One Thing Stolen by Beth Kephart

In 1966, the River Arno  overflowed its banks and flooded the city of Florence. The resulting 600,000 tons of mud, rubble and sewage that flowed through the city’s streets damaged or destroyed millions of masterpieces of art and rare books, as well as displacing 5,000 families. This despair was overshadowed by Mud Angels, people from around the world, who also flooded into Florence to help remove the mud and sludge and help restore both the city and the antiquities.

In One Thing Stolen, Beth Kephart (my favorite author) contrasts the despair and hope described above with the despair and hope of Nadia Caras, a seventeen year old girl in Florence for her professor father’s sabbatical, who suddenly has trouble verbalizing. It is her best friend, her family and a doctor, who provide the hope that she will regain her communication skills.

Although Nadia is supposed to be her father’s right hand during his research of the 1966 flood, she is losing herself in Florence. She is barely sleeping. She, inexplicably, has the urge to steal things, many of which end up in the intricate nests she weaves and hides under her bed. As she wanders the city alone, against her parents’ wishes, she runs into Benedetto, a young boy who steals flowers. He shows up in the oddest places, often giving Nadia a flower. The problem is that no one other than Nadia has seen him.

As Nadia begins to lose herself and think herself crazy, her link to sanity is finding Benedetto. However as much as she searches, he does not want to be found.

Beth Kephart has layered her stories here. There are the constant flashbacks of Nadia and her best friend, Maggie, in Philadelphia, when Nadia was in full control, when she was the one with all the ideas, the leader of the two person pack, in contrast to Nadia’s struggles now. There is the story of Nadia’s father’s empty notebook, his story of the flood more resembling a drought. There is the story of Nadia’s brother Jack and his budding love affair with the beautiful Perdita. And there is Katherine, a Mud Angel, a doctor and her father’s friend who devotes herself to helping Nadia.

While the story is an unusual one (I can’t think of any comparable plot), it is the descriptive use of language that makes any Beth Kephart book special. It is through this language that we get the feel of Florence, its alleyways, its cobblestone streets, its cathedrals, its myriad of markets blanketing the bridges over the Arno. It is through language that we understand Nadia’s frustration with herself, her fear that she might be going crazy. It’s through language that we understand all the different types of nests that birds construct (who knew?).

If you want a literary treat, read a Beth Kephart book (adult or young adult), my favorites being: One Thing Stolen, Nothing But Ghosts, Small Damages and You Are My Only….heck I love them all.

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Using Words to Paint a Picture

I was thinking about this this morning. But it really started yesterday when I was chatting with Beth Kephart at Books of Wonder (which is a marvelous children’s bookstore–be prepared to buy when you get there…but that’s another post). Beth asked me how I liked a book by another author who was signing there and I said I liked the book, but it wasn’t literary.

That started me thinking. What made Beth’s book worth buying and having in my personal library while the other book was enjoyable but borrowed from my public library? Most of the authors I read tell you stories. By the end of the book you know what happened, have a good sense of the characters, their thoughts and feelings and come away satisfied.

With Beth’s books, though, you know more. You know what the characters look like, whether they have straight or frizzy hair, whether they comb it to the side, whether it looks like a bird’s nest or a waterfall. You know what the sky looks like, its color, texture, whether there are clouds and if so, what their shapes are and whether they are moving or static. You know what the trees look like, the sound the leaves make as they sway in the wind, the texture of the bark.

Of Estela in Small Damages I wrote: “…perfection. The image of brusque, plump Estela, the cook who does not give love easily, but once she does it is with her whole heart and soul, is vivid.”

About Flow: The Life and Times of the Schuylkill River, I quoted “Blueback herring and eel, alewife and shad muscle in to my wide blue heart, and through… The stony backs of snapping turtles on the shore, muskrat, shrew, and from the unlanterned forest, the bark of a fox, the skith skith skith of snakes over leaves…..”

One author uses pen and paper (do they still do that or is it keyboard and monitor?) to relate a story, a set of events. Another converts that electronic medium into a canvas, rich in color and texture. While there is room for both kinds of books, it is this latter kind of book that ends up in my bookcase.

I’ve described some of Beth’s books as ‘ethereal’ in texture. Some more so and some less. But they are all canvases upon which you will see a broad array of colors and textures, shades and lines through which you will visualize the world you are reading about.

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Beth Kephart

I have been a fan of Beth Kephart and her writing ever since I read House of Dance several years ago. I don’t even remember what prompted me to read it. However, since then I own and have read all of her young adult fiction and most of her adult non-fiction. As I said, I’m a big fan.

This virtual world of ours allows us to become “friends” with people without ever having met them in person or spoken one word to them. And so it has been with Beth and me for several years now. We have let each other into our lives a bit, gotten to know each other through “status updates” and emails and especially through Beth’s blog posts. I’ve come to admire Beth because of her marvelous books, tales of her teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, her ability to balance a crowded business life, writing life, dance life and family life and most of all for her obvious caring about family, friends and fans. All of this through online activity.

Well, today I had the pleasure of meeting Beth in person and it truly was a pleasure. Many of us have had the opportunity of meeting someone we’ve admired from afar and that person has not lived up to the high expectations we’ve set for them. Not so with Beth. I found her to be charming and warm and it felt like we were old friends right from the beginning. Along with being a talented author, Beth nurtures other authors and seeing her banter today with A.S. King makes one understand why writers, both established and novice, seek out her guidance.

I don’t lavish praise often, Beth, but meeting you, finally, has been a highlight. You have made my life brighter through your writing and your friendship. Thank you! I hope our friendship lasts for many years and we meet often.

And for those of you who are uninitiated, while I love all of Beth’s books, I’ll admit that I have certain favorites. In the Young Adult arena, they are (in alphabetical order) Dangerous Neighbors, Nothing But Ghosts and Small Damages and in the adult arena Flow, Ghosts in the Garden and Still Love in Strange Places. Susan’s favorites are Undercover and You Are My Only.

Today was a very special day for me for many reasons, meeting Beth being just one of them. I hope everyone had something special happen to them today. More coming soon.

Goodnight to all.

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