on the anniversary of the end of her life here on earth &
the beginning of the rest of her eternal life
*************
Among the thousands of books at North Oak Street after Mom's and Dad's deaths were Mom's many titles by Elizabeth Peters. She had most of the books in Peters' Amelia Peabody series. The numbers "6" and "8" are written on the flyleaves of the two I took for our library. The writing is Mom's unmistakable tremor writing. I had a hunch she numbered the books in the series. Sure enough, the titles were number 6 and number 8 in the series. The organizational gene that many of us Holtons have doesn't come just from the Holton side! I haven't found any of the underlinings or notes that are frequently in Mom's books. I'm thinking she read these for pure enjoyment.
Here are some of my thoughts on why Mom enjoyed these books so much.
The first attraction is obvious. Amelia and her husband are both archeologists who specialize in Egypt. Mom was fascinated by Egypt and its ancient history. That interest was evidenced in other books she studied, magazines she subscribed to, and a trip she and Dad took to Egypt.
Amelia is very feisty and independent. She has much to say about opportunities, or lack thereof, for women. She had much to say about many issues of the day; she is very out-spoken. The series starts in the late 1880s and goes into the First World War.
My mother wasn't thrilled with life in small town Ohio. Raised in Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, she loved big city life. According to Mom, the agreement she and Dad made when they moved to London was that they would live there a year and then move to the big city of Columbus. Mom never got to move to the big city. In the books Amelia and her husband have marvelous adventures in exotic places. Mom and Dad did travel to exotic places - Israel, Turkey, Egypt to name a few. Did part of her yearn for even more adventure or was she content to read about Amelia's adventures? The fact that she didn't like to fly made it difficult to make more trips.
Elizabeth Peter's website for Amelia Peabody is well done and full of interesting information. I think Mom would have enjoyed it if we could have ever gotten her to be at peace with a computer! Elizabeth Peters is a prolific author who has written under a number of names. Peters has a PhD in Egyptology. As I read Mertz/Peters/Michaels's short biography (scroll to the top of the page/link), I am convinced Mom would have found this woman fascinating. She's a cat person too, just like Mom.
My mother wasn't thrilled with life in small town Ohio. Raised in Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, she loved big city life. According to Mom, the agreement she and Dad made when they moved to London was that they would live there a year and then move to the big city of Columbus. Mom never got to move to the big city. In the books Amelia and her husband have marvelous adventures in exotic places. Mom and Dad did travel to exotic places - Israel, Turkey, Egypt to name a few. Did part of her yearn for even more adventure or was she content to read about Amelia's adventures? The fact that she didn't like to fly made it difficult to make more trips.
Elizabeth Peter's website for Amelia Peabody is well done and full of interesting information. I think Mom would have enjoyed it if we could have ever gotten her to be at peace with a computer! Elizabeth Peters is a prolific author who has written under a number of names. Peters has a PhD in Egyptology. As I read Mertz/Peters/Michaels's short biography (scroll to the top of the page/link), I am convinced Mom would have found this woman fascinating. She's a cat person too, just like Mom.
Quotes from Amelia - I can imagine Mom enjoying many of these and perhaps having some of the same thoughts.
image 1972
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