Wish You Were Here

 by: Rita Mae Brown

Libby eBook pagination dependent upon font size

Published: 2004

Genre: realistic fiction plus animal thoughts

A friend recommended this to me when I mentioned how much I enjoyed the animals' point of view in the Chet and Bernie mystery series. I had a hard time getting into this book and seriously thought about returning it unfinished.

The main character is the postmistress "Harry." I don't recall what her real name is and this moniker is from her soon-to-be-ex-husband's last name "Haristeen." I just looked - her name is Mary Minor Haristeen. But everyone calls her "Harry." Her cat Mrs. Murphy and her corgi dog Tucker share their side of the story. Crozet, Virginia is a small town where everybody is in everybody else's business. There were so many characters! It was a bit challenging to figure them out for a while. Oh! And Harry's spouse was named "Pharamond Haristeen" and went by "Fair."

A businessman is found dead in a cement mixer. A businesswoman is found in pieces after being tied to railroad tracks (she was already dead). Harry is snooping for clues and shooting her mouth.

This book wasn't one I'll eagerly read the rest of the series for. I did highlight a few passages, though.

Chapter 1: "What I'm getting at is that maybe we don't know one another as well as we think we do. It's a small-town illusion - thinking we know each other." 

 

Susan and Harry are talking about who the killer might be. 

Chapter 2: "Something had happened to America within Harry's life span, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but something she could feel, sharply. There was no contest between God and the golden calf. Money was God, these days. Little pieces of green paper with dead people's pictures on them were worshipped. (sic) People no longer killed for love. They killed for money. How odd to be alive in a time of spiritual famine."

This disheartening sentiment is sadly too close to the truth. The author herself isn't particularly spiritual, though. 

Chapter 2: "Heaven was all very fine but you had to die to get there. Harry wasn't afraid to die but she wouldn't refuse to live either."

Harry is reflecting on Mrs. Hogendobber - the characteristically overbearing, obnoxious, self-righteous Christian. Harry observes that she "vainly clung to a belief system that had lost its power."

Chapter 10: "Mom used to say, 'A woman marries a man hoping to change him and a man marries a woman hoping she'll never change.'"

That's an interesting notion. It fit for Harry's marriage.

Chapter 10: "By the time Harry cleaned up the mess she was too tired to discipline them. To her credit, she understood that this was punishment for her leaving. She understood, but was loath to admit that the animals trained her far better than she trained them."

I get this! Animals can be super effective at training their humans. 

Chapter 11 and another chapter had a group of animals talking about how humans don't kill the sick young like animals do. This made sense from the animals' point of view, but was a little concerning . . . at what age do we decide a "sick" person (e.g. a killer) should be put to death? Who decides? 

Chapter 17: "What worried him was the example he set. He didn't want to be a slave to his job but he didn't want to be too lazy either. He didn't want to be too stern but he didn't want to be too lax. He didn't want to treat his son any differently from his daughter but he knew he did."

Ned was a great character, but we didn't see much of him other than disciplining his son for pulling $500 out of Ned's account. 

Toward the end of the book, a character referenced the "War of Northern Aggression," and though I've heard of that name for the Civil War, it's a bit unsettling.