Wednesday reading: THE THREEFOLD TIE, by Aster Glenn Gray

[asakiyume]

Wow, did I really go more than a week without posting? What can I say... it was a combination of actually getting paid work in (yay! relief), which kept me busy, and self-censoring of potential posts ("No, Asakiyume; you will regret it if you give in to the urge to post that).

I'm delighted that this week I'm in time to post for the Wednesday Reading meme, and I just finished a great novella, Aster Glenn Gray's The Threefold Tie, a post-Civil War love story involving Everett, his former Army buddy Jonathan (also known as Jack), and Everett's wife Sophie.

It was just wonderful. Each character was so vividly realized, so interesting, someone you'd want to become friends with and chat to at length over fresh June strawberries. (And the book is out in time for you to read it over fresh June strawberries!)

There were so many portions that I copied out because they were just *so good*. For example...

Sophie, when Jonathan says he wants to paint her:

"Oh well, as long as you make it flattering. I know I'm supposed to tell you to draw me warts and all, but after all, that's what photographs are for. I want you to make me look as beautiful as you can without actually lying."

Jonathan, describing the paintings of Vermeer:

"He paints pictures like this, kitchens with the sunlight coming in so everything seems to glow. They're beautiful. And sad ... Because it's just a moment ... Because it will pass."

Describing Jonathan's rented room:

It was so small that he fit into it like a walnut in its shell.

Everett, in a discussion about the Oneida community's habit of having public criticism of one another to prevent the build-up of grudges:

"I think it would just create new ones. Don't you think people must hold grudges over the things said to them in mutual criticism, if they think it is unfair?" --Yes Everett, I do, but Sophie has an answer for you.

And this description of Jonathan, which I've experienced from time to time, especially when it comes to angry emotions:

Jonathan had always seemed to feel emotions much more slowly than other people, anyway. In the moment he just felt stunned, and it was only long after everyone else had already felt their feelings and moved on that he began to feel happy or sad or furious.

Here, Jonathan is reflecting on a person whom Everett has dismissed as boring:

He had been sitting next to Miss Stanton all day, and his impression had been one of shyness, reserve: her indrawn breath when she at last thought of something to say, only to hesitate--and then say nothing at all, because the conversation had moved on.

And there were some really funny moments--as when Everett confesses, before marriage, to having sown some wild oats, and Sophie turns around and has some confessions of her own:

Everett had seemed bemused more than anything: the forgiveness in these conversations was generally meant to flow one way.

And after Sophie witnesses Everett kissing Jonathan, and it comes out that Jonathan has loved Sophie (and Sophie Jonathan), Everett and Sophie are having a conversation:

"I'm not jealous," [Everett] assured [Sophie]. He smiled slightly. "Perhaps a little; but only because he never loved me like he loves you. Certainly he never broke a teacup on my behalf."

He said it lightly, jokingly almost, and Sophie answered in kind. "That's not the only way to love someone," she objected. "Or if it is, then perhaps we had better revisit the question of a divorce, because you have never broken any teacups for me."

"Nor you for me," said Everett, and widened his eyes as if shocked by this realization, and they both laughed again.

And speaking of broken teacups, this scene also made me laugh:

[Miss Willcox] fixed the coffee over a spirit lamp, and rustled up a mismatched assortment of drinking vessels: a flowered coffee cup with a hairline crack, a blue teacup with the gilt rubbing off the rim, and a Turkish tea glass. "Tell me honestly," said Sophie, with a smile, "Doesn't it take more trouble to find such a charming crockery than simply buying a conventional set?"

Miss Willcox laughed. "You've caught me!" she said, and opened the cupboard beneath the window to show a set of ordinary white cups.

I just very much enjoyed spending time with the three main characters. Their distress at finding themselves unconventionally drawn to one another felt really real to me, and the process of their trying to work things out did too. The book is available both in paperback form and ebook form. I promise I haven't given away all the good parts!

Next thing I'll be reading is an ARC of A Sinister Quartet--a collection of four novels, one each by CSE Cooney, Jessica Wick, Amanda McGee, and Mike Allen. I heard them reading excerpts at some point within the past seven days, and they were all QUITE intriguing.

Comments

[queenoftheskies]

This sounds like a lovely story.

[asakiyume]

It definitely is!

*

[minoanmiss]

That book sounds deeply charming, and I so rarely hear of polyamorous published fiction it would be worth looking over just for that!

Re: *

[asakiyume]

It is exactly that. I've never been in a polyamorous romance, so I can't say from experience that it's accurate, but I have an imagination, and the characters and their reactions just seem so right and real.

[cmcmck]

'Warts and all'

That was Oliver Cromwell's phrase, of course!

[asakiyume]

I didn't know he was the originator!

[cmcmck]

When he was about to be painted by Peter Lely.

"Use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me and not flatter me at all, but remark all these ruffness, pimples warts and everything as you see me."

[amaebi]

That sounds great. As usual for Aster Glenn Gray. :)

[asakiyume]

Yes, she's great ^_^

[sartorias]

I like that observation about the anger reaction. Nifty!

[asakiyume]

I remember one salient time that it happened to me: a professor I admired and was grateful to suggested that I drop a current boyfriend as he was, in the professor's estimation, inappropriate. At the time, I felt awkward and uneasy; I just wanted to assure the professor that I would be fine. It was only later that I felt angry.

[sartorias]

Exactly. That's hit me as well. But then I am usually a day late and a dollar short when it comes to interactions and reactions.

[eseme]

This sounds like a delightful book. Sadly, it's not actually available in ebook form, at least not easily available to buy. It's not for sale where I buy my ebooks, and appears to be Amazon-only.

[asakiyume]

I'm sorry it's not available in a format you prefer from a seller you prefer. Out of curiosity, where do you like to buy your ebooks? (I don't know that it would change her publishing decisions, but I can pass along what you say to the author.)

[eseme]

I shop at Kobo. I'm aware it's not typical. And that a lot of authors prefer to sell Amazon-only because it lets them into Kindle Unlimited. I would rather actually own ebooks, as opposed to rent them. It means I can't read a lot of books that people talk about, because they aren't available widely.

[evelyn_b]

You might contact AGG and let her know your situation - I also don't use Amazon and she's been very flexible in letting me buy books directly from her. This might be trickier depending on your ebook setup, but it's worth asking!

[asakiyume]

And to what evelyn_b says, Aster Glenn Gray blogs here under osprey_archer, so that would be one way to be in touch with her.

[eseme]

Thank you, I will try contacting her, but if she publishes on Amazon, she's unlikely to have an ePub format.

You are not the only person who has mentioned her work as being good.

[asakiyume]

It might be possible to *make* an epub format book--I'll talk to her. I self-publish sometimes, and I do sell through Kobo, Apple, and B&N as well as Amazon, so I know how to make epub books.