Nevermore: Year of Wonders, Purpose of Power, Laced, The Splendid and the Vile, China Dolls

 

The first book up was Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks which, as the title implies, is set in London in 1666 at the height of the Great Plague. When a plague-infected bolt of cloth carries the disease into her small town, Anna Frith and the other villagers must confront the horrors of both disease and superstition.  This historical fiction novel was inspired by the true story of the town of Eyam, which quarantined itself during the Plague of 1665.   Our reader found this to be a beautiful but realistic story about the bubonic plague, and it helped her understand what it must have been like living during those times.  She highly recommends it. 

 

Our next reviewer is reading The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza, who is one of the founders of Black Lives Matter.  This book is more about Garza’s upbringing, personal growth and approach to community organization rather than a history of the Black Lives Matter movement.  Garza talks about her childhood, and her years of community organization and her nearly twenty years of community organizing work, and talks about the hard lessons that she had to learn and unlearn on the way.  While our reader is only part way in to this memoir, she would recommend it.

 

Laced: A Regan Reilly Mystery by Carol Higgins Clark has Regan Reilly and her husband Jack going to Hennesey Castle on their honeymoon.  The lovely Irish setting even has its own ghost story, that of May Reilly, who made a beautiful lace tablecloth for the castle but was never paid for it before she died in 1822.  Legend has it that May has haunted the castle ever since.  Ne’er do wells steal the tablecloth and the chase is on.  Can Jack and Regan catch the thieves and return the tablecloth?  Our reader loved this breezy, fun romantic mystery written by the daughter of Mary Higgins Clark.

 

Turning back to non-fiction, the next book was The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson.  This bestselling biography takes an in-depth look at the war time life of Winston Churchill and his family members as they deal with the onslaught of Hitler’s bombing raids.  Our reader did not realize how brilliant Churchill was and how close World War II came to having a very different ending.  She highly recommends this book. 

 

China Dolls by Lisa See is a historical novel about three Chinese-American friends in California and their intertwined lives before and during World War II.  Our reader was particularly impressed by the level of research that the author did while writing this book, seeking out and interviewing multiple “China Dolls” – that is, performers who worked in Chinese themed nightclubs as dancers and entertainers—to make the book more authentic.  Our reader recommends this book.

Nevermore: Roosevelts, Taft, China Dolls and Death, Snow, and Mistletoe

It may or may not have had something to do with the airing of the recent Ken Burns series on PBS, but this week’s Nevermore members brought in two books which featured members of the Roosevelt family. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit illuminates the turbulent times at the turn of the century when two close friends become heated rivals over the presidency of the United States.  Theodore Roosevelt was the young, charismatic, dynamic leader who took on special interests and looked to reform the nation.  He endorsed his friend William Howard Taft to succeed him as President, believing that Taft was a kindred spirit who would continue on the path Teddy had begun.  When Taft failed to live up to Roosevelt’s expectations, Teddy took it as not only a political but a personal affront.  One member described it as a book about “spectacular people who extended democracy in a new way.”  Goodwin has received much acclaim as an historian whose books have broad popular appeal in addition to solid scholarship.

The second book was a tie-in to the aforementioned series and has the same title: The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns.  The book follows the show in covering the roots of this fascinating family, including background on Theodore, his fifth cousin Franklin Delano, and Eleanor, wife to Franklin and niece to Theodore.  Our reviewer praised the books many illustrations, saying that there is much information to be gleaned from the photos alone but that the text is quite well done. The story begins with Theodore, who began life as a sickly child, and ends with Eleanor’s death in 1962.  The relationships between the principals and their circles are fascinating and will give readers an entirely new perspective on the family.

China Dolls by Lisa See is a novel set in the late 1930s, when three girls vie for a job as a showgirl at the Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco.  Although the girls are all of Asian descent, their backgrounds are very different.  Despite this, Grace, Ruby, and Helen become close friends. They rely on each other for their very survival.  Then Pearl Harbor happens, and Japanese are being rounded up for the internment camps.  Since few people know that Ruby isn’t Chinese but Japanese, her arrest means someone close to her has betrayed her. Lisa See is the author of the best-selling book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love.

Finally, there was Death, Snow, and Mistletoe by Valerie Malmont.  Tori Miracle moved to the little town of Lickin Creek, PA to be near her fiancé, who promptly took a job in Costa Rica.  Tori is waiting (mostly) patiently for his return while acting as temporary editor for the local paper, taking photos and writing about the Christmas pageant.  Then a child goes missing and a local resident is murdered, and Tori’s job becomes a lot more interesting—and maybe dangerous.  Our reader said this was a cut above many small town mysteries, with a good mix of humor and danger.