New in April: Non-Fiction

 April is turning out to be a big month for books!  While there is a lot of good fiction on the publishers’ calendars, there are some very interesting non-fiction books a well.  Here are a few of them:

Dame Judi Dench, the wonderful British actress who has delighted audiences with her performances in movies including a turn as M in the James Bond series, turns her attention to her stage work. In Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, she offers insight into the Bard’s plays as well as anecdotes about her roles in them.  According to the publisher, this includes having a live snake in her wig and cavorting naked (albeit painted green) in the countryside.

 Doris Kearns Goodwin is known for her insightful, well-written books on history.  Her newest book, An Unfinished Love Story, is a very personal look at America in the 1960s, when her husband Richard worked for leaders such as Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy.  The book came about as she and her husband began sorting through boxes of papers from that era during the last years of Richard’s life, bringing a mature assessment to both people and events.

Anne Lamott brings her insight to one of our basic emotions in Somehow: Thoughts on Love.  It’s not just romantic love under consideration here, but platonic love, family love, and spiritual love.  

Erik Larson is well known for his riveting non-fiction that has readers turning pages as if reading a thriller.  The author of Devil in the White City, Isaac’s Storm, and In the Garden of Beasts turns his attention to the American Civil War in his new book, The Demon of Unrest.  Larson examines the time between Lincoln’s election and Ft. Sumter which the publisher describes as “a political horror story.”

 

Author Salman Rushdie survived an assassination attempt in August 2022, when a knife-wielding assailant stabbed him several times. In Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, his publisher tells us that Rushdie “reminds us of the power of words to make sense of the unthinkable. Knife is a gripping, intimate, and ultimately life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.”

 

James Patterson is known for his many, many, many fiction books, but of late he has turned his attention to non-fiction, writing about true crime, combat veterans, police officers, nurses, and more. His latest non-fiction title is The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians and I have to say that several staff members are really looking forward to this one!

Tuesdays with Ambrea: No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson

 

Reviewed by Ambrea

 

William James, a pioneering psychologist of the nineteenth century, decides to lead a small expedition to a remote island off the coast of England.  Despite its idyllic appearance, not all is well on the Isle of Dorn – and Professor James, along with a motley crew, has decided to explore it.

Josiah Frost, a member of the postal service and an amateur enthusiast of telegraphy, has been roped into the investigation.  He doesn’t expect much from the trip – an opportunity to test his own tinkering with wireless telegraphy, at best, or a short holiday, at worst – but, from the beginning of their trip to Dorn, nothing goes as planned.  And, soon, Josiah and his companions will find their lives in danger as something sinister stalks the island.

I decided to borrow No One Goes Alone, because I enjoyed Erik Larson’s Dead Wake and Devil in the White City.  He uses a narrative style of writing that’s both entertaining and enlightening, crafting a rich, vibrant story and providing insight into historical events that, truthfully, I’d never have realized where quite so riveting.  I was also a little excited about the idea of listening to a ghost story, since No one Goes Alone was only published as an audiobook.

Now, when I started this audiobook, I had very high hopes.  It had everything I could either expect or want in a novel:  a passably likeable main character with Josiah Frost; a solid narrator with Julian Rhind-Tutt; a creepy premise; and an excellent writer.  Even better, No One Goes Alone started out strong.  I immediately liked the depth and the detail of the narration, as well as the little glimpses of history – like the Society for Psychical Research, or the early use of wireless telegraphy by Marconi, or the escalating tensions between world powers – and the sense of slow-building menace.

I was impressed.

And then I wasn’t.

For me, No One Goes Alone seemed to fall apart at the end.  I started to get strong Haunting of Hill House vibes.  (No wonder, since Larson explicitly states he was inspired by Shirley Jackson.)  It started to become more psychological, and I began to wonder:  is this really happening?  Is Josiah losing his mind?  I mean, he begins to hyper fixate on another visitor to the island – an illusionist and confidence man named Adam Winter – and he seems to begin descending into madness.

 

Which might have been preferable, honestly?

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like Shirley Jackson well enough and I like psychological thrillers, but I wasn’t in the mood for that.  I wanted a ghost story.  I didn’t want to listen to a tale that blurred the line between reality and madness.  I wanted rattling chains; I wanted disembodied voices and moving furniture; I wanted shadows edging along at the periphery of sight.  I wanted a clearly defined ghost story, and I think Larson bends his genres a little too much for my liking.

I will note the ending is a complete shocker.  I did not see it coming, let me tell you.  I screamed “What?!” at my car radio, no joke, as I listened and re-listened to the last five minutes of this story.  I was absolutely floored, which kudos to the author for catching me out of left field with that conclusion, but I was also befuddled.

Not to spoil anything, but I really didn’t expect what happened.  It left me with a lingering sense of unease, as all good ghost stories do – so mission accomplished – but it also left me feeling like I was at loose ends.  I have questions, now.  I need to know what happens next – and, more importantly, I need to know how.

Ultimately, I’m divided in my feelings for Larson’s first foray into fiction.  If I understood the ending a little better, I think I might enjoy it more; however, as it stands, I’m simply confused and not sure what to make of it.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Reviewed by Jeanne

Erik Larson is one of those non-fiction authors who can make history come alive.  Even more amazing, he can take two seemingly disparate subjects and blend them into a compelling narrative as he did with Devil in the White City which tells the incredible story of the 1890 Chicago World’s Fair which introduced a number of innovations to the world and the story of H.H. Holmes, one of the first known serial killers.

Following that formula in Thunderstruck, Larson tells the story of Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian-Irish inventor who believes he can send messages over long distances, and Hawley Crippen, a mild mannered patent medicine salesman who will soon be accused of a horrifying crime.  As usual, I became absorbed in both strands of the book, always briefly regretting when the story shifted from one part to the other, but within two pages being just as involved as I was before.  I will admit that some parts were a struggle for me as I have to admit I still don’t quite grasp the principles of the wireless, no matter how Larson tried to explain. However, I was captivated by the human aspect and learned a great deal.

My first surprise was in finding that the stereotype of Marconi as a broken English speaking Italian is unfounded.  While he was born and raised in Italy, the son of a prosperous businessman and farmer, his mother was an Irishwoman:  Anne Jameson, and yes, she was one of THOSE Jamesons; the founder of Jameson Whisky was her grandfather. As a Protestant, Anne took a dim view of having her son educated by priests, so his formal schooling was sporadic. When he was sent to school at twelve, he was ridiculed for his Italian language skills and referred to as an Englishman. 

Marconi soon made his way to England where his perceived arrogance raised some hackles.  Larson explores the interesting dynamics of the scientific societies of the times, where strong personalities tended to take sides.  Marconi wasn’t the only one interested in electricity and wireless messages.  There were a number of people working on the same topic, and achieving promising results, and some felt Marconi was a pretender.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Dr. Crippen and his wife Cora, a mismatched couple if ever there was one.  She is loud, outgoing, and determined to have a career on stage; he is quiet, introverted, and content to stay in the background.  Her ambitions and social climbing keep them on the move, even as she tends to berate her him and flirt with other men.  Friends say that he adores her.

And then Cora disappears.

How these two stories intersect to the great elevation of one of the players and the destruction of the other is the core of the book.  Here was a story that held audiences breathless on two continents and saw the dawn of the communications era.

As with the other books I’ve read by Larson, this one entertained as it enlightened.  Larson documents his work very carefully, so I felt I could rely on his descriptions of events and follow up if I were so inclined. 

Highly recommended for anyone interested in the birth of wireless communication or in historical true crime.

Nevermore: Winspear, Possibility Dogs, Atwood, Lee Smith, Erik Larson

Reported by Kristin

Maisie Dobbs is a favorite character of a few Nevermore readers, and this time she showed up in An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear. This series takes place after the Great War in England, as Maisie undertakes criminal investigations with a psychological bent. This outing has her researching a small village in Kent, and is full of the historical detail that readers of the series enjoy. Our reader recommends starting at the beginning with the first book, simply titled Maisie Dobbs.

Returning to non-fiction, another Nevermore member read and enjoyed The Possibility Dogs: What I Learned from Second-Chance Rescues about Service, Hope, and Healing by Susannah Charleston. The author was involved in search-and-rescue operations and began to find shelter dogs who had the potential to be of service to people with disabilities. Our reader found that she was amazed at how much the dogs have to learn to do, and found their capabilities heartwarming.

Graphic novels pop up in the group once in a while, and today it was Angel CatBird by Margaret Atwood. The author of the well-known The Handmaid's Tale and the more recent sequel The Testaments, Atwood wrote this fantasy novel of genetic engineer Strig Feleedus who ends up as part of his own science experiment based on cat and owl DNA. Strig becomes a superhero in this first part of a trilogy. Our reader noted that Atwood wrote this book as a bit of an apology to birds as she realized that her indoor-outdoor cats over the years had been stalking and killing avian prey. This book comes recommended if you would like something just a little different.

Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith has been passed around to several book club members, and is usually praised highly. Ivy Rowe was born in the Virginia mountains and never ventures far, but tells her tale of Appalachia through a series of letters. Written using local dialogue, this novel is touching and very identifiable to those who live in this region.

Finally, a reader discussed Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. With two interwoven stories of Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the telegraph, and Hawley Crippen, a man who probably would have gotten away with murder if he just hadn't chopped up his wife. As news was able to be communicated more quickly due to the telegraph, the murder investigation travelled across the Atlantic faster than the sailing ships could. This strange juxtaposition of stories sounds odd, but it works as Larson is skilled at telling the tales of quirky people.