Turn of Mind/Alice LaPlante: Reflections

As readers of this blog know, I brought but a single ARC home with me from the BEA. Partly because I was running across town directly after my short stint at the show and needed to be light on my feet. Mostly because I'm a tried-and-true book buyer. Obsessive and shelf-wearying book buying is the vote I cast for the industry I'm so lucky to be a part of.

The book that slipped into my bag was the one those at the Grove/Atlantic booth shared after I asked what title on their list was creating the most buzz. Turn of Mind, they said, without a second's hesitation. A debut novel by Alice LaPlante that has apparently had the booksellers exclaiming for months.

Mind is about murder and dementia. It's about the death of a retired orthopedic surgeon's best friend. Who killed Amanda and why? Will Dr. Jennifer White remember—can she remember—if she had anything to do with her neighbor's murder and mutilation? What do the notes she's been keeping reveal? What do the medications being foisted on her do to her ability to see and clarify what might have been? And who are all these people moving in and out of her present life? Were they loved? Did they love her? What is real?

It's truly terrifying territory. Jennifer White is an educated, skilled, respected woman who has, it is revealed in pieces, lived a strangely smudgy life. Her family life hasn't been what it might have seemed. Her relationship with Amanda is anything but straightforward. There's real anger here, real messiness, real cause for distrust—and yet. The murder of Amanda was meticulously carried out, and Dr. Jennifer White has long since moved beyond meticulous.

How is it that a woman can lose herself and still retain some self-querying aspects of her wit? How can she know and not know at the same time?  I found myself marveling at LaPlante's audacity as an author—at her ability to construct this mind, now so slippery and unstable, and to see this complex plot all the way through. 

The book is told, as it must be told, in a succession of fragments—a line or two or three of something remembered or something right now, then white space. It recalled for me Carole Maso's groundbreaking Ava, which captures the morning, noon, and later day of a dying woman's final moments.

[I just googled Ava to see if it is still in print and found that one can read it on line. I am amazed by this, but there it is. An unexpected sidenote for this blog post.]

I suspect that the booksellers are right: Turn of Mind will have readers emphatically talking, bloggers opining, book club members up late at night. It's a chilling story. Dementia is chilling. LaPlante brings its fog and smear to vivid, shivering life.

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An iPad2 blogging experiment

In preparation for our upcoming time away, I am teaching myself how to use the BlogPress app on iPad2. This, ladies and gentleman, is a Beth first. An iPad2 photo taken of the chair where the book I am supposed to be reading sits unread (or partially read). An iPad2 posting. And a Beth, one hour later, a tad less frustrated than she was, say, an hour ago.

Quote from my husband, standing near: "You just need a tiny little bit of patience." You need to see the hand gesture to get the full effect.

Amy of Amy @ My Friend. I almost had to call you. Almost.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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A photo (and link-rich) tour of my morning at the BEA

I left the house at 5 AM yesterday, and walked, in the breaking dark, toward the train. The carnival lights from the Devon Horse Show grounds were shining just for me.

I arrived early to the Javits Center and took a walk first within the silence, then among the onslaught of crowds. Soon I was at the Egmont USA booth, interviewing the wonderful Rob Guzman, part of the Egmont USA marketing team. (Later in the day I had the privilege of interviewing Egmont USA's Alison Weiss.)

In impromptu fashion (under Rob's raised eyebrow) I began signing books right there at the Egmont booth, flashing my spanking-new bookmarks whenever I could.  It wasn't long before I was in the presence of Florinda of the 3Rs, a beautiful book blogger and a member of the Armchair BEA team. We had a conversation, Florinda and I, and, thanks to Elizabeth Law, our dialogue was captured for all of time on film.  Check the Armchair BEA blog later today to see what Florinda and I had to say.

Elizabeth Law of Egmont USA was my guide throughout the morning; in the rush of my signing, Florinda took our photograph. Soon, were we joined by some beautiful people—librarians, teachers, readers, parents, and blogger friends. There I am with Kathy of BermudaOnion (I finally met her and she's as lovely as I knew she would be) and Julie of Booking Mama (isn't she gorgeous?). Later, I had the privilege of seeing (among so many others) the uber-smart editor/blogger behind Beth Fish Reads, the design whiz Alea of Pop Culture Junkie, and the incredibly gracious writer and blogger Melissa Sarno of This Too. I was signing at the very last table and beyond me were authors of huge celebrity and appeal. I cannot sufficiently express my appreciation for those who stood in my line and gave me the chance to meet them.

Just before I left the premises to walk across town to Grand Central to take a (strictly un-airconditioned) bus on a (bumper-to-bumper expressway) to JFK Airport to see my son just ahead of his departure for London, I had a few near encounters with famous people, including Olivia the Pig and Michael Moore, pictured above. I also finally got to meet my last editor at HarperCollins, Ruta Rimas, who helped usher The Heart Is Not a Size into the world. She's cuter and sweeter than I can say. I picked up a single galley at the show, from Grove: Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind, which is enjoying a whole lot of early buzz.

I will miss my son enormously. But he is on an adventure all his own, and I could not be happier for him.

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