tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79858234751709259712024-02-20T18:04:05.834-08:00Ruth LattaRuth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.comBlogger275125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-15931169638863103932022-05-15T16:13:00.001-07:002022-05-15T16:13:09.313-07:00Central Experimental Farm, May 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsqFH67caaUcuALMRHgI_hNpItcmZ70v4gHm8wVFQnDqGeIw4GYzgwTZodPT7oB6yZ9EBJhu9064xreo6iOdkJejtaQNcuwW40T6ZoJEj_xLTB3q90HUdRdxCDhjA_ogTUDDUfRhojjmGAacuau15FudbjvPZMAeyJMfKgR5Sq2SMBSR7JmUs-5cA/s4000/20220508_134816.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsqFH67caaUcuALMRHgI_hNpItcmZ70v4gHm8wVFQnDqGeIw4GYzgwTZodPT7oB6yZ9EBJhu9064xreo6iOdkJejtaQNcuwW40T6ZoJEj_xLTB3q90HUdRdxCDhjA_ogTUDDUfRhojjmGAacuau15FudbjvPZMAeyJMfKgR5Sq2SMBSR7JmUs-5cA/s320/20220508_134816.jpg"/></a></div>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-20097297115923015592022-05-15T16:05:00.000-07:002022-05-15T16:05:38.551-07:00<p>This is the link to my review of the new novel, "One April After the War"</p><p><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.compulsivereader.com/2022/05/12/a-review-of-one-april-after-the-war-by-c-s-boarman/&source=gmail&ust=1652741826276000&usg=AOvVaw0LpYyeJa7EjEkrGbdoS7m0" href="http://www.compulsivereader.com/2022/05/12/a-review-of-one-april-after-the-war-by-c-s-boarman/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>compulsivereader.com/2022/05/<wbr></wbr>12/a-review-of-one-april-<wbr></wbr>after-the-war-by-c-s-boarman/</a></p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-70118866291606446192021-11-28T11:57:00.003-08:002021-11-28T11:57:35.283-08:00Emily-Jane Hills Orford reviews "A Girl Should Be"<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><i><b>A Girl Should Be</b></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">by Ruth Latta</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Author Ruth Latta has a passion for the 1920s and
1930s era. She’s particularly interested in the ever-changing role and rights
of women in society, which is particularly poignant during this era. Her recent
book, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A Girl Should Be </i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Ottawa, Baico: 2021, ISBN 978-1-77216-269-1, $25), follows young Annie Taylor through
her teenage, coming-of-age years, as she manoeuvres through loves found and
lost, friendships, and finding her place in a world that only expects women to
marry and have children.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Annie, the younger sister of Charlotte, whom we
read about in Ruth’s earlier book, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Votes, Love and War </i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Baico: 2019), is
more a flapper, one who has passions to exist in both worlds: one with
marriage, love and children and the other with a fulfilling career. Although Annie’s
biggest passion is women’s fashion and designing clothes, the Depression Era
isn’t the most supportive time to entrepreneur one’s talents. She ends up in a
small, isolated, rural town in northwestern Ontario, teaching in a one-room schooled. All while one love has married another because he managed
to get her in the family way and another love has gone into the ministry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Depression, followed by the rise of Naziism and
Communism overseas, led into the Second World War and more separations and hardships
ensued. But Ruth has created a strong character in Annie, one who can stand the
test of time and come out ahead and above the trials and tribulations she
endured.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The plot revolves around the growing conflicts of
the era: the Depression, political unrest, wars and, most significantly, the
rights and position of women in society. Ruth has woven an engaging story that
will both entertain and educate readers on this very tumultuous time in
history. The descriptive narrative sets the stage, allowing the reader to step
into the story and feel a part of it. Dialogue is well constructed, paying
particular attention to the topics of discussion and the vocabulary relevant to
this era. The protagonist, Annie, is a fun-loving young woman with a passion to
succeed, to make something of herself, and to follow her dreams.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As men and women struggled to come to terms with
the need to find more equity between the sexes, Ruth struggles with her own
sense of purpose and need to be who she wants to be while, at the same time,
accepting her place and role in society as a woman. While her older sister
stood up with the suffragettes fighting for women’s rights, Annie set her own
course, seeking success and, hopefully, a permanent romantic attachment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I found the title interesting: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A Girl Should Be.</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Apparently, Ruth adapted it from a quote from the Coco Chanel which reads: “A
girl should be anything she wants to be.” It’s very apropos for a story about
the changing roles of women in a difficult and, oft-time, unfair society. Annie
desperately wants to be a successful fashion designer, but reality and the need
to support herself, lead her initially on a slightly different path, one which
she inevitably excels.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The author’s mother and aunts were teachers in
rural Ontario schools during the Depression and some of their stories
influenced her understanding and appreciation for female teachers living in
this era.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I enjoy Ruth’s books and learning about women’s
history in the early part of the twentieth century. The author demonstrates a
sound knowledge of history, the ongoing fight for women’s rights and the
compelling need to tell a good story. She does it all with a passion for the
life and times and the women who made her-story as important and compelling as
his-story. Well, done!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford, award-winning
author of <i>Queen Mary’s Daughter</i> (Clean Reads: 2018), and <i>King Henry’s
Choice </i>(Clean Reads: 2019).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="display: none; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hide: all;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p> </p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-18566150057512629822021-10-05T08:08:00.000-07:002021-10-05T08:08:46.067-07:00Review of "A Girl Should Be",<p><i> A Girl Should Be</i> </p><p>by Ruth Latta,</p><p>reviewed by Lorna Foreman</p><p> <i> <span> </span>A Girl Should Be</i> (Ottawa, Baico, 2021, info@baico.ca ISBN: 9781172169, $30 sc) is the latest novel by Ottawa author, Ruth Latta. Once again I am enthralled by her ability to take a protagonist through the changing and difficult times of our Canadian history.</p><p><span> </span><span> We follow Annie Tyler through some of Canada's tumultuous times, giving us a very personal view of those periods. Annie, in the 1920s, was a fun-loving young woman who matured while experiencing the devastating Depression of the 1930s, the rise of Nazi Germany and Soviet Communism and ultimately, World War II.</span><br /></p><p><span> </span><span> I wish I could have learned history in the interesting way that the author presents it to us. It was even more interesting for me because my mother would have been Annie's age at that time, so I have a much better understanding of what women like my mother lived through. Women were attempting to bring more equality to the relationship between men and women, and to play a different role in our society. They were starting to work outside of the home at a volatile period of history.</span><br /></p><p><span><span> <span> The Depression brought enormous changes to women's lives, and men's, too. Annie matured through these years, developing into a more serious young woman trying to support herself while attending university and ultimately finding a job teaching in a remote region. It is a fascinating read. Ruth Latta is brilliant in drawing you into the story as though, you too, are living in those times.</span></span><br /></span></p><p><span> </span> </p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-51407860279850739222021-07-20T07:53:00.000-07:002021-07-20T07:53:16.509-07:00our new home - hah!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5P6ePnWfXGQ72rBM5CTVJDbabzM6gSVnxxGDoiQ573rCaYC8GwNwV1m8XjjiRj5CXZqCHkZBnfR4uUK0vSTpKyK39FURE8rj2nJlmfWtNFs1_0Ejno5jTLPmkLR535p4_k4gWFMZaRM/s2048/20210714_133751.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5P6ePnWfXGQ72rBM5CTVJDbabzM6gSVnxxGDoiQ573rCaYC8GwNwV1m8XjjiRj5CXZqCHkZBnfR4uUK0vSTpKyK39FURE8rj2nJlmfWtNFs1_0Ejno5jTLPmkLR535p4_k4gWFMZaRM/s320/20210714_133751.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Roger and I, posed in front of the children's playhouse at my niece's home in Englehart, ON. July 14, 2021<br /> <p></p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-1394799751881957172021-07-20T07:44:00.000-07:002021-07-20T07:44:46.342-07:00A GIRL SHOULD BE<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YNbxOW5Stl7s4krgicsil91ZKjshMyOIQ5KeqF9ZYeJ43qEyRCBSNpB5NRsx-rosilWF8kF2QED-2yFlh74BVd33qZ7yv-R-R1nQn0XvbVzkehG4Ey3F9gDD-O4irZReH0N8OwTQYK8/s2048/20210720_095426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YNbxOW5Stl7s4krgicsil91ZKjshMyOIQ5KeqF9ZYeJ43qEyRCBSNpB5NRsx-rosilWF8kF2QED-2yFlh74BVd33qZ7yv-R-R1nQn0XvbVzkehG4Ey3F9gDD-O4irZReH0N8OwTQYK8/s320/20210720_095426.jpg" /></a><i>A Girl Should Be </i>is the title of my new book, to be published later in 2021 by Baico Publishing of Ottawa. It's a stand-alone sequel to my novel, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Votes, Love and War</i>, published by Baico in 2019. <i> Votes</i> is about the Manitoba Women's Suffrage movement and the First World War. It centred on a fictional character, a farm girl named Charlotte, but brought in historical figures such as the Beynon sisters, Nellie McClung, and other pioneers of the 20th century women's suffrage movement.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Charlotte was of a generation that came of age just before or during the First World War. I am particularly interested in the history of the 1920s and 1930s, and decided to write another novel, focusing on Charlotte's younger sister, Annie. Annie is as much of a "flapper" as she can be in rural and small town Manitoba in the 1920s. Then, with the onset of the Great Depression, starting with the stock market crash in 1929, Annie's life changes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Although Annie's chief interest is in fashion, she qualifies as a teacher and finds a job at a remote school in Northwestern Ontario, where she makes a success of a difficult job - but not so much in her personal life.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The title <i>A Girl Should Be</i>, is from a quote attributed to Coco Chanel, who is reported to have said, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"A girl should be anything she wants to be." The novel is about women's changing roles and the various social expectations of women at that time (many of them unfair.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In writing about Ontario backwoods schools of the 1930s I was inspired by the experiences of my mother and three of her sisters who were rural teachers during the Depression years and afterwards. I hasten to add that none of these ladies was the real Annie, who is a fictional creation.</div><br /> <p></p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-50636754911085560062021-05-15T06:39:00.004-07:002021-05-15T06:39:56.067-07:00review of Closer to Fine<p>Here is my review of Jodi S. Rosenfeld's novel<i>, Closer to Fine :</i></p><p><br /></p><div class="gE iv gt" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; cursor: auto; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; padding: 20px 0px 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf gJ" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-top: 0px; width: auto;"><tbody style="display: block;"><tr class="acZ" style="display: flex; height: auto;"><td class="gF gK" style="display: block; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap; width: 711.438px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf ix" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 711px;"><tbody><tr><td class="c2" style="display: flex; margin: 0px;"><h3 class="iw" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; color: #5f6368; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: 20px; margin: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 8px); overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><br /></h3></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="gH bAk" style="align-items: center; color: #222222; display: block; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><div class="gK" style="align-items: center; display: flex; padding: 0px;"><span alt="May 15, 2021, 8:03 AM" class="g3" id=":qf" role="gridcell" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; color: #5f6368; display: block; font-size: 0.75rem; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; vertical-align: top;" tabindex="-1" title="May 15, 2021, 8:03 AM">8:03 AM (1 hour ago)</span><div aria-checked="false" aria-label="Not starred" class="zd bi4" data-tooltip="Not starred" jslog="20511; u014N:cOuCgd,Kr2w4b;" role="checkbox" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 20px; margin-left: 20px; outline: 0px; user-select: none;" tabindex="0"><span class="T-KT" style="align-items: center; border: none; display: inline-flex; height: 20px; justify-content: center; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: 0px; transition: opacity 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0s; width: 20px; z-index: 0;"></span></div></div></td><td class="gH" style="align-items: center; color: #222222; display: flex; margin: 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"></td><td class="gH acX bAm" rowspan="2" style="align-items: center; color: #222222; display: block; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><div aria-label="Reply" class="T-I J-J5-Ji T-I-Js-IF aaq T-I-ax7 L3" data-tooltip="Reply" role="button" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; align-items: center; background: transparent; border-radius: 2px 0px 0px 2px; border: none; box-shadow: none; color: #444444; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-size: 0.875rem; height: 20px; justify-content: center; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; min-width: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; user-select: none; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><img alt="" class="hB T-I-J3 " role="button" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" style="background: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system/1x/reply_black_20dp.png") center center / 20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 20px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.54; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0s; vertical-align: middle; width: 20px;" /></div><div aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" aria-label="More" class="T-I J-J5-Ji T-I-Js-Gs aap T-I-awG T-I-ax7 L3" data-tooltip="More" id=":qw" role="button" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; align-items: center; background: transparent; border-radius: 0px 2px 2px 0px; border: none; box-shadow: none; color: #444444; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-size: 0.875rem; height: 20px; justify-content: center; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; min-width: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; user-select: none; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><img alt="" class="hA T-I-J3" role="menu" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" style="background: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system/1x/more_vert_black_20dp.png") center center / 20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 20px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.54; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0s; vertical-align: middle; width: 20px;" /></div></td></tr><tr class="acZ xD" style="display: flex; height: auto;"><td colspan="3" style="margin: 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf adz" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; white-space: nowrap; width: 950px;"><tbody></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.compulsivereader.com/2021/05/15/a-review-of-closer-to-fine-by-jodi-s-rosenfeld/&source=gmail&ust=1621171918002000&usg=AFQjCNFE0uw2IIotJOYFa6KRJZvQnfKnEQ" href="http://www.compulsivereader.com/2021/05/15/a-review-of-closer-to-fine-by-jodi-s-rosenfeld/" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>compulsivereader.com/2021/05/<wbr></wbr>15/a-review-of-closer-to-fine-<wbr></wbr>by-jodi-s-rosenfeld/</a></div>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-17325794893830011752021-04-30T05:21:00.000-07:002021-04-30T05:21:10.583-07:00my review of "Sylvia Pankhurst" by Rachel Holmes<p>Here is my "Compulsive Reader" review of "Sylvia Pankhurst:Natural Born Rebel", by Rachel Holmes </p><p> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.compulsivereader.com/2021/04/08/a-review-of-sylvia-pankhurst-natural-born-rebel-by-rachel-holmes/&source=gmail&ust=1619871154463000&usg=AFQjCNFyicB9B2fEJFmnfUofC5g5QQ5cYA" href="http://www.compulsivereader.com/2021/04/08/a-review-of-sylvia-pankhurst-natural-born-rebel-by-rachel-holmes/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>compulsivereader.com/2021/04/<wbr></wbr>08/a-review-of-sylvia-<wbr></wbr>pankhurst-natural-born-rebel-<wbr></wbr>by-rachel-holmes/</a></p><div><p>Sylvia Pankhurst is mentioned in my novel, "Votes, Love and War" (Ottawa, Baico, 2019, info@baico.ca)</p><p>ISBN 978-1-77216-191-5</p></div>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-4281394142922320372021-03-13T07:24:00.005-08:002021-03-13T07:24:49.149-08:00Cover of "A Girl Should Be"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaq_dKhN_tleN_RQQr2fvEuHkee2il4bXBjN6uAUxe047e4QC67-s-SBGfXYw3A3gPllMi2e-_vAEcUUroWoDjbZWGcAJ7eU2oaCOxFQcSX024yrBY8zvvMuoYirnVXeY66vT0xftrSyE/s1078/Cover+as+jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1078" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaq_dKhN_tleN_RQQr2fvEuHkee2il4bXBjN6uAUxe047e4QC67-s-SBGfXYw3A3gPllMi2e-_vAEcUUroWoDjbZWGcAJ7eU2oaCOxFQcSX024yrBY8zvvMuoYirnVXeY66vT0xftrSyE/s320/Cover+as+jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> This is the cover of my novel, <i>A Girl Should Be</i>, which will be published later in 2021.<p></p><p>The painting, "Sunrise" is by my husband, Roger Latta.</p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-58723358943279015712021-03-12T07:14:00.001-08:002021-03-12T07:24:16.310-08:00A Girl Should Be<p> "Write what you like to read" is a time-honoured principle for novelists. I've always liked historical novels, with an elementary school favourite being "Rebels Ride at Night", about the 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada. More recently, I've enjoyed historical fiction by Paula Maclean, Paulette Jiles, Isabelle Allende, Sofia Segovia - to name just a few authors. I'm particularly interested in the history of the Left, in Canada and elsewhere.</p><p>Having studied history, (Ruth "Olson", M.A., Queen's University, 1973) I've decided to blend his my interest in the past and in fiction into novels of my own. I've written seven so far. Six are in print, and available through libraries or from me, and a seventh, called <b>"A Girl Should Be"</b> is now at Baico Publishing (info@baico.ca) and may be in print in the fall of 2021. All of these novels are published by Baico Publishing of Ottawa, Canada</p><p>Before telling you about "<b>A Girl Should Be</b>", I'll say a few words about my first six historicals.</p><p><b>"The Secret of White Birch Road</b>", 2005, is a girls' mystery set in the 1950s. </p><p>"<b>The Songcatcher and Me</b>", 2013, involves folk song collecting in Ontario in the 1950s and has a co-protagonist loosely based on the Canadian folk song collector, Edith Fowke.</p><p>The two Grace books are about Grace Woodsworth, (1905-1991), later Grace MacInnis, a democratic socialist, Canadian Parliamentarian and women's advocate. <b>"Grace and the Secret Vault",</b> 2017, is a young adult novel about Grace and her family in 1919 at the time of the Winnipeg General Strike. <b>"Grace in Love</b>", 2018, is about Grace's life and emotions in Paris and then in Ottawa, between 1928 and 1933.</p><p><b>"Votes, Love and War</b>", 2019, takes readers back to Manitoba women's suffrage movement in the teens of the 20th century, and to the First World War, from the perspective of Charlotte, a young Winnipeg housemaid who became a teacher. Real people mix with fictional characters in this novel, as in the Grace novels. In "<b>Votes, Love and War"</b> we meet two sisters, Lillian Beynon Thomas and Francis Marion Beynon, who in real life played crucial roles in Western Canada's women's suffrage movement.</p><p>In <b>"A Girl Should Be"</b>, the novel I recently mailed to Ray Coderre of Baico Publishing, I've taken a minor character from "<b>Votes, Love and War"</b> (Charlotte's little sister, Annie) and set the novel in the late 1920s and early 1930s. </p><p>The title, "<b>A Girl Should Be"</b>, is from a quote from Coco Chanel: "A girl should be who and what she wants." It fits my novel, since Annie, my central character, is affected by the fierce debate and ever-changing attitudes of the day about what a woman's role should be.</p><p> Also, there's a saying, "<i>I'd rather be a human be-ing than a human doing</i>." What Annie wants is to find herself and be that self - a challenge in the late 1920s and early years of the Great Depression.</p><p>"<b>A Girl Should Be"</b>, won't be out until later in 2021. If you would like a copy of any of my other books, email Ray at Baico Publishing (info@baico.ca) and ask him for my telephone number and/or email address, and we'll talk arrangements.</p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-85654705839286711952021-02-28T09:13:00.000-08:002021-02-28T09:13:02.436-08:00My cat, Lily, likes my birthday balloon.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdJ9m2t-LVJUN5LbgvsQaqvFnwoQCDc-xzltcMkzfDIRRD_yPASPKnkkocKY0XykG7KzKaZRN8lUCB7KfF_O2JwWS2U81BvJlMOZTQhPAaC-N2i9067v4x2kytNWLkqNep7dPDRBAWK0/s2048/IMG_20210228_112603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdJ9m2t-LVJUN5LbgvsQaqvFnwoQCDc-xzltcMkzfDIRRD_yPASPKnkkocKY0XykG7KzKaZRN8lUCB7KfF_O2JwWS2U81BvJlMOZTQhPAaC-N2i9067v4x2kytNWLkqNep7dPDRBAWK0/s320/IMG_20210228_112603.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJjFQ4zUxG9OfewTozO5sYFk0nArbZXPjreyVX-UPZ1jSs1KdZHlri1Z4SBUKEUt69ci1Rr1y-oQVWhAWLnc4SXYXD1Mn1tZOTnnsyknyDKby0JG_BZ0rn38MDKti-R1DJ4B2l4mR43Q/s2048/IMG_20210228_112626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJjFQ4zUxG9OfewTozO5sYFk0nArbZXPjreyVX-UPZ1jSs1KdZHlri1Z4SBUKEUt69ci1Rr1y-oQVWhAWLnc4SXYXD1Mn1tZOTnnsyknyDKby0JG_BZ0rn38MDKti-R1DJ4B2l4mR43Q/s320/IMG_20210228_112626.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-50710894419687195502021-02-11T07:03:00.002-08:002021-02-11T07:03:37.635-08:00A Covid-19 Tale<p> A COVID-19 TALE</p><p>This joke was sent to me by a friend. I don't know the original author.<br /><br />Please be careful, because people are going crazy from being locked down at home. I was just talking about this with the microwave and the toaster while drinking my coffee, and we all agreed that things are getting bad.</p><p>I didn't mention any of this to the washing machine because she puts a different spin on everything. Certainly I didn't share it with the fridge, because he's been acting cold. The iron tried to straighten me out. She said the situation isn't all that pressing and that all the wrinkles will soon get ironed out.</p><p>The vacuum, however, was very unsympathetic and told me to suck it up. But the fan was very optimistic and gave me hope that it will soon blow over.</p><p>The toilet looked a bit flushed but didn't say anything when I asked its opinion, but the front door said I was becoming unhinged, and the doorknob told me to get a grip.</p><p>You can guess what the curtains told me. They told me to "pull myself together."</p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-46959149037293902082021-02-08T16:54:00.001-08:002021-02-08T16:54:13.393-08:00Link to my review of "The Lying Life of Adults" in "Compulsive Reader"<p><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.compulsivereader.com/2021/02/08/a-review-of-the-lying-life-of-adults-by-elena-ferrante/&source=gmail&ust=1612918052714000&usg=AFQjCNEh2L5xY-tV03f7PNWTuzOlwkTIeA" href="http://www.compulsivereader.com/2021/02/08/a-review-of-the-lying-life-of-adults-by-elena-ferrante/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>compulsivereader.com/2021/02/<wbr></wbr>08/a-review-of-the-lying-life-<wbr></wbr>of-adults-by-elena-ferrante/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Above is the link.</p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-45761119906841772072021-02-07T15:02:00.001-08:002021-02-07T15:02:28.160-08:00Reading and writing my way through a shut-down<p> Reading and writing have been important to me during the shut-down. Both allow one to escape thoughts of the pandemic for a little while.</p><p>Writing? I'm revising a stand-alone sequel to my 2019 novel, <i>Votes, Love and War</i> (Ottawa, Baico, info@baico.ca) The new novel takes place in the late 1920s and early 1930s and centres on Annie, the younger sister of Charlotte, who was the protagonist of <i>V,L and W. </i>Annie is the quintessential flapper girl, to the extent that one could be a flapper in rural and small town Manitoba. With the 1929 stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression, life becomes more serious.</p><p>My favourite genre is historical novels, and I've come upon some great ones during these months at home. Thank goodness the Ottawa Public Library is providing at-the-door pick-ups and drop-offs. </p><p>Here are some novels I recommend to those who like to travel back in time and learn a little about the past while being entertained.</p><p>Isabel Allende's <i>A Long Petal of the Sea, </i> follows some compelling characters who are involved with the anti-fascist side in the Spanish Civil War, and then cross the ocean to settle in Chile, where they are caught up in the 1976 U.S.-supported coup of the military, which overthrew the liberal/leftwing government of Salvador Allende (Isabel's cousin.)</p><p>Sofia Segovia, the Mexican author who wrote <i>The Murmur of Bees,</i> has a new novel coming out in the spring.. <i>Tears of Amber</i>, her new novel, which I obtained as a review copy from <i>Compulsive Reade</i>r, is inspired by a true story. Segovia traces the lives of two rural children growing up in rural East Prussia during the Nazi period, and their struggle to survive. Their flight from the invading Soviet forces in 1945 is gripping and gruesome. </p><p>The novel focuses on the impact of war upon women and children. East Prussia is no longer an entity on the map. After the First World War it became part of Poland, but when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 this area, which was disputed for centuries, went under German control again. After World War II it was divided up among Poland, Lithuania and the U.S.S.R. Segovia's writing is poetic and evocative, and her research extensive.</p><p>I love Italian author Elena Ferrante's novels that comprise the Neopolitan Quartet. Her new novel, <i>The Lying Lives of Adults</i>, a coming-of-age story, is set in late 20th century Naples. Unlike the novels in the Quartet, which are about two girls who take two different routes in an effort to escape their impoverished beginnings, the central character in<i> The Lying Lives</i> comes from a middle-class professional family. Her interest in tracing her working class roots on one side of her family is educative in many ways.</p><p>Another recent novel, <i>Writers and Lovers</i> by American author Lily King, struck a chord with me because the central character is an aspiring writer. Her writing makes her life meaningful in a tough world. She puts up belittling, nay-saying reactions to her vocation, the sort of crap that gets slung at all writers. All of this is presented in a humorous way. Since reading this novel I have requested several more of her books.</p><p><br /></p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-39789098315594532672020-09-14T05:57:00.003-07:002020-09-14T05:57:48.894-07:00Short story based on a song<p> <i>The Truth About Billy Joe</i> is a story based upon a song, and also was my entry into the acrostic story contest held annually by Brucedale Press of Port Elgin, ON. It won second prize in 2019 and was published in <i>The Leaf,</i> #44, Spring 2019 edition, published twice yearly by Brucedale Press. </p><p><br /></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>THE TRUTH ABOUT BILLY JOE</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>by Ruth Latta</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Always curious, also concerned, I worry about my sister-in-law Bobbie withdrawing from the world. Becky Thompson is my name, or rather, was my maiden name, and Bobbie was my best friend all through school. Carroll County is where we grew up, a farming community on the Mississippi Delta with Choctaw Ridge the only high point for miles around. Daddy’s gift of a down payment on a store, a wedding present for me and Jeff, means that we’re living in Tupelo and aren’t as close to Bobbie as I’d like to be.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Easier,” is what we say if someone from home comes into our convenience store and asks how we find city life. Folks at home think Jeff should have stayed where he was and continued working the land, even though his pa had willed the farm to his mama, but after the tragedy with our friend Billy Joe MacAllister, and then his father’s death from a virus soon afterwards, Jeff deserved a new beginning. Getting started as a married couple and small business owners has been wonderful, but I feel badly about leaving Bobbie back home, brooding and grieving.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Help us in the store,” I coaxed, but she said she had to stay home and see about renting out the land, since her mama was too upset over her daddy’s death to do much of anything. I can’t fault Bobbie for wanting to care for her mother. Just between you and me, though, I think she should pull herself together and try to find someone new instead <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>of being caught up in sorrow over Billy Joe as if she were to blame. </p><p> Knowing everyone in our high school class so well, I was surprised when Bobbie confided to me that she and Billy Joe were in love and were seeing each other secretly up on Choctaw Ridge. Lots of highschool students marry their sweethearts shortly after they graduate, including Jeff and me, and I think she pressured Billy Joe to make a commitment so she wouldn’t be left out.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe poor naive Bobbie assumed, back in ninth grade, that when Billy Joe tried to scare her with a frog at the picture show it meant that he had a crush on her. No one else saw Billy Joe as husband material; in fact, I always suspected that he liked girls only as friends. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One day after graduation our preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by to discuss wedding details with me, and while there, asked me if there was anything going on between Bobbie and Billy Joe. Playing dumb, I listened as he mentioned observing them together on the Tallahatchee Bridge, and seeing Billy Joe throw something over the rail, down into the muddy water. Quickly I said that the only connection I knew of was that they, along with me, had formed a trio, the “Three Bees”, and had sung at high school assemblies. Remembering something else, I decided to keep silent. Secrets, like Bobbie wearing Billy Joe’s ring on a chain beneath her collar, were none of Brother Taylor’s business.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The day Jeff and I got back from our honeymoon my parents broke the terrible news that Billy Joe MacAllister had jumped to his death off the Tallahatchee Bridge early that morning. Unnerved, I wept as Jeff drove us to his folks’ place to see Bobbie. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Violently sobbing, she lay curled on her bed, while her mother, downstairs, told Jeff she didn’t understand why his sister was so upset. With trembling lips Bobbie told me that Billy Joe had broken up with her, saying that while he liked her a lot, he couldn’t love her as she ought to be loved, and would she please keep the ring. “X-rated” is the term for the frank conversation they had, and I won’t repeat any of what she told me, except that when she put the ring on the bridge rail he seized it and threw it away.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“You’ll find someone who isn’t a misfit like me,” he called after her as she turned and started home.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Zealots like Brother Taylor, quoting from Leviticus and preaching about Sodom and Gomorrah, create a climate that makes sensitive boys strive too hard to be normal, whatever “normal” is, and I blame him, not poor Bobbie, for Billy Joe’s tragic death.</p><p><br /></p><p>© Ruth Latta, 2019, 2020</p><p>721 words</p>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-75829477720310693932020-08-11T11:40:00.001-07:002020-08-11T11:40:50.918-07:00Another flu epidemic section from "Votes, Love and War"The Emergency Nursing Bureau, headed by the Lieutenant Governor's wife and the President of the Women Teachers' Club put out a call for home nursing volunteers. They especially wanted teachers, as we were available, out on salary, and worked in cooperation with public health nurses in the schools. When Baz's mother heard my plan to volunteer, she said,"I'll go too."<div>
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Together we went to the Manitoba Medical College for the four hours of lectures that were our training before we were sent out into the community as home nurses. The women in charge of this crash course recognized Elizabeth Weaver (Baz's mother) as a doctor's widow and were especially welcoming to her.</div>
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"One would think," Elizabeth joked later, "that my husband's medical training was communicable, transmitted to me by marriage."</div>
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We were issued white arm bands with green crosses to show the public that we were volunteer nurses going crucial work. That very day, Elizabeth was assigned to a family of newcomers in the North End, a young couple with two preschool children. She returned home exhausted but exhilarated.</div>
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"Neighbours helped the couple when they were first stricken," she said. "The people of that area have really banded together, but they need outside help now that so many have fallen ill. This young man and woman had high fevers at first but their temperatures are down, now and I think they'll make it. They held my hands and said 'Thank you,' one of the few English expressions they know. They're lovely people and it's such a pleasure to hold a baby on my lap again."</div>
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The following morning she packed a hamper of food and bed linens to take with her. "I thought of giving the children Baz's toy horses and teddy bear, because they have nothing, " she said, "but I just can't."</div>
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I put my arm around her. "We may want those toys in years to come, when Baz comes home."</div>
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I was annoyed at the Emergency Nursing Bureau's delay in placing me. It was against the Bureau's policy to send a young girl where there were five or six ill persons, as it might be too much for her to deal with. Nor could young ladies go at night to poor neighbourhoods, nor care for delirious men, who might do something violent or improper. How silly and prudish! I was twenty-two, a married woman. As for being out at night, male volunteers drove nurses to their assignments, so what was the problem?</div>
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When Mrs. Weaver got home that day, however, I had exciting news. The Bureau was sending me to care for a war widow with two children. When we were discussing my assignment, to start the following day, the telephone rang, and to my surprise it was [my brother] Henry. ....Marta [our stepmother, had the flu...</div>
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"I'll be on the next train," I told Henry.</div>
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On the train, the passing countryside blurred as I thought of Marta...I couldn't lose another mother. Lily Kate and Francie, who had taken me under their wings and taught me so much, were so far away and we hadn't been in touch for months...I still had Elizabeth Weaver and Keira Waite to take a motherly interest in me and I was fond of both, but neither was a substitute for Marta. I couldn't lose her!</div>
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Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-12484967988818296202020-08-09T04:28:00.002-07:002020-08-09T05:04:00.909-07:00Review of Gillian Gill's new book on Virginia Woolf <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">: </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.compulsivereader.com/2020/08/09/a-review-of-virginia-woolf-and-the-women-who-shaped-her-world-by-gillian-gill/&source=gmail&ust=1597058424550000&usg=AFQjCNH2jUNlHfEIdyq72Z6itK_KXki4xA" href="http://www.compulsivereader.com/2020/08/09/a-review-of-virginia-woolf-and-the-women-who-shaped-her-world-by-gillian-gill/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>compulsivereader.com/2020/08/<wbr></wbr>09/a-review-of-virginia-woolf-<wbr></wbr>and-the-women-who-shaped-her-<wbr></wbr>world-by-gillian-gill/</a><br />
Above is the link to my review of Gillian Gill's <i>Virginia Woolf and the Women who Shaped her World.</i>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-5948857519096345512020-07-19T04:48:00.001-07:002020-07-19T04:48:11.990-07:00Review of "Becoming Lady Washington"My review of Betty Bolte's novel, <i>Becoming Lady Washington</i>, has been published in <i>Compulsive Reader. </i>Check out the link, below, to find out why I didn't like the book.<br />
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.compulsivereader.com/2020/07/17/a-review-of-becoming-lady-washington-by-betty-bolte/&source=gmail&ust=1595245209926000&usg=AFQjCNFG4eZ_i3IyOOzEcWyAsK9ZQ-519Q" href="http://www.compulsivereader.com/2020/07/17/a-review-of-becoming-lady-washington-by-betty-bolte/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">http://www.compulsivereader.<wbr></wbr>com/2020/07/17/a-review-of-<wbr></wbr>becoming-lady-washington-by-<wbr></wbr>betty-bolte/</a>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-87863158215560156702020-07-07T06:34:00.001-07:002020-07-07T06:34:42.022-07:00More from "Votes Love and War" flu sectionsMore from my central character, Charlotte.<br />
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<i>Around her neck, Keira was wearing a small cotton drawstring bag of camphor, and Elizabeth remarked to me privately that the strong smell would definitely keep people from getting close enough to spread their germs.</i><br />
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<i>Ned was well, Keira said, though the CPR shops were hotbeds of disease, as men who had symptoms still came to work, not wanting to stay home and lose pay. She and Ned thought the ban on public gatherings was being inconsistently enforced and that its aim was to prevent unions from holding meetings and planning for the November civic election. The Trades and Labour Council was sending a delegation to the mayor and council asking that those laid off their jobs because of the ban on public gatherings, like theatre employees and musicians, be compensated for their lost wages. I was lucky; teachers continued to get paid.</i><br />
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<i>Dad phoned me from the Prosper General Store to ask how I was and whether there was news of Baz. There wasn't.....On the 8th and 9th of October, the Canadians and some British army units took the town of Cambrai, and on October 11th the Canadian corps was relieved, but we didn't hear anything from Baz.</i><br />
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<i>Dad said I'd probably get a letter soon and changed the subject back to the flu. There were no cases at present in Prosper, but in other small towns there were. In Carman, three of the four doctors had fallen ill, leaving just the one to tend patients for forty miles around. At our home, all was well. The local school and Prosper Collegiate were still open.</i><br />
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<i>"Your old suitor, Mr. York, was by a few days ago," he said jokingly. "He just got back from overseas and dropped in on us to see if we'd board his child. He wants the little lad nearer so he can see him more often. Marta said yes."</i><br />
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<i>He said goodbye, then, asking me to keep the family informed about my health, and telling me not to worry about them. "Way out here in the country, no germs can reach us.</i><br />
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<br />Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-64015250906295732592020-07-06T11:12:00.003-07:002020-07-06T11:12:39.785-07:00The Flu Epidemic Sections of Votes, "Love and War"In my novel, <i>Votes, Love and War</i> (Ottawa, Baico, 2019 ISBN 978-1-77216-191-5, $32), my central character, Charlotte, writes of her experiences during the heyday of the Manitoba women's suffrage movement and World War I. These experiences include the "Spanish" flu epidemic of 1918-1919. One of my readers told me that the novel is especially relevant today as we experience the Covid-19 pandemic.<div>
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Canada in 1918-1919 was much less prepared for a pandemic than Canada of 2020, and the virus was not the same, in that the 1918-1919 flu struck down people in the prime of life, while in 2020 the elderly seem to be the most susceptible - though in both instances there were many exceptions to the pattern. In both epidemics, person-to-person transmission seems to have been the reason for the spread of the virus.</div>
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The 1918-19 flu was called "Spanish" because there seemed to be more cases in Spain than in other countries. Actually, some of the first reported cases were in an army barracks in Kansas. Spain was probably more honest in reporting its statistics, while the countries at war in 1918 did not report the full incidence of the epidemic for fear it would interfere with morale. The historian Eslett Wynne Jones has written an informative book about the impact of the pandemic of 1918-19 on Winnipeg.</div>
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I've decided to share some portions of <i>Votes, Love and War</i> to show how my fictional Charlotte, a young teacher, and her mother-in-law, Elizabeth Weaver, cope with the 1918-1919 pandemic. Charlotte's young husband, Baz, is overseas at war at the time. See below:</div>
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<i>In March 1918, Mrs. Weaver drew my attention to a news item about an influenza epidemic at a military camp in Kansas. Having lost her doctor husband to typhoid, she was interested in communicable diseases. I listened with mild concern but didn't think much about it. We'd all had the flu at one time or another; it was seldom life-threatening except in the cases of the frail elderly and fragile infants. My worries were focussed on Baz... (pp. 341-342)...</i></div>
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<i>In late August, cases were reported in the Eastern United States where some of the victims died within twenty-four hours of exhibiting symptoms. Mrs. Weaver consulted her husband's medical books and said that this virulent flu was "mutating" - changing slightly into new strains for which there was no vaccine. The crowding and movement of troops, the weakened condition of both soldiers and civilians in Europe, the dirty living conditions of the war - all contributed to its spread... (p. 346)...</i></div>
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<i>Meanwhile, cases had been reported in Newfoundland and the disease seemed to be creeping westward. Next, cases were reported in Montreal and Toronto. On September 30th the Winnipeg Tribune headlined: "Fifteen Spanish Flu Victims will Reach City Tonight. The sick men were on a troop train from Quebec, bound for Vancouver, thence to Siberia to fight against the Bolsheviks. According to the Tribune, all the men had been healthy on leaving Fort William. When the</i> <i>train got to Winnipeg, the sick men were taken to the convalescent soldiers' home run by the Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire. Other ill soldiers had been dropped off at military hospitals en route. On October 3rd, the Tribune reported that two of the soldiers had died. A third died on October 9th. The Tribune claimed that men who were supposed to be quarantined had been allowed out to attend movies, thus spreading the disease to the community.... (pp. 346-7)</i></div>
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<i>With a mask over my nose and mouth, I went out and bought menthol, cough medicine and lemons, which were much in demand. Meanwhile the death toll mounted in Eastern Cities... Winnipeg public health officer Dr Alexander Douglas introduced a fifty dollar fine for anyone caught spitting in the street. In a public statement he told the sick to go to bed and everyone else to avoid crowds... As of midnight, October 12th, all public meeting places were ordered closed, including churches, movie theatres, libraries and schools.</i></div>
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<i>"You're getting a vacation!" Elizabeth told me. I smiled, but neither of us felt lighthearted."</i></div>
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To be continued in next posting.</div>
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Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-91304908593044238562020-06-29T13:55:00.003-07:002020-06-29T13:55:23.943-07:00Always a Bridesmaid - not true, actuallyAs someone very fortunate in winning writing contests over my many years of writing, I shouldn't complain about being an honourable mention in two recent contests, My short story, "Sometimes Crime Pays" was a H.M. in the Capital Crime Writers' Audrey Jessup short story contest this June.<br />
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Also, I was recently informed that three of the poems I entered in The Ontario Poetry Society's "Rain on the Brain" contest won honourable mentions.<br />
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It's always a thrill to win something or get published. My review of Isabel Allende's new novel, <i>A Long Petal of the Sea</i>, appeared recently in <i>Compulsive Reader</i>. Here is the link<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-decoration-line: underline;">http://www.compulsivereader.</span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-decoration-line: underline;">com/2020/06/16/a-review-of-a-</span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-decoration-line: underline;">long-petal-of-the-sea-by-</span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-decoration-line: underline;">isabel-allende/</span>Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-75250319577083004792020-05-31T06:10:00.003-07:002020-05-31T06:15:11.703-07:00Co-authoring a story with Sheila FergusonA writer can learn a lot from co-writing a story with another author. Recently Sheila Ferguson (a member of the Emerald Plaza writers' group that I used to facilitate in pre-Covid-19 days) and I decided to collaborate on a short story using the prompt below: Write a story about a runaway bride. We took turns, each contributing to the plot and providing interesting detail. I found it fun to see what she'd come up with next. Sheila then went through the manuscript, pruned out extraneous detail and put it in chronological order. Here it is:<br />
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THE PROMPT: WRITE A STORY ABOUT A RUNAWAY BRIDE.<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ellery was a young lady of twenty-one, who was planning to marry the love of her life, Tom, on their special day. As she was getting ready for the wedding, an urge to bolt came over her while she was in the ladies' parlor of the church. As she looked out the window, she saw the florist’s van pull to the side of the church and her mother-in-law and bridesmaids ran to meet him because he was late. There was a mix-up at the florists. Ellery was alone in the deserted room in her satin bridal gown. Looking into the mirror, she thought she was seeing a ghost, she was so pale.<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“ If only my mother was here?” she thought. But her mother had died nine months ago of cancer. “What am I doing here?” she asked herself. Then, out of the blue, she looked around, grabbed somebody’s raincoat off the coat hook by the door and put it on. She then went into her mother-in-law’s purse and took the keys to her car. She dashed out the door, along the hall, down the stairs, past the Sunday School room, and out the fire escape to the car. She sped down the main drag that led to the bridge out of town. She was way out of town before realizing what she was doing and where she was going. She slowed down and decided to go to the old cottage her grandfather owned to clear her head. “Nobody will ever think of looking for me there,” she thought. “It has been closed down for years.”<br />
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As Ellery was driving down the paved road heading towards the cottage some forty miles from the church, she finally got to the bumpy dirt road to the cottage. As she proceeded, she heard a loud bang. She stopped the car and got out. “Oh no, what am I going to do now? I have a flat tire.” It was getting dark and she had her wedding dress on. She could not possibly change a tire now. She turned off the car and started to walk the short distance to the cottage. As she walked, she thought, “This dirt road is no good for my satin shoes.”<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When she got to the cottage, she was cold and tired. Even though it was May, it had not warmed up much as of yet. “Now, if only I can remember how Granddad did the fire.” She put in some of the wood that he'd left stacked by the cabin door, then crumpled some old newspaper on top of it. She turned the damper the way he used to do and she hoped the chimney would draw the air. One year something blocked the chimney and the cabin filled with smoke. Grandpa had to climb up on the roof where he removed an old bird’s nest.<br />
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The fire started. Ellery sat down on the couch, put the old blanket around her to warm up and left the coat on as well to protect her wedding dress. She waited for the place to warm and planned what to do next. “Tomorrow I will see if there are any old clothes here to change into and walk back to the car, fix the flat and bring the car back to the cottage.” She was tired so she lay down and slept. Early in the morning she walked back to the car. While she was walking, she was going over in her head how to change a tire. She had only done it once before. That was when she met her fiancé Tom some two years ago. He was tall and handsome. He worked as a bank manager in the town of Osgoode.<br />
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She fixed the tire, drove back to the cottage and sat and enjoyed the morning sun on the balcony for a while. Feeling a little hungry, she remembered that Tom’s mother always kept drinks and chips in the trunk for when she picked up Tom at the train station when he came home to visit. She went to see what there was. She had a drink and ate a bag of chips. That would hold her over till later.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>She then went inside to think. They would be looking for her for sure. She could not stay there forever. She could not take the car. While she was deciding what to do next, she cleaned away the spider webs all over the walls. Maybe it would be a good idea to leave this afternoon, the sooner the better.<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>She remembered Grandpa always kept maps on the book shelf in the living room, so she got a kitchen chair to stand on. As she reached up to get the maps down, the chair slipped from under her. She landed hard on her back and lay there for a while before she got up.<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Now how can I walk to the highway? I hurt all over.” She took two Tylenols, lay down and fell asleep. When she woke her back was slightly better, but she didn’t feel well enough to hike through the bush to the highway and flag a car down, especially in the middle of the night. Traffic would be thin, she might not get a ride, and who knew what sort of people would be out in the early hours of the morning?<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Her idea was to hitch a ride to a city of about 80,000 people about two hours to the south, where some friends of her late grandparents used to live. This couple, in their early seventies, missed her grandparents as much as she did. Tom’s mother had invited so many guests to the wedding that this elderly pair hadn’t made the list of invitees. They would understand why she’d run away and would let her stay until she figured out what to do next.<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ellery had always imagined a fall wedding at the church she and Tom attended, then pictures at the little park at the end of the road. A simple buffet style meal, music and dancing, then they would drive off into the sunset. But Tom’s mother had invited so many people Ellerys did not even know and arranged for a full hot meal. Also, she'd hired a band to play some kind of old fashioned music, not Ellery's idea at all. When she tried to tell Tom, all he did was agree with his mother.<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Enough day dreaming. I should be off,” she told herself. So through the woods she went. She knew she had to get to the highway as soon as possible as it had been forty-eight hours since she went missing and Tom would have gone to the police by now. They might even have figured out where she had gone.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As she walked quickly through the woods, there was a noise behind her. Then she heard a voice calling her name. She stopped.<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Ellery, stop! It’s me, Tom.” Tom came to her and said “Why did you leave?”<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“You would not listen to me. I wanted a small fall wedding. Let me go.”<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>She broke loose and ran down the path. As she did, she hit a ground hog hole and down she fell. Her head struck a boulder on the path. It knocked her out. Tom picked her up, took her back to the cabin, put some cold water on her head and suggested that they go and see a doctor.<br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>While the doctor was checking her out. Tom called his mother to tell her that he’d found Ellery and that she was all right. That evening Ellery and Tom talked and he said he was sorry that he let his mother manage the wedding. “If you still want to get married,” he said, “we will plan it ourselves.”<br />
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<br />Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-66345940811622503952020-05-11T04:59:00.003-07:002020-05-11T05:02:53.164-07:00"Missing You", a list poemBelow is a "list poem" that I wrote for a presentation I gave at St. Mark's Church over a year ago, on why seniors should write. The poem began with a list of favourite clothing I've had over the years. Participants in the workshop made lists that were wonderfully varied. One woman listed favourite smells. Another participant listed the Latin names for bacteria. Someone else listed a pet's charming traits. Another listed garden flowers.<br />
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Elizabeth Barrett Browning's famous sonnet, "How Do I Love Thee?" is a list poem. There are plenty of song lyrics that are essentially lists, two being"If I Had a Million Dollars", recorded by the Bare Naked Ladies, and "I've Been Everywhere," recorded by Johnny Cash. Try writing a list poem.<br />
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MISSING YOU<br />
by Ruth Latta<br />
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Instead of sending you away, I truly wish I’d let you stay.<br />
I was a fool to act in haste, although you didn’t go to waste.<br />
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My blue dress with the tiny rose - I miss you more than you’d suppose.<br />
My jacket, brown, in fine suede leather, I know that we looked good together.<br />
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My warm and furry Orlon hat: this winter I regretted that<br />
I gave you up, so bright and red. You’re gracing someone else’s head<br />
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My long cream coat with real mink collar, you made me look so chic, and taller.<br />
I said goodbye to a green suit, though photos show it looked quite cute.<br />
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I packed you up to give the needy, now wish I hadn’t been so speedy<br />
I never stopped to think, back then, that styles keep coming round again.Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-20197350042554026542020-05-07T09:22:00.003-07:002020-05-07T09:22:25.505-07:00"Epiphany"This poem appeared in the literary magazine Tickled by Thunder and in my chapbook, How to Remember.<br />
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EPIPHANY<br />
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When in Tim Horton's, I once chanced to see<br />
a baby in a stroller shriek with glee.<br />
My instant thought: "Thank God it isn't mine.<br />
It's someone else's and I think that's fine."<br />
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Its grand-dad fed it teaspoons-full of mush,<br />
then turned back to his own meal, didn't rush.<br />
The baby then began to scream and roar<br />
and threw its rattle on the grimy floor.<br />
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The mother fed it more; she did not know<br />
that next it would start sucking on its toe.<br />
At least that kept it quiet, stopped the scream<br />
that knifed right through me like a dreadful dream.<br />
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Then, in dismay, a thought came to my mind:<br />
In my old photo albums I can find<br />
another blond, pink baby filled with glee.<br />
The baby in the stroller looked like me.Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7985823475170925971.post-9988991242386013242020-05-02T04:32:00.000-07:002020-05-02T04:32:17.596-07:00"Writer's Stew"This poem was written for an anthology on cookery published by the Ontario Poetry Society. My poem , "A Cake", was chosen for inclusion instead.<div>
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WRITER'S STEW</div>
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On the check-out line conveyor</div>
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she puts parsnips for their flavour,</div>
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for, without a sweetish touch,</div>
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critics will not like it much.</div>
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Chicken cubes? A protein note?</div>
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Saltiness may lose the vote</div>
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of the editors' committee.</div>
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Will these pundits say, "Too gritty."</div>
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Boring 'taters' must be peeled.</div>
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Should a writer wait to feel</div>
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inspired, or put in the hours?</div>
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Florets make up cauliflowers.</div>
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Onions, now. Their odour clings.</div>
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Cutting them, an insight brings.</div>
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Slice of life in every layer.</div>
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Tearful secrets hidden there.</div>
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Piquant, with its lacy leaves,</div>
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celery hints, withholds, deceives.</div>
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Add the carrots. Choose pre-washed.</div>
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Take a short-cut. Now the squash.</div>
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Picking up her shopping bags</div>
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she walks tall - no shoulder sags.</div>
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All together, her ingredients</div>
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blend into a work of genius.</div>
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(c) Ruth Latta, 2020</div>
Ruth Lattahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10793302466375641568noreply@blogger.com0