Gentle reads

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, May 2016; written by Lisa Pearson.

Unless you have been huddled in your house the last few years with the blinds drawn, all electronic devices off, and no incoming mail, you probably feel like the world has gotten depressing (or maybe that’s why you’re huddled in your house). Topping off a week of news about sadistic serial killers, terrorist plots, climate holocausts and violent prejudice by reading a novel whose storyline parallels those same themes can be a bit too much sometimes. Occasionally, we just want to sit down with a book that is good in every sense of the word.

In the library biz, we refer to this type of book as a “gentle read”: no graphic violence, language, or sex, with mellow plots that are often about individual relationships and small communities rather than damage and hate. Most of our Christian fiction books fit this description, but if you are looking for something that doesn’t necessarily have a religious perspective, here are some suggestions.

The British Library has begun re-publishing mystery titles from the period between the world wars, often called the Golden Age of detective fiction. These books do feature people being murdered, but it’s always done à la Agatha Christie: a completely unlikeable victim, multiple suspects, and a quick death with few grisly details. “The Santa Klaus murder”, by Mavis Hay, and “Murder of a Lady”, by Anthony Wynne both feature classic locked-room scenarios and victims who almost deserve to be bumped off. If you are new to mysteries, try a smorgasbord of authors with the short-story collection “Murder at the manor: country house mysteries”, edited by Martin Edwards. As befitting the time period, the language in these stories is mild and there is no sex.

Finding romance novels that center around romance, rather than explicit sex, is difficult these days, but the Proper Romance series features plenty of romantic tension, historical details (these books are all set in the 19th century), and interesting dialog. The behaviors and attitudes of the characters don’t seem too incongruent for the period, and the stories move along nicely. “Lord Fenton’s Folly”, by Josi Kilpack, is a good place to start. I also highly recommend anything by Georgette Heyer, the queen of Regency romance novels, whose dialog could be quite witty and who had an encyclopedic knowledge of Regency life. Two of my favorite titles are “Frederica” and “The Grand Sophy”.

If you are interested in sweet stories about relationships and community that don’t necessarily fall within any specific genre, you can try The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith and the Irish Country Doctor series by Patrick Taylor. McCall Smith’s series might use the word ‘detective’, but the crimes are all on a small, personal level: infidelity, theft, lying. That sounds sad and depressing, but he manages to write about these serious topics in a very gentle, light way. And the stories aren’t necessarily about solving the crime, but about the way people in a tight-knit community deal with each other and the personal philosophies of individuals. The human parallels between his sleepy Botswana and our soggy Ketchikan are very apparent.

Taylor’s small-town Ireland also has a familiar feel. Having the village of Ballybucklebo situated on the coast probably helps with that. Set in Ulster in the 1950’s, before the Troubles, Taylor’s series follows the daily life of a rural doctor, much like a human version of James Herriot’s “All Creatures Great and Small”. Since Taylor himself was a rural Irish doctor (although he did not practice back in the 50’s), he has a great understanding of the personal connection between physician and patient and the underlying tensions and affections in a small town.

In closing, be sure not to miss our visiting author Jeanette Belshee Reitz, who will be giving a presentation about her new book “Alaska in the Rough: Bert Ray Libe’s odyssey from cheechako to pioneer, 1905 to 1975” at 3 pm on Saturday. There will be lots of great stories and photos from early Ketchikan days, as well as the early mining history of Alaska and Helm Bay in particular.