Seeking to Escape Today’s Reality? Here are some Book Suggestions to do Just That by Maria Grant 

During these troubling and turbulent times, it’s often necessary to seek escape. For me, that means burying my head in a book. Since the November election, I’ve been reading even more than usual. Here are three of my most rewarding escapes. 

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. This book was a selection for one of my book clubs. I was somewhat skeptical, as it is based on a true story about a midwife in the 1700s named Martha Ballard. I’m happy to report that I loved this book and am extremely glad I read it. The book centers on Midwife Martha’s Journal, which she kept for several years, summing up births and various ailments that she addressed while traversing a frozen river in Maine. 

The Journal notates that Martha delivered more than 800 babies without losing a single mother or baby. The story also involves a murder, and a corrupt judge who threatens many town members, as well as Martha’s’ family’s land where her husband has erected a mill. This book is a wonderful example of historical fiction that depicts a vivid portrayal of life in the late 1700’s and more than holds your interest until the story ends. 

Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow. I remember reading Presumed Innocent when it first was published in 1987 and then seeing the movie with Harrison Ford in 1990. Both the book and movie almost haunted me over the years. The plot of Presumed Guilty involves a young Black male who dropped out of college and is accused of murdering his girlfriend while they were on a camping trip. Turow was inspired to author this novel after the murder of Gabby Petito in 2021 who was killed by her boyfriend. Rusty Sabich is the suspect’s lawyer in this novel, the same lawyer who was key to the plot of Presumed Innocent. And like Presumed Innocent, Presumed Guilty is a page turner that is chock-full of legal maneuvers, strategies, and surprises. I found it a spellbinding read that was difficult to put down. 

Three Days in June by Ann Tyler. I’m a huge Ann Tyler fan and devoured her short new novel the day it was released. It did not disappoint. Like most Tyler novels, it involves Baltimore, grappling with the human condition, the eccentricities of friends and families, and the foibles of aging. In this case, Gail is in her 60’s, loses her job at a private school, her daughter is about to be married, a fly in that proposed marriage surfaces, and Gail’s divorced husband appears on her doorstep with a cat, intending to move in with her until the nuptials are behind them. This novel captures the joy and heartbreak of everyday life and, as with most of Tyler’s other books, gives the reader more than a little food for thought. 

Tyler is best known for her novels Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Accidental Tourist, and Breathing Lessons for which she won the Pulitzer Prize. 

These three novels dealt with several issues including healthcare, court cases, corruption, job loss, and the overall human condition. They truly provided an escape, but they also caused me to once again think about today’s world in which people in developing countries no longer have access to healthcare with the dismantling of USAID; the rising numbers of court cases; government corruption being front and center; and the thousands who are losing their jobs. I especially think about those probationary federal employees who were let go last week, many of whom recently relocated and now are jobless and will soon lose their benefits. 

The writer Nora Ephron once wrote, “Reading is escape and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real.” 

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.