Tamar Myers

It's difficult for me to think of the last time a book annoyed me so much, and in so many different ways. But I'll start with the main issue, which for me is the main character, Magdalena Yoder, the detective and proprietor of a country inn in Pennsylvania Dutch country (well, maybe . . . ). I want to like the main character of a mysteries series, and a few quirks make that more likely, not less--from Sherlock Holmes to Nero Wolfe to Monk, quirky detectives are a stock in trade. But show more Magdalena isn't quirky--she's a bitch. She insults, fights with, chivvies, corrects, bosses around, and otherwise behaves unpleasantly to everyone she meets--family members, old 'friends,' guests at the inn, the local police chief, doctors, nurses, you name it. Often she sprinkles a patronizing 'dear' into her conversation, just as she's insulting the other person. Ugh.

Okay, some other issues: this book is supposed to take place in Pennsylvania Dutch country, but at one point she mentions that she needs a new doorbell and might drive into Pittsburgh one day to get it. Pittsburgh? Has the author looked at a map of Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania Dutch country is in the southeast; Pittsburgh is so far west it's almost in Ohio. Philadelphia is the nearest really large city, but I'm going to take a wild guess here and suggest that Lancaster probably has a Home Depot, Lowe's, or both, and either would have a nice stock of doorbells.

Basic fact checking: at one point Magdalena informs her cook, in reference to Philadelphia, 'There's only one, dear.' Well, no. In addition to the big one in Pennsylvania, there's one in Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, New York, and North Carolina.

Recipes: this book features a cooking contest and several recipes are provided. This actually is one of the things that drew me to the book. I'm unlikely to try them out, though--the very first recipe is a bread pudding that has no eggs in it. Basically it consists of bread, sugar, milk, and spices. I don't know, and I don't think I'll ever find out, what the consistency of this would be if one actually made it. I'm willing to concede that I might be wrong--just because the first dozen or so recipes for bread pudding I looked at all had eggs doesn't mean it has to have them. Anyone?

Further reading reveals two other recipes that have instructions to incorporate ingredients not listed in the list of ingredients. I don't know if this is sloppy writing or sloppy editing or both. The seafood crepes call for milk in the filling, but it's not on the list. I'm also a little mystified by the directions to include five large shrimp (doesn't say anything about chopping them up) as part of the mixture that one is then directed to put 2 tablespoons of into the crepe. Anyway, once the crepes are assembled they are to be put in the oven for 15 minutes--wouldn't the shrimp (already cooked) be overcooked after that? The other recipe with a missing ingredient is the tomato brunch cake, in which one is directed to cream the shortening and sugar--only there's no shortening in the list of ingredients.

Further adding to my annoyance is the conceit that the inn has hosted many of the rich and famous and Magdalena is supposedly chums with many of them, especially Barbara Streisand (Magdalena keeps answering her phone 'Babs?'). I think the reader is supposed to be amused by these references.

But here's one of my many problems: I don't believe this unfriendly, unwelcoming, nasty piece of work could possibly be a success in what is euphemistically called the hospitality industry. No suspension of disbelief happening here.

One more issue before I pause to read the rest of this dreck (only being a completist can account for my planning to do this): the first conversation in the book, mostly on the subject of the cooking contest, offers a complete non sequitur so that the author can introduce some backstory information. One minute we're talking about the cooking contest, the next Magdalena interjects something about her failed relationship. This I put down to sloppy writing.

Okay, I've finished it. The resolution of the mystery was, at best, weak, with a motive so pathetic as to make one almost sorry for the murderer.

Yes: I really, really, really disliked this book. (Just in case there was any doubt remaining.) show less

Other cultures are intriguing, aren't they? Very often a comparison between our own culture and that of a very different place can be not only educational, but surprising, illuminating, and amusing as well. When presented within the context of a light novel, such a contrast is both painless and fun, causing the reader to realize how provincial each of us is.

Tamar Myers does this comparison smoothly and well in her Belgian Congo series. "The Girl Who Married an Eagle" tells the tale of a show more runaway child bride who fortuitously winds up at a missionary station where there is a school sheltering these young girls.

While there is no mystery here, and only the tiniest possible amount of suspense, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. No hint of self-righteousness spoils the slight plot and marvelous look into a vanished way of life. show less

In a kidnapping plot gone wrong, a white infant is abandoned in a deserted area of the Belgian Congo, where she is discovered by a young boy of the Bashilele tribe. Not knowing what else to do, the boy takes the baby home. The boys' parents adopt her and raise her as a member of their tribe. Thirteen years later, missionary Amanda Brown accompanies the local police chief to find the white girl rumored to live among the Bashilele, setting in motion a chain of events that will lead to show more tragedy.

Issues of race and culture are at the heart of this story. The white population of the Belgian Congo, whether Catholic or Protestant, Belgian or American, see only the girl's white skin. They don't think it's suitable for a white girl to live as an African – never mind that the European culture is completely foreign to her and she can't speak any of its languages. In addition to the racial and cultural tensions between the black and white communities, there are tensions between cultural groups within each community. The Americans don't completely trust the Belgians, and the Flemish Belgians and Walloon Belgians are wary of each other. Amanda's head housekeeper, Protruding Navel, and his assistant, Cripple, are of different tribes that despise each other, but are united in their dislike of the Bashilele. With independence looming in the not-too-distant future, there are hints that things are going to become a lot worse.

The humor in the novel frequently made me uncomfortable. It's the kind of humor that comes at others' expense, far different from the affectionate humor of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels. Amanda is the kindest of the characters, yet even she is often motivated by self-interest rather than a desire to help others. It's an interesting place and time to read about, but it's not somewhere I want to linger. show less

First, the bad news: This is the final book in Tamar Myers’s Belgian Congo series. It takes place in 1959, a few months before the country achieved independence.
Now, the good news: It is one of, if not the best of her books. A wonderful story told with wit, humor, interesting characters, respect and understanding. It talks of beauty, sex, warfare, love, racism, laws, oppression, and human relations.
Ohioan Julia Newton, fresh out of college, heard a missionary from Africa speak at her show more middle-of-the-road Protestant church in Oxford, Ohio, one Sunday morning. “It was a subject that made a lot of people uncomfortable, and since being comfortable was the American Dream, anything negative was to be left at the doorway of the church.” Afterwards, she had dinner at her minister’s home and heard more about his work. One of his concerns was a school for runaway child brides. Even though she was supposed to begin teaching school in Oxford, Julia decided to become a missionary and teach at the school.
In the Congo, Julia learns about a life style totally different from her own. Not only are the lives of the African workers different, the lives and attitudes of the whites are also very different from hers. From Hank Hayes, a missionary whose late wife built the school, and his almost ten-year-old daughter Clementine, she learns about the African culture. The tribal system, for example, provided for a members survival. She is given a servant, an African woman named Cripple (who has appeared in previous books in the series) who presents the perspective of the Africans towards white people. Her thoughts and comments are often very funny as well as honest and informative.
Clementine, a precocious child who reads the encyclopedia, is referred to as The Great Distraction by Verna Doyer, a nurse. She is married to Reverend Arvin Doyer. Verna is a very able practitioner who medical skills have helped the Africans immensely. However, she is also a very strict, religious, woman who firmly believes she is doing God’s work and considers the Africans inferior to the white race. At one point, as she is walking towards the clinic, she is admiring some pied crows. “Nurse Verna started to smile and even slowed her pace, before she remembered that she was on God’s mission and had not been led to Africa for the sights.” Near the end of the book, we learn why she is so harsh. The Doyers and Julia are very frustrated because the Africans will not accept the great gift they are trying to give them: Civilization and Salvation through Christianity. (The African’s response: “For was not the Old Testament, which the missionaries made them read in school, full of stories of betrayal and revenge?”) Only Protestant, though. Roman Catholics are doomed.
Buakane, a member of the Bashilele tribe, was a perfect child: Beautiful, virtuous, honest, righteous, and more. When she is about twelve years old, the tribe’s chief, Eagle, decides he wants her to be his wife, the twenty third. Her father is paid a handsome dowry and she is taken to the Chief’s compound. While she is being prepared, she learns that when he dies (he is quite old), his wives are buried alive with him, often having their legs and arms broken. She runs away, is attacked by hyenas, and rescued by Hank and escapes with her only injury being the loss of a chunk of her thigh. He takes her to the Mission and, through her experiences, we see the way the Africans are treated by the missionaries. Eventually, Chief Eagle comes to claim her and the result of his visit wreaks havoc on the missionaries.
The descriptions of the surroundings and the people are excellent. I felt like I was seeing it all for myself. The characters change and grow as their experiences influence their attitudes and behaviors. Reading THE GIRL WHO MARRIED AN EAGLE, like the other three books in the series, is an enjoyable, worthwhile experience. It is labled a mystery though it isn’t one in the traditional sense. Tamar Myers grew up the child of missionaries in the Belgian Congo in the 1950s and this book is based on actual experiences. I received an early reviewers copy of this wonderful book from LibraryThing. show less