Saturday, July 18, 2015

Three Books by Heather Lende

If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name
by Heather Lende
nonfiction 2005
finished 6/19/15

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs
by Heather Lende
nonfiction 2010
finished 7/11/15

Find the Good
by Heather Lende
nonfiction 2015
finished 7/13/15


I recently bought a laminated map of the US, and when it came I realized I didn’t have a wall that could hold it so I came up with the idea to put it in a corner of the laundry room. 


While I was reading Heather Lende’s three books, I would every day look at Haines, Alaska on that map.


Whitehorse, Canada is about 260 miles away which you may drive to, unless the winter snow has closed the road. To get to Juneau, which has no road going in or out, and is 90 miles away, you must take a ferry or an airplane, neither of which can be relied upon if the weather is bad. In good weather, the ferry takes 4 1/2 hours. When Heather Lende was injured badly in a bicycle accident (Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs), she had to be flown to Seattle, almost 1000 miles away. In the first book If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name, the author says that babies are no longer delivered in Haines. There aren't facilities to cope with any problems that could arise. The doctor who delivered her oldest child, says that particular birth was “the 'perfect example' of why he’d quit obstetrics. 'If things hadn’t gone right …’ he began. 'Healthy women who are well prepared can and do have catastrophes. It really isn’t safe. I loved delivering babies, Those were wonderful, almost home births (in a clinic), but I hated being so apprehensive, doing acrobatics without a net.’“

So, you get the picture. This little town of a couple thousand people is, as they say, off the beaten path. I feel that it takes a certain kind of person to live there. People who come from Chicago or New York City, may think that I live in a rural, isolated place, but there are hospitals in all the nearby towns, and a major hospital (where Hazel Nina was born) about 2 hours away by car. I love country life, but I could not live in Haines. Nor could I live on an island. I wouldn’t want to be dependent on a boat or a plane in an emergency, or even just to take class trips. As a vegetarian I would have a hard time with the deeply ingrained fishing and hunting. I know it goes on around me, but it isn’t quite so much a part of the culture as it is there.

That said, Heather Lende presents Haines as a wonderful place to live. A place where there are conflicting political and religious views, but a place so small and isolated that the residents work at getting along no matter what. You may intensely disagree with someone, but you still sing next to them in a choir. In the first book, we learn about the town, through Heather’s obituaries. She is the obituary writer for the local paper, and when someone dies, she goes to their home and sits and talks (mostly listens) to the family as they tell her the facts and the stories about that person’s life. These obituaries are works of poetry. She also works for the Hospice program, and has cared for some of the people as they depart this life. 

It seems to me that lots of people are able to live their lives without thinking much about death. Heather isn’t one of them, as she couldn’t be, doing the work she does. In some ways, it probably gives her a deeper appreciation of life. But it isn’t always easy for those of us who are pretty aware all the time that ‘in the midst of life we are in death.’ Those words come from The Book Of Common Prayer, which is used in the Episcopal Church in which I grew up. Heather Lende is also an Episcopalian, belonging to a little tiny church where there are sometimes a dozen at a service. Although I don’t attend church now, the Episcopal Church is part of me. I loved how the author incorporates the words in the prayer book and hymns into her writing. If you aren’t Episcopalian, you won’t be offended by her writing. She isn’t ‘preachy.’ 

I think that in any fishing community there is an acute awareness of death. Drownings are common, and they are so very sad. We learn in the first book that one of six children was drowned. In the second book, we see his brother getting married, and the man who does the service is the man who saved him that day his brother died. 

But, though there is a bit of an elegiac feeling (and how could there not be?), the books themselves show the deep, deep joys of life; the kindness of people, the neighborliness in a small town, the fun they have, the love of family. Every book uplifted me. I first heard of Heather Lende three years ago in a blog posting written by Les. Please do read it here. I knew then that I wanted to read everything the author has written, and will write. Her writing is conversational, earnest, kindly. She writes a blog which you may visit here. And she is on Facebook. I ‘liked’ her so I get to have little visits to Haines very often. 

The three books are all five years apart so that we see her children grow up and grandchildren come into the world. I read them one after the other, and was in a bit of reading heaven for the time I was within their pages. The first book tells of the townspeople through (mainly) the obituaries. The second one is about the kindness of the people of Haines when the author has her terrible accident. And the title of the third Find the Good says it all - about the books and the author. I am so fond of Heather Lende and her writing that I could almost, almost live in Haines. 

You may see some gorgeous photographs of Haines here. It is unbelievably beautiful there.

19 comments:

  1. Hello, I am fascinated with this post, and need to read this author asap. I am a transplanted Alaskan, my uncle previously lived in Haines, and I have actually visited the place :-) Thanks for the review and the info!

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    1. Oh, Susan, then you will especially love these books!!!!!

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  2. I am so pleased that you posted about these books. I need a new read and this will be fun. I love Alaska. I have never been to Haines. I would love to spend a year or two in AK. I don't know about their long winter days that are so dark. That would be my challenge. Love your header photo.

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    1. These are great books, Lisa. I wouldn't mind the long nights; it's the long days that would bother me. :<)

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  3. These sound very much like something I would love to read, the kind of book that is much more than a book, but a whole world I can lose myself in. Like you - and pretty much for the same reasons - I would not want to live in Haines, but I'd like to read about it. I'll see if the books are available for kindle. Thank you very much for the recommendation!

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    1. I'm quite sure you will be interested in the books.

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  4. I remember Les writing about this author and I've also seen a few review of the newest book, Find The Good, this year. So glad you enjoyed all her writings. I don't think life in this small Alaskan town would be for me either. Honestly, I'm about as much 'in the country' as I care to be these days. It has taken me a while to get used to the time spent driving to anywhere for anything. But, I also have had a fascination with reading about Alaska for a long time.

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    1. I also like reading about places I would never live in, or even maybe visit, like Australia!

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  5. Thank you for pointing me to these books, I would never have found them otherwise and they sound fascinating. I like the 'idea' of Alaska but I suspect I wouldn't like the truth of living there.

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    1. Yup, me, too, Carole! I do think you'll like the books. She is such a good writer.

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  6. I have two nephews who live in Juneau and my son worked there five summers while in college....When we visited we took the ferry up the Lynn canal and went by Haines. I readthe first book only, but now have ordered the others from the library. Can't type well now with splintednand bandaged thumb. Sorry.

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    1. I think you'll like the other two, as well, Kristi. Cruise ships now stop at Haines.

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  7. Well, Nan, you have never steered me wrong and I'm intrigued by this author - just went ahead and ordered the first book on Amazon and am anxious to read it. I'm currently reading "The Fault in our Stars", which has grabbed my attention, but, I know won't be a comfortable read and The Goldfinch is staring at me. We are tackling it for our September book discussion and I can't quite get into it. Linde's writing sounds like what I need right now.

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  8. These books sound exactly right for me. Memoirs are my absolute favorite genre. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  9. It IS unbelievably beautiful there .. We spent a week or more there last summer and crossed to Skagway on the day ferry from there. Haines is a hundred times the better place of the two...more genuine and a real Alaska experience. Skagway is too touristy. But I didn't see Heather (I was sue I'd run into her on the street;)). We did see the lumber yard that I assume they still own, but I didn't go in to ask)). I did not know about her third book and am off to Amazon as soon as I hit send.

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  10. Somehow, I missed this post! I'm glad you discovered and have enjoyed Heather's books. I really loved Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, but the other two weren't as enjoyable, at least for me. I need to get back to reading her blog, as I liked reading her thoughts on life (and death) and her photography is outstanding.

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    1. Aren't you sweet to take the time to leave a comment. Thanks, Les.

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  11. I appreciate you leaving me this link in the comment you made on Lende's Of Bears and Ballots. All of these sound good, just as I had hoped.

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    1. I am quite sure you will like them. Interesting how she writes every five years or so.

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