Drowning Ruth

By Christina Schwarz

The year is 1919 and the setting is a family home on Wisconsin's Lake Nagawaukee. Nurse Amanda (Mandy) Starkey spends her days nursing soldiers wounded in the Great War. One day she feels overwhelmed and decides to take leave and return home to the farm where she grew up. She is welcomed by her sister Mathilda (Mattie) and Mattie's 3-year-old daughter Ruth. One year later, Mattie mysteriously disappears and is later found drowned beneath the ice that covers the lake. Shattered by the events, Mandy’s guilt forces her to care for the young Ruth and assume the duties of the farm.

When Mattie's husband, and Ruth's father, Carl, returns from the war, he finds himself a widower with a young daughter who does not know him. He blames himself for leaving and is truly baffled by Mandy's version of the events of that fateful evening.

The story is told alternately in the voices of Mandy, Carl and Ruth. We learn that Mandy has harboured insecurities since her childhood and that her naïveté got her into trouble long before she returned home during the war.

One of Ruth’s earliest memories is of drowning in the frozen lake along with her mother, a story her aunt dismisses. Her memories of her mother's death become more vivid as she gets older and she gradually becomes aware of the odd events of her childhood, realising something dreadful happened to her mother and eventually learning the horrible truth that has pulled her family apart.

There were two things I did not particularly like about this novel. The first is how the story skips back and forth between past and present, which at times can be rather tiring. The second is how the author creates expectations of a shocking and unexpected ending that are not lived up to.

Geisha of Gion

By Mineko Iwasaki & Rande Brown

This is an autobiography written by the former Geisha, Mineko Iwasaki, and an interesting peek into a world totally unknown for most people. Contrary to western belief, Geishas are not a type of prostitute, but are formally trained artisans and artists.

Mineko Iwasaki was born in 1949 and was taken into an ‘okiya’ (Geisha house) when she was only 5 years old due to her family's financial distress, something that was not uncommon.

This is the story of her life as a Geisha and the training process she had to go through to become a Geisha. This included hours of rigorous dance classes and tea ceremony classes in order to learn the manners and traditions of being a Geisha. However, her hard work paid off as she became one of the most successful and famous Geishas during her time.