Alan Furst brings us another one - Midnight in Europe

Alan Furst, author of over a dozen historical spy novels, has brought us a new one.  Furst often starts at the Spanish Civil War which was a rehearsal for Nazi Germany.  In his latest novel, Midnight in Europe,  Furst  takes us through Europe in the years immediately preceding the invasion of Poland.  As stated by Sir Edmond Grey, British Foreign Secretary in 1914, "The lamps are going out all over Europe." Furst takes this quote as the theme of his book in which people and places are not what they seem and the treat of war is almost palpable.  Ordinary people such as the protagonist, Christian Ferrar, an international attorney, are drawn into the dangerous game of espionage and weapons smuggling in order to protect what is still honorable. 
Anyone taking one of those Europeans river cruises should read Alan Furst.  His scenes in cities such as Istanbul, Warsaw, Gdansk and Brno give a unique insight into Europe then and now.

Two little known, but extraordinary women- The Invention of Wings

When we think of abolitionists, we remember some familiar names from our history books - William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th, Bronson Alcott(father of Louisa May).  Of these folks who were white, they were all upper class, Northeast liberals. However,  two women from South Carolina, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, who were born into a wealthy slave-owning family came to abhor the South's "peculiar institution."  These two remarkable sisters opposed their family, friends and society to speak their conscience about the evils of slavery which they personally witnessed.  Moreover, they campaigned for the abolition of slavery, racial equality and women's rights years before Seneca Falls!


In her latest novel, The Invention of  Wings,Sue Monk Kidd, author of the Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair,  gives voice to the Grimke sisters as well as a fictionalized slave who was given to Sarah Grimke as a birthday gift on her eleventh birthday. In beautifully written dialog, Kidde brings to the page a woman born into slavery who managed to survive a brutal system which divided families and dehumanized both  the slave and the slave owner. Kidd also uses the quilts often made by slave women to tell their stories, several of which are currently on display in Washington and Boston.  Denmark Vesey, a freed slave, who organized one of the few documented slave revolts is also a character in this book.


All in all, this is an eye-opening book, which is difficult to put down.  This would be an excellent choice for a book discussion group and I hope Hollywood starts working on a movie version.

Another famous couple

Nancy Horan, who brought us into the lives of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney in Loving Frank, once again brings us into the lives of another famous couple.  Her latest work is Under the Wide and Starry Sky which is the evolving saga of the marriage of Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny van de Grift Osbourne. Stevenson has spent his life fighting the lung ailments which often rendered him an invalid.  While vacationing among the Bohemian set in France, he meet Fanny van de Grift Osbourne, an American divorce with children who is many years his senior.  Nonetheless, Stevenson falls in love with Fanny.  They spend their lives together creating art and literature, fighting insolvency and Stevenson's declining health.  Stevenson was a prolific writer of novels (Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), travel writings, letters and poetry which is an amazing body of work considering his ill health.


So, my offspring tell me that retro is in - in terms of cocktails, jewelry, accessories and interior design.   Let's extend retro to literature.  For all of us who were regaled with the antics of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean, pick up the original pirate story - Treasure Island.  Shiver me timbers!  Yo ho ho!

Ode to Libraries

For Mother's Day, one of my offspring gave me a copy of a recently published book The Public Library a Photographic Essay by Robert Dawson.  I recommend that you pick it up and browse through it.  Dawson and his son travelled throughout the United States taking photos of representative public libraries.  The photos are stunning - from the neoclassical buildings in the Northeast to the ultramodern libraries on the west coast.  More impressive are the photos of the decrepit and abandoned libraries in inner cites and the stark realities of the corrugated buildings on desolate Indian reservations.  In addition to photos, there are essays about libraries in some cases by noted authors such as Amy Tan and Barbara Kingsolver.  There are stories about libraries.  My favorite was the inspiring story of The Northeast Nevada Regional Bookmobile which brings books to some of the most remote areas of the United States.  I nearly reverted to the 1960's over the story of the proposed closing of the Salinas Library due to budget cutbacks.  John Steinbeck was truly spinning in his grave.


I have been a librarian for a very long time and I have seen many changes in technology.  But I have always maintained that libraries are there for the "have nots" as well as the "haves."  It has been a privilege to meet and serve the folks who have come to me at the reference desk.  Yes, I have called the police when  the need arose.  I have banned more than one person for inappropriate and dangerous behavior. But libraries are there to serve those who do not have a computer or Internet access or books or formal education or the ability to read English. We libraries look everyone in the eye equally. We have been at the forefront of defending the Freedom to Read.  The First Amendment is in very good hands in American public libraries.


Public libraries today are facing their greatest challenge in funding.  Many municipalities are faced with  the unpleasant choice between libraries and public safety.  The local library should not be viewed as a nice extravagance.  Libraries change lives and libraries save lives.  So if it is within your means, send a donation, volunteer with the Friends, serve on the Board or buy used books at your local book sales. It will make a difference in somebody's life.

More mayhem in old New York

I have another addition to my post about murder mysteries set in old New York.  I started a series in the middle. Seven for a Secret by Lindsay Faye is the second in her series.  The first is The Gods of Gotham which I must pick up this week. 


By now, we have all read or seen Solomon Northup's moving account in Twelve Years a Slave.  Sadly, Mr. Northup's experience was not an isolated incident.  In 1846, slave catching was not a crime, it was law enforcement.  In the years before the Civil War, slave catchers made it a practice to capture black citizens in New York City.  The only defense for these unfortunate victims was Freedom Papers which could be lost, forged,  or ignored. Free black people in New York formed secret Committees of Vigilance to protect themselves.


The New York City Police Department was founded in 1845.  At the time, the newly minted police officers were greeted with  disdain and hostility from the public.


Into this scene, steps Timothy Wilde a new "copper star" or police detective who tries to protect those who cannot protect themselves. As a man with abolitionist sentiment, he is requested to locate the missing family of an African-American woman posing as a white woman. Timothy is hampered in his investigation by social and political events such as police corruption, political corruption, Tammany Hall, the arrival of Irish following the potato famine, prostitution, the sex trade, racial tension, and his irascible brother Valentine.


Adding to the book's interest is the inclusion of George Matsell's Flash Terminology or the language of the streets some of which has become part of our language.


I hope  you enjoy this one!

Murder, Mystery and Mayhem in old New York

There are three fabulous new historical novels about old New York,  When I say old, I mean old as in New Amsterdam in the 1600's.


First in order of history.


The Orphanmaster by Jean Zimmerman (2013)


The year is 1663. The Dutch are barely eking out an existence at the tip of Manhattan Island.  The British are set to invade and the Indians are not always friendly. Into this precarious world, Blandine  von Couvering a young female trader makes her living.  Surprisingly, Dutch women at this time had many more rights than their British counterparts.  But Bandine is faced with more challenges than making a living.  She realizes that orphans are disappearing and she suspects foul play.  Aided by dashing English spy Edward Drummond, Blandine sets about discovering the fate of the missing orphans and in doing so uncovers a very early serial killer.




Americans have always loved sensational trials.  Before OJ, there was Levi Weeks. Of course you never heard of Levi Weeks.  But  you have heard of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Paul Collins'  Duel with the Devil takes us back to the year 1800 when Americans were wrapped up in the trail of Levi Weeks accused of murdering a young Quaker woman Elma Sands whose body was discovered in a well.  Levi Weeks's defending attorneys were no less than Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. Collins takes us back to 1800 to a Hamilton and Burr we never learned about in school.  The two men were loyal patriots, brilliant attorneys, passionate politicians and flat broke.  Indeed the well in which the body was found was part of Burr's get rich quick schemes.  Tragically, the two defense attorney met in a duel a short time later.  Great courtroom drama and insightful history.


Caleb Carr's The Alienist (2006) is an oldie, but goody.  The year is 1896 and New York is plagued by a grisly murder. Police chief Theodore Roosevelt enlists the aid of New York Times reporter  and Dr. Laszlo Kreizler a psychologist or alienist as he was called in his time.  The two men create a profile of the murderer and take us through New York's  underbelly of crime, prostitution and drugs.




Alice Hoffmann is a prolific writer of historical novels with a touch of the supernatural.  Her novels such as The Probable Future, The Red Garden, Here on Earth and the Dovekeepers have earned rave reviews.  Her latest novel The Museum of Extraordinary Things is set in New York in 1911. It is the year of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the fire at Coney Island.  It is the ending of an era when the sturgeon still ran in the Hudson River and there were still wild areas in the northern part of Manhattan.  Eddie Cohen is a photography who is running from the grinding poverty of his youth as well as the Orthodox Judaism of his father. Coralie Sardie is a young woman swimmer whose magician father has a Svengali-like hold on her. The two meet in this lovely novel of mystery, tragedy, murder and finally love and forgiveness.  It is truly a gem.

A Classic

I recently had the pleasure of participating in a book discussion on one of my favorite classics, Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier.  If you read the book in  high school, it is definitely worth a second read.  Du Mauieir's characters,  Rebecca, Max deWinter and the evil Mrs. Danvers could put Downton Abbey to shame.  In how many novels, does the narrator remain nameless?  The opening sentence alone grabs you on the first page. The overshadowing of disaster and evil is worthy of Hitchcock.  He did make a movie.  Mrs. Danvers is one of the most consummately evil characters in literature.  Rebecca is a classic romance/mystery/suspense novel.   If you have not read it, the ending is a complete surprise. Some participants in our discussion group thought the author put in too much description.  However, I think you really got a picture of the estate and the English countryside. One of our participants was a law enforcement officer with a refreshing insight on guilt and motive. If your book group is looking for a classic, try Rebecca. It is an excellent choice for a contemporary discussion.