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Book Review: ‘The All-American’ by Susie Finkbeiner

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This is an absorbing story of 2 sisters, Bertha and Florence (or Flossie) growing up in 1952 small town America. Bertha, the 16 year old, is level headed but from an early age has a dream of one day playing professional baseball in the all girls American league that has been operating for almost a decade. She’s very good and matches it with the boys she plays with.

Flossie is a precocious 11 year old. At times, she acts a little younger than her age, but she is blunt and in your face in such a charming way that she’s hard not to fall in love. Flossie has a lovely relationship with her dad, William Harding. Dad happens to be a very well known author with a number of bestselling books under his name. He spends most of his time writing in the shack in the backyard, inspired each day by a bust of Shakespeare watching over him. Dad is very restrained, mild-mannered and devoted to his daughters and their mother, Mam.

The Harding family’s stable life is uprooted as a vengeful neighbour publicly accuses William of being a Communist. This makes the news and the family are effectively run out of their Bonaventure Park home. Fortunately, for them William’s brother, Matthew lives alone in a big house about an hour’s drive away and is happy to accommodate them.

Finkbeiner has a wonderful way of writing an engrossing story when not a lot happens. It’s very much character-driven and the manner in which the various characters interact with each other keeps you turning pages. These are tremendously drawn characters, all very realistic in their portrayals.

I enjoyed the baseball scenes, not just the games, but pre-and post-game interactions between the various players. Once again, very realistic and absorbing.

But it’s Flossie who will linger long in the memory. She’s such a character, playful, loves hard and has a fun sense of humour. Her willingness to learn, to sit with her Dad and listen to his restrained wisdom and insight is beautiful to behold. I especially enjoyed how Flossie closed the story with a snippet of her in the future.

I was fortunate to receive an early ebook copy of the story from Revell via NetGalley. This had no bearing on my review.

Book Review: The Songs that Could Have Been by Amanda Wen

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Wen’s debut was a surprising delight and I was eager to read her follow-up. This one can be read stand alone, however, don’t miss the first one as it’s fabulous. This story revolves around Lauren Anderson and her Grandma Rosie and the loves of their lives. Lauren is early 30s and Grandma Rosie is 85 and living with dementia.

Rosie’s story really grabbed my heart. She fell in love with a black man, Ephraim James, in the last year of school. It was the mid-1950s and in Wichita, Kansas a mixed relationship was unheard of and in fact frowned upon on both sides. Wen’s powerful story telling combined with her empathy and grace plus some great research really shone when we saw Rosie’s world back then. I also loved how Wen gave us an insight into Rosie’s 85 year old dementia-muddled mind. It was brilliant and eye-opening giving the reader a much better insight into the mind of one who has dementia.

Lauren’s love was local weatherman, Carter Douglas. They’d had a crazy 10 week courtship when they were late teens both starring in a local production of Fiddler on the Roof. Their breakup left some deep wounds for both of them. But Wen also explores other wounds and how addiction can manifest itself as a consequence. She also explores identity and God’s grace in helping us heal and recover.

Lauren and Carter’s romance didn’t grab me like Rosie and Ephraim’s did. It felt a bit immature and a little forced for the purposes of story. Certainly, Wen’s portrayal of brokenness, of acceptance and loving wisdom from others (take a bow Garrett and Jim Ford) were well presented.

There is heartbreak, some great questions asked about love and reflections on God’s grace and His ability to help us with our brokenness. Once again, Wen delivers a beautiful story that will linger for days after finishing it.

I was very fortunate to receive an early ebook copy from Kregel via Audra’s Jennings PR with no expectation of a favourable review.