Unjustly Ignored, Willa Cather Tale Remains Haunting

To my amazement, not one of Willa Cather’s books was on anyone’s list of 100 best (last month when the Modern Library listed its choices of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century). She was one of the most distinguished American authors--a strong woman’s voice at a time when women’s voices were expected to be weak.

“The Professor’s House,” published in 1925, was written when Cather was middle-aged. It has a quality of sorrow and disillusion, of disappointment and hopes unfulfilled. It is the story of college professor Godfrey St. Peter.

After publication of his lifelong scientific work, his wife has built a new house. He is unable to make the transition, continuing to rent and work in his old house. The priorities of his attractive, social wife and his two married daughters cause him to feel alienated.

His life has been irrevocably altered by his friendship with a former student, a brilliant outsider who was killed in action during World War I. The legacy of this student (named Tom Outland) engulfs St. Peter’s entire family--a legacy of dissension, sorrow, regret and a great deal of money. Tom’s presence haunts the reader as well as the book’s characters.

DOROTHY E. DEMKE

Claremont

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The book just removed from my night table is JoAnn Levy’s novel “Daughter of Joy.” It opens when a Chinese woman, Ah Toy, arrives in Gold Rush-era San Francisco. We travel inside the mind of Ah Toy as she struggles to survive in a hostile and foreign land, equipped only with the wisdom and customs of her native country. Memorable characters, mostly taken from history, work to harm and to help Ah Toy as the larger events of the 1850s sweep over all of them.

I can still smell the dust of Kearny Street, hear the creak of wagons going by and feel the heat from the fires San Francisco suffered in those years. I can think of no better way to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the Gold Rush than to transport yourself to 1850s San Francisco with “Daughter of Joy.”

LYGIA IONNITIU

Agoura Hills

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Bob Sweikert, a handsome Los Angeles-born, Hayward-reared race driver, was best known for winning the 1955 Indianapolis 500. “Along for the Ride: A Love Story” is a heart-tugging account by his wife, Dorie Sweikert, of their love from the day they met at Hayward High School until his death, 13 months after his memorable win at Indianapolis, when his sprint car left the high-banked track at Salem, Ind.

From his days as a roadster racer to Indy, the photogenic, charismatic Sweikert was acknowledged as one of America’s greatest racing drivers during one of the sport’s deadliest periods. Dorie, who knew little of his passion for race cars until their marriage, was at the scene of his death. Her riveting book details their love, their trials and tribulations, and her effort to understand racing’s hold on him.

BOB SHAFER

Simi Valley

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Written by a native of Rio de Janeiro in the 1800s and later translated into English, “Dom Casmurro” by Machado de Assis continues to refresh readers with the realization of how closely related American culture is to cultures around the world. The youthful love that Dom Casmurro experiences with his next-door neighbor, Capitu, is like that of many childhood romances in American suburbia. And the issue of adultery, revealed in the face of a child, stings the reader with the reality of its consequences. De Assis relays his story to the reader as though they simply were having a conversation over breakfast at a Rio eatery.

KAREN CRARY

San Juan Capistrano

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Praise the Lord and pass the cheesecake! I was living to eat, not eating to live, but I have broken free by reading Gwen Shamblin’s “The Weigh Down Diet.” Now I eat what I like. I don’t count calories or fat grams and I don’t even have to exercise. I read the book in two days and have been following Shamblin’s advice for one week. I have lost five pounds and know this is an answer to my prayers.

STEPHANIE MUNYON

Yucca Valley

* What’s that book in your beach bag (or carry-on, or on your night table)? Is it any good? Send us a review! We’re especially interested in hearing about fiction that you don’t find reviewed in The Times, but feel free to send us your opinions of whatever it is you are reading.

Keep the reviews short (200 words, tops) and send them (with your phone number) to Readers Reviews, Life & Style, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or fax them to (213) 237-0732. We’ll print the most interesting ones every other week. Sorry, but no submissions can be returned.