Between Two Worlds by Katherine Kirkpatrick

Between Two Worlds is loosely based on the story of a sixteen-year-old Inuit girl known as Eqariusaq who lives with her husband, Angulluk in Greenland and her encounters with Arctic explorer, Robert Peary and his family at the beginning of the 1900's.

Robert Edwin Peary was an American who began exploring the Greenland ice sheet in the late 1800's. His goal was to be the first man to reach the North Pole. His first exploration of the Greenland ice cap was in 1886. In 1891 he undertook a second trip to Greenland to determine how extensive the ice cap was and if it would lead him to the North Pole. Peary made another expedition in 1893-94 and began investigating possible routes to the North Pole in the years from 1898 to 1902. Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909.

Equariusaq spent a year living with Robert E. Peary and his family in America. Robert Peary and his wife Josephine who was pregnant at the time, visited northern Greenland in the fall of 1893. Josephine gave birth to a baby girl, Marie Ahnighito on September 12. The following summer Josephine and Marie returned to America, taking twelve-year-old Eqariusaq with them. Eqariusaq was soon named Billy Bah because that is what little Marie, whom she babysat, called her. Living in Washington, Eqariusaq learned to speak English and also collected many keepsakes and trinkets to bring back to her home in Greenland to show her parents and her people. She returned with Josephine and Marie the following year.

When she was fifteen, Eqariusaq married Angulluk. In 1897 Peary took Eqariusaq's mother, Atangana, her father, Nuktaq and her adopted younger sister, Aviaq to America along with several other Inuit. Lacking immunity to diseases common to North America, they all died with the exception of a boy named Minik.

In August 1900, Josephine and Marie returned to Greenland with supplies for Robert Peary in what is supposed to be just a summer trip. It is at this point Between Two Worlds picks up the story. Billy Bah is hunting for eggs on the cliffs outside of Itta with her husband Angulluk when she spies Josephine's ship, the Windward, entering the harbour. She and Angulluk return to the village to greet the qallunaat or white men. Captain Bartlett questions Billy about the whereabouts of Peary and she tells him that Perry has wintered on Musk Ox land (known as Ellesmere Island). In Peary's winter cabin, Billy reunites with Peary's wife, Josephine whom she calls Mitti Peary and his daughter Marie. Mitti Peary returns to the ship while Marie, Billy and an orphan boy known as Bag of Bones because he is so thin spend time together. Captain Bartlett tells Billy that they plan to sail to Musk Ox land to locate Lieutenant Peary. The Inuit decide to travel with the quallunaat because there are large herds of musk ox on the island and they need the meat for the upcoming winter. Angulluk has Billy put their request to Captain Bartlett and he agrees but says he will only take ten people. Bartlett takes the young, unmarried hunters as well as Billy Bah and her husband Angulluk, and Aleqasina (Ally) who is Peary's mistress, her Inuit husband Piugaattoq and their son, Anaukaq (Sammy).

Before leaving, Billy visits her parents graves which are empty because they died in America. Billy Bah asks the spirits of her parents for her to be the one to receive their spirits into new life, in the form of a baby. As an Inuit she believes that her parents spirits will return to the body of a new baby, forgetting their memories of their previous lives. They do not answer her.

On the voyage to Musk Ox land, Angulluk trades Billy Bah to a sailor named Duncan Gaylor. Billy is happy to be with Duncan who treats her well. She could not go to a man unless her husband traded her. Determined to make her own decisions, Billy convinces her husband to trade and this leads Duncan to arrange for Billy to stay with him for the rest of the voyage to Musk Ox land. As they journey around the sound, Billy and Ally skin and clean the seals their husband's catch. They arrive at Payer Harbor in Musk Ox land on the eighth morning. Billy accompanies Bartlett and Mitti Peary to the island where they learn from the villagers that Peary recently left for Fort Conger which is far north from the village. The previous winter Peary had most of his frost bitten toes amputated but he has healed well and can still walk.  Bartlett decides he will leave Peary his supplies and the Windward will return to America. Marie is upset at this because she wants to see her father.

Despite a raging blizzard, Billy and Angulluk decide to leave the ship and move into the village. Unable to set up their tent during the storm, they stay in the igloo of an old woman named Navarana.The next morning they awaken to find that the Windward has been blown over onto its side on a shoal. The crew attempts to right the ship and unload all its cargo. Eventually the ship is righted when the tide comes in and Bartlett decides to try to leave the harbour as it is rapidly freezing. Attempts to dynamite a huge iceberg in its path are unsuccessful and the Windward becomes trapped when the harbour freezes over five days later. Angulluk goes hunting with the other hunters for musk oxen while Billy and Ally work on sewing in Navarana's igloo along with her daughter Mikihoq and her two children Tooth Girl (Akitsinnguaq) and Magtaaq. Navarana does not approve of Ally and Billy spending time with the quallunaaq (white men).  However Ally and Billy feel that the wealth they acquire in the form of axes and rifles are worth it.

With the ship saved, Mitti Peary and Marie come to Navarana's igloo to ask the Inuit to make them clothing for the winter. Billy is happy because she is able to negotiate a trade of guns and ammunition in exchange for the clothing and it also means a chance to see Duncan once again. Ally and Billy fight over who is to make Marie's kapatak. During the exchange Ally reveals to Mitti Peary that Sammy is Peary's son. Despite being shocked, Mitti Peary decides that Ally will make Marie's kapatak while Billy will make hers. Navarana warns the two women to be careful; they can help the quallunaat survive the winter but they take what they want and then leave. She warns Billy that she needs to think about her husband and her life in their land.

Billy Bah, Ally, Akitsinnguaq (Tooth Girl) and Mikihoq return to the Windward to make Inuit clothing for Mitti Peary and also for Marie. At this time, Billy resumes relations with Duncan against the advice of Old Navarana. On the ship, Billy is approached by an older crew member, Office Sutter who wants to make plaster masks of Billy and the other Inuit. Initially they refuse but then Marie Peary and Akitsinnguaq and Mikihoq agree. While he is making the masks, Billy questions Sutter about her parents and how they died. From this conversation she suspects that both Sutter and Duncan are not revealing all they know about what happened to her parents in America. Billy becomes determined to learn the truth about what happened to her parents. She also becomes increasingly unhappy with both her husband and Duncan. Can she lead a life that is truly her own?

Discussion

Between Two Worlds is a fascinating historical novel that captures the struggles of a young Inuit woman caught between the two worlds of her people and the white men who explore the high Arctic.

From the very beginning of the novel, Kirkpatrick gives her readers a sense of both the simplicity and the hardship of Inuit life in the early twentieth century. For example, Navarana tells Ally and Billy that she owes her life to the fact that her mother had an axe given to her by a white man who was Navarana's father. Billy indicates that "During very lean winters in Itta, mothers smothered their infant daughters. They allowed their sons to live because they'd grow up to provide for the community."
The Inuit view the long winter differently than the white men as Billy describes the dark winter as "cozy days of darkness that my family shared in our igloo."

Eqariusaq also known as Billy Blah. Age 16, 1901

Billy and Angulluk often greet each other by rubbing noses. They don't bathe so as to protect their skin from the dry cold. Billy tells Marie that the Inuit girls must grow up fast. "Boys need to hunt, or else we don't have enough food. And our people don't seem to live as long as yours. Or grow as tall."

Kirkpatrick weaves facts about Inuit life seamlessly into her story, describing how the people eat following Angulluk's return from a successful polar bear hunt and later on how the Inuit village on Musk Ox land uses all parts of the musk oxen.

The first part of the novel is almost entirely focused on providing the backstory of Billy Bah's relationship with the Peary's. When Billy goes on the Windward to sew clothing for Mitti Peary and Marie, she remembers in flashback her year with the Pearys in America. This provides the set up for the conflict Billy Bah experiences between her Inuit culture and that of the qallunaat. This conflict between two cultures is demonstrated best by Billy's difficult relationships with her husband Angulluk and the sailor Duncan Gaylor, each of whom represent their respective cultures. Billy is given in trade to Duncan by Angulluk. It was the Inuit custom for men to trade his wife to another man. "Now and then, a husband might lend his wife to another hunter for a few days, to help with his chores, ore relieve his boredom during the long winter. Such trades were never made with outsiders."

Billy cannot choose to go to a man unless her husband arranges such a trade. But when she is sent to Duncan, she likes his kind ways and manipulates her husband into arranging a trade for the duration of the voyage to Musk Ox land. When she returns to live with her husband on land, Billy is restless. She is happy to be with her husband once again but she longs for Duncan who feels the same. By Christmas with both Duncan and Angulluk vying for her attention and tension high between the two men, Billy comes to realize she loves both men. However, Billy begins to realize that Navarana's warning that she cannot be part of both worlds is probably true. When she discovers the truth about what happened to her parents in New York she is very angry and no longer trusts the qallunaat. She now believes that Navarana's advice about the qallunaat, "if they want something, they will use any excuse to have it, and they will forget you when it's convenient." is probably true. Mitti Peary risked Angulluk's life to find her husband and then risked both Angulluk, Billy and Bag of Bones' life a second time to locate Peary. Billy tries to get her husband to promise her he will not work for the Pearys again but he refuses.

Eventually Duncan begins to press Billy to leave Angulluk and to return with him to America. But Billy is determined that neither man will determine her future. She refuses to go with Duncan to America and when Angulluk refuses to promise never to trade her again, Billy decides she will leave him. Seeing how Peary reacts in his situation which is similar to hers - he has two wives and seems to live between two worlds, Billy decides she must be strong like Peary. The defining moment comes when Billy goes through the keepsakes she has collected from America. She realizes that these keepsakes were kept because she has wanted to return to America. Billy decides that she wants to remain in her land. The spirit of Navarana warns her not to hate the white men because she will not be able to control her own life. Billy realizes that she must see herself as equal to her husband and the qallunaat. She must be strong and make her own decisions. She finally does this when Peary asks her to return with him to Musk Ox land and make clothing for his expedition as he returns to try to make it to the North Pole. However Billy Bah doesn't do it for Peary's affirmation but because she likes to sew and she will have a new life.

Kirkpatrick has provided her readers with a great deal of background information outside of the story. A map of Greenland and a detailed note at the back of the novel providing readers further information about the real Robert E. Peary and Billy Bah are included as are numerous photographs. There is a list of Inuit words used in the story as well as a detailed list of the characters in the novel. Also provided are Endnotes with further information.

Image credit: https://katherinekirkpatrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/billy-bah-for-wordpress.jpg

Book Details:

Between Two Worlds by Katherine Kirkpatrick
New York: Wendy Lamb Books     2014
285 pp.

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko

Chasing Secrets is a historical fiction novel about an outbreak of the bubonic plague which began in the city of San Francisco in March, 1900 and continued for a number of years. This novel is set in the year 1900, at the very beginning of the outbreak.

Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth (Lizzie) Kennedy lives in San Francisco with her sixteen-year-old brother, William (Billy) and her father who is a doctor. Lizzie's mother died five years ago from stomach cancer. 

She attends Miss Barstow's School for Young Women which is a finishing school for young girls. The girls learn how to run a household and how to attract and marry a wealthy man. Unfortunately, they do not study science, and math classes stop after the third grade. Lizzie was enrolled in the school on the advice of her Aunt Hortense when she turned eleven. But she hates the dancing, etiquette and entertaining classes and much prefers to accompany her father on his house visits.

Lizzie is driven to and from Miss Barstow's by their Chinese cook, Jing, who also cares for their garden, horses and chickens and their cat. Lizzie has a strong attachment to Jing, who makes a special cake on her birthday. Lizzie's home is next door to her Aunt Hortense and Uncle Karl Sweeting's house which is on Nob Hill. Her aunt and uncle are extremely wealthy as Uncle Karl has made a great deal of money in the sugar business. Unlike her wealthy sister, Lizzie's mother married a doctor who often doesn't charge for his visits if people cannot pay.

The novel opens with Lizzie taking the next three days off from school as she accompanies her father on his house calls, something Aunt Hortense doesn't approve of. Their first call is to attend Mrs Jessen who is in labour but discover that her daughter, Caroline is also in need of medical care as she has broken her arm. Lizzie's father assigns her to set Caroline's arm, while he delivers the baby. However, Lizzie find this is easier said than done because Caroline won't let her near. Lizzie realizes that Caroline is frightened for her mother so she works on allaying her fears. Lizzie eventually sets the arm and helps her father deliver the Jessen baby, a healthy boy. When Mr. Jessen, who is a policeman in San Francisco, returns in the morning, he mentions about the enormous number of dead rats found in the walls of a restaurant in the city. Later when Jing picks up Lizzie and her father from the ferry, he tells them that Chinatown is under quarantine for the plague. Dr. Kennedy tells his daughter that there was an outbreak in Hawaii but no confirmed cases in San Francisco. As a result of the quarantine, Aunt Hortense asks Lizzie's father not to take her on any more calls. He agrees to this much to Lizzie's dismay.

Stuck at home with their maid Maggy Doyle, Lizzie decides to investigate the third floor after hearing strange sounds. On the third floor she discovers a Chinese boy who identifies himself as Jing's son, Noah, living in Jing's room. Noah tells Lizzie that he lives in the house unknown to everyone. Noah is worried because his father has not returned and he believes he has been caught in the quarantine when he went to Chinatown to work as a translator. Lizzie promises not to tell anyone about Noah's presence and to help him find his father. When she brings Noah dinner, Lizzie tells him she will ask her Uncle Karl about getting Jing out of the Chinatown quarantine.

That evening when Lizzie visits her uncle's home, she learns that many doctors do not believe the plague has come to San Francisco. Uncle Karl who owns the evening newspaper, the Call, has refused to publish anything about the plague, unlike his rival, Randolph Hearst. Karl believes that Hearst is publishing the reports of the plague so he can sell more newspapers. Uncle Karl tells Lizzie not to worry about Jing but that he will make some calls in the morning.

The next morning Lizzie tells Noah that her Uncle Karl will try to find out about Jing. Lizzie learns that Noah's mother still lives in China giving them something in common - they both miss their mothers. Noah tells her that he was living with his Uncle Han but came to live with Jing before the quarantine set in because his father was afraid he would starve.

Next Lizzie attempts to enlist Billy to take her to Chinatown. Lizzie notes Billy's black eye but he simply tells her he ran into a door. When Billy refuses to help her, Lizzie harnesses their horse, John Henry, and tries to leave without Aunt Hortense noticing. Of course her aunt does notice, but Billy rescues Lizzy and together the two of them travel to Chinatown. During their drive, Lizzie learns that Billy has been fighting but she promises to keep his secret since their father would never approve. At Chinatown, they find the area roped off and guarded by the police. Even Lizzie dropping Karl Sweeting's name doesn't help. As they drive around the area, Lizzie overhears two police mention about "waiting on the monkey". Desperate to find Jing, she asks for Officer Jessen but he too is unable to help.

When they arrive home, Billy and Lizzie discover that Aunt Hortense is moving into the spare room because their father will not be returning until the following week due to a smallpox outbreak. With Aunt Hortense's eagle eye on everything, Lizzie wonders how she will feed Noah and how she will ever manage to locate Jing and bring him home. Her attempts to find Jing lead Lizzie to uncover the truth about the plague in Chinatown and San Francisco and to reveal many secrets both in her family and the city.

Discussion

Chinatown circa 1900

Chasing Secrets is a well-written historical novel about life in early 1900's San Francisco. Choldenko fills her story with interesting details about what life was like for a young girl from a reasonably well-off white family during this era. Well-to-do young girls like Lizzie lived in large, clean homes with servants and good food, had access to what medical treatment existed at that time. They attended dances such as the cotillion (a kind of debutante social event). Although young girls received some schooling, their teen years were spent preparing to run a household. 

Noah's life would have been very different from Lizzie's, partly because he was a boy but also because he was Chinese. He would have had just as much difficulty attending school as she would. At the turn of the 20th century, the Chinese were restricted in where they could live in cities including San Francisco, and the general population were not accepting of the Chinese, even those Chinese born in America.

In Lizzie Kennedy, Choldenko has crafted a courageous, determined heroine, intent upon forging her own destiny. She is determined to find her family's beloved missing Chinese servant. Without betraying Noah's secret, Lizzie continues to search for his father, Jing, even if it means breaking the social conventions of the time. She harnesses the family's horse and buggy, preparing to drive herself to Chinatown until Billy intervenes to help her. When that fails Lizzie even attempts to pass herself off as a nurse to gain access to Chinatown. At the cotillion, Lizzie sneaks into the bar in an effort to learn more about what it happening in Chinatown. Later on she even dresses as a boy and attempts to ride her horse into Chinatown at night to warn Jing and Noah that people are intent upon setting the area on fire.

One of the themes in Chasing Secrets is that of friendship. Through Noah, Lizzie learns the meaning of friendship. At Miss Barstow's, Lizzie has not made many friends. "Now I'm thirteen, and my friends are the cook, the maid, our horse, and my father." When she meets Noah, she confesses to him that she doesn't have any friends because she's different and she seems to say the wrong thing. Noah advises Lizzie to pick out one girl she likes best and to start with her. When Lizzie declares that they are friends now, Noah states that outside her home, they cannot be friends. However, Lizzie tells him "We decide if we're going to be friends. Not them." Noah helps Lizzie learn to dance and he crafts her a "button-head lion", "so you'll remember to be brave...With everyone. Be your best true self. That's what Baba says." After the quarantine is lifted, Lizzie worries about whether she will ever see Noah again. She considers him her best friend. Eventually Lizzie does make friends at Miss Barstow's by following what Noah told her. She becomes friends with Gemma Trotter and her twin brother, Gus, who it turns out has a crush on Lizzie.

Another prominent theme is the Kennedy children's struggle to forge their own path in life. Lizzie's father wanted his son Billy to become a doctor. Even though Billy shows an aptitude for medicine as evidenced by his ability to stitch his shoulder himself, he wants to be a fighter. It is something he likes to do but his father is horrified. Billy tells his father, "I don't want people to take advantage of me. I need to be able to back up what I say. Otherwise it's just talk." Billy believes his father does not have much respect in the community because he doesn't stand up for himself when people don't pay him for his services. When Dr. Kennedy tells him he doesn't want his son fighting for a living, Billy states, "I'm not going to live my life as 'your son.' I'm going to live it my way. Make my own decisions. Think for myself." One of those decisions is to not get vaccinated against the plague.It is a decision that has profound repercussions for the Kennedy family.

In the same way, Lizzie finds herself at odds with the life her Aunt Hortense wants her to have. She had enrolled Lizzie in the finishing school with the idea that she will eventually marry and manage a household. Aunt Hortense doesn't like Lizzie accompanying her father on his medical trips. But with the death of Billy things change. Eventually even Aunt Hortense comes to realize that young people want to live as they choose. When Lizzie tells her that she wants to go to college, she is shocked when her aunt agrees. " 'I wanted a different life for you. Your father wanted a different life for Billy. But that didn't work did it? You'll have to' --she can hardly get the words out over the welling in her throat--'live your life your way.' "

The theme of "chasing secrets" is woven throughout the novel. Almost every character is keeping secrets or as Billy states, "Everybody has secrets...even Orange Tom."   Lizzie is keeping Noah's presence in her house a secret as well as her friendship with him which would not be considered appropriate for a girl her age or social status. Billy is keeping his fighting a secret because he knows his father disapproves. Uncle Karl and his friend Peter are keeping secret the efforts of Dr. Kinyoun (who has injected the plague pathogen into a monkey, a rat and two guinea pigs) to prove the presence of bubonic plague in the city. Dr. Roumalade is keeping secret his triaging of patients based on their social status and his unethical use of a vaccine known to kill those already exposed to the bubonic plague. Jing's secret revolves around the existence of Noah and his work in Chinatown, while the Chinese in Chinatown and the city officials are keeping secret the deaths from the plague by hiding the bodies in barrels and sneaking them out of Chinatown.

Fans of historical fiction will enjoy Chasing Secrets. Choldenko captures the atmosphere of San Francisco at the turn of the last century with strong, well developed characters and an exciting mystery.

Choldenko provides her readers with a wonderfully informative Author's Note at the back that provides information on the city of San Francisco, Chinatown, medicine in 1900, the plague and the plague epidemic of 1900 in San Francisco. There is also a map at the front of the novel so readers can understand the setting of the novel.

These websites may provide valuable information on the bubonic plague in San Francisco:

A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Bubonic Plague Hit San Francisco:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm00bu.html

Bubonic Plague in Chinatown from the Library of Congress:
https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-san-francisco-plague

Book Details:

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko
New York: Wendy Lamb Books     2015
278 pp.

The Cure For Dreaming by Cat Winters

This strange novel has the odd premise of a frustrated father attempting to hypnotize the free-thinking thoughts of women's rights out of his daughter's head so she will want to live her life as women are meant to - getting married and having children.

Synopsis

Olivia Mead is at the Metropolitan Theater in Portland, Oregon to celebrate her birthday, which happens to be on Halloween. She and her dearest friend Frannie Harrison, another friend Kate and their chaperone, Agnes are there to see The Mesmerizing Henri Reverie, a hypnotist. When Henri Reverie asks for a volunteer who is celebrating a birthday, Kate volunteers Olivia. Reluctantly Olivia takes the stage and is hypnotized by Henri who makes her body go so rigid that he is able to balance her between two chair and stand on her stomach.Olivia awakes from the trance but remembers nothing of what happened on stage.

After the show, Percy Acklen, son of Judge Acklen, whom Olivia has a crush on, asks to drive her home. Against the advice of Frannie, Olivia takes him up on his offer. Percy tells her that she is beautiful and that his father believes her to be "womanhood perfected....Silent. Alluring. Submissive." Shocked  Olivia questions Percy why he suddenly has shown an interest in her, especially since her father, Dr. Mead is a dentist with a reputation for enjoying seeing his patients suffer.  Olivia's father is happy to see Percy's interest in his daughter and tells Percy he's a fan of Judge Acklen's opinion pieces in the newspaper. Percy indicates that is father will be writing a new piece about the suffragettes protesting outside courthouse about their having no right to vote in next Tuesday's presidential election. Dr. Mead expresses his horror over the protest but is quite interested when Percy tells him that Olivia was hypnotized by Henri Reverie and that she did everything he asked of her.

After Percy leaves, Dr. Mead confronts his daughter, telling her that Mr. Underhill, the owner of  one of Portland's largest shipping firms, saw her yelling with the suffragettes outside the court building. Olivia tells her father that "...I would like to vote for president when I'm older." However, her father is not supportive, stating that it was his hope that she would "grow up to be a rational, respectable, dignified young woman who understands her place in the world." As a result of her participation, Mr. Underhill is no longer a patient of Dr. Mead's. But when a picture showing Olivia hypnotized  appears in the Oregonian, her father decides to hire Henri Reverie to cure her of her rebelliousness and her "unladylike dreams" of going to school. Olivia is horrified that her father believes her "future is to become a respectable housewife and mother." He tells her that "Women belong in the home, and inside some man's home you'll stay."

Olivia has been a good student and has been attending a progressive, coeducational high school with electric lighting, a library and a laboratory. At school Frannie warns her against being with Percy saying he's a "grabber". During choral practice, Olivia receives a note from her father telling her to come to his dental office after school. Olivia arrives at her father's office only to meet Henri Reverie whom her father has hired to help her accept the world the way it is." Fearing Olivia will be like her mother who abandoned the family and who also supports the right of women to vote, Dr. Mead decides to have Olivia hypnotized.

Henri hypnotizes Olivia against her will and tells her that she will say 'All is well' instead of arguing whenever she is angry. He also tells her that "she will see the world the way it truly is. The roles of men and women will be clearer than they have ever been before. You will know whom to avoid." When she awakens Olivia is shocked at what she sees; Henri looks incredibly delightful and someone she can trust but her father looks like a red-eyed fiend. As Henri instructed, when Olivia wants to scream at her father, all she can say is "All is well."

The hypnosis leaves Olivia seeing disturbing visions of people as they truly are. For example, the women opposed to women's suffrage are seen as caged and Frannie's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, appear as perfect. Olivia flees to Frannie's home where she tells her friend what happened to her and what she's been seeing. At first Frannie believes this is because her friend has read Dracula too many times. However, Olivia tells her the disturbing visions began only after Henri's hypnotism at her home. When she returns home Olivia gives her father the answers he wants to hear so he is not suspicious that her suffragette thoughts have not be removed. In fact, Olivia is more determined than ever to work for the right to vote especially when she sees a letter in the paper, written by Judge Percival R. Acklen, who is Percy's father. Judge Acklen claims that scientific evidence supports the notion that women are not capable of higher thinking and belong in the home, and that should they become involved in politics, they will abandon their roles as wives and mothers and destroy American family life. This motivates Olivia to write a letter in response which she signs as "A Responsible Woman" and which she takes the next day to the offices of the Oregonian.

Meanwhile Olivia seeks out Henri Reverie and learns that his name is really Henry Rhodes and that his sister, fifteen year old Genevieve is sick with breast cancer.  At this time Olivia receives a birthday note from her mother who lives in New York, working as an actress. She sends Olivia a one-way ticket to the city and invites her to come stay with her. But before Olivia can leave Portland she needs to repair the damage done to her by Henri's hypnotism. Olivia wants to be free to speak her own mind and wants Henri to reverse what he did to her. She writes him a letter begging him to do this, asking him how he would feel if his sister were unable to cry out to protect herself or to protest when something harmful was being done to her.

When she meets Henri and his sister Genevieve, Henri reveals that her father has requested more hypnotism and he wants to demonstrate the ability of hypnotism in removing the desire for emancipation of women. He plans to show how Olivia becomes ill at the mention of suffragettes at a meeting of an organization opposed to women's suffragette, The Oregon Association Opposed To The Extension Of Suffrage To Women. He tells Olivia that in order to afford her treatments he needs the money her father will pay him for the second hypnotism. At this point Olivia explains how because of the hypnotism, she was unable to defend herself against the advances of Percy Acklen. Henri, now realizing the harm he has done to Olivia, promises her that he will help her. Can Olivia and Henri outwit her father, Mead the Mad, to restore Olivia's ability to make her own choices and to recover her ability to speak her own mind?

Discussion

The Cure For Dreaming is a very original treatment of the early women's suffragette movement in the United States when women were fighting for the right to vote and to participate more fully in society. It is set in 1900 Oregon, in the very middle of what was the suffragette movement that began in the mid 1870s and continued with the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which granted female citizens who were twenty-one years of age and older the right to vote in all states, in 1920. At this time a woman's place, as so eloquently expressed by the educated upperclass such as Dr. Mead and Judge Acklen, was as a wife and mother, in the home. Her speech was supposed to be saved for supporting her husband and singing sweet lullabies to her children, not out on the street protesting.

However, Olivia has dreams and she wants to express those dreams and pursue them - something her father and his generation consider to be unladylike.  In the novel, Winters uses Olivia's hypnosis supposedly to demonstrate the world as it truly is. The women opposed to emancipation are seen as ghosts in cages, shadows of who they could be - the implication being that an unemancipated woman is not fulfilling her potential as a person. In contrast, the suffragettes are seen by Olivia as women illuminated by bright lights from within - women who believe they are equal are strong and vibrant people.

This sort of caricature continues with the male characters too. Those men who are more open minded and kindly towards women are seen by Olivia as beautiful and perfect. With the exception of Henri Reverie, most of the young men are portrayed as cads. Olivia's father is somewhat of a caricature of the men during this time period - many of whom were opposed to the emancipation of women. They felt it would upset the natural order of things and that women biologically were incapable of rational thought. Dr. Mead is immediately portrayed as a rather cruel, crazy man who seemed to delight in his patient's suffering. This sets the stage for his crazy idea that he will cure his daughter of her dreams which do not match his ideal of womanhood through the use of hypnosis. He hopes this "cure" can be used to stop the suffragettes. Because of this Olivia often sees her father as a vampire, even a fiend with red eyes.

Olivia is a strong protagonist, determined to forge her own path. She wants a career but also to be married. To do that she needs to outwit her father and with the help of Henri Reverie, who Olivia's "second sight" has shown to be a sympathetic man, she is able to prevent her imagination from being stolen from her. She never wavers from her goal, which is regain control over her mind and her dreams.

Winters succeeds in engaging her reader from the very beginning with an exciting opening chapter set in a theatre on Halloween night. She enhances her story by including interesting black and white photographs throughout the novel. For example, the cover and the opening picture are of a girl prone across two chairs. There are several images of dentistry in the early 20th century which fills in details on Dr. Mead and how he would have practiced his profession during this era. There are also pictures of suffragettes and women riding bicycles (considered a step towards emancipation by the suffragettes) which gives the reader some understanding of the women who were involved in the movement at this time.

The Cure For Dreaming is historical fiction with a paranormal twist, taking a genre that sometimes has a reputation for being boring, and making it more exciting.Overall this novel is an interesting story with a cover that makes the reader want to explore the story inside.

Book Details:
The Cure For Dreaming by Cat Winters
New York: Amulet Books      2014
352 pp.

Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale

Dark Water Rising tells the fictional story of a young man and his family's struggle to survive during the Galveston hurricane of 1900, known as the Great Storm or the Galveston Flood.

Sixteen year old Seth Braeden moves with his family to Galveston, the fastest growing city in America in 1900. Seth's Uncle Nate has convinced his father, a master carpenter to move there, offering him a foreman job that would pay enough money to send all his boys to college. Seth however, doesn't want to go to college to study medicine - he wants to work as a carpenter. Although he tells his father this, his wishes are ignored and he is told he is too young to know what he wants.

So Seth along with his parents, his two younger brothers, twelve- year-old Matt and ten-year-old Lucas, and his younger sister, four-year-old Kate, move into a rental home close to the beach on Galveston Island. Seth's Uncle Nate and Aunt Julia have four boys, seventeen-year-old Ben who plans to attend medical school, eleven-year-old Andy and nine-year-old Will as well as ten month-old Elliot. Seth finds it strange to see that his uncle has a hired black man, Ezra and his son Josiah and he's not happy about how his uncle or his dad treat them.

Almost immediately Seth is offered work as a carpenter's helper building rental homes near the beach. His father agrees to let him work provided he can save three quarters of his pay towards college. Since public school doesn't open until October, this gives Seth almost a month of work. Seth begins working for foreman George Farrell and is paired with Henry Covington, another promising, young carpenter. Also working on the construction site are the three Judson brothers, Frank, Charlie and Zachary as well as Josiah. Seth decides to walk home each day with Josiah who is quiet and treats Seth like he is his master, addressing him as "sir". This troubles Seth but he when he mentions this to Josiah, he tells Seth that this is how it must be.

Seth and his family settle in quickly. His days are filled with work as a carpenter's helper and his time off is spent at the beach. At home and at the beach Seth can't help but notice a pretty blond girl next door, whom Ben tells him is Ella Rose Covington. Ella Rose is a sixteen-year-old student at the Ursuline Academy. Ella and Seth meet one day and Seth learns that Henry is Ella's cousin. They decide to meet to go swimming on the Saturday. Unknown to both, their lives will soon change forever.

On Friday evening before quitting time, Ella shows up at the work site to tell Mr. Farrell that the storm flags went up that morning. On Friday evening when Ella and Seth are walking on the beach, Ella remarks how the surf looks strange and different. Neither realizes that they are witnessing the storm surge before a powerful hurricane. On Saturday morning, Seth shows up for work but he is worried; the water in the streets is over his ankles. Soon the streets begin filling with water, the bathhouses and many other beach structure are destroyed by the monster waves. By now Seth knows that this is no ordinary storm and all their lives are in peril. He manages to return home but finds his family gone.

Discussion

Dark Water Rising is a good fictional account of The Great Storm that is heavily based on historical fact. Author Marian Hale used information from survivor accounts, particularly that of Katherine Vedder, who took in neighbours during the hurricane. In Dark Water Rising her family helps the fictional character of Seth and Josiah during the storm but also many others who were real people who experienced the hurricane. Most of the dialogue between the survivors who waited out the storm in her house is real.

Hale effectively portrays the devastation and death afterwards, through the eyes of Seth, who struggles to deal with what he has experienced. After the storm, the devastation is so complete that Seth and Josiah are unable to free those who are trapped in the rubble. Dark Water Rising is a reminder of the terrible force of nature and that powerful storms were likely experienced by both the early settlers to North America as well as by the indigenous peoples of the continent - with much less warning and a lack of understanding of their potential to cause a significant loss of life. This latter aspect is driven home by the descriptions of people simply continuing going about their business in Galveston without really observing what was happening around them. The wooden houses covered with their deadly slate roofs were no match for the hurricane-force winds and the slate and glass became deadly missiles that decapitated and injured.

Hale includes a lengthy Author's Note at the back of the novel that includes pictures and plenty of facts about the storm. What would have been very helpful was the inclusion of a map at the beginning of the novel showing the location of the city and the physical features and neighbourhoods. Hale does state that she "had to map the entire city, block by block, and key it to names and personal accounts" so as to choose a location to portray the devastation resulting from the storm. Overall, Dark Water Rising is a fascinating historical read.

The city of Galveston is built on a low-lying island in the Gulf of Mexico and at the time of the hurricane the highest point of the city was only a little over 8 feet about sea level. The hurricane made landfall on September 8, 1900 and meteorologists reviewing the data available consider that it was a Category 4 storm. The city did receive some warning regarding a tropical storm, but not of this magnitude. They were unprepared and unconcerned. Afterwards, Galveston was in complete ruins and over eight thousand people lost their lives. Many people drowned or were killed by the deadly debris which was blown around. Others survived the storm but could not be freed from the rubble of collapsed buildings. The Galveston storm is still considered the deadliest storm to have hit the United States.

For further information on the 1900 Storm check out The 1900 Storm- Galveston, Texas at https://www.1900storm.com/

The Portal to Texas History  has an online copy of a book, The Great Galveston Disaster by Paul Lester which was published in 1900. It makes for very interesting reading.
Lester, Paul. The great Galveston disaster, containing a full and thrilling account of the most appalling calamity of modern times including vivid descriptions of the hurricane, Book, ca. 1900; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth26719/ : accessed January 12, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.

Book Details:
Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale
New York: Henry Holt and Company    2006
233 pp.