The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Wido Turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs by Robert J. Mrazek

I read this in January, and it was one of my favorite books that month--a good opening to the new year.

The title belongs to Florence, and she ties everything together, but this is as much about the invasion of the Philippines by Imperial Japan as it is about Florence.

Florence was working at the G-2 (Intelligence) Headquarters in Manila under the command of Lt. Colonel E.C. (Carl) Engelhart when she met and married Charles (Bing) Smith, USN.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Bing reported to his PT boat and was involved in the defense of Corregidor where he died in action.  They had been married for only six months.  

Engelhart was captured after the fall of Corregidor and sent to a POW camp in Cabanatuan, where he began keeping a record of his time in captivity and the help provided by Florence and others to the POWs.

Disturbing to me was the failure of General MacArthur to act according to the strategic plan in place (a when, not if, the Japanese continued their encroachment in the Pacific).  Had he done so, the outcome in the Philippines may have been different.

Florence managed to obtain work with the Japanese-controlled Philippine Liquid Fuel Distributing Union, and working with the Philippine Underground, she was able to divert fuel supplies to the resistance.  She also worked with others to smuggle in food and medicine to the POWs.  The consequences of being caught meant torture and probable death.  

In 1944, the Japanese finally caught on.  Florence was arrested and tortured.  When finally rescued by American forces in 1945, she weighed only 80 pounds.  

I've only touched briefly on some of the events in the book, but it was well-written and fascinating.  The documentation of the work is extensive, and in large part, from primary sources.  

Highly recommended! 

Read in January; blog review scheduled for June 1, 2020.

NetGalley/Hatchette Books
Biography/Memoir/WWII.  June 16, 2020.  Print length:  368 pages.

18 Tiny Deaths by Bruce Goldfarb

When I requested 18 Tiny Deaths, it was this sentence in the description that caught my attention:  

"The fascinating story of the forgotten woman who pioneered forensic science."

I'd never heard of Frances Glessner Lee, but one of my reading objectives is to read more nonfiction and more biographies of women.  The idea of a woman having pioneered forensic science was an irresistible bonus to a fan of mysteries and police procedurals.  

Frances Glessner was born in 1878 to a family of great wealth and influence.  She and her brother were home schooled by private tutors, receiving a wide-ranging education significantly beyond what a public school could offer.  They were also encouraged to be children and to appreciate the outdoors, music, and arts and crafts in ways outside of academics.  Although her brother went to Harvard, women were not admitted to those "hallowed" halls and Frances did not go to college.  While she may have been brilliant and accomplished (more so than most college educated men), she personally felt the lack of formal education.

It is a thorough biography; however, since Frances did not become interested in what was termed medicolegal pathology until the latter portion of her life, it is in the last half of the book that her efforts to transform medical legal medicine into a unique division of medicine  is presented.  Inspired by her friend and mentor George Magrath, Frances used her wealth and influence to improve the system.

"She persisted" genuinely applies to Frances' efforts to revolutionize the ways sudden or suspicious deaths were examined, to replace the ancient coroner system with medical examiners, and to train police to preserve crime scenes and become intently observant.  

Previously much of what can be found about Frances Glessner Lee  has to do with her dioramas, the nutshell models--and they are important.  But Bruce Goldfarb has brought to light all of what the woman accomplished.  While the nutshell models are crucial, what impressed me most was the money, energy, time, and effort Frances put into her attempts to end a corrupt coroner system and replace it with trained medical examiners and to educate crime scene investigators (patrolmen and detectives) on how to observe and preserve a crime scene.  

A compelling look into the life of the woman who is responsible for scientific approaches to crime investigation.  A remarkable book about a remarkable woman--highly recommended for those interested in history, crime, and forensics.

Extensive primary and secondary sources.

A look at the Nutshells.



NetGalley/Sourcebooks
Nonfiction/Biography.  Feb. 4, 2020.  Print length:  336 pages.

Over the Hills and Far Away: The Life of Beatrix Potter

Over the Hills and Far Away by Matthew Dennison offers a glimpse into the life of Beatrix Potter, the beloved author and illustrator whose life was circumscribed by Victorian traditions and parents who kept her isolated from other children, whose inquiries into the natural world are worthy of any scientist, whose illustrated letters to children helped inspire the "little books" that are still beloved by millions, who was an astute businesswoman, and who bequeathed over 4,000 acres to the National Trust in an effort to preserve the English countryside.  

Potter was shy and under the thumb of her domineering parents, yet she defied her parents to fulfill her dream of becoming an artist.  

Much of the book was fascinating, but I found the shifts in chronology unsettling at times--since my version was a NetGalley manuscript, perhaps further editing has taken place.  Or maybe I should have adjusted better.  I also found the too frequent connections Dennison makes about her characters (those anthropomorphic and charming rabbits, mice, and ducks) to Potter's life overdone.

Nevertheless, Over the Hills reveals a great deal about Potter and her life, and I'm very happy to have learned about her family pets (lizards, birds, rabbits, hedgehogs, newts), her naturalist efforts, and her stubborn efforts to pursue her art.  

I would like to read another biography of Potter for comparison and because I'm still fascinated by the journey she made throughout her life.

Read in Jan.; blog post scheduled for 

NetGalley/Pegasus Books

Biography.  April 4, 2017.  Print length:  304 pages.
  

A Side Trip to Poetry

The other day, my Kindle failed to connect to the internet, and I was unable to download some recent books that I was eager to read.  In response, I turned to one of my Norton anthologies of contemporary poetry published nearly 50 years ago--so--hardly contemporary by today's standards.  I found this one at a library sale decades ago when another edition was published.

I read through Hardy and enjoyed reading the poems I've read many times and tackling a few that in the past I'd only skimmed through.  Hardy has never been a favorite, but he does have some wonderful lines that would make excellent book titles.  In spite of Hardy's rather bleak outlook, he occasionally reveals a wryly humorous  vein, and rereading The Ruined Maid gives me the same pleasure as the first time.

On through Robert Bridges--mostly skimmed.  I did try once again to appreciate Bridges, but failed.  His work doesn't engage me.  

Through Houseman, who though preoccupied with lost youth and wistful looks at times gone by, also has such memorable lines.  I do like many of his poems, and I always smile a little at the first lines of  'Terence This Is Stupid Stuff -- 

‘TERENCE, this is stupid stuff:
You eat your victuals fast enough;
There can’t be much amiss, ’tis clear,
To see the rate you drink your beer.
But oh, good Lord, the verse you make,	5
It gives a chap the belly-ache.

And then to Yeats.  I love Yeats' poetry, at least the ones I understand.  This anthology includes 89 of his poems, and I reread some of my favorites and worked at some of the ones that leave me bewildered.  Since this is my own copy, I added more underlining and marginalia to those I've added previously in many readings.  When I taught, I read all of my poetry books frequently, both for my own pleasure and for insights into teaching--so my anthologies are all marked up with thoughts, underlining, questions, and comparisons. With Yeats, my thoughts are both appreciative of poems and lines that I find amazing--and puzzled over those lines and poems that continue to baffle and perplex.

When I got about half way through the 89 poems, I decided I wanted to know more about the period before and after the Easter Rising, partly to know more about some of the people involved.  In Easter, 1916, Yeats mentions, among others, John MacBride, Maude Gonne's abusive husband from whom she was separated.   Below is an excerpt from the second verse:

This other man I had dreamed 

A drunken, vainglorious lout. 

He had done most bitter wrong 

To some who are near my heart,   

Yet I number him in the song; 

He, too, has resigned his part 

In the casual comedy; 

He, too, has been changed in his turn,   

Transformed utterly: 

A terrible beauty is born. 

and the final lines:

  

I write it out in a verse— 

MacDonagh and MacBride   

And Connolly and Pearse 

Now and in time to be, 

Wherever green is worn, 

Are changed, changed utterly:   

A terrible beauty is born.  

I don't think Yeats entirely forgives MacBride, but he acknowledges his commitment to the Irish cause in which Yeats himself believes.

source

Yeats' love of Maude Gonne resulted in her presence in many of his most loved poems.

Anyway, on my library trip Monday, I checked out The Apprentice Mage, without realizing that this is the first (huge) volume of a two volume set, which unfortunately ends in 1914 just when my interest picks up.  Yes, now I see the I in the title, but at the time with my arms full of books....

I'm giving it a try, and while not impressed with the writing, I have found some great bits embedded in the tedious detail. 

A section in the introduction says that one has to look at so many aspects of Yeats' life to gain insight into the man and his work; Foster calls it a "palimpsest of Irishness" that Yeats continued to develop, question, and change throughout his life. Not just for Yeats, but for all of us, our development is overwritten again and again by experience, even if the original is still there in large or small portions.  For Yeats, because of the times in which he lived and his own creative genius, the layers are more interesting and more important.

And yet...the author almost loses purpose in the extraneous detail.  The book is over 500 pages with another 200 pages of end-notes (to which I've already had to refer several times); the print is very small, and the line spacing very narrow (another element that makes for less pleasant reading), and it doesn't even cover the period I'm most curious about.  I may have to skim this one and look for another biography with a cleaner, more efficient style.

I've only been through about 1/2 the poems (so I have many favorites left--including The Second Coming, which once again seems prophetic), but I want more historical context, especially about the Home Rule crisis and the effects of WWI on Yeats' poetry.  (Not that I'm not interested in his love affairs, his fascination with spiritualism, automatic writing, and Honor Bright--I do love me some gossip.)  

The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters by Laura Thompson

The Mitford sisters are a strange phenomenon.  Diana married Sir Oswald Mosely, the infamous leader of the British Union of Fascists; Unity was friends with Hitler; Jessica became a dedicated communist; Nancy was a best-selling author; Pamela was more retiring, but married a millionaire scientist; and Deborah became the Duchess of Devonshire.

Laura Thompson's The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters  is well-researched with a lengthy list of sources and gives engrossing details of the collected lives of the "mad, mad Mitfords."  

Daughters of the second Baron Redesdale, the sisters had an unusual upbringing and controversial lives.  Not rich, but aristocratic, sophisticated, bright, and witty--the sisters have retained their fascination through the years.  

There are scandals aplenty, alliances and rivalries, connections with the richest and most aristocratic of England's elite.  Thompson seems both fascinated and repulsed by the behavior of some of the sisters...and perhaps that is what keeps them, after all this time, of such obsessive interest to the public.  With the exceptions of Pamela and Deborah, the sisters have flaws that override their good qualities.  Their behaviors can be dissected and explained, but not forgotten.

I found the prologue discouraging (it will only appeal to someone who already has a good background of the Mitfords), but once the prologue is out of the way, Thompson does a fine job with this collective biography--and it can't be an easy task to try to cover the lives of six individuals, especially with such complex and antithetical beliefs.

A compelling book about the lives of six young women and the turbulent times in which they lived.  It is rather like watching the proverbial train wreck, you simply can't look away.  

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press

Biography.  Sept. 6, 2016.  Print length:  400 pages.

Mish Mash

I've been receiving more ARCs in the mail lately.  For a while this slowed down as most ARCs offered were e galleys.  Here are some of the recent arrivals:

Fidget quilts #3 and #4 (for AD and dementia patients) are finished.  Although my goal was to keep from buying anything new and to use only what I have in my fabric stash, I picked up a couple of items at Dollar Tree that will provide added texture to future quilts.

#4

Ears, arms, and legs are loose; butterflies are dimensional; a little soft minky fabric with button and gathered fabric for texture.  This one was a lot of fun, and I'll make more like this.

I noticed that I have a number of books from a while back that I haven't reviewed, so here are two brief reviews of those neglected books:

Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham -- This review kept being put off because it is the first book by Robotham that I didn't really care for.  I'm a great fan of most of his books, but this one...well, just didn't appeal as much.  It is the 4th book in the Joe O'Loughlin series, and O'Loughlin needs to figure out if a friend of his daughter has killed her father.  Lots of twists, of course.  I'm not sure why this one didn't feel equal to the others I've read by Robotham, but maybe it is because of the continuing saga of O'Loughlin's disintegrating marriage and the fact that his wife annoys me.

Read in Jan.  Library copy.

Mystery/Suspense.  2012.  423 pages.



Lewis Carroll:  The Man and His Circle by Edward Wakeling.    The delay on this one is because there was such a wealth of fascinating material.  I highlighted so much and couldn't decide what to include and what to eliminate.   The dilemma of too much of interest was overwhelming.

Charles Lutwitdge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) was a fascinating man with an equally fascinating circle of friends and acquaintances.   Anyone interested in the Victorian period would benefit from reading this book.  

The background on Carroll as mathematician, the illustrators of Alice in Wonderland (and how Carroll worked with the illustrators), publishers and publication, his friends among artists, playwrights, and actors, a historical look at his photography--and more, much more.  The primary sources are extensive.

A brilliant man with wide-ranging interests, Lewis Carroll has a dedicated biographer in Wakeling.  The book does not follow the pattern of most biographies, but is a compelling experience and informative experience.  

Read in January      

NetGalley/  I.B. Taurus

Biography/Nonfiction.  2015.  Print length:  480 pages.                                 

Krishnamacharya by A.G. Mohan

Mohan, A. G. (with Ganesh Mohan).  Krishnamacharya:  His Life and Teachings.

Krishnamacharya (1888-1988) is considered the "father of modern yoga."   Some of his famous students included B.K.S. Iyengar, Patabi Jois, Indira Devi, T.K.V Desikachar (his son), and the author, A. G. Mohan.  He is largely responsible for the popularization of yoga through his own influence and through the influence of his students.


A.G. Mohan began studied with Krishnamacharya for nearly two decades at the end of Krishnamacharya's long life.  He gives an overview of Krishnamacharya's early years and studies, but does not go into his lessons with Iyengar, Patabi Jois, or Indira Devi.  Instead he relates his own personal experiences with his teacher and mentor with great respect and reverence.


"... A. G. Mohan, a well-respected yoga teacher and yoga therapist, draws on his own memories and Krishnamacharya’s diaries and recorded material, to present a fascinating view of the man and his teachings, and Mohan's own warm and inspiring relationship with the master. This portrait of the great teacher will be a compelling and informative read for yoga teachers and students who truly want to understand the source of their tradition and practice."  Product Description

 The book is quite short with many references to ancient texts with which I am not familiar and only brief information about Krishnamacharya's early years, but I agree with the Product Description -- it is an excellent read for yoga teachers and students interested in learning more about their tradition.

Nonfiction.  Biographical.  2010.  151 pages.

Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend

Tye, Larry.  Satchel:  The Life and Times of an American Baseball Legend.

I enjoyed this book overall.  It was in many ways an absorbing glimpse into Satchel Paige's life and into the history of the Negro Leagues and their eventual demise as a result of integration.

Satchel was a peerless pitcher and a legend in his own mind as well as a legend for all time.  He had remarkable confidence in his pitching abilities (sometimes calling in all his fielders, so confident was he of striking out the remaining batters) and for more than 40 years, in both the Negro Leagues and the Major Leagues, he continued to astound.  Not only his speed, but his accuracy was legendary.

The author finds Satch's claim to have pitched 2,500 games a realistic one, as the Negro Leagues played Winter Ball as well.  And Satch played for more than one team at a time, often pitching back to back games.

The information about other black players such as Moses Fleetwood Walker, Rube Foster, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and many others provided an interesting look at the history of black baseball and some of its superstars.

There is both the joy of reading about some of Satch's remarkable feats and the sadness of his later years, in ill health and trying to make ends meet.  He was an imperfect man, but an almost perfect pitcher with a fast ball that, in his youth, was estimated at over 100 mph.  Even when he was in 60's, the man was able to put on an impressive performance.

My main problem with the book is that it moves forward and back in time in a manner that I sometimes found annoying.  It felt like a collection of anecdotes and statistics interspersed and often interrupting the "storyline"....  The anecdotes and statistics were entertaining and  informative, but I would have preferred a more cohesive approach to the timeline.

Which doesn't mean that I'm not grateful to have discovered the book.  I enjoyed it, although I found it slow at times.  I learned a lot.  And as usual, it encouraged me to look more closely at a subject.  The bibliography is excellent, and I may be looking at some of those books in the future.

Nonfiction.  Biography.  2009.  337 pages including extensive notes and bibliographic material.

Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor

Gooch, Brad. Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor.

I really enjoyed this biography; it is one of the best I've read in the last several years. The details of Flannery's childhood, school years, relationship with her father, friendships, attempts to leave Milledgeville, the illness that brought her home, the often touchy relationship with her mother, and her friendships--all fascinated me.

One of the many interesting things in this biography is the revelation of A's name. Sally Fitzgerald who edited The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor, chose not to reveal A's name. I thought that was a curious omission. I assumed that Fitzgerald consulted with A and that she chose not to reveal herself so publicly, but I was still mightily curious. At any rate, the biography gives Betty Hester a name and fills in more about her life. Maryat Lee, another friend and correspondent, was also filled out in more detail. What a wide variety of friendships Flannery managed, in spite of her illness and her quiet life in Milledgeville.

Flannery's friendship with Erik Langkjaer is another interesting peek behind the letters in The Habit of Being. The letters are like conversations, but don't include much about other aspects of her correspondents.

Both Maryat and Eric make appearances in Flannery's writing, disguised perhaps, but recognizable. I really need to do some re-reading of Flannery's fiction.

I found much new information and an entirely readable book in Brad Gooch's Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor. The research is thorough; Gooch interviewed an impressive number of people who knew O'Connor and used public records, Yaddo records, her correspondence, and her fiction as well.

Excerpt from the conclusion:

"Flannery had spent her life making literary chickens walk backward. But she had also spent much of her adult writing life looking down the barrel of the Misfit's shotgun. Just as her friends had to discern the contours of true suffering between the lines of her funny vignettes of invalidism, so her stories included a coded spiritual autobiography."

Another review: Dabroots
and: Betty & Boo's Mommy

Nonfiction. Biography. 2009. 385 pages.

Dear Diary

I have a couple of books to review, but they will wait.

Today I want to share a couple of sites with those of you who are interested in diaries and journals. I get regular updates from The Diary Junction when they add something new. "The aim of this website is to provide an internet resource for those interested in historical and literary diaries and diarists." It is a terrific resource.

There is also a blog (The Diary Junction Blog) that contains excerpts from the diaries of some fascinating and often famous people. I really love this site. Check it out!

Exploring Other Worlds

Chapin, David. Exploring Other Worlds: Margaret Fox, Elisha Kent Kane, and the Antebellum Culture of Curiosity.

Exploring Other Worlds is a very interesting look at two celebrities from the mid-nineteenth century. Margaret Fox and Elisha Kane both achieved fame/notoriety/celebrity status before the Civil War. Maggie Fox's claim to fame was as one of the spirit-rapping Fox Sisters; Elisha Kane was a gentleman traveler, an arctic explorer, and a national hero.

According to David Chapin, "In their own ways Kane and Fox epitomized what can best be called a culture of curiosity. They both operated in a new world of commercial mass culture that appealed to curiosity about the unknown .... The culture of curiosity was reflected in the newspapers, the dime museums, the lecture halls, the books, and the pamphlets of this era." The beginning of a new mass consumer culture was developing, and it provided a new kind of audience.

While neither Fox nor Kane were actually in show business, they were both entertainment attractions, and as a result, ripe for the kind of voyeuristic celebrity we are familiar with today. Both Fox and Kane needed the publicity for financial reasons, but the celebrity was a double-edged sword for both.

Chapin takes a much more skeptical approach to the Fox Sisters than does Weisberg in her biographical work, Talking to the Dead. He entertains no notion other than that the sisters were frauds; he does, however, look at Maggie and her situation sympathetically. Although he dismisses the spirit rappings as fraudulent, Chapin sympathizes with the difficulty of working women during this time period and never dismisses Maggie, herself.

Chapin includes more primary source information about the relationship between Maggie and Kane and mentions incidents that Weisberg omits. By the same token, while Chapin mentions Horace Greeley's acquaintance with the Fox family, he does not mention, as Weisberg does, that Kate Fox lived with the Greeley family for a while.

Kane actually gets a less sympathetic account. Chapin mentions Kane's arrogance, condescension, and sense of superiority in his travels, in his relationship with Maggie and in his arctic explorations. Part of Kane's sense of superiority is directly related to the cultural and social mores of the era, but I have to wonder if it was not partially related to his small stature (which was frequently mentioned). He was about five and a half feet tall and rarely weighed more than 130 pounds.

Although courageous, curious, and adventuresome, Kane was physically fragile as a result of bad bout with rheumatic fever when he was 18. He managed to pack an enormous amount of travel and adventure into his short life.

Chapin's book gives an informative and well-documented view of these two individuals, of their relationship, and of the pre-war society to which they belonged. It reads much more like a history text than does Weisberg's Talking to the Dead, but Exploring Other Worlds is excellent historical writing, simultaneously informative and interesting. I enjoyed it; it provides a great balance to Weisberg's book.

Nonfiction. Biography/history. 2004. 220 pages + notes.

Jane Austen: A Life

Tomalin, Claire. Jane Austen: A Life.

This biography had a wealth of information about Jane Austen and her family. Although so many of Jane's letters were destroyed by her sister Cassandra and her niece Fanny, Tomalin still manages to piece together a vivid perspective of the author's life and the influence of family and friends.

Tomalin does occasionally make assumptions that bother me a bit; I don't mind assumptions too much if there are qualifiers, but I'm uneasy with assumptions easily made and stated as fact without said qualifiers because such varied opinions can result from our personal readings of a situation.

Nevertheless, the factual information was interesting and detailed. I was unaware that Jane was sent to a boarding school where she suffered from a serious illness, that she had such interesting relations in her Aunt Philadelphia and her cousin Eliza (both women had unusual independence of mind and style), and that there was a ten year gap in her writing as a result of the move from Steventon to Bath.

It is a shame that we have so little in her own words about her life and thoughts, but this biography gives a great deal of information about some of the major events in the lives of the larger Austen family. It was not the easiest period to be an unmarried female, but in spite of her quiet life, Jane made an singular and significant mark on the age with her novels. Tomalin's biography allows us to view Jane in the midst of her family and her era.

Another review of Tomalin's biography: Of Books & Bicycles
Another biography of Jane Austen by Carol Shields reviewed by Nicole.

Nonfiction. Biography. 1998. 228 pages + Appendices, Notes, Bibliography.

Talking to the Dead

Weisberg, Barbara. Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism.

The Fox sisters gained fame in 1848 when eleven-year-old Kate and fourteen-year-old Maggie began communicating with the dead by means of mysterious rappings and knocks that were heard throughout the Fox home. Instant celebrity followed: first locally, among friends and neighbors who came to the Fox home to be amazed and who attempted to uncover the source of the noises. Later, as word spread, the girls gained national and international acclaim.

Attempts to discover how the strange noises were manifested and to discredit the sisters were never completely successful, although many mediums who followed in their footsteps were easily exposed as frauds. The sisters, including older sister Leah, who knew an opportunity when it appeared, underwent many humiliating attempts to debunk their abilities, but the attempts had little effect. The young girls, guided by Leah, initiated a phenomenon that surprised almost everyone with its rapid spread, and soon the number of individuals who could talk to the dead multiplied.

Weisberg does a fine job of examining the Spiritualist movement, the cultural underpinnings of the era, and the lives of Kate and Maggie. What is amazing is the number of intelligent and well-known individuals who believed, who attended seances, and/or who attempted to expose them. Among those who attended their seances were Horace Greeley, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and James Fennimore Cooper.

Weisberg's research is extensive and includes many primary documents from the time period, including books, letters, newspaper articles, and pages of secondary sources. Unfortunately, none of the Fox sisters left much in writing, and what there is (mostly in letters to devoted followers) never reveals evidence that is conclusive about their belief in their chosen profession. Maggie gave a lecture much later in life that decried their abilities as fake, but she later recanted.

I was originally drawn to the book by the "prophetic dreams" Captain Crozier experienced in Dan Simmon's novel, The Terror. His dreams included, but did not name, the Fox sisters and Elisha Kent Kane, one of the arctic explorers who searched for the lost Franklin Expedition. Elisha Kent Kane evidently fell for Maggie and pursued her with determination. The book did little to bolster Kane's reputation on a personal level, and his letters to Maggie are a combination of longing and contempt, as he felt Maggie to be beneath him.

Kane was 3o and Maggie was 19 when they met. He tended to be quite controlling, and believing the seances to be fraudulent, Kane attempted to separate Maggie from Leah (he saw the older sister as manipulative) and to persuade Maggie to give up her activities.

Shortly after "marrying" Maggie--this was not a formally legal marriage--Kane became seriously ill and died. His family denied that he had made any provision for Maggie, and a feud simmered between the evidently heart-broken Maggie and the Kane family for years.

Although their careers as mediums increased their financial status and their celebrity for a time, a serious down-side was that as they were entertained by the rich and famous, both Kate and Maggie developed a taste for alcohol that certainly aided in their fall from grace. Serious alcoholics by the end of their lives, both women died in impoverished circumstances.

Talking to the Dead tells the engrossing story of the rise and influence of Spiritualism, the Fox sisters, and the fears and uncertainties of the age in which they lived.

Update: The Stay At Home Bookworm has posted her review here.

Nonfiction. Biography/History. 2004. 273 pages.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville

Dickinson, Amy. The Mighty Queens of Freeville.

I want to live in Freeville and have Amy as a friend! I really didn't know what to expect of this ARC, but feel lucky to have received it. It is probably not a book I'd have chosen on my own, and I would have missed a wonderful opportunity. The book will be released on Feb. 3, don't miss this one.

Amy Dickinson is the "new" Ann Landers; she writes the syndicated advice column, "Ask Amy."

The book is full of wry humor, and I was hooked after the introduction when she says of her (almost entirely female) family:

We seem to be less than successful on many superficial levels. We don't have money. We aren't upwardly mobile. We aren't naturally thin or beautiful. We don't have advanced degrees, long-term career goals, or plans for retirement.

The book opens with Dickinson looking back on her divorce and the difficulty she had in accepting the end of her marriage. "Granted, the day my husband showed up at our marriage counseling session wheeling a suitcase, having just come in from a trip to Europe with his girlfriend," she says, "was a clue that our marriage was in trouble."

Her family, however, is the core of who she is and provides her with a sense of place and history. She is always cognizant of their impact on her life; her mother, sisters, aunts, and cousins, Amy and Emily--The Mighty Queens of Freeville.

With retrospective insight, Dickinson relates the events involved in the divorce: being left with an infant daughter, learning to deal with her husband's betrayal, and security provided by the family support and nurturing she received. She examines the past with more than insight, however, because enough time has past for her to tell the story of her divorce and recovery with a perfect pitch of humor attached to the old grief.

She and her daughter Emily prosper. As a single parent, Dickinson learns many things about being a mother and the importance of having a place like Freeville as a base of emotional cheer leading. She learns from her mother, her aunts, her sisters, and from experience.

The numerous little vignettes of mother and daughter making their way in the world are touching and hilarious. One of my favorite chapters is "Making Peanut Jesus: Finding God in the Community of Faith and Casseroles."

As a Sunday School teacher in Washington, D. C., Dickinson worked hard at crafts. When, after creating a creche including Mary and Joseph (made of toilet paper rolls) and Baby Jesus (a swaddled peanut), she must deal with the second-grader who ate the Baby Jesus, she finds herself struggling for words. Responding to questions like, "Does the Virgin Mary have nipples?" teaches Dickinson the skill of quick recovery.

Counteracting the wealthy Episcopalian church in D.C. is the Freeville United Method Church--the church of faith and casseroles. The women in her family are all musical, and "It was the sound of my family's gene pool choir that first brought me into the mysterious community of faith and casseroles...."

Pumpkin the cat, holidays and summers in Freeville, the move to Chicago, Emily's leaving for college are all part of Amy Dickinson's journey from divorce to the present.

The book is charming, funny, and a joy to read! Dickinson's voice is a pleasure from beginning to end.

Nonfiction. Biography/Memoir. 2009. 225 pages.

Galileo's Daughter

Sobel, Dava. Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love.

Although her letters give such a human touch to the great man's life, this not really the story of Galileo's daughter. It is a book mainly about Galileo and some of the most important discoveries and events in his life. What makes it different from most biographies of Galileo, however, is that the book also reveals the close relationship between Galileo and his oldest daughter. It is especially interesting because the relationship was, for twenty years, conducted mostly through letters.

Worried that his illegitimate daughters were unmarriageable, Galileo placed Virginia and her younger sister in the convent of the Poor Clares when Virginia was thirteen. She took the name Suor Marie Celeste (to honor her father's interest in the heavens) and she remained sequestered there for the next twenty years, the entire rest of her life. Her life was so circumscribed by poverty and labor that it is amazing that she seemed to blossom quietly in spite of her situation.

The book opens with a letter from Marie Celeste to Galileo, but quickly moves into the story of Galileo-- his birth, education, relationship with the mother of his children, his theories and experiments. All of this information is presented in an interesting manner, so while I longed for more information about Marie Celeste, I was kept well occupied with Galileo himself.

In the first of Galileo's problems with the Inquisition (over Copernicus' theory of a sun centered universe), Galileo is exonerated. However, any individuals supporting the Copernican theory (and there were many others besides Galileo who found the sun centered universe more logical than a universe with the earth at the center) were warned that to treat it as anything other than a theory would be considered "heretical."

Galileo's first contretemps with the Inquisition occurs about the time that Virginia is old enough to take her vows and becomes Suor Marie Celeste. It is also about this time that the letters play a larger part in the book. Here is a portion of one of her letters to her father:

I am returning the rest of your shirts that we have sewn, and the leather apron, too, mended as best I could....Now I am tending to the work on the linens, so that I hope you will be able to send me the trim for borders at the ends, and I reminde you, Sire, that the trimmings needs to be wide, because the linens themselves are rather short.

Her letters are often in this domestic vein, but they are also in response to Galileo's letters and to the events in his life. The love and affection is obvious on both sides even though we don't have the benefits of Galileo's letters. Marie Celeste occasionally petitions her father for help (often for the convent or for other nuns), and in the follow-up letters thanks him for generosity.

The plague returns in 1630, and Sobel includes a good bit of interesting information about the deaths and various preventive measures undertaken. The Poor Clares, already confined to their convent, found themselves even further cut off, but it did not prevent Marie Celeste from sending medicines she prepared herself for her father and heart-felt prayers for his safety.

During this outbreak of the plague, Galileo once again finds himself in trouble with the Inquisition and the Pope, himself. At 68, old and ill, Galileo's latest book angers the pontiff and results in his being called to Rome. This time, Galileo does not fare so well. Throughout the trial, and his resulting frustrations and depressions, Marie Celeste offers support and prayers. All of her energy is expended on convent labor and worry for her father.

The final chapters are touching, and the reader grieves for both Galileo and Marie Celeste, but these chapters are also moving in the love and loyalty Galileo inspired in his daughter and among his friends and colleagues. Especially admirable are the efforts of Vicenzio Viviani, who at sixteen became his assistant, writing letters for the almost blind Galileo, reading aloud the replies, and aiding him in every way. Viviani continued his devotion after Galileo's death and is responsible for the tomb and its occupants.

A rewarding read!

Nonfiction. Biography. 1999. 368 pages.

Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth biography

Cordery, Stacy A. Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker.

Alice Roosevelt Longworth, often referred to as Princess Alice, was a fascinating Washington icon for decades, but was not a totally likable individual. Cordery certainly admires her, but even she leaves several episodes open, unable to comment in a genuinely positive manner.

What is obviously true about Alice is that she had an intellect to contend with and a sly wit with a tendency toward malevolence. This biography reads in many ways like the biography of Eudora Welty I read a couple of years ago - much of the book is a list of who Alice saw, where she went, what she did in that "date book" manner. Cordery was privy to much private correspondence that had not previously been published, and yet much of this resource material gives little insight into the woman Alice became and of her personal relations.

The facts are all there, her mother's death a few days after her birth, her father's distance until she was a political asset, her friends, her marriage to an older man, her political views and associates. In many ways, the biography is an excellent, if somewhat biased view, of the Republican Party and the political events of the early 20th century. I found it a bit patchwork, however. Situations remarked upon, abandoned, mentioned again and again abandoned, and eventually expanded upon. Especially in the early chapters, there is a patchwork quality.

Writing a biography must be among the most difficult tasks of any writer. Using the abundant source material in a cohesive way (if such is available), filling in gaps without too much speculation (if source material is unavailable); creating a real human being of a legend; controlling one's personal sentiments; interviewing and evaluating the accounts of friends and enemies; avoiding mere lists of names, dates, and activities while still giving a reliable examination of the individual's friends and significantly influential events-- must be a tremendously complex job.

One of the first national (& international) celebrities, Alice received as much or more attention than even her father during his White House years, and she worked at keeping her name at the front of events her entire life. She was not bound by tradition, and dismissed (to the joy of many women) many of the social traditions of the time. She was not afraid of voicing her opinion or using her political clout, and she cultivated politicians and famous people who often adored her even into her 90's. She made many fast friends, charmed almost everyone she met, made devastatingly cutting remarks that were often personally hurtful as well as politically influential.

Her husband, Nick Longworth, was a womanizer and a drinker. When he died, one of his mistresses, Laura Curtis, was present (Laura was later a close friend of Alice's). Alice herself had a child by Senator William Borah, and it is not clear whether Nick knew and chose not to acknowledge it - after all, he had for decades carried on widely with his women friends - or simply didn't realize that Paulina was not his child. At any rate, Nick adored "his daughter," and Alice seems to have managed quite easily with the arrangement.

Interesting that all of her romantic interests were with much older men, especially given her desire for her father's attention and affection.

Alice Roosevelt Longworth was a force to be reckoned with for over 80 years and despite some of the less pleasant public aspects of her personality, she was both powerful and popular, admired for her courage and commitment and feared for her waspish tongue. She was intelligent and extremely well-read, sometimes jealous, sometimes petty, yet stylish and charming, and had most people eating out of her hand at will.

Earlier, I mentioned the difficulty of writing biography and just want to add that two of the best biographies I've read in the last couple of years are Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father and Voltaire Almighty . I also enjoyed Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee . All of these have been reviewed here on my blog, along with other biographies and memoirs that I've enjoyed, but weren't quite as good.

Nonfiction. Biography. 2007. 483 pages + extensive bibliography & notes with additional detail.

Eden's Outcasts

Matteson, John. Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father.

6 words: An excellent and thorough Alcott biography.


Informative, fair, well-documented, well-written! Matteson has written a highly readable biography that is both scholarly and conversational. I had no idea this much material was available, but all of the Alcotts kept journals and these personal writings alone would certainly have been an overwhelming task--yet Matteson obviously managed it. The personal writings, especially of Louisa and Bronson, give much of the interest and vitality to this biography.

Bronson was, indeed, a piece of work - a dreamer, philosopher, and thoroughly impractical man. My feelings about Bronson went back and forth, but Matteson's research reveals the man in depth, with compassion, and over the length of his long life.

What a family they were! Poor, almost nomadic as they were forced to move over and over, failing again and again, full of high ideals fostered both by Bronson and Abba, confined to a vegetarian diet and few amenities, the Alcotts persevered, and eventually, succeeded. Certainly Louisa did, providing much of the families support.

A biographical MUST READ if you are interested in the time period, the Alcotts, or Concord and its prominent inhabitants. (I loved Emerson all the more for his many kindnesses.)

Nonfiction. Biography. 2007. 428 pages + extensive notes and an excellent bibliography.

American Bloomsbury

Cheever, Susan. American Bloomsbury.

6 word synopsis: Concord encouraged literary genius. Entangled lives.

B-

Interesting material about Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, Melville, friends, and associates. The writing, however, was disjointed and often without pronoun antecedents. Emerson was largely responsible for the fostering of literary geniuses in Concord and the book did give a great deal of information about their lives. It make me much more curious about these individuals whose home base was such a very small town, and I will be looking for some biographies from the extensive bibliography Cheever included.

Nonfiction. Biographical. 2006. 200 pages.

A Boy Named Shel

Rogak, Lisa. A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein. First, let me say I enjoyed the book, but the writing wasn't spectacular. I was interested in learning more about the man behind the children's books and the songs and I found out a great deal, but the writing never flowed and was sometimes disjointed. A lot of facts--who, what, where, when-- were revealed and that alone was fascinating. Yet (and we must remember that he was a very private man) somehow the inner Shel never quite appeared.

Shel Silverstein was a fascinating and very odd man who excelled in a number of genres: cartoons, children's books, plays, song writing. He led an interesting life, traveling from place to place at the drop of a hat, keeping several homes across the country, and staying frequently at the Playboy Mansion. He was a womanizer, never married, had a daughter by one woman and a son by another. He wrote poems for children and risque songs for adults.

I'm going to digress a bit and say that I love Dylan Thomas' work. Love it. But I'm quite sure I would not have been able to tolerate the man. I love Shel Silverstein's work, but wonder if I would have the patience the man himself must have required. In many ways, Rogak makes his eccentricities and behavior seem lovable, and yet...

All in all, I enjoyed the book. I like having a peek into the life of talented and creative people, but there were several things that bothered me: there is no mention of his sister other than she was born; his mother supported his desire to be a cartoonist, but she is a vague and infrequent force in the biography; the mother of his daughter died-- just died--no hint of how or why; he bought the mother of his son a house, that's it, no more mention of her.

Part of the problem may be that many of Silverstein's friends refused to talk about him, feeling that since the man refused to give interview (as of 1976) and was intensely private, it would be wrong to reveal further information, but while Rogak did a great deal of research and published an informative biography, in many ways, the man himself slipped through.

Yet, I found the book fascinating. Despite the flaws, I was engrossed and fascinated by the man's accomplishments, his work ethic, his odd behavior, his womanizing, his ability to collaborate with others. A psychologist could probably put labels on several of his behaviors, but I will refrain.

Nonfiction. Biography. 2007. 223 pages.

The Zookeeper's Wife

Ackerman, Diane. The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story. Jan and Antonina Zabinski lived in a villa on the grounds of the Warsaw Zoo; Jan had become director in 1929, and when he and Antonina were married in 1931, they both devoted themselves to the zoo. For several years, the couple enjoyed their unique association with the zoo animals, and Jan worked at creating "an innovative zoo of world importance at the heart of Warsaw's life, both social and cultural..."

Antonina, with her unusual sensitivity to the zoo animals, was as much a part of the zoo's success as Jan, as deeply in love with its inhabitants, and as actively involved in promotion of its beauty and opportunities. In August of 1939, however, the threat of invasion presaged the end of their comfortable life of serving and caring for their beloved animals. And then, with terrible swiftness, their zoo was decimated by the Nazi regime.

This is the story of the German invasion and occupation of Poland and of the terrible events that ensued, including the confining of the Jewish population in the Warsaw Ghetto, the eventual transportation of the the surviving Jews to concentration camps, the final destruction of the Ghetto, the destruction of Warsaw...and the personal efforts of both the Polish resistance and courageous individuals in rescuing and harboring as many Jews as they could. More specifically, this book is the story of the "Guests" that Jan and Antonina hid in their home and on the zoo grounds at the risk of their own lives.

It is a terrible and wonderful story of real people and quiet courage. In an earlier post, I discussed the book and gave some links that provide background to the entire Warsaw story.

Ackerman has done a fine job in bringing to light the role the Warsaw zoo and Jan and Antonina Zabinski played in saving the lives of over 300 Jews. Relying on extensive research and on Antonina's diaries, Ackerman often digresses, but she never plays on your emotions in her presentation of events. Liberated in 1945, Warsaw's pre-war population of "one hundred and a half million people" was estimated in early 1946 at "half a million at most"--with "living space for a tenth that number," according to Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum. One million Poles and Polish Jews dead or, in a small percentage of cases, successfully escaped from the city to safety elsewhere. Hard to imagine.

Endangered Species: Jews and Buffaloes. An excellent article relating the terrible effect of the invasion on the zoo animals, the plundering of the rare animals by Lutz Heck, Natzi attempts at genetic engineering to "reconstruct" extinct animals, the new purpose of the zoo as a shelter and escape route for Jews, and more.

Nonfiction. Biography/ history. 2007. W.W. Norton & Co. 323 pages.

Another review can be found at CaribousMom.