Dinner at son's home...means no untidy kitchen here today - and no leftovers! Not to worry, I have a turkey thawing in the downstairs refridgerator to cook tomorrow...and I do have extra stuffing I made on Wednesday and didn't take with me yesterday. Husband's idea...wanted turkey cooked here!
Deb, I was curious about Tracy Chevalier's latest book, The Runaway, released in August, 2013. (She says in her website she is planning to hibernate during the winter...no word on next topic.)
The Runaway's main character - a young English Quaker, Honor Bright, who emigrates to America in 1850. Story of the underground railroad...and those quilts! From a review:
"Ultimately, however, it is two secondary characters – Mrs Reed, a free black woman and the milliner Belle Mills – and Honor's relationship with each of them that lends imaginative fire to the story. In 2009, Chevalier published Remarkable Creatures, an extraordinary novel that captured with astonishing clarity and accuracy the rhythms and pacing of a friendship between two women. Here, too, the most exciting glimmers of life come from Honor's fledgling friendships with two unusual, world-weary and courageous women"
Is there a theme running through Chevalier's books...Girl with a Pearl Earring, Remarkable Creatures and the Runaway? Courageous women who stick together to overcome injustice and adversity? Thinking again about the title, Remarkable Creatures and am more certain that it is the relationship between these two women that Chevalier views as "remarkable" - more so even than the fossilized creatures they are unearthing - (unshaling?)...
We haven't talked much in this discussion about what was going on regarding women's rights elsewhere during this period. Elizabeth Philpot travelling alone on the ship to London was unbelievable to some of you who have been reading Jane Austen...but Jane's women were all under the domination of the men in their households. Mary and Elizabeth had no such restrictions. I'm wondering when women began to take control of their lives, stand up for themselves? Tracy Chevalier seems to be pointing out how daring, how remarkable, these two were. If there were other strong women at this time, they surely didn't have their example.