Books Set in North America: Baltimore, Maryland United States of America

Behind You Is the Sea, by Susan Mauddi Darraj (2024)

Read: August 31, 2024

5 Stars

Books Set in North America: Baltimore, Maryland USA

Lady in the Lake, by Laura Lippman (2019)

 

This is a delightful suspense novel that takes place in Baltimore in the 1960s.  Maddie Schwartz is a 37-year old bored Jewish housewife who suddenly leaves her husband and son to be on her own.  She realized that she needs money, so stages a fake robbery so she can collect the insurance money on her engagement and wedding rings.  This brings her in contact with Ferdie, an African-American police officer.  Soon they find themselves in a passionate affair.  They can’t be seen in public, however, because (1) she is still married, and (2) because interracial relationships are illegal in 1960s Maryland.

 

After a young girl goes missing, Maddie joins a search group and discovers the body.  This sparks her interest in pursuing a job as a reporter.  She wrangles her way into a small job at one of Baltimore’s newspapers. When the body of Cleo Sherwood, a young African-American woman, is discovered in a fountain, Maddie becomes obsessed with the woman’s death.  She relentlessly pursues leads to find out what happened to the dead woman.

 

The story slowly unfolds from Maddie’s point of view, as well as that of several other characters, including the ghost of Cleo.  The novel gently also touches upon many social issues of the 1960s, including racism, classism, sexism, and gender matters.  The solution, once it was revealed, was a surprise twist, but one that fit nicely into the story.  [Spoiler Alert:  Cleo, it turns out, didn't die.  The body in the fountain was that of her roommate, whom no one would miss.  Cleo wanted to disappear so she could marry her lover.]

Read: February 21, 2023

4 Stars

 

Books Set in North America; United States, Baltimore, Maryland

A Patchwork Planet, by Anne Tyler (1998)

 

This novel is narrated by Barnaby Gaitlin, the black sheep of his wealthy family.  As a teenager, Barnaby and his friends got their kicks breaking onto other people’s homes.  Instead of going for the money and valuable objects, however, Barnaby liked to read people’s diaries and look at photos.  His antics eventually got him in trouble, and he was sent to a reform school.  His teenage past is told slowly through his memories as he moves forward in his life.

 

Barnaby works at manual labor at a company called Rent-a-Back.  His job mainly involves doing small chores for elderly clients.  Although he could work for his family Foundation, he prefers living a quiet life, albeit one with little money or future prospects.

 

He had a short-lived marriage, and now has a young daughter, who lives with her mother and stepfather.  Barnaby visits her once a month.  Because she lives in a different town, he must take a train to see her.  On one of his train trips, Barnaby meets Sofia Maynard, who is on the train on one of her regular visits to see her disagreeable mother.

 

When Sofia learns of Barnaby’s job, she arranges for him to do some small tasks for her Aunt Grace.  All goes well until Grace accuses Barnaby of stealing her lifesaving, which, because she doesn’t trust banks, she kept hidden in her flour bin.  Barnaby claimed he never touched it, but the accusation causes him to reevaluate his life.

 

I would call this a very quiet novel, but one in which the characters are interesting, and the reader wants to know how they navigate their lives.

 

Read:  October 2, 2021.  I first read this book on May 17, 1999.

 

4 Stars