February is the perfect time to snuggle up with a good book. When is the last time you read a really good one? Here are 2 books that are not only great reads, but they will elevate your appreciation for the keys. The first one is Charlotte’s Story, the second one is Postcards From Paradise.
Charlotte’s Story-A Florida Keys Diary was 1934-1935 was written by Charlotte Neidhauk. In the book she writes about the trials and tribulations of living on the islands in the 1930’s. It’s an amazing read. If you lived through even a little discomfort following hurricane Irma, you gained a glimpse of what it must have been like for the first people to inhabit the islands. She explains the details of daily life, cooking Conch Stew, painting the screens of the house with spent motor oil to thwart off mosquitoes, sleeping with a pistol under her pillow to shoot through the ceiling at the rats that clamored on the roof at night and rationing water collected from a cistern. Once you read this, you will never complain about power-outages again.
Postcards From Paradise is June Keith’s very personal and poignant portrayal of what was like to live in Key west in the 1980’s, the era of the aids crisis. As a self-declared blue blood from a well-heeled family, she defied her family by marrying a Cuban man and moving to Key West. At the time Key West was where you went if you were running away from something… convention, your family, responsibility, scrutiny or the law. She found Key West warm, welcoming and tolerant. She found friends, Cuban coffee, and and Cuban bread. She fell in love with Key West, while dealing with insurmountable loss.
