Summer Reading: The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Ruth Ware has become one of my favorite authors (I read In a Dark, Dark Wood as part of my summer reading list a few years ago, I read The Lying Game in one day while I was camping in Hanna, and I am currently reading The Woman in Cabin 10). These books are all intense psychological thrillers involving vulnerable young women isolated in dangerous locations and I find them to be incredibly suspenseful. This is especially true of The Death of Mrs. Westaway, the next selection on this year's summer reading list. Ever since her mother died in a tragic car accident, Harriet "Hal" Westaway has been living a hand-to-mouth existence reading Tarot cards at her mother's stall on the pier at Brighton. She has more bills than she can possibly pay and is threatened by a loan shark wanting the money she owes. Soon she receives a letter from a solicitor informing her that she is a beneficiary in her grandmother's will. She knows that this cannot be true as she was told by her mother that her grandparents died before she was born, but she is so desperate that she decides to travel to the funeral and use her Tarot reading skills to pretend to be the heir. She finds herself at Trepassen House, an imposing and somewhat menacing estate, with all of the rightful heirs, who have dangerous secrets, and discovers that she herself is part of the biggest secret of all. Hal is one of Ware's most vulnerable characters (although I really appreciated the fact that she is not an unreliable narrator) but she has a powerful instinct for survival so she is one of her most interesting characters. I found her situation to be very compelling and I was very invested in the resolution which I found to be quite satisfying. I loved Ware's descriptions of Trepassen House. The atmosphere is so ominous and mysterious and the tension builds and builds until the dramatic final confrontation. The use of Tarot card readings adds to the sense of dread. There are lots of twists and turns and, just when I thought I had it all figured out, I was completely thrown off by the ending. This is an incredibly suspenseful Gothic thriller that I enthusiastically recommend!

Note:  Have you read The Death of Mrs. Westaway?  What did you think?

Beethoven & Dvorak at St. Mary's Church

I really enjoyed seeing members of the Utah Symphony perform at St. Mary's Church in Park City as part of the Deer Valley Music Festival last year so I decided that I needed to add it to my list of fun things to do in the summer (the list is getting really long).  St. Mary's Church has amazing views of the mountains through the plate glass windows in the sanctuary and, when you add beautiful chamber music performed by the Utah Symphony, it is a wonderful experience to attend a concert there.  Last night's concert began with Beethoven's "Serioso" String Quartet arranged by Gustav Mahler for the string orchestra.  I thought is was very moody and atmospheric and I loved it!  Next, Associate Concertmaster Kathryn Eberle joined the orchestra as the soloist for Beethoven's Romance No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra and Dvorak's Romance for Violin and Orchestra.  Both of these pieces were very, well, romantic and I really enjoyed Eberle's performance because she makes it look so effortless.  After the intermission, the orchestra played "Pavane for a Dead Princess" by Maurice Ravel and this was definitely my favorite piece of the evening.  It was beautiful and melancholy and I loved the themes played the harp and the woodwinds.  The concert concluded with Mozart's Linz Symphony which was very dramatic.  I especially loved the timpani!  This concert was so lovely and I highly recommend attending one of the remaining performances at St. Mary's Church (go here for information and tickets).

The Art of Self-Defense

Last night I found myself at yet another dark comedy!  This time it was The Art of Self-Defense and I thought it was an incredibly original social satire that is destined to become a cult classic.  Casey (Jesse Eisenberg), a mild-mannered accountant, is brutally attacked one night and decides to learn karate as a form of self-defense.  The mysterious sensei (Alessandro Nivola) of his dojo improves his self-confidence and teaches him to, literally, become what he fears.  However, all is not what it appears to be at the dojo.  This movie is a scathing indictment of toxic masculinity that is often very brutal to watch but it is also hilarious!  I laughed out loud many times, especially when the sensei tells Casey to listen to metal music instead of adult contemporary, to get a German Shepherd instead of his Dachshund, and to start learning German instead of French (because the French are known primarily for surrendering).  The ending is absolutely bonkers and took me completely by surprise but everyone in my audience cheered out loud!  Jesse Eisenberg is very hit or miss with me (I often grow weary of the twitchy-talk-as-fast-as-you-can-in-a-monotone-voice characterization that he employs for many of his roles) but, in my opinion, this is one of his best performances.  He fully commits to the absurdity, especially as Casey becomes more and more aggressive.  I had a lot of fun watching this movie but it is definitely not for everyone!

Stockholm

I love a quirky dark comedy, especially if it stars Ethan Hawke, so I have been eagerly anticipating the release of Stockholm for months.  This movie tells a fictionalized version of the 1973 bank robbery in Stockholm from which the term "Stockholm Syndrome" originated.  An ex-con named Lars Nystrom (Hawke) shoots a gun in the lobby of a bank with the goal of getting Gunnar Sorensson (Mark Strong), his former partner in crime, released from prison.  He takes several hostages, including Bianca Lind (Noomi Rapace), Klara Mardh (Bea Santos), and Elov Eriksson (Mark Rendall), and demands money and a getaway car (like the one Steve McQueen drove in Bullitt) in addition to Sorensson's release.  The incident becomes a media frenzy and the Swedish Prime Minister, Olof Palme (Shanti Roney), refuses to comply with his demands and the Chief of Police (Christopher Heyerdahl) seems more concerned with his own reputation than the welfare of the hostages. As law enforcement becomes more and more desperate and erratic in their attempts to resolve the situation, the hostages, especially Bianca, begin to cooperate with Nystrom.  Besides being an entertaining heist movie that becomes increasingly more bizarre, it is an interesting psychological study that explores the unusual relationship that can develop between captive and captor.  The tone is a little bit uneven but I enjoyed it mainly because of Ethan Hawke, who gives another brilliant performance (I think he is so underrated).  It is so much fun to watch him become completely unhinged!  Rapace also gives a strong performance, especially in a scene where she nervously gives her husband instructions on how to make dinner for their children when she is briefly allowed to speak with him.  I also really liked the 1970s aesthetic and the use of Bob Dylan in the soundtrack.  I had a lot of fun watching this movie and I suspect fans of dark comedies will enjoy it, as well. 

Glory

I have always loved the movie Glory but seeing it again yesterday as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series reminded me of why!  It is incredibly powerful and moving!  Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) is the son of wealthy abolitionists in Boston serving in the Union army when he is wounded during the Battle of Antietam.  While recuperating at home he is offered a colonelcy to lead the Massachusetts 54th Infantry Regiment made up of black freemen and runaway slaves, including John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), Thomas Searles (Andre Braugher), and Silas Trip (Denzel Washington).  At first he is skeptical about their ability to fight and trains them relentlessly.  Eventually, Shaw comes to respect his soldiers and they him, especially when he and his second-in-command, Major Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes), refuse their pay until the black soldiers receive the same amount as their white counterparts  After their training, the 54th is used mainly for foraging and for manual labor until Shaw advocates for them to be allowed to fight.  They acquit themselves with honor in their first battle and then Shaw volunteers the regiment to lead the charge on Ft. Wagner in an important campaign to secure Charleston Harbor in South Carolina.  They know that they will suffer serious casualties but Shaw leads them himself and their bravery inspires many other black men to enlist, turning the tide of the war.  I think Denzel Washington is a tremendous actor and he is absolutely brilliant in the role of an embittered former slave who doesn't know what he is fighting for.  I found myself with tears in my eyes several times, especially during the scene where he is being flogged for deserting and a single tear rolls down his cheek and the scene where he picks up the flag from a fallen soldier to continue taking it up the ramparts of the fort.  He is definitely deserving of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, in my opinion.  I was also very impressed by Broderick's performance.  I tend to think of him more as a comedic actor but he conveys so much emotion in his eyes as Colonel Shaw!  The battle sequences are intense, especially the Battle of Antietam, and the attention to period detail is impressive.  Finally, I was incredibly moved by James Horner's stirring score, particularly the haunting voices of the Harlem Boys Choir.  It was an emotional experience watching this movie again and I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen!  You have one more opportunity on Wednesday (go here for tickets).