Joyce Hinnefeld

I loved this book for so many reasons.

The stories are interconnected by recurring characters and references, including Ezra Pound and the Albert Barnes Museum.

They are set in Venice and Europe, and in Eastern Pennsylvania with references to places I know from when we lived in Philly: Reading with it’s Chinese pagoda on a hill; West Philly, Fishtown, Frankfort, and Kensington.

I loved the writing, so quotable.

“No believable story ends well. None but the most insipid ones do, and maybe show more that’s why so few of us read anymore.”

“The men in charge claim to know what they’re doing, but then that’s always been the case. Over and over, they’re proved wrong but who even notices? The poets maybe. But who listens to them anymore?”

“It’s true that children interest him. He finds it interesting, who we are when we start out, compared to who we become.”

I love how the stories probe into big issues–class, money, and privilege, Dreamers and illegal immigrants, the failures of governments, addiction, Covid, love, young people finding a meaningful life.

And the references to books that inspire the characters! The ones they struggle to understand (Pound’s Cantos), or recall from childhood (Heidi and The Black Stallion, both of which I loved as a girl), and D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, (which I brought home from my first trip to the public library).

I made a list of characters so I could keep track of the relationships.

Joan Silber is quoted on the cover: after finishing she went back to the beginning to “put together the wonderful complications of the characters.” And that is how I felt, wanting to trace how Hinnefeld elegantly wove together the characters and plot and themes.

A highly recommended work of literary fiction.

Thanks to Caitlin Hamilton Summie Marketing and Unbridled Books for a free book. show less

When I first started reading Stranger Here Below, I didn’t think I’d like it all that much. I found the time jumps jarring, the multiple characters and storylines confusing. I felt that not enough time was spent on Mary Elizabeth and Maze for me to get to know them.

My opinion changed, however, as I read on. As the women whose stories were told began to show up in the main storyline, I began to understand where they fit in. I realized each woman’s story was told more or less show more chronologically, so the dates weren’t that important and the time jumps were less jarring once I knew who was who.

I also realized that Stranger Here Below is as much about the other women as it is about the two main characters. The novel explores how we are shaped by our pasts and by the people in them. This structure gave Stranger Here Below a very rich, full feeling that I came to appreciate.

By the time I read the last page, I was fully absorbed in Stranger Here Below. Its characters were real and complete, and even though the novel only covers a few years of the main characters’ lives, the other women’s stories made it feel like a lot had happened. Overall, Stranger Here Below was a warm and multi-layered novel I would not hesitate to recommend. show less

I found In Hovering Flight to be thought provoking and stirring. I started reading it and couldn't put it down until I finished it. It begins with a daughter coming home to say goodbye to her mother dying of cancer. Addie, the mother, a famous bird artist and environmental activist, is surrounded by her best friends from college, Cora & Lou, and her dear husband, Tom. In saying goodbye, we are whisked off to the beginning of Addie and Toms humble beginnings as student and college professor, show more lovers who are passionate about the natural world around them. We learn of a complicated life, of the strength of friendship and the agony of betrayal and how the sum of everything draws everyone back to Addie in the end. With the gentle remembrances of the people most important to Addie, Addies daughter Scarlet gains a better understanding of her mother and who she really was. On the surface it is a love story of Addie, & Tom, and the struggle within Addie trying to juggle activist, mother & wife. But just below the surface it is a beautifully written story of the nature that surrounds us and the gifts that it can give us if we just stand still for a moment and take it all in.... listen to the song of the birds... feel the crush of the grass underneath our feet... Watch the soar of a hawk... and how life is precious for all of nature and we should try and appreciate it all while we can.

Bird lovers will appreciate the poetic voice Joyce Hinnefeld lends to the descriptions of the patient wait in the woods to see a scarlet tanger, a wood thrush or a beautiful cardinal, and the mysterious deciphering of a bird song heard in the distance. I've actually gone to Cape May birding during fall migration and this story captures the wonder of it all...

It's a beautifully written story. One that you may find yourself reading passages from again just to revisit the beauty of nature.... show less

I enjoy literary fiction for the depth of its stories, the necessity of savoring each word and its ability to allow the reader to enter a new world without sacrificing the human foibles that connect the reader with the characters. Yet, I truly struggle to review literary fiction because my reaction to it is so subtle and so internal, it really is all but impossible to put that reaction into words. This is especially true of Stranger Here Below.

A beautifully told story about the friendship show more between two unlikely characters, Stranger Here Below is not just about friendship but rather delves into such weighty topics as racial tension, gender relations, politics, and religion. Maze and Mary Elizabeth explore their positions in the wider world, wanting to move forward while still tied to their family histories. It is a story of their journey towards independence as much as anything.

Ms. Hinnefeld chose to tell the story through the points-of-view of every female character mentioned - Sister Georgia with her refusal to follow the rules, Maze's mother with her loneliness, Mary Elizabeth's mother with her childhood trauma, Maze with her unique perspective on life, and Mary Elizabeth with her talent and limitations in a white world. As the characters intersect, their individual stories make sense and paint a picture of strong but damaged women who each manage to survive in her own way. The scars run deep but love helps them all overcome those scars, as does their individual strength.

Ms. Hinnefeld's prose is simply stunning. Clear, concise but effective, the reader has no confusion about what is occurring, no matter how horrific it may be. Stranger Here Below is not one of those stories that leaves a reader satisfied or even at peace with the resolution. Life is messy, and Ms. Hinnefeld does not shy away from that truth. Mary Elizabeth gains her independence but the cost is severe. Maze blazes her own path but at a price. While the reader fervently wishes that each of the characters would find peace, the reader knows that if this were to have happened, the ending would have been less authentic. Stranger Here Below tests the adage that love and friendship are forever and does so with an honest look at the outside forces that impact all relationships. While it isn't for everyone, this is one novel that challenges and rewards the right reader. show less