Justice for women

The official color of International Women’s Day is purple to symbolize justice.  Hmm, I notice that not a single one of the women in this illustration that I found online happens to be wearing purple, but I'm wearing it anyway.

Beginning ~ with "I don't know why"

Beginning (Prologue)

I don't know why I'm writing this.

That's not true.  Maybe I do know and just don't want to admit it to myself.

Beginning (Chapter 1)

Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband.

The Silent Patient ~ by Alex Michaelides, 2019, psychological thriller, 357 pages

This is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband ― and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.  Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect.  A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas.  One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety.  The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia.  His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations ― a search for the truth that threatens to consume him.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

What's your story?

Everyone has a story.  When I go to lunch with a friend, I hear stories.  Stories about what happened yesterday, about their lives, about what they should be doing, about what they tried to accomplish, about their aches and pains, about their grandchildren, about all sorts of things.

Hmm, I wonder what stories inanimate things would have.  "Before I was a table, I was a piece of wood.  But before that, I was part of a very tall tree and could see far away things."  If I asked about its youth, would that tree say, "I used to be small, just a sapling, but I kept extending my roots and growing and growing until I was almost higher than the trees around me.  There was this one tree that enjoyed calling me 'little tree,' but lightning hit it and left me the tallest tree in our part of the forest."

I did not grow up in a forest, but as the first child, I definitely was the tallest.  That is, until my brother (2-1/2 years younger) passed me and grew to over six feet tall.  Unlike that tree, though, my aim was not to be tall, but to expand my knowledge by reading books.  Hmm, book pages come from trees, don't they?  So now I have books and pages from trees on my wooden bookshelves.

Some of those books are textbooks from college and graduate school.  And they just keep accumulating, as I keep reading, even in retirement.  I like to learn.  I like to think about possibilities (and about talking trees).  What's your story?

Being a bit nutty today about some nutty words

Nuts are a healthy food to eat, though some are better for us than others.  Being the weird word person you readers know I am, I thought of one I'm sure would NOT make the healthy food list except in extreme moderation:  It is a donut!  Okay, so you know I like to play with words.

Word of the Day

nut·ty /ˈnədē / adjective = 

1.  tasting like nuts.  Example:  "Wild rice has a very nutty flavor."

2.  (informal) mad; crazy.  "I think of some nutty stuff, don't I?"

 

Two thoughts for TWOsday

First thought

I have now signed up for a class on the Death Positive Movement that I wrote about (HERE), when I was wondering whether I was curious enough to actually pay money to learn more.  Nobody commented, but I did sign up.  The idea is to eliminate silence and anxiety by encouraging people to talk openly about death.

Second thought

Jewish Reflections on Death ~ edited by Jack Riemer, 1974, religion and spirituality, 184 pages

I noticed this book on a shelf across the room from the comfortable armchair where I read.  It fits today's theme perfectly, doesn't it?  It's strange that I wrote about this book three times in August 2024, while I was reading it:  HERE, HERE, and HERE.  But I never did finish it, but maybe I can do it before the class on Friday.

Still reading books related to Black History Month

Jacob Lawrence: American Scenes, American Struggles ~ by Nancy Shroyer Howard, 1996, children's literature (grades 2-3), 48 pages, 7/10

Take a closer look at the American scene through the eyes of a talented artist.  Page after page of original artwork fills the mind with portraits, trials, and tribulations of American life from the early 1900s to the present day.  Visualize the struggles of African-Americans — and of the United States as a whole — from the days of slavery to celebrations of today.  Included are different types of activities for exploring paintings to spark creativity and imagination.

Another library book

The Great Migration: An American Story ~ by Jacob Lawrence (author and illustrator), 1995, children's social studies (ages 4-8), 48 pages, 9/10

After World War I, large numbers of African Americans began leaving their homes in the rural South in search of employment, and a better life, in the industrial cities of the North, like Chicago and Pittsburgh.  Jacob Lawrence chronicled their journey of hope in his sixty-panel Migration Series, a flowing narrative sequence of paintings that can now be found divided between the Museum of Modern Art and the Phillips Collection.

In this picture book, Lawrence brings all those landmark paintings together and pairs them with poetic text that further explores the experience of those enduring this mass exodus.  From dealing with poor working conditions and competition for living space to widespread prejudice and racism, this is the story of strength, courage, and hope of the more than six million African Americans who were trying to build better lives for themselves and their families.

This book has an introduction by Lawrence — whose family was part of this great migration — about its personal significance as well as a poem by Newbery Honor author Walter Dean Myers.

Here's what I have posted this week:

1. On Monday, I wrote about Pinocchio, HERE.
2. Tuesday's subject was a couple of books by the same author, HERE.
3. Wednesday's topic was idioms, HERE.
4. On Thursday, I was thinking about the Death Positive Movement, HERE.
5. Friday's subject was a book about time travel, HERE.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.