Laura was our host for August. We were excited that Tammy and Maria were able to join us from Sayre. It was good to meet Maria!
We missed Carla A, whose son got married, was in Dallas. Both Janie and Denise had family in town. Carla G was in Dallas!
We had a light summer supper. Laura provided a smoked chicken salad and a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Barb and Diana brought delicious cheeses and crackers. Tammy and Maria brought Shrimp Ceviche and chips. Arnora brought the flowers and nuts. There was plenty of wine and cold beverages.
I apologize for not getting to this sooner, but I’ve been distracted with my move back to Norman. I have wanted this for a long time and am glad it’s finally here. But the logistics of moving are exhausting. I’m on the last of it, thankfully!
Over the next months, Daphne and Eddie reconnect while Jonathan helps his sister clean out their mother's home in Wisconsin. Both Daphne and Eddie are reflecting on their pasts and their families of origin.
While Daphne and Eddie spend time together, Daphne learns information about the two years that Eddie lived with her mother and her sister. She and Eddie bonded over books. Eddie and her mother both worked at a publishing company. There is a car accident at the end of the two years. Eddie and Daphne survive, but Daphne's mother blames Eddie and divorces him. So goes the story Daphne is told.
Whistler is the name of a horse in a story that Eddie was trying to get published. It was the true story of a horse who came back for his rider after several days, after an accident, and rescued her. Eddie tells Daphne the story to distract her while they are trapped in the car. Whistler comes back for his rider, in a way, like Eddie comes back for Daphne. He didn't come back for Daphne's sister, Leta.
Though there is a big reveal about why they truly divorced. Ann Patchett has a subtle way of introducing the information.
Daphne's life holds a lot of trauma. Her biological father is emotionally distant when she was a child. But they reconnect when she is an adult, and he is dying. She takes him on a trip, and he dies next to her on a plane. The story ends with Eddie and Daphne at the MET. He leans into her and closes his eyes. You are left wondering if he has died or not. Patchett starts the book with them meeting in the MET and ends it there.
Throughout the story, Daphne is always stoic. She is writing about all of the things she is discovering, but we don't see an emotional reaction. In fact, the only emotional reaction is Daphne's mother sobbing when she is leaving Eddie and his friend, Polly, sobbing because she thinks Eddie is dying.
There are so many levels to this story and so much more that could be said, and it made for a great discussion. We even cycled back briefly to my Antonia. The book, on rounding up, rated a 5.
Our September book club (can you believe we are there already?) will be our day trip to Paper Pages Bookstore in Crescent. We will be discussing Mona's Eyes.
Our October Book is "Culpability" by Bruce Holsinger, and we will meet at Carla G's.
We had a really good discussion, and the book, rounded up, is rated 5.
