Module 9: Horror: Horrorstor

Photo taken by me

Hendrix, G. (2014). Horrorstör. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books. 978-1-59474-526-4

Summary 

Amy works at Orsk, the cheaper version of Ikea. She is an average employee with an average Millennial life: mountains of debt, nagging roommates, and a boring and repetitive retail job. When her boss Basil asks her to pick up an extra shift, she jumps at the opportunity to make a little extra cash, even though the hours are overnight. When the store is closed. With only the annoying Basil and Miss Perfect Ruth Anne. To investigate some creepy things that have been happening (i.e. really smelly poop found on a sofa at opening).

During their first sweep of the showroom, Amy and Ruth Anne come across two other coworkers, Matt and Trinity, who stayed behind after closing to film ghosts in order to get an A&E-like ghost hunters show contract. They also happen to find Carl, a homeless man who has been camping out at Orsk at night so as to avoid shelters. During a séance, Carl’s body is possess by Josiah Worth, a warden of a jail during the 1830’s that was located on the same plot as this Orsk building. Josiah employed some rather inhumane “cures” for his inmates, believing that hard and repetitive work would cure them of their ailments. These ghostly inmates capture Amy, Basil, Matt, Ruth Anne, and Trinity at various points, submit them to refitted Orsk/repetitive work/torture devices, and brainwashes them.

Amy and Basil eventually escape, Ruth Anne dies, Carl dies within moments of Josiah occupying his body, and Matt and Trinity are lost to the “Beehive”, the repetitive work-torture chamber that is this plot of land and is under the jurisdiction of Josiah/Carl.

As a Genre Example

Horrorstör is a humorous horror story due to Amy’s cynical commentary, the fact that it’s a book formatted like a furniture store catalog, and that it is poking fun at Ikea. There is a monster that is a paranormal/supernatural creature, a ghost and his “army” of ghost inmates, which puts it in the Supernatural subgenre from the Module notes. There is no strong language or explicit sex. In fact, because of its lightness, I’d recommend this to teens who are looking for a horror story or are interested in breaking into the genre. The vague ending is present: with the Baby Planet store replacing Orsk and Amy and Basil united in finding Trinity and Matt somewhere within the Beehive, there is a feeling of a potential sequel. Readers get a bit of an understanding behind why Josiah is subjecting Amy and the Orsk crew to torturous tasks, but there is no insight into why Josiah is the way he is that would be present in a Thriller. The pacing of Horrorstör is pretty quick; I read it in two sittings.

Evaluation

I don’t think all readers would experience fear reading Horrorstör, but I did. I am the biggest wimp in regards to horror and gore, and this had some of both. When Carl slits his own throat with a pair of handcuffs and rips out his trachea, I threw the book down on my bed. When that sort of stuff happens on a screen, I can just cover my eyes, but with a book, I have to pick it back up and keep reading. As such, I didn’t enjoy the book. It wasn’t awful and mind-numbingly boring like Lakota was, but I don’t plan on reading it again. I would recommend it to fans of light horror and teens, like explained above. I liked the characters of Amy and Basil because Hendrix developed them into round and dynamic characters. This is especially important because as Amy changes her perception of Basil, so does the reader. I definitely “shipped” them before the end of the story. I really think Amy would relish being a positive role model for Basil’s little sister. And I think Basil and Amy would balance out each other’s extremities personality-wise.

Reader's Advisory

Like I mention above, I would recommend Horrorstör to teens who are looking to break into the horror genre. As for adults, those who want something light and quick to read but also like to freaked out would enjoy Horrorstör.

Module 8: Historical Fiction: The Forgotten Room

White, K., Williams, B., & Willig, L. (2016). The forgotten room. New York City: New American 

Photo taken by me.

Library. 978-0-451-47462-9

Summary:

Three generations of women across the time periods are brought together by one Gilded Age mansion in NYC: Dr. Kate Schuyler during World War II; Lucy Young, a secretary during the Jazz Age; and Olive Van Alen, a maid during the Gilded Age.

Olive moves in to the Pratt Mansion in 1892 to work as a maid in the house that her father, an architect, designed. There, she meets and falls in love with Harry Pratt, a hobbyist painter. He is taken by her singular beauty and paints her in his studio, a little attic room at the top of the Pratt Mansion. He even paints her Kate-and-Leo style: nude with only a ruby necklace. Because of the difference in their stations, their two-week romance is illicit. Why, though, if their love was based on such a special connection, did Olive steal away in the dawn light of New Year’s Day?

Lucy Young, the daughter of Olive and Hans Jungmann (yes, that Olive), moves into the Pratt Mansion that has been remodeled as a boarding home for respectable young, working ladies and renamed Stornaway House. Lucy makes the change in residence because she has gotten a new job as the secretary of a law firm where Philip Schuyler, the stepson of Prunella, Harry Pratt’s sister, works, who takes care of the Pratt trust. Lucy has some questions that her grandmother bared to her at her father’s funeral: is Hans really her father? Who was this “Harry” that Olive whispers on her deathbed? And from where did this ruby necklace originate that Olive shoved into Lucy’s hands on said deathbed? But Lucy gets swirled up in two romances: with her boss Philip Schuyler and the client John Ravenel, who owns an art gallery in South Carolina and is in NYC at Philip’s law firm asking his own questions. Together, John and Lucy find a secret stash of letters in the forgotten room of Stornaway House.

Kate Schuyler, the daughter of Lucy and Philip (yes, that Lucy and that Philip) works in Stornaway Hospital, formerly the Pratt Mansion, that has now been outfitted as a hospital for soldiers returned from Europe. One night, a man --Captain Cooper Ravenel-- comes in with a horrendous leg wound. He begs Kate to not amputate it. Kate relents and, taken by his plea, offers the room she’s been living in at the very top of Stornaway Hospital as every other bed is taken. Kate nurses him back to health and works to keep her feelings for him at bay, but they can’t deny the connection --or their curiosity as they discover paintings that seem to be of the same style as Cooper’s grandfather, Augustus Ravenel. Why are Augustus Ravenel’s paintings here in a forgotten room in NYC when he’s only lived in South Carolina and Cuba as far as Cooper knows? Why does Kate have the same ruby necklace that the woman in the painting wears that was passed from Cooper’s grandfather to his father to Cooper? Will Kate and Cooper make the same mistakes their grandparents and their parents did in denying their love for one another?

As a Genre Example:

According to the definition in Saricks textbook, The Forgotten Room is a Historical Fiction novel because it takes place in a time period before the authors’ lives. There is decent world building for each time period: WWII, Jazz Age, and the Gilded Age. The mood is more pleasant than threatening or gritty, so more indicative of Romance than Mystery thanks to witty banter and smart dialogue. Kate’s storyline is directly tied to WWII while Lucy and Olive’s stories are less reliant on the specifics of the Jazz Age and Gilded Age. Readers don’t meet any real people in the story, but the Pratt Mansion is based on a real house on East 69^th Street in NYC (Lamb, 2016). The pacing is definitely unhurried. I didn’t notice that so much the first time I read The Forgotten Room, but this time I did since I could remember some of what unfolds.

Evaluation:

Photo taken by me.

Lauren Willig is one of my favorite authors, so when I saw The Forgotten Room, I knew I had to read it! I enjoyed the blending of mystery, romance, and historical fiction very much. Additionally, I had a fun time mapping (see to the right) out the different clues as the reader is introduced to them. Like Willig’s other novels, there is witty banter, smart characters, intrigue, and romance. This was my second time reading, and I’ve enjoyed recommending it to people since I first read it about a year ago. Since then, it won a Lariat Award, so it’s an often-recommended book at my library right now.

Reader's Advisory:

The Forgotten Room is a great combination of Romance, Mystery, and Historical Fiction, so readers of those genres will like it, as well fans of Family Sagas and Women’s Lives since it features three women of different generations and how they are all connected. And because it is a collaborative novel by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig, it is an obvious read-alike for fans of any of the authors. In fact, there are quite a few allusions to a family from Beatriz Williams’s Family Saga centered on the Schuylers.

Resources

Lamb, J. (2016, January 19). A conversation with ‘The Forgotten Room’ authors Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig. Retrieved from http://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2016/01/19/karen-white-beatriz-williams-lauren-willig-forgotten-room/

Module 7: Romance: The Rogue Not Taken

MacLean, S. (2015). The rogue not taken. New York City, NY: Avon Books. 978-0-06-237941-2. 

Amazon. (2017). The rogue not
taken. Retrieved from https://
images-na.ssl-images-amazon.
com/images/I/51Gh-k5pgUL.jpg

Summary:

Sophie and her four older sisters are like the Kardashians of Regency England-- or at least her sisters are. That is until Sophie, in the surprise of catching her brother-in-law in the bushes as a garden party with a blonde who was most definitely not her sister, pushes him into a goldfish pond and calls him a “whore” in front of the ton. In complete embarrassment and shame at how the aristocrats completely shun her, Sophie tries to make an escape home with Kingscote “King”, the Marchioness of Eversley and future Duke of Lyne’s carriage, the rake of society who likes to ruins engagements by tangling in the sheets with the young ladies. He denies her plea, so she stows away as his footman. Of course, at the inn the truth comes out: he is not headed to London and she is not Matthew the footman. Banter, stolen carriage wheels, bullet wounds in the shoulder, lost love thanks to carriage accidents, mistrusting fathers, scandalized sisters, and falling in love ensue before Sophie and King get their happily every after.

As a Genre Example:

Like the Saricks text defines and the module notes reiterates, The Rogue Not Taken is a Romance because the love story is the central focus and the two protagonists get a happily ever after. Additionally, the pace is fast, the tone is evocative and emotional, I participated in vicarious emotions, the point of view switches between the male and female leads (although it was first person instead of third person), there is a misunderstanding thanks to lack of communication between Sophie and King, and there is a lot of banter and dialogue rather than emotions. This story would be considered more racy than gentle, but R rated instead of X rated. Like many other Romance novels, it takes place during the extended Regency time period (1830’s) and is a crossover with historical fiction.

Evaluation:

I enjoyed The Rogue Not Taken for the romp it is. No one reads romances to think deeply about the human condition or culture, but to escape, and MacLean has provided a good story of diversion. Sophie is the typical Romance heroine (from my somewhat limited experience of Romances): she thinks herself plain, unspecial, and incapable of being adored/beloved/worshipped by a man. King is like many Romance leads: brooding, has a past where he was wronged in the name of love, but overcomes it to realize Sophie’s love has healed him of that. The banter between Sophie and King, though, make it fun and enjoyable for the reader. I especially enjoyed how often Sophie had to dress like a footman or stableman, yet keep her silk slippers because the boots don’t fit her. Of course, King is the only one who truly recognizes her as a woman despite the disguise. I did not like MacLean’s sickeningly alliterative chapter titles (i.e. “Sleeping Beauty Wakes; No Nuzzling Necessary” and “Rogue’s Reign of Ravishment Resurges”). However, in the Author’s Note at the end, MacLean explains that today’s tabloids inspired her to write this story, so the chapter titles are like magazine headlines... there to catch the eye and make the audience want to read. Instead, they made my eyes roll. I would recommend The Rogue Not Taken to other fans of romance. I would definitely give it an R rating for language and sexy details, so for those who don’t want that sordidness, they should avoid Sarah MacLean’s books.

Reader's Advisory:

Fans of Romance will definitely like The Rogue Not Taken as it covers many of the typical genre characteristics. Those who like historical fiction --and don’t mind the sexy times-- might like this foray into the Romance genre, as well. However, the emphasis is more on the relationship than on historical details and/or setting.

Module 6: Multicultural: The Underground Railroad

Photo taken by me.

Whitehead, C. (2016). The underground railroad. New York: Doubleday. 978-0-385-54236-4. 

Summary:

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in deep south Georgia. That Randall Plantation is all she’s ever known. But when her master dies and his horribly racist and violent younger brother takes control, Cora agrees to accompany Cesar, a fellow slave who grew up in Virginia before being bought by the Randalls, in escaping slavery. They successfully navigate through the swamps and make it to the first depot of the literal underground railroad, but not without hardship: Cora dealt a fatal blow to a 12 year old who came upon them, and she is now wanted for murder. In addition, Ridgeway, the slave catcher infamous for his brutality, is on their trail.

Cora and Cesar’s first layover is in South Carolina, where things seem so much better. The underground railroad conductor has given them false papers, so that they can live amongst the other people of color in the community: in boarding houses, working in different capacities, “owned” by the United States government. They are given an education, jobs with wages, health care, and freedom to relax at the end of the day. But, there is underhandedness afoot: the “birth control” and “blood diseases” are sterilization and a study on the advancement of communicable diseases. Cora barely escapes a fire that is set to the railroad station’s cover-house and is a hitchhiker picked up by a maintenance engine who must drop her at a disused station in North Carolina.

In North Carolina, Cora is secreted away in a hidden cache above an attic. The conductor at the discontinued station, Martin, is very afraid because North Carolina has recently outlawed African-Americans; if identified as sympathizer, he could be strung up in the gallows in the town park that his front porch faces. Cora hides in North Carolina all summer until she is discovered  during a raid led by Ridgeway, who takes her away in chains.

Ridgeway and his cronies Homer and Boseman and Cora are intercepted in Tennessee by a posse of underground railroad workers: Royal, Red, and Justin. Red kills Boseman and help Cora escape to Indiana, where Cora lives on Valentine’s farm, a safe haven for 100+ African-Americans who live together commune-like. During her time at Valentine’s, Cora and Royal grow close, and Royal shows Cora an abandoned railroad station. Unlike the other stations, it is small, and only fits a hand-pump cart instead of locomotive. But safety eludes Cora again: Valentine’s farm is raided, and Cora is again captured by Ridgeway and Homer. They force her to show her the station, and as they descend the stairs, Cora wraps her chains around Ridgeway’s neck and they fall, causing a compound fracture in Ridgeway’s leg and the rest of his mental faculties to evaporate. Cora is able to escape on the hand-pump cart until she comes to the entrance of the tunnel. There, she finds three wagons headed for St. Louis and the mighty West. She joins the final wagon’s driver, an older African-American man.

As a Genre Example:

The Underground Railroad is multicultural literature because it is fiction about a minority culture, African-American, by an African-American man. As a book centered around a runaway slave, the reader is subjected to the horrors slave and free African-Americans lived through during the 19^th century.

Evaluation:

I enjoyed the first half of The Underground Railroad more so than the second half; I give it three out of five stars. Whitehead’s diction and story-weaving are incredible, but there are two main disruptors that hurt my enjoyment of it. First was the fact that there are some “asides” of, on average, five pages long that introduce a character that either has nothing to do with the story --such as the medical student who is a grave snatcher at night to help pay his tuition-- or gives unnecessary background about a minor character, such as Ridgeway’s childhood. The second aspect of the book that I didn’t like is how it jumps around chronologically. This is particularly noticeable in the Indiana and North “chapters” when the tense of the story changes to past. What is the significance of this? I’m sure there is one that English majors will be writing papers on in the decades to come, but for me (and I was an English major in undergrad), it was a distraction from the story. I was invested in Cora, and I wanted to hear about it from her point of view, not from the point of view of “those who survived” and how they told the tale to their grandchildren. A final point that detracted from my enjoyment was the Whitehead didn’t include a historical or author’s note at the end that tells what is true and what is fiction. Obviously that the Underground Railroad was an actual railroad is fiction, but what about the “help” and sterilization programs in South Carolina? It sounds a lot like what happened at Tuskegee, but was it just inspired by that or was it actually like that? Were there safe-haven communities for African-Americans in Indiana? I know that Zora Neale Hurston based the town in Their Eyes Were Watching God on the town she grew up in in Florida, which happened to be an all African-American community, but were there others like that? Especially back in the 18-teens?

I liked Cora a lot. She was extremely human: she had her faults and her good qualities. She was disturbed by the accidental deathblow she dealt, but worked through that and proved her worth as a dynamic character.

The Underground Railroad will not be the first book I recommend to patrons, but I wouldn’t not recommend it. If they are looking for something that fits this story (i.e. multicultural, historical fiction, strong African-American protagonist who escapes slavery), then I would recommend it to them.

Reader's Advisory:

Fans of historical fiction and literary fiction would enjoy The Underground Railroad. It won the National Book Award in 2016, so readers who like to keep up-to-date with award winning literature will read it.