Retro Reads discussion

Discussion thread for the last half of the book. Please tag spoilers!

I'm tickled at Our Emily's qualifications to be a doctor, nurse, captive, entrepreneur, magician, and Deep Thinker. Yep, all qualities the average mom needs!

This is a covertly feminist book, isn't it?

I just love her quiet courage and dignity.

Karlyne wrote: "I'm tickled at Our Emily's qualifications to be a doctor, nurse, captive, entrepreneur, magician, and Deep Thinker. Yep, all qualities the average mom needs!"

all of those and, finally, spy!

the rest of the series builds on that, too. but here in the first one, it is really "unexpected"!

I was thinking that if I had to be stranded on a desert (with trees and vegetation, deserted, not desert) island with someone else, I'd choose someone who'd spent her life learning a variety of stuff. Someone who knew how to build a fire, plant a garden, look for medicinal herbs, fish, purify water, clean a wound and shoot some snakes. And someone who could talk about the meaning of life over the campfire. I'd choose Mrs. Pollifax and her many skills over a professional, anyday. I think that's what Carstairs, subconsciously, saw, too - a competent, tough, thinking lady.

Abigail wrote: "This is a covertly feminist book, isn't it?

I just love her quiet courage and dignity."

Yes! That really came through in Barbara Rosenblat’s narration - yet at the same time, Mrs. P’s zest for life, innate optimism and curiosity- a powerful combination! And sense of humor and not taking herself too seriously- she’s irresistible!

I also love her courtesy and caring for others--at one point Farrell is about done in and Emily knows that if he sits down he will never have the strength to get up again. So, despite her fatigue she stands as well to give him courage.

Hana wrote: "I also love her courtesy and caring for others--at one point Farrell is about done in and Emily knows that if he sits down he will never have the strength to get up again. So, despite her fatigue s..."

Yes, her quiet strength shows true leadership in that moment, I felt!

Hana wrote: "I also love her courtesy and caring for others--at one point Farrell is about done in and Emily knows that if he sits down he will never have the strength to get up again. So, despite her fatigue s..."

You know, you often hear about how older people don't want to be a burden, but Emily takes it beyond just words. She takes it from the negative to really positive actions. I wouldn't mind if she moved in next door, so that we could have tea together...

Karlyne wrote: "Hana wrote: "I also love her courtesy and caring for others--at one point Farrell is about done in and Emily knows that if he sits down he will never have the strength to get up again. So, despite ..."

I couldn’t help thinking the same...what a great friend she’d be!

She would make a great friend, and wouldn't she be fun as a traveling companion.

This was great. I had run across one of these in our little library shop at some point, bought it for .50 and took it home but never read it, having never heard of these. I think I donated it back and now wish I had kept it. I am anxious to read more.

My local library has several books in this series. I think they’re all large print. :D

Karlyne wrote: "You know, you often hear about how older people don't want to be a burden, but Emily takes it beyond just words. She takes it from the negative to really positive actions. ..."

I think of Mrs Pollifax as sort of Senior fantasy. I suspect more than a few of us (myself included) wish we could reinvent ourselves and our lives with as much vigor as Emily.

oh, Hana, that is SO true.
I find myself - like many - having to actively fight my world getting smaller as I age.
it can be so insidious! like, my vision after dark isn't as good (especially depth perception, I find) so I start limiting driving after dark. in the winter, that's a big part of the day! and it's a slippery slope down to where you stay home more and more, as things become too difficult and/or scary.

Great label, Hana! For me, though, it's more than the derring-do--it's the way she deploys her humanity and resists becoming cynical. The real fantasy for me is that openness and goodness are strengths that are ultimately rewarded.

Jackie wrote: "oh, Hana, that is SO true.
I find myself - like many - having to actively fight my world getting smaller as I age.
it can be so insidious! like, my vision after dark isn't as good (especially dep..."

True, Jackie - and I’m finding this accelerated by unexpected health issues over the last couple years - I’m recovering but still a little fearful and overly cautious with my sudden physical limitations. I don’t want to turn into an old lady ahead of my time!

Hana wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "You know, you often hear about how older people don't want to be a burden, but Emily takes it beyond just words. She takes it from the negative to really positive actions. ..."

I t..."

Yes!

Abigail wrote: "Great label, Hana! For me, though, it's more than the derring-do--it's the way she deploys her humanity and resists becoming cynical. The real fantasy for me is that openness and goodness are stren..."

Oh, I hope you (and Mrs. Pollifax) are right!

Well, I did describe it as a fantasy . . .

Fair enough!

Jackie wrote: "oh, Hana, that is SO true.
I find myself - like many - having to actively fight my world getting smaller as I age.
it can be so insidious! like, my vision after dark isn't as good (especially dep..."

Haha, Jackie! I have always had terrible night-vision (it goes along with terrific near-sightedness), so I rarely, rarely drive at night. Especially along deer-infested highways...

However, I did get some of the yellow-lensed Polaroid glasses for my husband who drives a lot, and they came with a free pair. Even if I'm just riding along, they help quite a bit!

Back to Mrs. Pollifax - once, many years ago, a co-worker and I were moaning about how far off Saturday was, and she said, "But we should never be wishing away our todays." That made a huge impression on me and prompted some soul-searching life changes. It's something we ought to do more often than not, I think... Regrets are not fun to live with.

Karlyne wrote: "Jackie wrote: "oh, Hana, that is SO true.
I find myself - like many - having to actively fight my world getting smaller as I age.
it can be so insidious! like, my vision after dark isn't as good ..."

So true - she sounds very wise.

That was an old saying of my mother's also. She told me "Don't wish your life away", when I was in high school and wanted to be older. I have never forgotten that.

Bobbie wrote: "That was an old saying of my mother's also. She told me "Don't wish your life away", when I was in high school and wanted to be older. I have never forgotten that."

I think high schoolers are the about the only ones I'll forgive for living in tomorrow, because they're often so powerless and have so few choices about how they're living at this moment. I still remember the mind-numbing awareness I had that not only did the hours at school crawl by, but so did the days, weeks and months and then there was the depressing thought that there wasn't much I could do about it today - except think about "tomorrow" when I could at least make choices, for good or bad, about my life. Whew! (I have several grandkids in the throes of junior and high school, and, although I don't let them see it because I think pity is paralyzing, I do feel sorry for them. I'm always looking for ways to get them outside of school's narrow path and to give them ways to escape childhood that involve actually growing up.)

This is a bit off-track (haha), but I'm blaming Mrs. Pollifax and her adventurous life!

Mrs. Pollifax does make you think about the larger questions.
This book is about an adventure, and all that involves, but it beautifully makes us think about the larger questions in life and the people we meet and what is really important.

Jackie wrote: "Mrs. Pollifax does make you think about the larger questions.
This book is about an adventure, and all that involves, but it beautifully makes us think about the larger questions in life and the p..."

These are the best kinds of books!

Comfort fiction that makes you think--my sweet spot of reading and writing!

Absobloomin'lutely, Abigail!

Bobbie wrote: "That was an old saying of my mother's also. She told me "Don't wish your life away", when I was in high school and wanted to be older. I have never forgotten that."

Smart lady - my mom’s variation on that was “don’t sweat the small stuff”, and when our son was little, she told me not to worry so much about laundry or dusting, and just enjoy him while he was little. She said she had worried too much about that stuff as a young mother, but the years fly by and you can’t get that time back!

This book just kept getting better as it went along. Mrs. Pollifax's situation became ever more dire, yet her courage became deeper as she faced the most physically challenging tasks. She must have been very strong physically as well as emotionally. She certainly rose to every occasion!

True grit.

This video shows goat herding in northern Albania. Tough country! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMge-...

More goats in Albania! (Who knew?) (view spoiler)[I wouldn't fancy crawling on those sharp rocks on my hands and knees. (hide spoiler)]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z43b...

I was curious about the goat smell....the goats I once met did not smell, but I thought perhaps they were unusually clean. It's more complicated than that! https://backyardgoats.iamcountryside....

Trust you, Hana, to find video of goat herding in Albania! Mrs. Pollifax would not recognize our world.

Abigail wrote: "Trust you, Hana, to find video of goat herding in Albania! Mrs. Pollifax would not recognize our world."

I don't recognize our world very often, either. On the other hand, we do have lots of goat farmers nearby, including close friends, and it is amazing how clean and white and adorable they are. The goats, I mean.

I never would have found the Mrs Pollifax books without this group reading it -- and I loved it and immediately went and gobbled up the next two in the series! Now I see they have only the first half of the series in ebook format :(

I had the whole series in paperback and gave them up when I moved, sadly.

Michelle wrote: "I never would have found the Mrs Pollifax books without this group reading it -- and I loved it and immediately went and gobbled up the next two in the series! Now I see they have only the first ha..."

I just finished the second in the series, The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax, which takes place in Turkey, and as so often happens, that area has been mentioned several times recently to me. And gypsies. Life is such a pattern of so-called randomness....

I did the same thing and really enjoyed the second book. It brought back memories of the time, about 20 years ago, when I spent over a month in Turkey. I loved it!

I've never been to Albania and I never met any gypsies. If you are in the mood to explore more on gypsies try the superb Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey. It's non-fiction but as compelling as any fiction you'll ever read. An awesome book on Turkey is Portrait of a Turkish Family. It's a sort of fictionalized autobiography and is just splendid.

They sound super interesting! My daughter had a friend (who unfortunately lived in Southern California) whose mother was a real-live gypsy, and my daughter was fascinated by the whole idea.