Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: 1950s

  • STIFF HEARTS by Jo Deniau – Historical Fiction, 1950s, Family & Social Issues

     

    Blue and Gold Somerset First Place Winner Badge for Best in CategoryStiff Hearts by Jo Deniau follows the journey of a youthful soul, Gillian Jeanne Rysert, as she tries to live with openness and connection despite the abuse she suffered from her mother.

    As Gillian stood at the front of her patio, she couldn’t help but wonder whether her mum, Hannah, truly valued her, after going through utmost scorn and hatred. As readers will learn, Hannah could not deliver such love as she had not grown up with it either. Instead, Hannah had chosen to maintain a routine of reminding Gillian of her lamentable birth, without regard for how deep the sentiments would slash her daughter’s spirit.

    Brutality had rocked Hannah’s family and, in turn, Gillian learned early not to oppose Hannah’s remarks under threat of a brisk slap. The two women lacked a mother’s adoration and, so deprived, had hardened their own hearts.

    But hope and excitement would radiantly shimmer on Gillian months later, as she secured herself a job and an apartment in Greenwich Village.

    This unprecedented change delivered much-needed independence and serenity. She began to nurture a sense of self-worth as she found herself at the center of attention in her workplace, away from her heartbreaking past and draconian mother. However, memories still plagued her, including her sister’s and father’s untimely demise, along with her own narrowly-evaded childhood death. These traumas stall her personal transformation and make her question whether she had any chance of ever opening her stiffened heart to love.

    This story will fill myriad readers with empathy, adoration, and understanding, as Gillian’s struggles relate to the social conflicts of the modern day.

    Gillian’s reckoning with her traumatic past shows the hope of awakening to a brighter tomorrow. Stiff Hearts is a tale of resilience in the face of fear, and the courage to leap into new opportunities even if one might falter. All the characters are well-hewn, creating a rich and complex narrative with important lessons to teach.

    As Jo Deniau discloses, being on the receiving end of cruel and unrelenting criticism, especially when it comes from a parent, weighs heavy on the heart.

    Gillian’s story sheds light on the damage of this kind of criticism. It skillfully presses the importance of decent and ethical parenting, to create a haven for children. Deniau is an author whose concept of life is exceptionally alluring, and whose strong convictions and regard for current subjects weave throughout her writing.

    Stiff Hearts by Jo Deniau won First Place in the 2022 CIBA Somerset Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.

     

    Somerset Awards Chanticleer International Book Awards 1st Place Winner

    5 Star Best Book Chanticleer Reviews round silver sticker

  • An Editorial Review of “Candles in the Window” by Karl G. Larew

    An Editorial Review of “Candles in the Window” by Karl G. Larew

    Candles in the Window, by Karl G. Larew, follows a group of college students as they make their way through a year of school at the University of Connecticut in the 1950s. The military draft was in full swing, young women were pursuing college degrees in more than negligible numbers,  wives still had to have their husbands sign contracts for them, and homosexuality was considered a heinous crime.

    Candles in the Window is brilliantly told in a non-traditional manner rather like the storyline of the Mad Men TV series. (Keep in mind that Mad Men script was first aired in 2007 while Candles in the Window was originally published in 1999.) There is no typical plot line of rising action, climax, and quick resolution. Rather, the story takes place over the course of one academic school year at the University of Connecticut (or UCONN as it is called throughout the novel).

    This work chronicles what happens to a group of students who attend school there. The focus of the narrative is shifted regularly between eight to ten characters. The author makes the characters come alive with spot-on dialogue and pieces of reality from this era when society’s social norms are about to experience a great upheaval.

    There is one character who serves as the axis for the story, and that is the alluring character of “Silky” (aka Susan Schreiber). However, no one really seems to know her or her whole story, in fact, no one even seems to be able to agree on what her first name is. Nevertheless, she’s beloved by everyone despite, or perhaps because of, the mystery surrounding her.  Her story comes through in bits and pieces.

    When tragedy strikes part way through the school year, the students must learn to cope and several of them find they need to reevaluate what they hold dear along with how they define relationships and love. The conversations between them often wax philosophical, as conversations between college students are wont to do.

    Readers should be aware that the novel’s prologue sets the stage and framework for the story. We get the opportunity to see Silky through the different perspectives of the other characters as the story progresses.  Be advised by this reviewer to read Candles in the Window’s epilogue for a more satisfying conclusion and for tying up most of the threads.  Again, if you are a fan of Mad Men, (which I am) and how its characters grapple with rapidly changing realities and social norms, then Candles in the Window comes highly recommended.

    The novel cleverly documents the contradictory and conservative morals of the 1950s.  Readers will experience a world where female college students have curfews and male students don’t, unmarried individuals are expected to know nothing about sex, and religious tension is often swept under the rug. This novel intelligently and authentically explores the true nature of humans against the standard of this era’s “traditional family values” that come on the heels of the two great wars.

    Candles in the Window by Karl G. Larew is a captivating and intriguing account of young people who find themselves increasingly at odds with the dictates and mores of “The Greatest Generation” as they contend with new advents just on the horizon: civil rights, war protests, equal rights, and the sexual revolution.