The Death of the Heart

The Death of the Heart, by Elizabeth Bowen, turns up on so many recommended lists, and now, finally, I have read it and agree. What was I waiting for? Really, I had looked for it before at the library, and finally it turned up in the library sale, along with others recommended in The Writer's Library, exactly when I needed them. I kept picturing this girl on the cover as Portia, the main character, or my niece, keeping things interesting and personal. Indeed, it's all personal to Portia...but not to the others, until, suddenly, it sort of is. As it must be, I suppose, to avoid the death of the heart.

I also read Waiting for the Parade, a play by John Murrell, that takes place in Alberta, Canada during World War II. A cast of 5 women, 20s to 50s, so a good one to recommend to local theatres. I saw it at Steppenwolf in the 1980s and never forgot Rondi Reed's wonderful performance as Marta, the German woman. 

And now I am waiting for the Labor Day Parade, on Monday. I'll be walking in it as a Democrat, in blue, with a blue mask. Plus, I've been feeling a little blue. It helped to pull a lot of weeds along the fences, and hack away various branches from volunteer maple trees, if I could not pull them up by the roots.