Digging Deep, by Boyd Lemon, Reviewed.

Subtitled, ‘A Writer Uncovers His Marriages’, this piece of autobiography is a fascinating and compelling insight into the mind and spirit of an American writer.

A reader from outside the sometimes insular and self-congratulatory arena of the USA, I found this memoir accessible, moving, entertaining and surprisingly informative about more than just the author and his wives. The reader is taken deep into the lives of the subjects. All are flawed and most reflect the human condition that prevents us from learning by our own mistakes, let alone those of others. The repeated patterns of ill-advised behaviour echo the lives of so many.

That the author was the instrument of his own downfall is the superficial judgment that first surfaces. But, as he digs deeper and reveals more of his early life, it becomes apparent that he, and almost certainly his wives, suffered from the consequences of inadequate parenting. The account recalled to mind an excellent book on that topic: everyone should read ‘They F**k You Up’, but that’s a different review.

Boyd Lemon is frank, courageous and surprisingly honest about his relationships with women, treating his wives and girlfriends with the unconscious disdain engendered by the values and traditions of the far right. He loathes his job, but is too much in love with the money and what it can buy to break out of the cycle that traps him in unhappiness. Living the American Dream, he is initially blind to the true consequences of an existence led in pursuit of material benefits intended to impress his peers. Does he finally discover the reality? You’ll need to read the book to find out.

There is intimate detail here; the emotional, physical, spiritual and philosophical threads that are woven into his life are untwined and laid before the reader to inspect and examine. I suspect the act of writing this autobiography has been deeply cathartic for him. As a reader, I felt involved, intrigued, irritated, exasperated, excited, hopeful and joyful by turns. This is a ride that takes you high and low and hides none of the ugly details, whilst showing you the delights and wonders life can bring.

I’ve had the book on my Kindle for a while and finally got around to reading it as it popped up next on the list. Although unable to read it all in one go, I was driven to return to it whenever an opportunity presented itself. Anyone interested in the lives of others, curious about writers, involved in a difficult relationship, unsure of their place in the world of work, or simply intrigued by what drives individuals to make the choices they make, will enjoy this book. I recommend it without reservation.

Related articles

• Author Interview with Boyd Lemon:

The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris, Reviewed.

Everybody has, of course, heard of this modern crime classic. Many people have seen the film. I’m not one of them. Intrigued by the many references to the book, when I stumbled upon it in the charity bin of a local Co-op, I made my donation and brought a copy home.

At last, I’ve got around to actually reading it, and I’m glad I have.

For me, fiction is made real and compulsive by the quality of its characters. I mean by that not the natures of the people themselves but the depth and detail gifted them by the author. The story is important, of course, but I find I’m unable to enter a fictional world if I don’t care about at least one of the primary characters. There was no such difficulty with this book. Crawford is easy to empathise with, in spite of his hard-nosed sheath of self-protective toughness. Dr Lecter is, of course, become the archetypal sociopath; a man more concerned with demonstrating and playing with his intellect than he is with any emotional connection. He is the epitome of the unfeeling genius. And in Starling we have the caring, clever, resourceful, courageous, insightful and strong young woman we can all so easily love. Chilton, of course, is the selfish, cunning and sly man who everyone can as easily hate. And the antagonist, who I won’t name for those few who have yet to come across this excellent work, is a superbly drawn piece of human detritus mostly formed from his history but choosing the path upon which he has set out destructively and without concern for any but himself. The woman we encounter as his final victim is anything but a stereotype, displaying courage, resourcefulness and a strength of character that has the reader desperately urging the authorities to get to her before it’s too late.

Clarice Starling (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I had no idea what the story was really about and was surprised to find it dealt with the hunt for a serial killer in quite the way it does. I’d more or less expected to find a police procedural with little reference to emotion or justice. That the book transcends its genre is clear almost from the first page. I confess to some irritation with the US crime fighters’ jargon that peppers some pages and leaves a UK reader, unfamiliar with police procedures, somewhat confused. But the fact that such a stumbling block never even came close to stopping me read is testament to the power of the story and the characters who drive it.

The denouement is expertly handled. Indeed, I deliberately put off finishing the book at night for fear of having nightmares if I went to sleep on the ending. Read in my lunch hour, the final chapters were no less powerful, the ending no less satisfying than that late night read may have rendered them. The book finishes in the only way it can. A satisfactory conclusion to a tale of pace, incident and superbly engineered personal interrelationships.

I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. Should I now watch the film? Will I be disappointed? I don’t know. But the book is definitely worth the read and I can thoroughly recommend it.

The American Election: a View From Over the Pond.

IN MY VIEW

Why should I care what happens in the USA Presidential election? It’s a sad fact of life that the USA has a hugely inflated influence in the world. US foreign policy impacts far more deeply, far more widely than the nation deserves, with its inward obsession. And that’s the problem: US policies, regarding the world as a whole, are entirely based on what’s best for the US, rather than what’s best for the world.

Obama at least has an awareness and an interest in what happens beyond the shores of his own continent. I fear not only for the women and the poor of America, but for the world as a whole if Romney succeeds in gaining the post of the most powerful man in the world.

Where Obama displays concern for the poor and disadvantaged, and tries his best, against strong opposition from the right, to do what he can for them, Romney has shown himself indifferent or even worse in his attitude to society’s victims. The wealthy have stripped the poor of their resources and rights for centuries and Romney belongs to that class of people who hold the view that the poor deserve to be poor. He has no conception of the realities of life for those without personal wealth. His attitude to women is appalling: his many statements demonstrate that he has no interest in the views of women and simply wants them to remain silent and under the control of men. This cowardly stance is fed, of course, by his religious background, which, in common with the backward paternalistic culture of many third world countries, considers women as second class citizens or, worse, as no more than goods and chattels. It staggers me that any woman could even consider voting for this man who appears to reside in a Hollywood version of the stone age, where men are depicted as superior beings and women are no more than decorative slaves expected to pander to male whims and fancies. Of course, it’s probable that such women have been brain-washed, often via extreme forms of religion, into not only accepting their subservient role but into evangelising this Neanderthal philosophy.

I hope, without any expectation of satisfaction, that the women and the poor of America will rise up and demand their rights by voting for Obama, kicking the right wing in the teeth for their lack of compassion and their inhumanity regarding all underdogs. There are just two days to go before the momentous decision is made. I appeal to all women, disadvantaged citizens, and right-thinking folk of the wonderful land of America to go out and vote for President Obama. The rest of the world will applaud you if you do. If you wonder how I know this, follow this link.

Featured Author, Linda Swift.

Linda Swift is currently contracted with seven digital publishers and has eight ebooks available, seven also in print. Two additional books, two short stories and a collection of Haiku are scheduled for release later this year. Linda writes both contemporary and historical fiction. Another historical, set in 1573 England involving Mary Queen of Scots is among her releases this year followed by its sequel in 2012.

Hello, Stuart. Thank you so much for inviting me back to tell you and your readers about my recently released historical. I have often heard the expression "the book of my heart." And THIS TIME FOREVER fits that description for me. I have been fascinated with the Civil War since I first read Margaret Mitchell's book and saw the movie of Gone With The Wind. Later, I avidly watched the TV mini-series North and South. And I think I knew even then that someday I would have to write my own story about the Civil War. You can well imagine my joy when the first review by Manic Readers (rated five stars) said:

"This Time Forever is a sweeping tale of two extended families as they endure the horrors of the American Civil War…I was reminded both of Gone With the Wind, and the TV saga of North and South. Both sides, thinking the war would be short and convinced of the rightness of their respective causes, continue for some time to have balls, parties, and generally live life as if there was no war, but a mere diversion in their neat little lives…It doesn’t take long before sense and sensibility are violated on both sides as the war encroaches on their lands, plantations, houses, money and food supplies…It is easy to ‘see’ the scenes described, from ballroom to battlefield, and to truly understand how this war, pitting families against each other, is a psychological challenge many cannot put behind them."

I think this is the most tragic period in the existence of the United States of America. Families were divided, with brothers fighting and killing brothers. The outcome changed the way of life in the South forever and its repercussions are still being felt even today.I do not pretend to be a scholar of history. However, I did research the facts in this book and I believe the times and events to be accurate but some Civil War buff will no doubt prove me wrong!

This historical has a history of its own. I began the story fifteen years ago and my agent sent a synopsis and first five chapters to a Harlequin editor. I met the editor at a national writers' conference and she asked me to send the complete manuscript. I was elated, but there was one small problem. I didn't have a complete manuscript, only the chapters already sent, however I promised to send it right away. I went home and began a marathon writing project. I work better under pressure but this was beyond my comfort level. I had not yet developed the habit of doing research online and I had thirteen books of Civil War history spread out on the bed in my office which also serves as the guest room. I would write furiously, come to a place where I needed information, search the books until I found it, and resume the story. In two weeks I completed seventeen chapters and sent them in. The editor wanted the story but lost the battle with superiors because the story was more mainstream than romance. She asked me to send it to another imprint and they kept it almost two years, finally rejecting it because I wasn't a "name" author which would guarantee sales.

My agent continued to send it out with various responses, most of which reflected the fact that Civil War books were not selling well. At one editor's suggestion, I cut the first seven chapters to have the H&H meet in Chapter One. It was finally accepted by an ebook publisher in 2006, who vanished overnight before I could sign a contract. I changed the name of the book three times, the last time when I submitted it to the publisher who accepted it with all the chapters intact.

As fate would have it, THIS TIME FOREVER, is being published in the first of four years commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. So I feel its time has come. There is currently a plethora of C.W. books, both new and reprints, on the market. It seems ironical that this story about the American Civil War is being published by a Canadian publisher. And I doubt that anyone outside the United States truly appreciates the deep emotions this war still elicits, especially for Southerners. (As an aside, an English publisher released Cold Mountain, another C.W. story).

  The 4th of July was a very special holiday for me, this year, as my Civil War saga, THIS TIME FOREVER, was due for release by Champagne Books. Its publication coincides with the four year commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial and although I didn't plan it this way the timing is perfect. And isn't it ironical that a story of such significance to Americans is being published by a Canadian publisher? The ebook is available now from the publisher for $5.99 at http://www.champagnebooks.com/shop/index.php and at Amazon. The print book is released in August.

  Instead of telling you about the story, I want to share part of the book's first review. If you only read one new book about the Civil War this year, I hope you will read this one. It will take you behind the battles into the hearts of both Yankees and Rebels as they live and die for the cause they believe in.

 MR Review
Rating: 
Reviewer: Alberta
Review:

This Time Forever is a sweeping tale of two extended families as they endure the horrors of the American Civil War. The primary characters are Philip, a newly minted surgeon who is enmeshed in the war as an idealistic young man, and Clarissa, an expectant mother in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They meet under extenuating circumstances as Philip is captured by the Rebel forces and made to act as a medic to southern forces for much of the war. He ends up with Clarissa as a medical assistant. He has left a fiancée in Oswego, New York and her husband is away acting as a courier for the Rebel side.

I was reminded both of Gone With the Wind, and the TV saga of North and South. Both sides, thinking the war would be short and convinced of the rightness of their respective causes, continue for some time to have balls, parties, and generally live life as if there was no war, but a mere diversion in their neat little lives.

The secondary characters are just as well-developed and fascinating as Philip and Clarissa. They move from feelings of patriotism to despair as the war causes more and more upheaval in all their lives. The order of things has turned upside down, and that which might have been unthinkable for ladies and gentlemen in the recent past, now becomes the norm as fighting rages on, leaders are questioned, and death becomes very personal for all the families.

It is easy to ‘see’ the scenes described, from ballroom to battlefield, and to truly understand how this war, pitting families against each other, is a psychological challenge many cannot put behind them.

THIS TIME FOREVER is available from: http://www.champagnebooks.com  and

 www.Amazon.com

Or you may find out more about it from my website at www.lindaswift.net