Remembering for Ruth: True Confessions

We’ve reached the conclusion in Sheila LaGrand’s Remembering for Ruth serial novel. And now it’s time for true confessions.

The story so far: Paul and Margot Goodharte live in Calfornia, and are caring for Paul's mother, who suffers from Alzherimer's disease. Paul is a pastor; his black sheep brother Matthew shows up and seems to have had something of a black-sheep shedding experience. He becomes interested in next-door neighbor Sue, and the family has a coincidental meeting with Matthew's estranged daughter Amelia. The dog of former neighbors of the Goodhartes is left to them to care for, and Ruth becomes attached to him, naming him Zorro. The dog turns out to be a specially trained schutzhund, and obeys numerous commands -- in German. Amelia is invited to spend some time with the family, and when she arrives, she runs into immediate conflict with Matthew.

Then the family discovers Ruth is missing. The police are called in; the news media arrive; and Mrs. Delsey, the church busybody, organizes young people at the church for to help in the search and provide refreshments (in case you ever wondered, churches can’t do anything with food). A reporter talks to Mrs. Delsey, who lets her disapproval of the pastor’s wife slip into something of an accusation as to why Ruth is missing.

In “True Confessions,” the final installment of the novel, the police arrive to question Margot. Zorro the dog, despite the best efforts of the humans in the story, seems to know where Ruth is. Without giving too much of the story away, let’s just say it ends well.

The serial novel originated in the 17^th century, when books were expensive; publishing in installments could help create a wider audience by bringing the cost down. It reached its height of popularity in the 19^th century; large novels were often written in installments (what Charles Dickens often referred to as “numbers”) and published monthly. The 19^th century witnessed an explosion in literacy; Dickens (for one) rode that wave and became famous as a result.  So did Alexandre Dumas with The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. In the United States, the first novel to be serialized was Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1851, serialized in an abolitionist publication. Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.  

The rise of broadcasting in the 20^th century led to a decline in serialized fiction; stories were serialized on radio and later on television (ever wonder where the term “TV series” came from?). But radio largely abandoned serialized stories after the 1950s, leaving the concept to television. In 1984, Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities was serialized in Rolling Stone before being published in book-length form, but it was something of an outlier – until the internet. Web sites, online publications and eventually ebooks (of which Remembering for Ruth is one) have revived the serial form of published fiction.

So Sheila LaGrand’s Remembering for Ruth finds itself in good historical company. The print version of the entire book is scheduled to be published this fall.

Photograph by Peter Griffin via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

Sheila LaGrand’s Remembering for Ruth, Part 6: Police, Pizza, and Paparazzi

We’re approaching the conclusion of Sheila LaGrand’s Remembering for Ruth serialized novel, and the pace is quickening. 

The story so far: Paul and Margot Goodharte live in Calfornia, and are caring for Paul's mother, who suffers from Alzherimer's disease. Paul is a pastor; his black sheep brother Matthew shows up and seems to have had something of a black-sheep shedding experience. He becomes interested in next-door neighbor Sue, and the family has a coincidental meeting with Matthew's estranged daughter Amelia. The dog of former neighbors of the Goodhartes is left to them to care for, and Ruth becomes attached to him, naming him Zorro. The dog turns out to be a specially trained schutzhund, and obeys numerous commands -- in German. Amelia is invited to spend some time with the family, and when she arrives, she runs into immediate conflict with Matthew. And then the family discovers Ruth is missing. 

Part Six – Police, Pizza, and Paparazzi – focuses on the search for Ruth. The police are called in, Mrs. Delsey (the church busybody) gets involved and organizes the church’s youth group, and Matthew and Amelia set conflict aside while they search together for Matthew’s missing mother. The publicity-hungry mayor arrives, as does the news-hungry television news crew. The church busybody is only too happy to point the finger of blame at Margot Goodharte (author LaGrand has her do this effortlessly – drawing a picture of a church “type” we may all have experienced).

And then there’s the dog, Zorro – the dog sense something the people don’t. I kept wanting to shout, “Follow the dog! Follow the dog!” But you know how characters in a story are – they never listen to the reader.

I suspect LaGrand is enjoying writing the story. The basic premise – loving and caring for a patient with Alzheimer’s disease – is a serious one, but LaGrand keeps it from overpowering the characters and the plot. She uses occasional moments of laughter and even hilarity to leaven the seriousness. And she includes recipes of the foods mentioned in the story -- in this installment, they are pizza, crock pot oatmeal, and "Shredded Fiesta Chicken."

I’ll have to wait a few weeks to find out what happens to the church busybody. I have some suggestions, and know a place LaGrand can buy tar and feathers.

Photograph by RonMzr via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

Sheila Lagrand’s “Remembering for Ruth: Something in the Water”

I could get used to the serial format of publication.

Part 5 of Sheila Lagrand’s Remembering for Ruth serialized novel has now been published. Entitled Something in the Water, it continues the story of the Goodharte family.

The story so far: Paul and Margot Goodharte live in California, and are caring for Paul’s mother, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Paul is a pastor; his black sheep brother Matthew shows up and seems to have had something of a black-sheep shedding experience. He becomes interested in next-door neighbor Sue, and the family has a coincidental meeting with Matthew’s estranged daughter Amelia. The dog of former neighbors of the Goodhartes is left to them to care for, and Ruth becomes closely attached to him, naming him Zorro. The dog turns out to be a specially trained schutzhund. And Amelia is invited to spend some time with the family she never knew.

In Something in the Water, everyone manages to have a bad day except for the dog. Matthew gets too overbearing with daughter Amelia, and Sue has to tell him to ease up. Best friends Margot and Sue have a fight. Brothers Paul and Matthew have an argument, and Matthew storms out. An elderly church member is upset with the flower arrangements for worship services. Alzheimer’s patient Ruth has good moments and bad moments. The dog, Zorro, however, shows some of what he’s been trained for.

And then the family discovers Ruth is missing.

At the end of each installment, Lagrand usually includes a recipe or two from the story. And I was expecting to see recipes for overnight waffle batter and something called “glom.” But something must have been in the water.

Photograph by Maliz Ong via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

Sheila Lagrand’s “Remembering for Ruth: A Room for Amelia”

We’ve reached part four in Sheila Lagrand’s Remembering for Ruth: A Room for Amelia.

To recap the story so far:

Paul and Margot Goodharte live in California, and are caring for Paul’s mother, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Paul is a pastor; his black sheep brother Matthew shows up and seems to have had something of a black-sheep shedding experience (or maybe that’s shearing instead of shedding). Matthew becomes interested in next-door neighbor Sue, and the family has a coincidental meeting with Matthew’s estranged daughter Amelia. The dog of former neighbors of the Goodhartes is left to them to care for, and Ruth becomes closely attached to him, naming him Zorro.

In A Room for Amelia, a dog trainer to help the family with Zorro. Actually, the trainer is there to help Margot overcome of fear of dogs, a result of being threatened by a dog when she was a child. The trainer discovers that Zorro is a specially trained dog, known as a schutzhund. Originally designed for German shepherds, the schutzhund program is what we associate today with dogs trained for police work, and includes many other breeds (Zorro in the story is an Airedale).

Lagrand also uses this installment of the serial to show part of the range of experiences an Alzheimer’s patient can have. Ruth moves quickly from normal lucidity to almost complete forgetfulness and back again. She’s talking normally with her family at the kitchen table one moment and then walks out of the shower dripping wet and into the hallway the next, forgetting she’s dripping wet and naked.

Also developing is the relationship between Matthew and Sue. Matthew’s daughter is coming to visit and will stay at Sue’s house, and Matthew helps Sue clean and paint the room. During the painting Sue tells Matthew of her difficult childhood and failed first marriage, and the accidental death of her second husband.

The next installment is coming in July, and I’m waiting to see what will happen when Amelia arrives, what role Zorro’s police training is going to play (I suspect there is one), and how Sue will overcome her fears about marriage to continue what is obviously becoming a love story with Matthew.

Photograph of an Airedale terrier by Charles Rondeau via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

Sheila Seiler Lagrand’s “Remembering for Ruth: The Bark of Zorro”

We’ve come to the third installment of Sheila Seiler Lagrand’s Remembering for Ruth serialized novel, and this one is entitled The Bark of Zorro.

The story so far: Paul and Margot Goodharte live in California, and are caring for Paul’s mother Ruth, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Paul’s something-of-a-black-sheep brother Matthew turns up, becomes interested in next-door neighbor Sue, and explains his intention to help care for Ruth. In The Bark of Zorro, Matthew and Sue take Ruth to visit a friend in the town where Matthew lives, and Matthew’s estranged daughter Amelia visits at the same time. Confrontation and tears follow, with lots of unanswered questions. In the meantime, after a welcome day of eating out and generally goofing off, Paul and Margot return home to find Zorro, the dog belonging to former neighbors, tied to their front porch.

Like the previous two installments, this one includes recipes at the end: chicken in lovely sauce, egg noodles, cranberry buttermilk coffee cake, cheater peanut butter kiss cookies, and mom’s meatloaf. (Lagrand likes sharing her recipes; I’m sure these are all non-fat and low-cal.)

If you’re interested in serial fiction, Wikipedia has a good article about it, and points out the following:

It became popular in 19^th century Victorian Britain, and The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens (1837) tremendously popularized the form.

It was equally popular in 19^th France, and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas ran to 139 installments (if Sheila’s runs this long, that means she will finish in January of 2024).

The form stayed popular until the mid-20^th century, likely done in by radio (which also did serial broadcasts) and then television.

Tom Wolfe published The Bonfire of the Vanities in serial form in Rolling Stone (27 installments) starting in 1984, and then revised it substantially when it was published a a formal novel. Other contemporary authors who have tried serial publication include Stephen King, Michael Chabon, Michael Faber, and Orson Scott Card.

No surprise: the rise of ebook publishing and the internet is renewing interest in serial publication, like Remembering for Ruth.

Related:

Remembering for Ruth, Part 1: Mitchell Meets Matthew

Remember for Ruth, Part 2: Paul Loves Snickerdoodles

Sheila Seiler Lagrand’s “Remembering for Ruth: Mitchell Meets Matthew”

Sheila Seiler Lagrand’s “Remembering for Ruth: Mitchell Meets Matthew”

Sheila Lagrand’s serial story continues.

Pastor Paul and Margot Goodharte live in Mitchell, California, where they care for Paul’s mother Ruth, who has Alzheimer’s Disease. In the first installment of this serialized novel, Lagrand set up with the story with a fall and injury for Margot, the return of Paul’s older brother Matthew, and Matthew’s interest in Sue, the next-door neighbor, Sue.

In the second installment, Mitchell Meets Matthew, new elements are introduced. Ruth keeps asking after Amelia, who turns out to be Matthew’s estranged daughter born out of wedlock decades earlier. A neighbor experiences a family tragedy. Matthew’s relationship with Sue continues to grow.

We’re beginning to see the major themes of the story emerge – reconciliation, grace, how a serious illness can provide blessing, and a little romance.

Related: My review of Remembering for Ruth: Paul Loves Snickerdoodles

Sheila Seiler Lagrand’s “Remembering for Ruth: Paul Loves Snickerdoodles”

In the 19^th century, one of the most popular magazine forms was the serial story – publishing succeeding episodes of a novel over an extended period, usually one episode or installment a month. Charles Dickens originally published most of novels this way, and both radio and television borrowed the idea for broadcast programs and soap operas.

I’d heard that the serial form had been making something of a comeback in print, or actually in e-print, especially for e-book readers like Kindle and Nook. But I hadn’t actually seen in until I read Sheila Seiler Lagrand’s Remembering for Ruth: Paul Loves Snickerdoodles (try saying “snickerdoodle” with a straight face; I can’t).

This is the first installment of a serialized offshoot of Yankee Doodle Christmas by Lagrand and Kathy Macias. It takes the characters of that installment and gives them their own further story development (something that’s also familiar from television).

Paul, a pastor, and Margot Goodharte (pay attention to names; it isn’t just the format that’s been adapted from Dickens) live in central California, caring for Paul’s mother Ruth. Ruth has Alzheimer’s, and the way her character is developed by Lagrand is a fine description of an Alzheimer’s patient. Ruth and Margot are making cookies, when Margot goes to the pantry for more sugar. Using a stepladder to reach the ingredient, she falls and is knocked unconscious. Ruth sits and waits patiently for Margot’s return; two hours later, the next-door neighbor comes inside to find the unconscious Margot. Emergency responders are called; Ruth keeps asking if Margot has been shot.

Using the hospital backdrop, Lagrand sets up the story – conflict between Paul and his black sheep older brother Matthew; the church lady determined to help protect Paul’s good name; and what looks like the beginning of a budding romance between Matthew and the next-door neighbor.

Paul Loves Snickerdoodles promises to be a fun, enjoyable read. And there’s even a Snickerdoodle recipe (among others) at the end of the installment.

I still can’t say “snickerdoodle” without smiling.