One of the problems with reading historical fiction is that you usually know how the story ends. You can write a book about the Titanic, but everyone knows that the boat sinks. The same is true, to some extent, about Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman: most people know at least a little about the Scottsboro Boys, nine young black men, falsely… Read more
In the late 18th century, a fabulous new scientific oddity was the toast of Europe. The Turk, a chess-playing automaton built by Wolfgang von Kempelen, was defeating chess masters across Europe. It was a true marvel of the times — a machine, built after the fashion of a Turkish ruler, that was capable of thought. Built for the amusement of… Read more
First of all, an apology. I wrote this review ages ago and it has been stuck in Draft mode. I’m really annoyed about that because it’s a book I’ve been telling friends to go out and buy right away! Luckily, it’s not too late… Web Goodhue is a jerk. He’s down to his last friend, he’s got no job, he… Read more
“This is a bawdy tale. Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, as well as nontraditional grammar, split infinitives, and the odd wank . . . If that’s the sort of thing you think you might enjoy, then you have happened upon the perfect story!” Apparently, this is going… Read more
I honestly thought that nothing – nothing – could get me to read Jane Austen again. I know that she has some rabid fans, but those Victorian manners-and-money romances were really not my thing. I was frustrated, even as a teenager, by female characters who seemed completely powerless. Elizabeth Bennett, her life ruined because some man she doesn’t even like… Read more
The Glister had a great premise: boys are disappearing in a small town that is dominated by an abandoned chemical plant. It seems certain that the plant has poisoned the town, both physically and mentally. The townspeople are deeply distrustful on the land where the plant was situated and of what went on there. Is it somehow responsible for the… Read more
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane has plenty to recommend it: the Salem Witch Trials, crazy grad school mentors and a hot, agnostic steeplejack. Certainly sounds like a good start to a story, combining historical fiction, a bit of mystery and maybe something a little supernatural. It starts with a very interesting question about the Salem witch trials, one that… Read more
It’s a parent’s worst nightmare: one minute your child is there – the next minute, he’s gone. In The Disappearance, Joshua and Nathalie Sandler’s son, Daniel, disappears and their lives change completely. The Sandlers are a very happy family. Joshua runs a furniture sales business; Nathalie is a professional cellist. Daniel is 14 years old, generally a pretty good kid.… Read more
I received this book and read it last year, and somehow managed to overlook it when I was getting my reviews posted. I hope that readers won’t make the mistake of overlooking this book – I enjoyed this one very much. Mr. White’s Confession is the story of a series of murders in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1939. Dime-a-dance girls… Read more
I loved this book so much that I posted a pre-review review, urging you all to go out and buy the book. It has been a long time since a book made me want to shout out loud and dance around my hotel room, but this book did. It is the story of the survivors of the Go-Away War, a… Read more