Stella by Starlight

Stella by Starlight came out this year and I really enjoyed this book.  Set in the south during the 1930s, Stella and her little brother see the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross in the middle of the night.  They are terrified and wake up their parents.  This book is all about how they keep going in the face of adversity, the whole community and their family. I enjoyed seeing Stella's growth throughout this book and viewing things from a different perspective--a black girl living in the 1930s.  I know about the KKK and some of the awful things that happened because of racism, but I never would have thought about how hard it was for them to live day by day--to have to work for white men for little pay, to look in catalogs and see only white people, etc. I don't understand the cruelty of men and was saddened by that in the book.  One man in particular we find out is just filled with hate...for everyone, especially blacks. I enjoyed the reminder to cherish the people in my life, especially my husband and sons and not things. Despite the hardships in this book they were able to find joy in the end and really that is what life is all about.

The Widow of Larkspur Inn

I read this book because a friend of mine chose it for our book club.  The beginning was the most intense part of this book in my opinion, it propelled me to want to keep reading even through the slower, long middle section of the book.  Julia Hollis's husband has died.  He was a surgeon and three weeks after his death she discovers he has gambled all of their money away and everything they own will be sold to cover his debts.  The only thing they have left is an old inn that the bank didn't want, so she takes her three children and has to make it work for them to survive, even though she has never worked a day in her life.

I really enjoyed the contrast between her neighbors in the city and her neighbors in the country as well as her life and her relationship with the 'serving class' in the two different settings.  One of my favorite quotes of the book she says something along the lines "maybe this financial ruin happened to save us spiritually."  She realizes that she has unknowningly never been involved in the life of her children because that was the custom...the nanny put them to bed and took care of them.  Her husband never had time for them and was always away either gambling or working as a surgeon.  The message that I took away from the book and loved so much was that our families, our marriage and our children are so important.  Do you recognize the things that pull us away from them?  They want us to be present with them, to interact with them. Husband and wife should be best friend, not just someone to show off on your arm.  Children need their parents love and undivided attention.  And hopefully I don't have to lose everything to recognize that.