The Sweetheart Season by Karen Joy Fowler
It’s 1947 in Magrit, Minnesota, and the men haven’t come back from the war. Not that there were many men to start with, judging by the very short list of them in the opening chapters… It mainly follows Irini, a spirited 19 year old who works in the testing kitchens at the factory that is the heart of the town, best known for its cereal Sweetwheats. The book is narrated by Irini’s daughter, who begins with a caveat that she lies and so did her mother when she recounted the story, so any or all of the events might be a falsified. When the owner of the factory is looking for ways to promote his cereal over that of the rivals, he decides to buy a chimp and dress it up as the figurehead of Sweetwheats. His wife suggests that they start an all-girls baseball team, who can tour the local area and play the boys teams, promoting the factory and looking for husbands all at once. The team has to overcome the rivalries between Upper- and Lower-Magrit, between siblings and between other towns to become a success. Meanwhile, someone is writing controversial answers to the Agony Aunt column in the Sweetwheats newsletter and suspicion is directed at Irini.
A description of the events of the book makes it sound like there are actually events in the book. There aren’t. Not a great deal happens. Sometimes some of the characters go for a walk in the woods. Then they come back. There’s a sauna built at one point, but then everyone leaves the sauna and it’s still cold outside. Irini apparently isn’t very good at cooking, so the recipes created in the test kitchen are given to her to try, as if she can make it, so can anyone. There’s a fair amount of loose description of cooking, or drinking, or walking, or talking.
I so wanted to enjoy the book. I can’t even say I didn’t enjoy it, it’s just… nothing happened in it. The most climatic moment in the whole thing was when a bus carrying the Sweetwheat Sweethearts (as the team is called) crashes and rolls over, but no-one is really hurt and then they go home again, after spending the night in a nearby Summer Camp that was empty (as it isn’t summer). Oh, spoilers by the way. Sorry.
meh.
PS. Sorry about not updating the blog on Thursday, like I said I would. I could make an excuse about the keyboard (which is still a bit on the sticky side) or being busy or something, but truth is I suck at timekeeping! Anyhow – stay tuned for the next installment. I’m sure it’ll be dreadfully exciting.
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