📰🗞️🍲 Chronicles of a Radical Hag (With Recipes) 🍲🗞️📰 (2019) - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
(March 26, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1517905990
ISBN-13: 978-1517905996
“The
curmudgeon who wrote the column “Ramblin’s by Walt” in the Granite Creek Gazette dismissed
his successor as “puking on paper.” But when Haze Evans first appeared in the
small-town newspaper, she earned fans by writing a story about her bachelor
uncle who brought a Queen of the Rodeo to Thanksgiving dinner. Now, fifty years
later, when the beloved columnist suffers a massive stroke and falls into a
coma, publisher Susan McGrath fills the void (temporarily, she hopes) with
Haze’s past columns, along with the occasional reprinted responses from
readers.
Framed by news stories of half a century and annotated with the town’s chorus of voices, Haze’s story unfolds, as do those of others touched by the Granite Creek Gazette, including Susan, struggling with her troubled marriage, and her teenage son Sam, who—much to his surprise—enjoys his summer job reading the paper archives and discovers secrets that have been locked in the files for decades, along with sad and surprising truths about Haze’s past.”
First off thank you to Bookish First for choosing me as a winner of this book, as well as University of Minnesota Press for sending it to me. A positive review was not requested or required. All words are my own.
Very seldom do I win things, and sometimes a prize isn’t the prize it should be. Or it is the prize it was promised to be, but it is a disappointing prize. So goes this novel …
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| [The book that sounded a lot better than it read - does contain recipes though] |
This book, from the first impression I was allowed to read, looked interesting. Haze Evans is in her 80’s and has been a columnist for the past 50 years with the newspaper. She suffers a stroke and Susan (the publisher and a single mom struggling with her marriage) comes up with the idea to re-publish some of Haze’s work (some with “goodwill” recipes), hoping it will only be temporary until Haze recovers and can come back. The idea turns out to be a success.
In her day, Haze had some “trolls”, once such man deemed her liberal ideas as the “chronicles of a radical hag”, thus giving the book its title. It also becomes a running joke halfway through the book and on to the end when Haze’s fate is revealed.
Susan’s 14 year old son Sam is tasked with going through the articles, which he actually comes to enjoy. But, while reading the articles, parts of Haze’s secret past come to the surface – and part of that past has a connection to Susan.
Along the way, and once again with Haze’s wisdom – those in the town of Granite Greek start learning more about her and themselves.
While this novel held some promise – it went downhill fast for me before I was halfway into the novel. The writing was also disjointed – it was hard to place where/when I was in the story and how it related. I also felt there were far too many characters to keep up with and what their purpose/connection to the story or Haze was.
Another thing that slightly distracted me was the grammar. The story was told in third person as there was no one narrating it, but the verbs and descriptions were in first person (narrator-type).
Examples: “And, he is, holding under his arm a wooden box, which he sets on the iron-mesh patio tabletop” and “In downward dog, Susan’s view of Olivia Shelby is framed by her slightly bent knees”. That was another issue while reading. Who was the actual narrator of the story? Who was telling the story?
The BIGGEST issue was the not-so-subtle inclusion of “POLITICS” along with hot, divisive issues.
I get that politics are a way of life and for newspaper columnists I’m sure that is double. As one reviewer stated on another site – it’s like the writer infused her thoughts and political views as Haze and there was no attempt to disguise her views or her feelings.
Speaking honestly – I felt this novel was more of a one-sided, politically driven essay disguising itself as a non-fiction story. I would’ve liked that aspect revealed immediately or a warning somewhere in the novel’s description. There were too many agendas/statements in each chapter, which I am not going to spoil.
While I am an avid reader, and was an advanced reader as a child (I won several library contests), I struggled with trying to find the “point/plot” of this novel.
I read to escape politics, violence, and divisiveness on TV and social media. Unless the book is a “true-crime” or biography type novel; fictional stories; especially ones described as having “gob-smacking humor”, should either warn the reader or eliminate the element. That is where the book lost my attention. It seemed like every issue from recent years was crammed into the novel to supplement it, including a painful (and horrific) incident from 2017 that happened in my hometown.
One major incident that was skipped was 9/11 (2001). That was one I would’ve been interested to read about despite my own personal reactions. It had a profound impact on our country and society and I would think that Haze would’ve had something to say about it. Yet, there was nothing. It was completely excluded from the book.
With that said – if you enjoy “chronicles of a radical hag”, political views, agenda-driven stories, and recipes – this book is for you.
If you’re looking for a light-hearted, escapist, non-political read – I’d likely steer clear or borrow it from a library first to test the waters.
2⭐⭐/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lorna Landvik is the author of twelve novels, including the best-selling Patty
Jane’s House of Curl, Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons, Oh
My Stars, Best to Laugh (Minnesota
2014), and Once in a Blue Moon (Minnesota, 2017). She has
performed stand-up and improvisational comedy around the country and is also a
public speaker, playwright, and actor, most recently seen in an all-improvised,
one-woman show Party in the Rec Room. She lives in Minneapolis.
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