FAITH SULLIVAN'S NEW BOOK, GOODNIGHT MR. WODEHOUSE

This well-told, appealing book  is the latest installment in Sullivan’s  Harvester novels (The Cape Ann, The Empress of One, and Gardenias).  Nell Stillman is a widow and third-grade schoolteacher living in the small, rural  town of Harvester, Minn., in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. She struggles to raise her son, Hilly.  They live in an  apartment over Rabel’s Meat Market. Her younger cousin Elvira moves in as a live-in housekeeper when Hilly is young.  Nell tutors her in reading and social graces.   When pregnant Elvira leaves in disgrace for Chicago, Nell must endure the wagging of the town gossips.   As the title suggests, the author establishes how Nell becomes a lifelong devotee to the works of the P.G. Wodehouse, starting with her finding  Love Among the Chickens in the town library, a bookcase kept at the Water and Power Company. She indulges her escapist daydreams through his books, and she even corresponds with him. After Hilly returns home tormented with PTSD from his World War I military service,  Nell increasingly turns to Wodehouse’s for her escape and enjoyment.   Nell is a resilient protagonist.  Although the reader doesn't know too much about her in earlier novels, we learn that she had a difficult life.  Her husband, Bert, was abusive to her.  When he died young, it was almost a relief to Nell,  although she needed to work and protect her son.  Although a married woman could not teach, when she became widowed

she was allowed to teach.   She was hired as a 3^rd grade teacher.  Nell had a number of friends over the years, and also had to put up with town gossips  (Aunt Martha, Eudora, etc.)  She has a long time relationship with a man she met while playing cards.   One of the most poignant scenes in the novel is when Hilly comes home as a war hero, but he is suffering from PTSD, and is unable to get off the train and respond to the crowd cheering him.    He has to relearn how to talk, read, take care of himself.  He leads a tragic life.

Characters from The Cape Ann, The Empress of One, and Gardenias appear in this novel.  Lark and her mother Arlene, Sally and her mother Stella Wheeler, and Beverly.  The girls become friends of Nell’s as they grow up. 

I really enjoyed the novel.  Part of the charm is the historical details and the weaving of literature into this novel.  Nell becomes  a fan of P.G. Wodehouse, and Sullivan mentions many other pieces of literature.  She emphasizes the healing power of literature.   I tried to read hits novel slowly, so that I could read it longer.  If you haven't read Faith Sullivan's earlier books, pick up The Cape Ann and begin.  You won't be able to put her books down.