BOOK REVIEW: Finding forgiveness and fortitude in the pages of a book
By Michelle Beckwith
“How to Read a Book,” by Monica Wood
Many years ago, long before I had a license plate with a pine tree on it, I read Monica Wood’s When We Were The Kennedys. That book transported me to a time and a place I knew so little about. Now that I live not far from abandoned paper mill towns she described, the message truly resonates.
Ms. Wood’s latest, How to Read a Book is not an instruction guide as the title suggests, but rather a story revealing three characters, their unlikely connection, and how their love for reading changes them and the world they inhabit.
Harriet is a retired teacher who is a volunteer in a Maine prison, running a bookclub for female inmates.
Violet is a young woman, just released from prison, and feels even more untethered now that she is on the “outside.”
Frank, widower of the woman Violet killed in a car accident, finds himself in the position of bookshop handyman. Behind the scenes he tries to come to terms with a complicated marriage and the devastating car accident.
Their life experiences are vastly different but, collectively, they learn the significant impacts of opening up and sharing their histories. A Portland bookshop is at the center of this beautiful story about honesty, forgiveness and fortitude. How their stories intersect is a sweet melody of eloquent passages and meaningful takeaways.
“She’d fully committed to exposing the women to the open air of literature, to the sunshine of fresh ideas. An endeavor not unlike gardening after all; the sowing and reaping, the fruitful mistakes, the tang of expectation.”
—Michelle Beckwith reviews books of various genres and especially enjoys titles set in Maine. Her reviews from the past five years are posted on her Instagram page @bookshelfbybeckwith. She and her husband Jeff live in Blue Hill.
