All Booked | Monkeys, Nazis, and Literary Fraud

The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, April 8.

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Hello, fellow bookworms!

I know we love a theme for this newsletter, but I’ve been reading such a mix of genres lately! I’m sure you’ll hear about most of those books down the line, but that will have to wait. Today I’m bringing you two historical fiction books by two incredible area authors, as well as a bit of lighter fare in the form of a 2023 popular fiction book that, despite all the buzz around it, I somehow never picked up until now!

I hope everyone has been enjoying this beautiful sunny weather to enjoy a book outside! Happy reading.

—Tessa, allbooked@independent.com

Gwendolyn & Eddie by Michael O. Seabaugh

One might imagine that your spouse drunkenly bringing home a monkey (also drunk) from a poker night might put a significant strain on your relationship. But for Gwendolyn Bollinger, a picture-perfect ’50s housewife who has spent her life trying to do right by everyone but herself, this ornery little creature will become more significant than she could have ever imagined. Michael O. Seabaugh’s Gwendolyn & Eddie is the story of “a marriage and a monkey,” a tale that spans nearly 60 years of Gwendolyn’s life, as her kids grow up and become independent; her husband’s drinking, cheating, and abuse become harder and harder to deal with; and Eddie the monkey becomes an unexpected confidant and comfort to Gwendolyn as the years go on.

Gwendolyn & Eddie may be fiction, but as Seabaugh will readily admit, much of the story was inspired by his own childhood and the life story of his mother. (No, her name was not Gwendolyn, but yes, they did have a monkey!)

As one might expect, the pressure on women of a certain generation to be the perfect wives, mothers, and homemakers could be paralyzing, and many women found themselves with no choice but to conform, and few if any options to leave if their husbands became abusive, as Gwendolyn’s is. Likewise, Eddie the monkey is meant to be free, but circumstances find him caged in a suburban home, and the parallels between him and Gwendolyn draw heartbreaking conclusions about the fates that countless women, and animals, have had to endure.

However, no book featuring a monkey is completely without humor, and I can confirm via Seabaugh that yes, the show-and-tell scene really did happen to his mother — pick up Gwendolyn & Eddie if you want to laugh as hard as I did!

Escaping Nazi Germany: A Jewish Family’s Story by RB Rickinson

Remembering and studying history will always be important, but in these current times, it feels especially significant to remind ourselves of the realities of the Holocaust — and the impacts on the human beings who survived the atrocities. Escaping Nazi Germany by RB Dickinson delves into the story of Manfred and his wife, Ulli, who, after witnessing Hitler’s rise to power and increasing hatred toward Jewish people, make the heartbreaking decision to leave their homeland for a better life. Their journey takes them through Europe all the way to Paris, where they and their son, Andre, may be able to pursue lives free from the reach of Hitler’s poisonous reign.

While this book may be fiction, it is heavily inspired by the real-life story of the parents of Andre, who was friends with the author until his death in 2020. The worst atrocities committed during the Holocaust should never be forgotten, but it is also worthwhile to remember the countless families displaced by the shadow of Hitler’s power, forced to leave their homeland for survival.

I also particularly appreciated how this story shone a light on not only anti-Semitism but also the other “undesirable” people Hitler persecuted: homosexuals, people with disabilities, the Romani people, etc. The prejudice against homosexuality, particularly gay men, that permeated the time is heartbreakingly evident in the story of Ulli’s gay brother, Hermann, as he also fights to escape a country that accepts neither his religion nor his sexuality.

Despite the efforts to deny, erase, and downplay the realities of the Holocaust, particularly as many survivors are no longer alive to speak about it, books remain a wonderful way to preserve history — if we are willing to pay attention. A captivating glimpse into the lives of the survivors, Escaping Nazi Germany is a treasured addition to the many books that keep these stories alive.

Yellowface by RF Kuang

Although young authors Athena Liu and June Hayward were supposed to be the next big thing on the literary scene, only Athena has blown up into unbelievable success, leaving her friend June bitterly jealous. But when Athena suddenly dies, leaving her next manuscript behind, June seizes her chance to grab a taste of her friend’s success. Writing under the intentionally ethnically ambiguous name Juniper Song, June reinvents herself and Athena’s work in one fell swoop. But not everyone immediately takes kindly to a white woman telling a story from Asian history, and Athena’s presence haunts every choice June makes, until she is forced to reckon with her lost friend, the publishing community, and the opinions of the pitchfork-toting mobs on the Internet.

RF Kuang’s Yellowface is an absolute roller-coaster of a novel that I ended up binging in one weekend because I couldn’t put it down. June as a character is an absolute train wreck, and while she doesn’t make it easy to root for her, it’s hard not to read this while wondering things such as, “Would I do that? What would I do instead?” as June makes her choices.

Particularly in the age of the Internet, I’m sure we’ve all felt jealous of other people’s successes, and this book elicits a morbid fascination in the reader as we watch June take lying by omission, plagiarism, and literary yellowface to the extreme. Kuang is quoted in an interview as saying that she wanted this book to feel like “an anxiety attack,” and I can confirm that oh boy, did she nail it.

FROM OUR PAGES

We’ve had some great author visits and interviews recently, so don’t miss out. Here is some of our book-related coverage from the last two weeks! Read all this and more at Independent.com.

From Good News to Bad News, from Local Beginnings to National Impact by Brian Tanguay

The Santa Barbara Public Library Is Booked Up for National Library Week by Madeline Slogoff

How Feminist Witch Studies Redefine Magic and Power by Debra Herrick

UPCOMING BOOK EVENTS

Below, you will find a few bookish events coming up in Santa Barbara. If you are hosting a bookish event in Santa Barbara, be sure to submit the event to our online events calendar.

Romance Book Club
Wednesday, April 9, 5:30 p.m. | S.B. Central Library

Celebrate National Library Week Library on the Go (LOTG)
Thursday, April 10, 5:30 p.m. | Shalhoob’s Funk Zone Patio

Literary Trivia Night
Friday, April 11, 6 p.m. | S.B. Central Library

Día del Niño / Día de los Libros: A Celebration of Children and Literacy
Saturday, April 12, 10 a.m. | S.B. Central Library

Discover the Magic of Mojo: Children’s Book Reading and Signing
Saturday, April 12, 11 a.m. | In front of Paseo Nuevo Cinemas

Katherine Stewart: Inside the Movement to Destroy Our Democracy
Wednesday, April 13, 2 p.m. | Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Chaucer’s Book Fair for South Coast Montessori School
Sunday, April 13, 3 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books

Chaucer’s Book Fair for Isla Vista Elementary School
Tuesday, April 15, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books

Grace Fisher Foundation Book Club: The Collected Schizophrenias by Esme Weijun Wang
Thursday, April 17, 2 p.m. | Grace Fisher Foundation Inclusive Arts Clubhouse

Book Reading and Signing: Teresa Figueroa Sánchez
Thursday, April 17, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books

Silent Night Book Club: Bring Your Own Book
Friday, April 18, 6 p.m. | Carpinteria Library

S.B. SPOTLIGHT

We at the Independent get many books sent to us by area authors, sometimes too many! It’s practically impossible for us to read and review them all, but just because we are busy bees does not mean that they aren’t worth the attention. In an attempt to not completely drop the ball, we have compiled a list of books here that are either written by a Santa Barbara author, feature someone in our community, or have another tie to Santa Barbara. I urge you to look through this list. Perhaps you will find your new favorite read!

The following are the most recent titles that have been sent to us.

How Jackson Found His Joy Again by Patrice Karst

My Book of Firsts: Poems Celebrating a Baby’s Milestones by Lee Wardlaw

Junana by Bruce Caron

Small Town, Big Appetite: Savoring the Arts and Eats of Carpinteria

The Enchanted Tales of Magic Mojo and Gail Good Fairy by Gail Kvistad

If you are a local author and would like us to feature your book in this section, please email allbooked@independent.com with the subject line “S.B. Spotlight.”

Book Reviews Courtesy of CALIFORNIA REVIEW OF BOOKS*

Thanks to the generous contributions of David Starkey, Brian Tanguay and their team of reviewers at California Review of Books, we are able to provide a steady stream of book reviews via our content partnership. Recent reviews at Independent.com include:

Our Beautiful Boys by Sameer Pandya; review by George Yatchisin

Held by Anne Michaels; review by David Starkey

*At the present time, all of the Independent’s book reviews are provided in collaboration with California Review of Books (calirb.com).