The Light Between Oceans

In The Light Between Oceans, the first novel by Australian author M.L. Stedman, Tom Sherbourne is returned from having served in World War I when he takes a post as lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, an isolated island where he's the sole inhabitant, and his sole human interaction comes from the store boat which visits four times a year. During his initial visit to mainland Port Partageuse before being shipped to Janus, Tom meets young, beautiful and bold Isabel Graysmark. Isabel makes him feel alive and is a balm to his dark memories of the war. After corresponding and confessing his love he caves to her assurances of a happy life together and they marry. At first the island is magical for Isabel and Tom alike, but after a number of years and what seems a lifetime of heartache caused by numerous miscarriages and one stillbirth, Isabel is no longer the vibrant free spirit of the past.

On the day of the miracle, as described by Isabel, she is tending to the small, newly made driftwood cross which lies besides two older crosses, when she hears a child's cry in the wind. Convinced it's in her mind, she answers Tom's call from the lighthouse that there's a boat on the beach. Together they make their way to investigate and find a small boat with the lifeless body of a man, but also wrapped in a woman's soft cardigan a beautiful baby girl. As Tom tends to the boat and body, Isabel takes the child to the lighthouse and as she lovingly tends to this child, warm and alive, so different from the little boy she lost only weeks ago, she falls in love; for "looking into those eyes was like looking at the face of God." And "that she could have arrived now, barely two weeks after...It was impossible to see it as mere chance." Upon Tom's return to the lighthouse, he quickly sets off to do his job and send a signal, report the discovery but Isabel asks for one night and he concedes; though in the morning letting go is even harder and Isabel begs to keep this child who is more than likely an orphan. A moral upstanding man, Tom is torn by Isabel's request, yet he loves his young wife and having witnessed her suffering, he relents and reluctantly gives in to her request.

Naming her Lucy, which means light, Isabel bestows on this small child all the love stored in her heart from those three lost children of her own; but while Tom loves Lucy, the guilt of his decision weighs on his mind and soul like an albatross and like an acid begins to erode his marriage. When over a year later the small family goes on shore leave and arrives on the mainland, they see firsthand the heartache wrought on someone else by their decision.

I read this book some months ago, during my blogging hiatus, and found it heartbreaking, hauntingly beautiful, and so bittersweet. Through this well-crafted story and beautifully written characters we are asked to ponder a serious moral dilemma and decide what we would do; I was surprised by my own answer to that question. Despite Tom holding the moral high ground in this story, it was Isabel that captured my heart. Her pain was so palpable through every loss, especially the stillbirth scene, it was gutwrenching. The description of how she lovingly and reverently cares for the body of this small being whom she loved sight unseen and anxiously, yet hopefully, awaited for, brought tears to my eyes and a knot in my throat. How can you experience and share in that pain and desolation and not understand and forgive her act of selfishness in keeping Lucy?

While Tom is obviously written to be the hero of this tale; the sacrificed, sympathetic figure burdened by the decision forced on him, I was instead angered by his obsessive need to do what was morally right, by his consuming concern with his peace of mind to the extent that it outweighed the love for his wife. Without spoiling parts of the book, I'll say that I saw the actions taken by Tom to supposedly right their wrong as a traitorous stab in the back of the woman who loved him, offered him solace, and gave him a family; and ultimately, when it comes right down to it, it is Isabel who ends up making the ultimate sacrifice for their love not Tom, so why is he the hero? I don't know if there is a hero in all of this or if they're all just victims of circumstance. I guess you'll have to read it to decide on your own.

This book is this close to perfect. I guess the best way for me to describe it is to say it was as breathtakingly beautiful as the most delicate and perfect of roses, yet like a rose, it had quite a few thorns.

Kinky Boots

I love Friday nights because they’re all mine. When the knuckleheads were younger, I used to pack up my panties and PJs on Friday morning and head up to Connecticut right after work; a telling barometer of my love and devotion to those two that I would willingly put myself through Friday night traffic on 684, but now that they’re teenagers and have social lives of their own and are too busy for their old aunt, I have re-appropriated the evening and made it all my own. The Friday ritual is pretty basic, it involves three key ingredients: pizza, couch, and movie in that exact order. I stop at my favorite pizza joint on the way home and pick up a couple slices, change into my coziest PJs and camp out on the couch with my favorite pillow and fuzzy blanket to watch a movie. Jasmin usually opts to start the evening atop her kitty condo and later employs her kitty sixth sense to determine if the movie proves a hit or miss. If it’s a hit, she stays atop the highest peak of her tower benevolently looking down on her subjects (namely me); if it’s a miss, she jumps down and slowly snuggles in for what ultimately proves to be a joint cozy cat nap. This past Friday my selection was spot on and we enjoyed one of the funniest and sweetest movies I’ve seen in a while.

Inspired by a true story, Kinky Boots tells the story of Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton), a British chap who inherits the family shoe factory upon his father’s death. Despite initial reservations, Charlie is determined to keep the family business afloat and continue to provide for the loyal Northampton townsfolk who have for generations made their livelihood working at Price & Sons. This endeavor proves quite a feat when he learns that the store lost the large order which was keeping the workers employed. Determined to find a solution for the stockpile of shoes sitting idle in his store room, he sets off to London to try and sell his stock, even at cost. With marginal success, he’s leaving a local pub when he comes to the rescue of Lola (Chiwetel Ojiofor), a drag queen nightclub singer, who ends up having to rescue him. During Lola’s pre-performance ritual she gripes of the poor quality women’s shoes not built to carry the weight of a real man. After dejectedly heading home to Northampton, Charlie faces no other option but to start laying off staff, but Lauren (Sarah-Jane Potts), a young staff member doesn’t take the dismissal lying down and sets into Charlie for his 'woe is me, what can I do' attitude and tells him to instead put his big boy pants on and change the product or find a new niche market to save the company. Those simple words become the catalyst that transforms the old stodgy Price & Sons to the Kinky Boots Company and begins the tale of how a drag queen helps to rescue not only a company, but a man and a town.

Kinky Boots is a British comedy in the same inspiring and uplifting tradition of The Full Monty and Billy Elliott. The story of hope and camaraderie between a desperate group of people coming together for a greater good is not new, but the wonderful acting, humor and heart keep it fresh and utterly compelling. Joel Edgerton does a wonderful job in his portrayal of Charlie. I’ve seen Edgerton in a couple other movies, Warrior and The Odd Life of Timothy Green, both of which were post-Kinky Boots and having seen this movie I totally see how it became the vehicle driving his American box office success. He’s good looking in a boy next door kind of way, not Brad Pitt/ Hollywood movie star kind of looks, and totally believable as a good guy, completely out of his element that’s determined to do the right thing. While I’d seen Edgerton before, Chiwetel Ojiofor was a complete unknown to me and that just blows my mind, because he was just that incredibly good. Chiwetel’s portrayal of Lola/Simon was brilliant. While he’s way too masculine to bring any femininity to Lola’s portrayal, he gave her so much heart and vulnerability that it totally made up for it. An added bonus was that Chiwetel did all the actual singing for Lola’s performances at the club and they were outstanding. I would buy tickets to see Lola sing. To demonstrate his incredible talent and artistic range, Chiwetel’s next role will be in 12 Years A Slave, based on the real life story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, abducted and sold into slavery.

Kinky Boots also does a great job in addressing the issue of prejudice and the cowardly bias and hurtful words and actions that Lola, and people like her have to deal with every day. Through Lola’s dad, the movie highlights how sometimes those we love are the ones that do the most damage to our hearts and psyches; altering our own view of ourselves based on their hurtful words; and how it’s not until you can be brave enough to be yourself and accept yourself as you are that you can truly find peace and happiness.

I don’t know what it is about the Brits but they seem to have the perfect formula for these types of movies. They crank them out with seemingly little effort and always to resounding success; most of them even end up on Broadway, like The Full Monty, Billy Elliott or Kinky Boots itself, which won a Tony this year for Best Musical. Whatever their magic, watch this movie because from the touching opening scene to the rousing closing number, Kinky Boots is pitch perfect.

The Good Father

In Diane Chamberlain’s The Good Father, Travis is a 23-year old single dad raising his beloved 4-year old daughter, Bella, alone in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. When life unexpectedly leaves him homeless and unemployed, he desperately searches for the best way to provide for his child. Desperate for a solution he relies on the connections of a new friend and her almost too good to be true promises of a construction job and day care for Bella and relocates to Raleigh in hopes of a better future, but all turns out to not be as promised and he’s faced with a heart-wrenching decision which could change his and Bella’s life overnight.

The Good Father was an easy, though slow read for me. This is the first book I’ve read from this author, and while I enjoyed the story and likeable characters, I felt there wasn’t enough action or compelling drama to make me want to turn those pages faster. The story chapters alternate between three different points of view, Travis, the young dad desperate and scared; Robin, Bella’s birth mother who gave her up but is now suddenly overwhelmed with thoughts about her daughter; and Erin, a young woman who befriends Travis and Bella, that is dealing with the heartache and loss of her own young daughter, Carolyn.

Despite the alternating chapters, Travis is by far the heart of the story and I believed in both his love for his daughter as well as the naiveté that led him to the decision he now faces; those blinders that we all put on when we believe something, because we want it or need it so much that we’re willing to turn a blind eye to all rational thought that says if it’s too good to be true, it’s probably not true. Notwithstanding the book's pace, the author does do a good job in conveying the heartache, loss, grief and fear each main characters faces as they deal with their own set of personal demons; and brings about a satisfying resolution to the struggles faced by each.

Spread the Hope

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the American Cancer Society approximately 232,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2013. Breast cancer is the number two leading cause of death in women, yet there are currently 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. alone. In spite of the scary statistics, when breast cancer is detected early and confined to the breast the five year survival rate is 98%. What can you do this month and throughout the year?

Be proactive. The best protection is early detection, so take control of your own health. If you're over 40 have a mammogram every year. Women always put the needs of others first, whether it's work, family, home or kids. Don't forget, the most important thing you can do for your loved ones is to be around. Make it about more than the here and now, make it about tomorrow and the day after, and make that appointment.

Get involved. There are countless runs, walks, and other type of charity events in every community with the sole purpose of raising funds for research, free screenings, or cancer support groups, so participate and make a difference however small, however you can. It could be as simple as having a yard sale and donating the proceeds to the American Cancer Society or another worthy organization. Every little bit helps.

Get the word out. Finding the cure starts with awareness. Whether it's wearing a pink ribbon, putting up a bumper sticker on your car, wearing a pink shirt, or simply adding a breast cancer awareness message to your email signature. Take every opportunity to raise awareness about this insidious disease that takes too many wonderful women; mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins, aunts, and friends.

Make a difference. "Do it for those that have lost the fight and those who won't quit the fight."

One to Watch: Derek

While recently visiting my knuckleheads, I discovered Derek, a new Netflix original series featuring Ricky Gervais.

The show centers around Derek, a care worker at a British nursing home, where he says all his favoritest people are at. Derek loves and pampers his patients, because he says old people are kind; they're nicer to him supposedly than anyone else in the world, and in turn he's beloved by them and the other staff, including Dougie, his friend and roommate who serves as the home's jack of all trades caretaker; Kev, a pervy unemployed friend who loiters about the place; and Hannah, the nursing home administrator who for the past 15 years has lovingly and selflessly cared for Derek and all her charges.

I've only gotten the chance to watch three episodes, including the pilot, from Season 1, and found that despite my expectations given Gervais' role, the show has been more poignant and moving than laugh out loud funny, especially the pilot which dealt with Derek's loss of his favorite patient, Joan, who reminded him of his mom. Those last few minutes when Derek shares Joan's words of wisdom to him, "Kindness is magic...It's more important to be kind than clever or good looking" and he softly pats his own head with her hand; ugh, I dare anyone to watch and not cry. After it ended, I could only wipe away tears and marvel at the fact that Ricky Gervais had made me cry.

Gervais does a wonderful job of offering a sympathetic, and not mocking, portrayal of a tender man with a child-like innocence in his view of the world; a man who despite going through alot doesn't feel sorry for himself, in fact, he says he's luckiest man in the world because of his many friends. While Gervais' name might be above the title, and his performance definitely surpassed my expectations, I think Kerry Godliman as Hannah is brilliant. In her portrayal of a sweet woman totally dedicated to the elderly patients entrusted to her care, she conveys so much compassion and understanding in her gentle smiles, and shy hopefulness in her confessionals in front of the camera (this show also features mockumentary style confessionals ala The Office). When she shyly, almost guiltily, confesses her interest in Annie's son, Tom, she reminded me of Pam talking about Jim on The Office.

With newfound respect for Gervais as an actor and not just a comedian, I'm definitely looking forward to watching what the remainder of Season 1 has in store for Derek.

P.S. Finished all of the Derek episodes (7 total). What can I say? Ricky Gervais, Karl Pilkington, and every actor on this incredible show are geniuses, and Derek was beautiful, moving, and filled with so much heart and sincerity. Every episode was better than the last; sweeter and funnier (I take back the not being laugh out loud funny). Each episode was like condensed life lessons with little nuggets of wisdom, mostly from good old Joan, including one of my favorites "You make a living from what you get; you make a life from what you give." Brilliant, don't you think? Gosh darn it, there's got to be more! I hope there's a season 2 because I loved each one of the Broad Hill crew and I want to know what life brings them.

P.P.S. I forgot to mention that despite not having Netflix I was able to watch all of the episodes on YouTube. Apparently, Derek aired pre-Netflix in the U.K. and thankfully, some fine old chap was kind enough to post all of the episodes. So, cheerio, and head on over to YouTube to watch an amazing show.

Morning Tea