Maria
By Michelle Moran
In 1959, Maria von Trapp furiously marches into the Lunt-Fontanne theater on Broadway. Rodgers and Hammerstein recently acquired the rights to produce “The Sound of Music” and used artistic license to create how they imagined the family escaped the Nazis and became a global singing sensation. But there were many things the play did not capture, and so much their beautiful family had lost. Always indefatigable, Maria meets with Fran, a secretary who works for Hammerstein. As the women walk in Central Park, Maria paints a picture of the Austrian hills and the family’s rise to fame. Born in 1905, Maria was orphaned and sent to live with an abusive uncle. Escaping to attend teachers college, Maria discovered her natural gift for music. After training, she entered the Nonnberg Abbey where she was to become a nun. Maria was offered an opportunity to teach a sickly child nearby at Baron von Trapp’s estate. The Baron, 25 years her senior, was quietly mourning the loss of his wife. Maria brought the family back to life and the hills became alive with the sound of music. The rest is history captured in this imaginative novel I could not put down.
Caroline
By Sarah Miller
It was almost impossible to grow up in the 1970s without watching “Little House on the Prairie.” The series was adapted from a book, the first series I ever read. Revisiting this beloved family through the eyes of Caroline Ingalls was like time-traveling back to the Big Woods of Wisconsin in 1870, when the family packed up their wagon and headed to a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Following the timeline of the Ingallses and the political state of America as pioneers moved west and Native Americans were displaced, Caroline narrates their yearlong journey as her young family ventures to the prairie before heading back to Wisconsin and later Walnut Grove. Reminiscent of the original, author Sarah Miller takes us through the hardships they faced traveling through unpredictable terrain and weather, building a home, feeding and caring for the children and her loving relationship with Charles. Yes, friends, she really dug Charles. As Caroline details what it was like to be a woman, mother, sister and friend during a time when luxuries were few and labor took most of their daylight hours, you will see “Little House” in an entirely new way.
James
By Percival Everett
Jim is enslaved on a plantation with his wife and daughter. As he performs work for Miss Watson, he overhears that he will be sold to a man in New Orleans. Devastated to be separated from his family, Jim hides on nearby Jackson Island until he can figure out a plan. Huck Finn, a young man Miss Watson looks after, is terrified when his drunkard father returns. Faking his own death, Huck tracks down Jim and insists they escape together. As the story goes, they travel down the Mississippi on a raft, getting themselves in and out of all sorts of trouble. With a bounty on Jim’s head for murder, theft and kidnapping, it is difficult to figure a way out of this mess. Ironically, Jim speaks beautifully and reads and writes better than most, but he must hide his true self and speak “slave language” while keeping his eyes on the ground. The dream of making their way to a free state so Jim can earn money and buy his family keeps hope alive. Told from a different voice, this becomes a powerful retelling of the horrifying conditions found in the antebellum South.
WorthWatching: “Rosaline” is a comedic twist on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” told by Romeo’s ex-girlfriend Rosaline. Set in Verona, Rosaline is a witty Capulet who avoids her father’s attempts at marrying her off and at the same time tries to recapture Romeo’s affections while cousin Juliet gets in the way. On Amazon Prime.
