Faithful Place by Tana French: A review

Faithful Place is the third in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series, and, just like the first two entries, it is a gem.

We met Frank Mackey, the main character here, in the second book, The Likeness. He was the tough head of the Undercover Squad with a single-minded devotion to the job that left little room for emotion. He was not an especially likable character.

This time around, we learn Frank's backstory. We meet the hardscrabble working class family that produced him and we get to know the community where he grew up - Faithful Place in Dublin.

Frank's family represents the very worst of the Irish stereotypical family of the 20th century. The father is a drunken, brutal beast of a man who can't keep a job and spends most of his life on the dole. His mother is a harpy who hides and excuses her and the children's beatings at the hands of her husband because, what would the neighbors think? Actually, of course, the neighbors know only too well what is going on.

Frank is the middle child of five. He has an older brother and sister and a younger brother and sister. Of the five, he's the only one who made it out of Faithful Place.

When Frank was nineteen, he was in love with beautiful Rosie Daly, another Faithful Place denizen. Rosie was eager to get out and see the world and make a better life for herself. She and Frank planned to run away to London. They had to keep it secret from both families who would have opposed and stopped them.

On the night when they planned to leave, Frank packed his bag and sneaked out of the house to go to their designated meeting place to wait for Rosie. She never came.

Finally, Frank went to a derelict house on the street where they sometimes met, thinking there might have been a misunderstanding about the meeting place. There, he found a note from Rosie that seemed to say she was leaving on her own.

Devastated, Frank decided to leave on his own as well. For twenty-two years, he never returned to Faithful Place.

He did make a life of his own. He joined the Guard, eventually ending up in the Undercover Squad. He married and had a daughter and, in time, divorced. When we meet up with Frank this time, his daughter is nine years old and he adores her. He still seems to be hung up on the ex-wife as well.

Over the years, Frank had been in touch with his younger sister, Jackie. Now a call comes from Jackie. Something has been found in that derelict house where Rosie and Frank used to meet. It is Rosie's suitcase - the one she had packed to run away with Frank. It looks like Rosie might never have got out of Faithful Place after all.

The subsequent discovery of Rosie's decomposed body and the upheaval that this causes in the Daly and Mackey families is the central element in the story of Faithful Place. This novel is, in fact, not just a mystery and suspense thriller, it is in large part a reflection on the structure of families, how they work, how they make us who we are, and what we owe to the other members of our families. In the end, although we may run away from the family and make a new life for ourselves elsewhere, we can never truly escape the gravitational pull of that first social group.

Tana French writes splendid and thought-provoking fiction. She also has the knack for constructing an air-tight mystery/thriller that keeps the reader guessing all the way through. I'm already salivating at the thought of reading the next book in this series.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - February 2017

Most days, spring seems to have arrived early in my zone 9a garden, but that has become fairly typical in recent years. True, we may still have some chilly nights, but it seems unlikely that we'll have another freeze. (I better hope that we don't since I planted my tomatoes this week!)

With the warming days, a few blossoms are beginning to show themselves. Here's what's blooming in the garden on this February Bloom Day.

The 'Peggy Martin' rose has a few blooms this week. By another week to ten days, it will be fairly covered in these pretty blossoms.

And the little tazetta daffodils are here to assure us that it REALLY IS spring.

A few African daisies bloom among the foxtail fern.

The Carolina jessamine is actually past its prime and looking a bit the worse for wear now after a heavy rain this morning that knocked lots of its blossoms to the ground. This was taken a few days ago.

Several primroses grace pots around the garden. Here's yellow.

And red.

And a mixture of colors.

'Tangerine Beauty' crossvine that lives on the veggie garden fence has begun its spring bloom cycle.

Here are the delicate bloom spikes of heuchera 'Coral Bells' with Dilly the armadillo.

The azalea looks pretty bedraggled after the morning rain.

In the herb garden, the chives are sending out their pretty little blooms.

A pot of pansies is always a happy sight.

A few snapdragons bloom in pots around the front door entry.

Violas that have bloomed all winter still have some color left.

And indoors, the last amaryllis is sending out its pretty blossoms.

In another month, the garden will have been completely transformed and it will be hard to remember that only a few weeks ago, everything looked brown and dead. In the meantime, these few early blooms are the sweet promise of things to come.

Thank you for visiting my garden this month and thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens, our gracious host for this meme.

Happy gardening and happy Bloom Day. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

TO ALL MY WONDERFUL READERS:

This week in birds - # 243

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment (better late than never edition):

American Goldfinches in their winter dress visiting my backyard thistle seed (nyger) feeder. I'll be reporting goldfinches and all the other birds in my backyard for next weekend's Great Backyard Bird Count. I hope you'll consider participating and reporting the birds in your yard.

*~*~*~*

What had seemed like a reprieve for the rusty-patched bumblebee when President Obama gave it protection under the Endangered Species Act near the end of his presidency looks like it may be snatched away by the new administration in Washington that has put a 60-day pause on federal regulations not yet implemented. Sixty days from now may be too late for the bumblebee which is near extinction.

*~*~*~*

Birds like the White-eyed Vireo that depend upon a healthy understory of brush in forests are harmed by an overabundance of white-tailed deer in those forests. The deer devour the brush that the birds need for survival.

*~*~*~*

The mountain lion designated as P-22 continues to survive in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, an island of wilderness in the midst of the city. No one knows how he came to be there, but he shares his habitat with millions of human visitors throughout the year, coexisting amicably.

*~*~*~*

A crack in the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica has grown by 17 miles in the past two months, raising scientists' fears that it may soon break away from the continent.

*~*~*~*

Did you know that there was such a job as criminal forensic ornithologist? Well, there is and it turns out that this "dead bird detective" plays an important role in the investigation and prosecution of animal smugglers and the unlawful killing of birds.

*~*~*~*

Monarch butterflies had seemed to be mounting a bit of a comeback last year, but the news from their overwintering sites in Mexico and California put the kibosh on our rising hopes for the species. The numbers of butterflies in both areas were down again this winter, continuing a long decline since the 1990s that is estimated at 74% for the California population and 80-90% for the Mexican population.

A cluster of wintering Monarchs on the California coast - Xerxes Society photo.

*~*~*~*

The path to saving the endangered snow leopard of the Himalayas is paved in...um...feces. By studying the leopard's feces, scientists are able to determine what it eats and, it is hoped, prove to local farmers that it isn't eating their livestock, thus removing a reason for them to try to kill the animals.

*~*~*~*

Forty-four years ago the most important conservation law in American history was passed by the Senate on a 92-0 vote and was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Now, the Endangered Species Act itself is endangered by a much-changed Republican Party that will spend the next four years doing its best to kill it.

*~*~*~*

The Nature of Cities blog tells us about "Building for Birds," a tool that allows cities to plan for the creation and preserving of healthy habitat for birds in their environs. 

*~*~*~*

A year ago, the East Coast's Delmarva fox squirrel was removed from the endangered species list after fifty years on the list. Continued monitoring by the Fish and Wildlife Service confirms that the recovered species is continuing to thrive.

*~*~*~*

The saiga antelope, an ancient species that once roamed the grasslands of the world with woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers, has declined in numbers in recent years due to illegal hunting, lost of habitat, and competition for food. It is currently listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List and now it has been hit by a double whammy. A virus known as goat plague is racing through the population on the Mongolian steppes and leaving rotting carcasses in its wake. 

*~*~*~*

Semipalmated Sandpipers are another shorebird species that has suffered decline in recent years. Scientists are studying it on its wintering grounds to see how it is sustaining itself there and in hopes of providing help for its continued survival. 

*~*~*~*

The Yellow Rail is a small member of that family that is so seldom seen in its natural habitat, but we know that the population of the secretive bird has fallen and now it is threatened by a hydroelectric project in British Columbia. The project would destroy a wetland that is used as a nesting site for the bird. Conservationists are trying to save the wetland for the bird and other animals that depend on it.

*~*~*~*

A newly discovered species of frog in India makes a sound that mimics the call of the White-throated Kingfisher which inhabits the same area that it does. 

*~*~*~*

The gas industry leaks enough to power three million homes each year. In November, the Bureau of Land Management published a rule that would make the industry capture and sell the wasted gas. Now, it seems that Congress will likely overturn that rule. After all, what harm could all that gas leaking into the environment and the atmosphere possibly do?

Poetry Sunday: The Things I Learned as a Bartender

The Goodreads monthly newsletter came out this week. Each month they have a poetry contest and the newsletter features the winner. This is this month's winner.

I'm not familiar with the author but her poem touched me with its simplicity, a simplicity that masks a profound understanding and insight into people. It's the kind of insight that might easily be gained by an observant bartender or waiter who sees people in situations where they have "nothing to gain." It is then that their true selves emerge.  

The Things I Learned as a Bartender 

by Tricia McCallum (Goodreads Author)

There is no such thing as the perfect martini.
Jazz musicians make lousy tippers.
A couple can walk in fighting and after two shots of tequila
hold each other for dear life on the dance floor
like they did in high school.

A woman doesn't notice her date's drink order
as much as how he treats the waitress.
No matter how cool the pickup line
women want kind.
Even with nothing to gain
people can be small and mean.

A table of plastic surgeons
can be more obnoxious, abusive, than
a convention of professional wrestlers.
The plain girl alone at the end of the bar
has an achingly beautiful story
no one will hear.
The busboy with the bad skin.
His will also go untold.

Some people cannot be reached.
The hulking cab driver
who climbed the back stairs for his double cheeseburger
every night at 8:30, month after month,
stayed mute, no eye contact. He'd pay with a twenty
and wave away the change.
Leave without a word.
From him I learned 
it's impossible to imagine
all the damage done.

A Gambler's Anatomy by Jonathan Lethem: A review

This book has been published in the U.K. with the title The Blot, which actually seems a much better title than A Gambler's Anatomy. In backgammon, which is the preferred game of the main character in the book, a "blot" is a piece that stands alone, vulnerable to attack. Alexander Bruno, the main character, adopts that term to refer to something that has gone horribly awry with his anatomy. There is something growing in his head, between his eye and his brain. Something that shouldn't be there.

It is a tumor, and when we meet Bruno for the first time, in Berlin, that unnatural growth is just about to land him in the hospital after he suffers a kind of seizure while he is playing a high stakes game of backgammon.

Bruno is a professional gambler. He travels the world, winning large sums of money from rich amateurs who are sure that they have what it takes to beat this professional. He has been inordinately successful for a long time, but then, in Singapore, his luck turns. Suddenly, he is losing more than he is winning.

He moves on to Berlin where he hopes for a turnaround in his run of luck, but, instead, the losing continues. And then his health fails. 

The doctors at the hospital in Berlin diagnose his problem, but are not equipped to treat it. He learns that perhaps the only neurosurgeon in the world who may be willing to try to rid him of his unwanted "blot" is in Berkeley, California, where he grew up. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the money to get to Berkeley.

But, luckily, Bruno has an acquaintance from high school days, who now just happens to be in Berlin, and who is filthy rich. He offers to pay Bruno's way and to pay for the medical care he needs once he gets to Berkeley. Soon enough, he is back in California, undergoing major surgery that involves rebuilding his face after removing the tumor.  

He emerges with a face that he cannot recognize and he takes to wearing a surgical mask after his bandages come off. No one on Telegraph Avenue where he lives seems very surprised or put off by the man wearing the mask. In fact, he fits right in there.

Jonathan Lethem is an extraordinarily inventive writer who turns out exuberant prose that is steeped in a sardonic wit. In Alexander Bruno, he has created what should be a riveting character and yet he just seemed flat to me. I couldn't really care that much about him. He gives the impression of floating through life, on the kindness of strangers, without any real passion of his own. True, he is obsessive about backgammon and rather smug about his mastery of it, but he doesn't appear to see much beyond that. He didn't really engage my interest as a reader.

When I sat down to write this review, I had the oddest sensation. I realized that even though I had just finished the book the night before, I couldn't really remember how it ended. I reread the last chapter and, quite honestly, I still don't know how it ended. Perhaps that tells you everything you need to know about my reading experience with it.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars   

Note to my readers

We're celebrating our older daughter's birthday this weekend, so, even though I do plan to do the "This week in birds" post, it will be late - on Monday. The weekly poetry post has already been set and scheduled so it will be published Sunday, as usual.

Happy weekend! And happy birthday to Susan!