right. And if I have the discipline to keep my butt in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard.
The reason for this post though, is that I read a historical fiction book this week published 30 years ago (very early in her career) by one of my favorite authors, Susan Wiggs. I was a bit reluctant to pull it off the shelf as I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for a historical romance but I enjoyed it so much, it moved me to write this post. It’s very different from the great contemporary novels she’s writing now.
Set in Ireland in 1658, Wiggs obviously has an excellent grasp of the turbulent history of the factions warring for control in the British Isles during that period. She is very detailed but almost lyrical in her writing and everything in the book came alive for me while reading it.
It was a difficult time to be alive and simply exist back then. Common people lived communally because no one could survive on their own. There were no grocery stores, no police forces, no sanitary facilities. Of course, not everyone liked each other or respected each other, but surviving meant relying on others in a way that perhaps only those men and women who’ve served in combat (or in first responder professions) understand. There was no equality of the sexes and women were often treated as property.
This book was graphic in its description of the injustices of the time, but handled them in such a way as to not invoke debilitating hatred. It was a beautiful story of a male character who loved in spite of every reason and experience not to, and a strong, loyal female character who wasn’t too prideful to see the forest through the trees.
And the romance! The romance is the crux of what prompted the title of his post. The descriptions of what they said to each other, what they did for each other, sometimes in opposition to what they were saying, and the sheer lyricism of the way they said it are truly the product of a literary era (for the most part) far past the one we live in.
Today, it’s not uncommon (though I stay away from these kinds of books for the same reason I don’t watch TV) for a male character to say to a female character, after they’ve had wild, satisfying sex (according to the author) on the night they met for the first time in a bar, “That was f…ing great.”
In books like the one I just read, after having had their first sex, long after they met and went through a lot of hellish experiences together, the male character says to the female character, “My body has been awakened by women in the past. But never my soul. We are complete.”
Yes, it sounds cheesy out of context. But because of all the rest of the book, when I read that line I closed my eyes, drew the book into a hug, and just thought for a moment about what it would be like to be…cherished…like that. Even Hallmark movies don’t evoke that kind of emotion. But it’s sweet fantasy.
What have you read lately that drew forth a very sweet emotional response from you?
P.S. I got the renewal notice from my blog hosting company this week. It’s even more expensive than I expected. I’ll probably wrap up 68andcounting.com in the next week or two. Thank you for your faithful readership over the last 2 years. On to the next writing adventure.
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