Capturing the classics on film is no easy task.

These next four movies demonstrate what happens when the directors hit their mark: solid casting, skillful pacing and immersive cinematography come together in perfect synergy.

This 2011 version of Jane Eyre featuring Mia Wiakowski and Michael Fassbender is a poignant and haunting telling of the classic tale.

Jane’s life has never been easy. Somewhat of an orphan, Jane grows up with her aunt and cousins where she endures their unending physical and mental abuse. When she takes up a position as a governess, Jane is given her first show of kindness and attention from the master of the house, Mr. Rochester. Their growing friendship eventually turns romantic, and everything seems to be looking up for Jane – until a treacherous secret is revealed and Jane’s fairy-tale ending is threatened forever.

Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles is another classic story rich with human interest and intrigue. Tess is your prototypical tragic protagonist – ethereally beautiful and chaste. When Tess’s father finds out his family might descend from royal lineage, the fateful news changes Tess’ life forever, leading to her employment with the wealthy family of her namesake. It is here she encounters the tempestuous son of the elderly Mrs. d’Urbervilles, a hotheaded libertine who sets his sights on the naive young girl. This BBC mini-series will have you glued to the TV screen, enrapt with the compelling performance of Gemma Arterton and the stunning cinematography that BBC does best. Unfortunately, you’ll have to visit another public library for this gem (VPL does not own a copy). I found my copy at Brampton Library.

A tale of deceit, poverty and redemption, Dickens’ lesser known classic begins with Amy Dorrit, a humble and obedient young woman who stands behind her selfish family to a fault. Like many tragic heroines of the Victorian era, Jane bears her misfortunes with calm grace and moral fortitude. When the wealthy Arthur Clennam returns home to find the homely Dorrit working as a seamstress for his mother, something about her presence unsettles him and he embarks on a quest to find out the truth behind his mother’s silence and secrecy. A clever satire on government and society during the period, Little Dorrit has a little bit for everyone: romance, comedy, drama, mystery and plenty of shady, sinister characters!

Last but not least, Anna Karenina, the hauntingly beautiful story by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. In this sumptuous film adaptation, the charisma between Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) and Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is palpable. Theirs is a passionate, although ill-fated affair. Anna, married to the esteemed Karenin, is torn between her attraction to Vronsky and her own indecision regarding her precarious marriage. The cinematography, music and costumes underscore the poetic sadness and desperation of Anna as she is torn between love, responsibility and her own growing hysteria.

Visit your local library branch and check out these classics today!

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of our Vaughan Reads pick The Tale-Teller by Susan Glickman and join the online discussion!

For your Leisure-Five Days in November

I was working at the Pierre Berton Branch a few evening back and came across the newly published audio book titled “Five days in November”. This title, written by the ex-secret service agent Clint Hill grabbed my attention immediately because we just commemorated the 50th anniversary to the day when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

It was midday November 22nd 1963 a day that would change the course of history and bewilder generations to come. In a short few seconds, the 35th President of the United States and leader of the free world was silenced forever some 50 years ago. This book will give you a moment by moment account of this terrible time from the arrival of JFK in Air Force One to Texas to the shooting on Elm Street in Dallas, and finally the funeral. Clint Hill – the brave secret service agent who we all seen jump on the Limo of the fallen President just seconds after the fatal shooting to protect the 1st Lady and shield the passengers from further danger – has broken his silence with this tell all book.

A story that has taken Clint Hill fifty years to tell, this is a work of personal and historical scope. Besides the unbearable grief of a nation and the monumental consequences of the event, the death of JFK was a personal blow to a man sworn to protect the first family, and who knew, from the moment the shots rang out in Dallas, that nothing would ever be the same.

It is rare indeed for such a dramatic and important historical event to be described fifty years later in such exquisite detail by a witness to the event. The writing is tight, crisp, straightforward and unflinching without an agenda. So many minute details are revealed for the first time such that the reader seems to be carried along on the fateful trip. The emotions that we felt then seem to come back in full force. The story is highly readable even though we know the ending and wish it could be different.

You will read about his struggle to jump on the accelerating vehicle, the frantic drive to Parkland Hospital, the comments made by Jackie Kennedy, his phone conversion with the President’s brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy , and all the behind the scene details of this historic and troubling time.

Clint Hill aided the 1st Lady throughout the entire ordeal and funeral. He is one of very few who bore witness of the assassination, and will give a unique perspective of the events of this tragedy unlike many of the books written to date. He offers his opinion on who the shooter was. The book is very readable and paces along making it difficult to put down. I read a few books about this fateful day, and I believe this one will be my last. I think Clint Hill has told the final story of this sad day, and I’m satisfied to put closure to this event in history. Mr. Hill has finalized it for me. A great book written by an honorable man, and I pray he will find closure and peace as well.

Vaughan Reads 2013

Further Reads

Here is a list of some reading suggestions that you may want to explore after reading The Tale-Teller by Susan Glickman.  Also included here are the two other runner ups in our first edition Vaughan Reads – Beautiful Mystery and The Deception of Livvy Higgs. We hope that The Tale-Teller sparked your interest in related subject matter and similar great literature. Don’t forget to come out to the Bathurst Clark Resource Library on Sunday, December 8th at 1 pm to see The Tale-Teller author Susan Glickman in person!

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet                                                                                                                                 

Mitchell, David / FIC Mitch

In 1799 Dutch trader Jacob De Zoet lands in closed off Japan for a five year mission. As in The Tale-Teller, this book describes the life of a stranger in a strange land in centuries past. Personally speaking, this was one of my favourite books from the last few years. Highly recommended..by me.

Life of Pi

Martel, Yann / FIC Marte

Shipwreck survivor Pi has only animals for company as his lifeboat drifts in the Pacific. Yann Martel won the Man Booker Prize for this book back in 2002. which is a pretty big deal in the publishing world.

Kamouraska                                                                                                                                         

Hebert, Anne / FIC Heber

A tale of horror and imagination based on a real 19^th century love triangle in rural Quebec. Also made into a hard to find film directed by the great Quebecois Director Claude Jutra.

Robinson Crusoe

Defoe, Daniel / FIC Defoe

The diary of an Englishman shipwrecked for almost thirty years on a small isolated island. As mentioned in The Tale-Teller , Robinson Crusoe is an important book in Esther’s life.

The Midwife of Venice

Rich, Roberta / FIC Robert

16^th century Venice: a Jewish midwife is asked to illegally deliver a noblewoman’s baby. Hannah Levi is known throughout sixteenth-century Venice for her skill in midwifery. When a Christian count appears at Hannah’s door in the Jewish ghetto imploring her to attend his labouring wife, who is nearing death, Hannah is forced to make a dangerous decision. Not only is it illegal for Jews to render medical treatment to Christians, it’s also punishable by torture and death. Moreover, as her Rabbi angrily points out, if the mother or child should die, the entire ghetto population will be in peril.

The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi: a novel

Park, Jacqueline / FIC Park

So begins the “secret book” of Grazia dei Rossi — a written legacy from a mother to her son. Heiress to a Jewish banking dynasty, secretary to the world-renowned Isabella d’Este, married to the Pope’s Jewish body physician, and lover of the Christian Lord Pirro Gonzaga, Grazia dei Rossi is a woman suspended between two cultures, forced to choose between two men, two worlds.

Mistress of the Art of Death

Franklin, Arianna /FIC Frank

Going back in time even further than The Tale-Teller and The Midwife of Venice is Mistress of the Art of Death which is part of the ongoing 12th century mysteries featuring medical examiner Adelia.  Like Esther, Adelia is Jewish but due to the rampant anti Semitism of the times, she must hide her faith from those around her.

The Deception of Livvy Higgs

Morrissey, Donna / FIC Morri

Livvy Higgs is besieged by a series of small heart attacks which prompt her to revisit a past devastated by lies and secrets.

The Beautiful Mystery

Penny, Louise / FIC Penny

A choir director at a monastery is found dead, C.I. Gamache  is called to investigate.