Easy as Pie – Pie Squared, a slab pie cookbook by Cathy Barrow

My grandfather used to say, "Patient waiting brings pie." No one in our family was much of a pie baker, but we enjoyed many pies from the legendary Horn & Hardart's and Hanscom's, both originally Philadelphia firms. Horn & Hardart's was widely known for their Automat restaurants in New York, which featured those great fruit pies, as well as individual chicken pot pies.

The overall premise of this cookbook is generally to demystify pie-baking, and to use a rectangular shallow form the author calls a "slab pie." The idea is a larger, easier to cut pie with more servings that takes the same or less effort than the traditional round pie or tart.

Piecrust, in particular, can be daunting for some home cooks, and except for graham and chocolate wafer crusts, and because I can be impatient in the kitchen, I usually buy mine, along with commercial phyllo dough and puff pastry. This cookbook makes crusts easier to manage, and includes some interesting options.

There is an overall Southern cooking style influence to a lot of the recipes, and a few recipes the inclusion of I'd question, but there are enough interesting options for fillings for savory main-course items. Just about every ethnicity's cooking style and spices have made it into this book. It's a good overview for those who are just getting into international cuisine.

Quite frankly, it's not a cookbook I'd add to my collection, but I'd recommend it for novice cooks and bakers.

Madcap Londoner Conquers New York – The Stylist Takes Manhattan by Rosie Nixon

A breezy, cheeky (it's British, after all) novel you can read in an evening or so.

Amber Green is a twenty-eight year old fashion stylist creating the window displays at London's Selfridge's Department Store. She's in a happy relationship with hunky Rob, a TV producer. Rob gets the opportunity to spend three months in New York filming a TV special that follows the backstory of what sounds quite a lot like the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (coincidentally canceled this year), and asks Amber to accompany him. Of course, she accepts.

The two fly off to the Big Apple, find a shoebox-size apartment to sublet in Williamsburg (Brooklyn), and set up housekeeping...and that's when Amber's saga of misadventures truly begins.

Without revealing the details, Amber finds legal (she doesn't have a green card) work, meets crazy, kooky starlets, a disgraced fashion designer, and many others. She gets in a lot of trouble but finds her way out.

It's fun to read about her exploits, her subway and taxi expeditions, and travails with Rob and others. Does everything work out in the end? Of course it does, but that's beside the point - it's the getting there that's so entertaining.

The perfect distraction for a night of insomnia!

Shanghai Secrets – The Song of the Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning

Many of us living in the United States, whether we are of European (Ashkenazic) Jewish background, or not, are only dimly aware at best of the Jewish community that formed in Shanghai, China as World War II began. And, even if we know a bit about that, we probably know even less about Jewish emigration to Australia.

Here is a vivid and beautifully-crafted novel that brings that all into focus. A professional-class Jewish family flees their home in Vienna immediately after Kristallnicht and travels to Shanghai to find refuge. Their young daughter, Romy, horrified by the murders and losses she has witnessed, gradually becomes enthralled with her new milieu, but memories of her past are never far away.

Paralleling Romy's story is the contemporary one of her granddaughter, Alexandra. Alexandra has traveled to Melbourne from her job as a successful commodities trader and dealmaker in London to spend time with her elderly grandparents as her grandfather, Wilhelm, spends his last days. She is unusually close to her grandparents because they raised her after her parents were killed in an accident when she was a child, but Alexandra, who was told her mother was adopted from China, has many unanswered questions about her heritage. The research she has done so far has led to dead ends, and she hesitates to question her grandmother too closely while she is mourning.

When an opportunity to work in Shanghai opens up, it is a chance for Alexandra to move on from an unsuccessful romantic relationship in London, and to quietly go forward with the family research that is so important to her.

The stories of these two generations of women are enmeshed in a finely constructed, wonderfully descriptive narrative that carefully unmasks the secrets Romy and Wilhelm felt they needed to keep, and brings the closure Alexandra is seeking. And, for the reader, there is a great deal to learn and understand. Australian author Kirsty Manning has written a wonderful book, and I am hoping to find and read her debut novel, The Midsummer Garden, which has not been released here. There is another book coming in 2020, so far called The Lost Jewels – looking forward to that.

Reaching the Heights – Becoming, a Memoir by Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama is an extraordinary woman and her memoir is equally so. It's a fascinating and inspiring story, and obviously written in her true voice...you only have to be familiar with her speeches and many appearances on TV talk shows to know it. In fact, the writing rings so true that you can "hear" her. Were I still commuting, it would have been a wonderful audio book experience, but no matter, reading it was just fine as it came across as so immediate and animated. The 400-plus pages just flew by.

The book is divided into three main sections, plus an epilogue.

"Becoming Me" explores her childhood and teen years in the working-class South Side of Chicago, and her young adult years as she navigates her Ivy-League undergraduate experience at Princeton, law school at Harvard, and her partner-track work at a leading law firm – where she first met Barack Obama when he came on as a summer associate and she mentored him.

The second section is "Becoming Us", which describes their coming together as a couple, as ambitious young marrieds, and parents to Malia and Sasha. This is where we find out exactly what Barack Obama was doing as a Community Organizer, and how he moved on to the Illinois State Senate, to US Senator and then President of the United States. Through it all, their career and personal decisions for themselves and a couple were completely entwined, so theirs is truly a joint story.

Michelle Obama's professional accomplishments during this time are not as widely known or celebrated as her husband's, but they are equally impressive. She left the law firm, and became one of the forces behind a non-profit organization, Public Allies, which was created to help young people find their way into careers in public service and in non-profits. Following that, she became the Executive Director for Public Affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

"Becoming More" covers the Obamas' White House years. It is fascinating to read how they rose to the demands of their positions, how they made adjustments to the way a First Family lives within the spotlight of the Presidency, and of the many experiences they all had in that setting. The pressure on them was even more intense than on other Presidents and their families, as the first African-Americans in that role. Being the first is always the most challenging and the most scrutinized, and we all know, and mainly due to the efforts of Michelle Obama, they more than rose to the occasion and became a shining example of what America is all about – a concept that is now being torn down and refuted by the Oval Office's current occupant.

Michelle Obama's time as First Lady is over, but at the age of fifty-five, we can expect to see much more from her. Just the other day, it was announced that a half-million dollars of earnings from the sale of her book would be donated to promote education and opportunities for girls. Every day I continue to be impressed by her. She is a force for what is good and positive, and how she reached the place she now occupies as a public figure should encourage millions of average Americans, especially young people, to do and be more. Reading her book can provide the inspiration for that.

Always Enduring – Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

Over and over again, with book after book, I am awed by the prodigious artistry of Alice Hoffman and her ability to place the reader into any setting, time or place, and make them feel as though they are in the actual midst of the characters, perhaps as a concerned friend, but more likely as an unseen observer. Her writing is so evocative, so almost telepathically descriptive, that you feel you are there, whether it is in the garden of an old farmhouse near the waterfront somewhere on Cape Cod (as in this novel), in a remote village in war-torn France (The World That We Knew), or on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas (The Marriage of Opposites).

Blackbird House is a series of loosely connected stories that serve as chapters for what might be called the life of a home, first built during the British occupation of New England, by a fisherman for his wife. The house passes from family to family through purchases or bequests, but even as it and the times change, certain aspects of its occupants remain, whether it is in the turnips planted in the vegetable garden, or the mysterious white-feathered blackbird that continues to appear but can be seen only by some of those who reside there.

The house stands witness to two centuries-plus of love, tragedy, loyalty, betrayals and reconciliations. It represents the survival of the human spirit and its triumphs over all attempts by man or nature to tear it down or destroy it.

As Loretta Said, "Snap Out Of It" – The Book That Matters Most, by Ann Hood

The Book That Matters Most was definitely not as interesting or satisfying for me as Hood's The Obituary Writer. Perhaps it was because I couldn't develop enough sympathy for Ava, the character at the center of this novel – somehow she didn't ring true for me.

Ava is heartbroken and distraught when her husband of twenty-five years leaves her for another woman, which is certainly understandable. Her grown children, a son and a wayward troubled daughter, Maggie, are living far away from Ava's comfortable home in Providence. Ava's mother is long dead and that loss is a wound that has never healed because Ava has not accepted it. In many ways, Ava has not gone forward and this is her true problem.

The novel weaves around Ava's difficulty in coping with her losses. She has an affair with a younger man she meets in the book club she joins to combat her loneliness. (The structure of the book club is for each member to choose "the book that matters most" to them, hence this novel's title.) Her daughter, who is living in Paris, has fallen into a drug-centered existence and is completely dependent on the older man who has turned her head, made her a kind of love-slave and feeds her addiction.

The reality is that Ava does lead something of a charmed life. She lives in a beautiful home in an elegant section of Providence, Rhode Island. She teaches French. Unlike other women in mid-life who are faced with her losses, she is not struggling financially or materially. She has loyal friendships.

Her problems have a very first-world setting and I want her to get on with things and fix her life. It takes an entire novel and a lot of improbable twists before she gets around to that, and then the conclusion, which finally ties everything up, seems forced. A little ambiguity might have been better and given the reader more food for thought.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, by Phaedra Patrick

A sweet, small book that teeters on the edge of Hallmark-movie territory but thankfully doesn't quite fall in. It's soothing and optimistic, with all the plot lines neatly tied up at the end.

Arthur Pepper is a sixty-nine year old retired widower living in the suburbs of York, England. Miriam, his wife of over forty years, passed away unexpectedly and he is facing both the one-year anniversary of her death and his upcoming seventieth birthday. Since Miriam's death Arthur has been cloistering himself in his house, following a very set routine and has more or less removed himself from the world. His daughter lives nearby but is occupied with her own problems and his son has made a life in Australia for himself, his wife and children. A few neighbors look in on him but he essentially keeps to himself.

Everything changes when Arthur decides it is time to pack up and give away Miriam's clothing. He discovers an unfamiliar gold charm bracelet tucked away into the toe of a boot, and he starts to wonder where this item came from and what the charms may have meant to her.

Arthur and Miriam had lived a very quiet life together, watching their TV programs, taking modest trips to the seaside, and treating themselves to the occasional dessert or fish and chips. All he knew of Miriam was the always-correct organized wife and mother who wore tonally-shaded clothes and comfortable shoes. None of that fit with the elaborate bracelet he has found and his curiosity motivates him. As a result, he sets off on an unexpected odyssey where he must confront new and at times, alarming, developments that make it clear that Miriam had a very different life before they met.

Some of Arthur's encounters are quite improbable but they are imaginative. Others seem somewhat formulaic and a touch clichéd. In the context of this story, those particular developments are forgivable and don't really take away too much from the gentleness of Arthur's story.

At the end of it all, Arthur and his fellow characters find satisfaction and resolution in positive ways. There are no unexpected great revelations here, and nothing of the subtlety and wit of masters of the human condition like Alexander McCall Smith, but this is a charming, if rather slight book with which to while away some downtime. It provides all the comfort and familiarity of a favorite childhood food, or as the British would say, a nursery pudding, without asking a lot of the reader.

Fifty Years of Fashion, New Look to Now – by Valerie Steele

It would be wonderful to find a sequel to this book that would pick up from 1998-on, or where this volume left off. Perhaps author Valerie Steele will bring out a revised version a few years from now and call it Seventy-Five Years of Fashion. I can only hope so.

Steele's book includes well-researched commentary and excellent photography of illustrative styles from the collection of The Museum at F.I.T. (The Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York. The book not only explores the fashion industry starting with The New Look that immediately followed World War II, but it also opens a window into the changes in culture and society that spawned the fashions of the times.

All the major designers are covered: Christian Dior, the creator of The New Look, Cristóbal Balenciaga (generally known just by his last name), Jacques Fath, Yves St. Laurent, Missoni (the Italian family known for their knitwear), Jean-Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood and others. 

The trends of each decade are thoroughly addressed but the writing is never ponderous nor at the opposite extreme, breathy. This is a scholarly book but it is very accessible and readable for anyone with an interest in style and culture.

There is no doubt that the twentieth century and the nearly two decades that have followed were strongly impacted by the events and hardships of World War II. The world order and political scene were vastly different before and after the war. The fashion industry and its subsidiary fields were greatly affected and a system that once thrived in Paris was decimated. Attitudes were upended and with the advent of less formal codes of dress (the reactionary modes and ideas of the 50s notwithstanding), and expansions in consumerism, the world became a very different place. 

Steele explores it all, from changes in business structures. Where there were once individual designers working in their ateliers with their staffs of highly-skilled workers and showing their couture collections in their salons to a small group rich clients and the fashion press, we learn about what became a huge business of conglomerates selling ready-to-wear less costly lines and licensed designer names on everything from perfumes and cosmetics to costume jewelry, shoes and products for the home. 

Steele also covers phenomena like the advent of Swinging London and the music business, as British fashion designers took over in the early 60s, the Hippie Movement of the late 60s, on to the excesses of the 70s (probably not the best decade for fashion), the power looks of the 80s, and in the 90s, the neutrals of American designers like Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis. One can only wonder what she'd think about the ongoing 70s revival that's popular with young people in their teens and twenties and is a breath of nostalgia for the rest of us.

The Language of Clothes by Alison Lurie – a 1981 take on fashion

I came across this 1981 book in a bibliography listing in another book about fashion. I was familiar with the writer's fiction, and thought it would be interesting to get her take, so I requested it through an inter-library loan.

I'm sorry to report that the material feels quite dated, and that the book was not written very objectively. Lurie is very judgmental and her style is preachy: in a chapter labeled "Male and Female" she wrote that "toreador" and "Capri" pants (her quotes) came "in odd, glaring colors and ended a tight, awkward six inches above the ankle as if they had shrunk in the wash." She also wrote that "Although women in male clothes usually look like gentlemen, men who wear women's clothes, unless they are genuine transsexuals, seem to imitate the most vulgar and unattractive form of female dress, as if in a spirit of deliberate and hostile parody."

It seems as though we've come a long way since 1981...

War Paint by Lindy Woodhead – a biography of two formidable women and their rivalry

A fascinating read for anyone with interests in fashion and beauty, the lives of leading businesswomen, history, advertising, art and publishing. Lindy Woodhead's dual biography of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden was clearly exhaustively researched and is thoroughly documented. It presents the facts of their lives, insights into their personalities, but most importantly, in my opinion, a remarkable look into consumer culture and the changing scene in the United States and throughout the world, from the very last of the 19th century, into the Edwardian Age, through World I, the Great Depression, World War II and onward into the 60s, when the book wraps up with the deaths of its subjects and their legacies.

Rubinstein and Arden were intense rivals, each attempting to capture the luxury cosmetic market for her own. They spent decades one-upping each other with their spas, new products, their personal acquisitions and, at times, the poaching of their staff members. I have to say I found myself rooting for Madame Rubinstein more often than not, but oddly enough, I don't recall ever using any of her products or seeing them among my mother's things. Long after Ms. Arden's death, I purchased some hand and body lotions from one of the successor companies that had control of her label and I became something of a devotee. I still have just a little of one of those lotions, and looking at the bottle, and knowing what I know now about her and her much earlier cosmetic and beauty lines, the item is very far from what Arden once represented. She would have been quite shocked at the plastic bottle, and what I recall as its moderate price, but I think she might have liked the scent...

Like many successful businesspeople, both Rubinstein and Arden came from humble backgrounds and embroidered some details of their pasts to their advantage – to further their success, and to bring them the lives they desired. Rubinstein became a renowned art collector, and Arden purchased racing horses and stables.

Their styles and personalities were completely different, and they moved in different circles. They both survived the devastation of two world wars and a worldwide depression, and thrived. They shared one trait – ambition, and the desire to be the best in their area of commerce.

They also had a common enemy – Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon, or as Madame Rubinstein referred to him, the "nail man". Revson emerged as a formidable competitor, though his fortune was made in a different setting, the mass-market world of drugstores and and mid-market retailers. Their next biggest competition followed in the person of Esteé Lauder, who achieved her own success in the luxury markets Rubinstein and Arden had once led.

The Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden brands survive today as subsidiaries of large multinational corporations, but their namesakes are legends only, and not top of mind to today's consumers. War Paint, however, will inform readers of the influence their founders once had, and provide insights into the relatively recent history of their heyday.

The Good and the Evil – The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman

"Where there is life, there is hope." This quote, attributed to the playwright Publius Terentius Afer, known as Terence, was an African slave who was brought to Rome in the second century BCE by the Senator Terentius Lucanus. It is so fitting a summary of this remarkable novel.

The lyrical Alice Hoffman evokes the darkest days of the Holocaust, in her novel about Ava, a golem (in Jewish folklore, a clay creature brought to life through sacred magic) created in secret by Ettie, a rabbi's teenaged daughter, for the responsibility of protecting a young girl in her escape from Berlin to Paris. With payment from the mother Hanni to watch over her daughter Lea, Ettie and her sister Marta join the two on a dangerous train ride out of Germany.

Hoffman is a master of both magical realism and the historical novel, and they have never come together more convincingly or beautifully than they do here. Hoffman does not spare the reader from the horrors of the roundups, murders, rapes and tortures that are committed by the Nazis and their French collaborators, but she also evokes the humanity of love, compassion, kindness and generosity that were the hallmarks of the Resistance fighters, both French and Jewish, and those that assisted them.

Ava is the most extraordinary character, a quasi woman of clay, who has superhuman strength, understands the speech of birds and forest animals, and learns complex tasks almost instantaneously. Her evolution is the center of the novel, but there are other very interesting characters.

Lea grows from a petulant, sullen and frightened girl of twelve, who exposed to the enormous trials of the war, then becomes a sensitive young woman who is adult before her time. Julien, the spoiled, immature teenaged son of the distant cousins who take her and Ava in when they reach Paris, evolves into a resourceful young man who follows his older brother into a Jewish Resistance group. And then there is Marianne, a young woman from the distant countryside, the maid in Julien's parents' household, who returns home and becomes a leader in spiriting Jews and others in hiding over the border into Switzerland. Marianne is, of course, the name for the symbol of the common people of France, evoking the principles of liberty, egality and fraternity. Hoffman picked a most appropriate name for her.

There is an amazing amount to absorb in The World That We Knew, and being openminded to the idea that good can conquer evil, and that there are things in this world that may be beyond what we normally comprehend, are vital for a full appreciation. On the other hand, reading, or listening to this work, will hopefully allow some minds to suspend their cynicism and disbelief.

I was delighted to see that the reader of the audio book version is the acclaimed actress Judith Light, who has given a remarkable reading, voicing not just the characters, but delivering the French and German place and personal names with care, and occasional snippets of Hebrew prayers with gravity.

A Search for Life's Truths – The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I read this book in hardcover form, but came across the audio book version at the library and just finished listening. I enjoyed my original read but this version was just great. The characters truly came alive with Juliet Stevenson's narration.

Such a fascinating tale: Alma Whittaker is the central character. We meet her as a girl of eight, born in 1800, and follow her thereafter until she dies eight decades later. She is a brilliant young girl with an analytical mind, raised by her formidable Dutch mother, a brilliant and capable woman, and her father, an Englishman of modest background who has made an enormous fortune through his ingenuity, shrewdness and native intelligence. They live in a vast estate on the banks of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, where Alma is exposed to the worlds of business, philosophy and the intelligentsia at her parents' dinner table. Her father is so rich and powerful that everyone comes there in hope of sponsorship for their project or scheme.

In time, Alma finds her calling as a botanist, and chooses mosses as her specialty. As she is no beauty, she comes to feel no one will love her, and she throws herself into her work.

Things change when she meets Ambrose Pike, a botanical artist, and falls in love with him, though he is much younger. Despite that, they marry.

Her relationship with Ambrose becomes the pivot point for the rest of her life. Every choice she makes thereafter is based on it.

This novel is not a romance, however, it is a story of self-discovery and of discovery of much larger concerns, including the quest to understand the origins of life itself – hence the title, The Signature of All Things.

The action shifts locations – the London of Henry Whittaker, Alma's father – and on through Philadelphia, Amsterdam, Tahiti and more during Alma's life. And, the people she meets are extraordinary... and her life equally so, though she does not see this for a very long time.

The descriptions are vivid, the dialog is superb, and the historical and social contexts of Alma's 19th century are brought to life. And in the end, the conclusion is most satisfying.

Highly recommend!

I Will Never Forget – We Must Be Brave by Frances Liardet

A unique and extraordinary insight into life in England particularly during World War II, but also before and beyond, and how individual lives are transformed with lasting impact by the massive events of history.

We Must Be Brave is beautifully structured. It can almost be divided into three sections: roughly a fifth (or perhaps a quarter), set before the war, a much larger portion, perhaps three fifths, devoted to the war years, and then a final fifth that covers the aftermath and resolves the issues and questions previously raised.

This is the story of Ellen Parr, who in 1940 is a young married woman in the vicinity of coastal Southampton, coping with the demands and deprivations of life during the war, and her relationship with Pamela, a young child who had become motherless in a bombing raid and then joins Ellen's household. That statement of the circumstances gives a simple view of the premise, but there are many complexities involved. Ellen had been living contentedly within a marriage blanc with her much older husband, Selwyn, who was seriously wounded and traumatized during The Great War. Ellen brought the scars of her own past struggles into the marriage, but the two of them had found peace. She was comfortable with the idea of their not having a family together, but once Pamela came on the scene, everything changed, as Ellen became fiercely devoted and maternal towards her.

Pamela had lived with her mother, and did not know the actual circumstances of her parents' relationship. A story her mother had told her about the loss of her father was untrue. After the events that killed her mother, Pamela had been found alone on a bus by the authorities, and no one knew who she was or who she belonged to.

When Ellen brought Pamela home, Selwyn was wary. The Parrs were already lodging other displaced children and feeding and caring for them was challenging, given the war shortages. As time went on, and Ellen and Pamela formed their bond, he warned her about becoming too attached. Surely some relative would eventually step forward to claim Pamela, and he felt morally compelled to try to reunite her with her true family. Three years passed, Ellen and Pamela's relationship deepened, and then it happened – Pamela's father, a wounded military officer, who had been searching for her all along, came for her. Pamela is sent away to live in Ireland with her father's sister and the rest of her "true" family.

From that point, their lives diverge. Both must cope with this trauma, and as the war ends, and time passes and things change, Pamela grows up and Ellen endures. Both find their way, but neither forgets.

The novel is a testament to resilience of the human spirit. While their three years together were a pivot point in both Ellen's and Pamela's lives, and their separation brought pain they would feel forever, they found satisfaction in the following decades of their lives, and when the unlikely twists and turns of life finally reunites them, there is a satisfying and encouraging conclusion.

Two Women, Two Stories: The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood

Ann Hood's The Obituary Writer alternates between the stories of two women, Claire, a 1960s wife and mother in the Washington, DC suburbs, and Vivien, a single woman living in Napa, California, where she is grappling with the loss of her married lover in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, thirteen years earlier.

Pregnant Claire is struggling with the loneliness of an unhappy marriage to Peter, whom she no longer loves (or isn't sure she ever really did), and its counterpoint is her affair with a man who pays attention to what she has to say. In those pre-DNA test days, she is unsure who the baby's father may be. Despite that, Claire and her friends are caught up in the hope and promise of the impending inauguration of John F. Kennedy, even to having a betting pool on what Jackie will wear on that all-important day. Claire's life has devolved into a soap opera, with all the clichés that implies.

Vivien is the more nuanced and revolutionary woman, especially given the society and period in which she lives. Her lost lover, David, was an older man, a successful attorney who provided for her every need in a beautifully appointed townhouse they had decorated together. He had left for his office the morning the earthquake struck, and she never saw him again. She has chosen to believe that he isn't dead, but suffering amnesia from a blow to the head, and that someday he will recover, and return, so that they can be together once more.

Meanwhile, Vivien has gone to live in the small town of Napa, where she has the comfort of her closest friend, and has created a career as an obituary writer of unique talent. She is sought out for way of bringing closure to others in their losses, even as she has chosen none for herself.

These two stories twist and turn until they inevitably come together, across the country from California and eight hours north of Washington in Providence, Rhode Island.

Hood is gifted at creating verbal pictures of her settings, and she has done a fine job taking us to Denver, where an amnesiac man Vivien thinks may be David is being cared for, and driving the highway (obviously the pre-interstate US1) with Claire and Peter from Washington to Providence in a blizzard, complete with a stop at a Howard Johnson's for a rushed meal.

There is a satisfying conclusion to the novel as the stories are unspun and become intertwined.

But... what brings this novel down are its jarring editorial errors. Calling one leading character by the other's name, for example, just couldn't have been intentional, and should have been caught by the copy editor. I almost put the book down when I saw that, but since I found Vivien so interesting, I kept reading, even though the end was not really a surprise, but still provided closure for the characters and the reader.

Righting Wrongs – The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes

When the topic of the Chinese-American experience in contemporary literature arises, the authors most likely to come to mind are Amy Tan and Lisa See. Kelli Estes's first published book, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk, makes the perfect shelf-mate to Tan's and See's works.

On the West Coast, and in other parts of the Far West that depended upon the labor and services of the Chinese, prejudice against them in the nineteenth century and on into the twentieth was intense. White culture completely dismissed the humanity of the Chinese and violent episodes took place. In some places, Chinese people, citizens or not, were forced out of their homes and driven out of the towns they lived in, including Seattle, where parts of The Girl Who Wrote in Silk are set.

The novel weaves back and forth between two stories. One is set in the late nineteenth century and its heroine is Liu Mei Lien. The outrages against the Chinese force Mei Lien (Liu is her family name, according to Chinese custom), her shopkeeper widower father and her frail grandmother to flee Seattle on a ship bound for China, according to an expulsion order from the city of all Chinese in February, 1886.

When it becomes clear that the Chinese passengers are in grave danger, Mei Lin's father forces her to jump off so she can save herself by swimming to a nearby island. There she is rescued by a kind white man and her story ensues.

The coordinating story takes place in our current decade and concerns Inara Erickson, a recent business school graduate, who has inherited a large family estate on that same island. Although her wealthy father, who owns an international shipping company, wants her to accept a job in business, Inara is insistent on following her own dream, following in the footsteps of the aunt who left her the property where she had hoped to establish an inn. She takes her aunt's dream farther by planning to turn the estate's buildings into a small luxury hotel and embarks on renovations.

Mei Lin's and Inara's stories are bound together when Inara discovers a beautiful, intricately bordered silk sleeve hidden in an old blanket beneath a wooden stair tread that has comes loose. How it got there and who had embroidered it became a mystery Inara has to solve, and her research leads her to Daniel Chin, a professor of Chinese history.

The book alternates between the two narratives, and gradually the details of the past and present mesh, through complex circumstances, into a well-rounded conclusion.

Estes has done considerable research into the painful backstory of the Chinese community in America, and deals very successfully with difficult issues, on one hand racial prejudice, and on the other, complex family relationships and loyalties. She portrays her characters with sensitivity and insight, and they, particularly Mei Lin, come to life.

While this is specifically a story about Chinese-Americans and the overwhelmingly white community they live in, it is also a bigger story about the United States and resonates with the issues that are threatening our country today. Estes couldn't have known when she was writing the novel prior to its 2015 publication just how prescient her book would turn out to be.

Looking Back to 2010 – Armchair Travel, a Literary Journey

The following originally appeared at womenofgloucestercounty.com, but the books and films noted are still perfect for summer reading and viewing. © Copyright 2010 by Joan Kirschner

If real world travel is not on your vacation horizon this year, consider some armchair travel in the company of a good book (or film) with a foreign setting. No tickets or passport are required, just time and some lemonade or ice tea in easy reach.

Poet and professor Frances Mayes started a trend twenty years ago when she published Under the Tuscan Sun, her account of the pleasures and travails of buying and restoring a ruined villa near Cortona, Italy. Since then, there has been a charming film adaptation, more books, calendars and now her latest offering, Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life, chronicles another restoration project, and her account of the scenery, the people and the food is as appealing and tantalizing as ever. Many other writers have written about their Italian adventures, but Mayes is surely in a class by herself.

And of course, in addition to Under the Tuscan Sun, enjoy Italy on film with classics including A Room with a View, Mediterraneo, Il Postino, Cinema Paradiso, Night of the Shooting Stars and that classic of all classics, Roman Holiday.

If you’d prefer a visit to Provence, France, Peter Mayle is the master of that region. Mayle, a former advertising writer from London, also began his series of books about his life abroad about twenty years ago. Mayle has published a long string of titles, memoirs and fiction, beginning with A Year in Provence. A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe, is a recent film based on A Year in Provence. Let me know if you’ve seen it!

Last year’s Julie and Julia offers a charming picture of 1950s France, and with Meryl Streep playing Julia Child, you can practically taste the croissants and smell the Seine. Before watching the film, consider reading Child’s fascinating memoir My Life in France.

For a lighthearted romantic comedy with Parisian and wine country settings, and with a wonderful performance by Kevin Kline, check out French Kiss.

A trip to Greece, a country whose economy is currently far closer to the brink than ours, is a fantasy for many. For an escape to the Greek Islands, Shirley Valentine is a film adaptation of the London and Broadway play of the same name. An English housewife, feeling unappreciated by her family, needs a change of scene and a boost to her self-image. Her trip to Greece is a chance for her to reconsider her life and who she is.

For a more serious read, The Invisible Mountain, by Carolina de Robertis, takes us through the lives of three generations of women in a Uruguayan family. The setting is a country that has experienced political upheaval but has recovered and is now a travel destination.

Want more? Consider travel essays by Tony Cohan, Mary Morris and Paul Theroux on their trips around the globe, some of which were happy, and some not, but are all fascinating.

Paris in the '20s – A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway and The Paris Wife by Paula McClain

I have never been a fan of Hemingway's fiction, but I was truly fascinated by his memoir, an account of his early life in Paris, when he was married to his first wife, Hadley Richardson. His anecdotes about the various personalities who were key figures in the expatriate community – some of the best-known are Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Sylvia Beach (who established the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore) – and about the city itself and the general lifestyle of Americans in Paris in 1920s were transporting.

The writing is so different from the spare, blunt delivery of his fiction. It is so lyrical that it can carry you back almost a century, so that you can imagine what it was like to be young, driven and talented, and trying to make one's way as a writer or artist during one of those rare periods of time when the setting stars as much as the people.

The reader accompanies Hemingway to the various cafés, bars and other spots he frequents in Paris, on train trips and jaunts throughout France and elsewhere in Europe, with and without Hadley. Each episode he describes is related overall, but also can stand alone. In any case, it is hard to imagine a life as unrestrained and impulsive today as the one he lives during those years.

Not long after reading A Moveable Feast, I followed it with The Paris Wife, a fictionalized account of the marriage of Hemingway and Richardson, told from her point of view. It is fact that the two had a whirlwind courtship, and that Hemingway had an affair with her best friend that led to an eventual divorce. All this, and the difficulties one might expect in a marriage to a driven creative artist while living in the heady environment of Paris, are well-detailed by McClain, who conveys life among the glitterati of the time, but overlays it with a gifted novelist's emotion and insight.

A tasty combination, well-paired.

Gently Criminal – The Old Man & the Gun, 2018

I'd seen the trailers last year for this film starring Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek, but it was just last week when I was able to settle onto my sofa to enjoy this piece of masterful acting.

Based on aspects of a true story, Robert Redford is Forrest Tucker, an aging lifelong criminal who was arrested and imprisoned over and over, but managed to escape eighteen times. Forrest is a bank robber who works with two trusted fellow criminals (played by Danny Glover and Tom Waits). Each time he commits a robbery, he brings along and displays his gun, but is unfailingly polite. His victims say he seems like a nice guy.

He connects with Jewel (Sissy Spacek), a Texas widow, when her pickup breaks down, and he stops to assist her (although he knows little about cars), and craftily takes advantage of the moment to evade the police who are looking for him after his most recent hold-up. Jewel and Forrest gradually fall into a friendly, gently romantic, relationship but she does not know who he is or his history until well into their acquaintanceship.

Jewel has a mortgage on her large farm property and lives alone, except for her horses, and her children want her to sell and move, but she resists. Forrest secretly looks into paying off her mortgage, using some of his trove of cash, but he is not able to since the transaction can not be completed. The desire, however, is there.

A determined detective, John Hunt (Casey Affleck), is trying to find Forrest and arrest him again, and goes to great lengths, even after the FBI steps in because of the interstate nature and extent of his crimes. Hunt locates Tucker's daughter (a cameo by Elisabeth Moss), and interviews her, and the search continues. Eventually, of course, Hunt catches him, though that isn't the end of Forrest Tucker...

Throughout the film, Redford displays the incredible skill and the charm that have made him an icon of the movies over many decades. Even wrinkled, graying, and shuffling along, he is still handsome and charismatic. There is one remarkable sequence, in which we are treated to a look at a series of photographs of the young and gradually aging Forrest/Redford. This is one of the most magical moments of the film (which has many), since Redford has announced that this film is his last – he is retiring from acting.

Affleck and Spacek are also excellent. Sissy Spacek's Jewel has the perfect the down-to-Earth quality and wry humor to complement Redford's Forrest, and Affleck is appropriately intense. There are some nice moments from Glover and Waits too.

All around, the Old Man & the Gun was a delight, and makes you wish Robert Redford would keep acting forever.

Review Revisited – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

First published at womenofgloucestercounty.com. © Copyright by Joan Kirschner, 2012.

Born in 1920, dead in 1951 of cervical cancer, Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman who lived in pre-Civil Rights Era Baltimore. She was poor, had limited education, a somewhat less than devoted husband, five children, and when she needed treatment, went to the “colored” clinic at Baltimore’s nationally famous Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

At Johns Hopkins, after a misdiagnosis of her type of tumor, she received the harsh but most advanced cancer treatments of her time but these did little to help her. While she was being examined, a sample of her tumor was taken and used in Hopkins’ research laboratory. Scientists were intent on attempting to grow cells outside the body that could be used to determine many bodily processes and how the various organs were affected by cancer and other diseases. Unlike other cell samples which had always died in culture, and so became useless, Henrietta’s cancer cells were unique. They divided and reproduced prolifically, becoming a valuable commodity that was eventually sold at great profit around the world to many research facilities and other medical institutions.

This cell material was used in all sorts of research, and many of the great medical breakthroughs we are all aware of and benefit from today, including the polio vaccine and chemotherapy, in vitro fertilization and many others, would not have been possible without Henrietta’s reproducing genetic material. Her family, however, knew nothing of this for more than twenty-five years after her death, and remained poor, and without medical insurance, despite the millions of dollars biotechnology companies eventually made from the umpteen generations of cell material that descended from the initial sample of Henrietta’s tumor.

How this all happened, and its effect on the Lacks family is the subject of Rebecca Skloot’s amazing book, a true story which combines partly an almost science-fiction-like odyssey regarding the fate of Henrietta’s cells, a history and commentary on bio-medical research and medical ethics, a study of the effects of poverty and poor educational opportunities in a minority community, and a biography of a previously unknown woman and her family.

This book, a New York Times bestseller, is fascinating, heart-breakingly sad, questions the morality of our society and our view of medical research and care, and has already made many readers, including myself, angry and disturbed by some of the inequities and tragic outcomes it brings to light.

There is no question that current medical ethics are quite different and the laws protecting patient information and privacy have changed greatly too, but most of us, and especially the poor and uninsured in our society, are still vastly uninformed about the medical establishment, and for-profit biomedical research firms and drug companies. Ms. Skloot works hard to make the ramifications of this clear.

Ms. Skloot became interested in the story of Henrietta Lacks and her tumor’s role in biomedical research when she was a reluctant student aged just sixteen, and taking a required biology course at her local community college. She was intrigued by her professor’s presentation on cell biology—his discussion of the use of Henrietta Lacks’ cells captured her attention and started her down a long road that led to a degree in biology, a graduate degree in writing, and a career in science journalism and university-level teaching in creative writing. She is the author of many articles for leading, respected publications, but it took her more than 10 years to research, develop and write The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, her first book.

Ms. Skloot set up a foundation to help the Lacks family and other deserving individuals receive grants for medical and dental care, education and other assistance. Henrietta Lacks’ remaining children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have been beneficiaries, and now Oprah Winfrey is reportedly involved in an HBO film about Lacks. Between Ms. Skloot’s compelling book and the forthcoming movie, it seems that Henrietta Lacks will become immortal in more ways than one.

Review Revisited – a favorite piece from 2010

Originally published at www.womenofgloucestercounty.com. Copyright 2010 by Joan Kirschner

Now at the Franklin Institute: Cleopatra

Cleopatra is one of the most famous women in history and one of only a handful of powerful female leaders who truly dominated their countries and their ages. Her reign and influence in ancient Egypt could be compared to those of Elizabeth I or Victoria of England, Catherine the Great of Russia, or in more modern times, Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi of India or Golda Meir of Israel. 

A tantalizing view into the reign and life of Cleopatra recently opened at the Franklin Institute in Center City, Philadelphia. The exhibit, formally titled Cleopatra, The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, was developed by National Geographic and focuses on new underwater archeological finds.

Most of us are familiar with Cleopatra through film, books and plays. Her associations with Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony are widely known. She is regarded as a legendary beauty. We have probably all heard of her suicide by poisonous snakebite. Despite all that, she is surrounded by a great sense of mystery. Her tomb has never been found and there are very few representations of what she may really have looked like. This exhibit provides us with a historical, political and geographical context for her life.

The exhibit explores the ancient cities of Egypt, including Alexandria, Cleopatra’s capital, which in her time was the most advanced city in the Mediterranean, along with other sites associated with the political and religious hierarchy of the day. There are fascinating artifacts and information about new finds made by advanced underwater archeological techniques and digs that are underway in the Alexandria vicinity.

If your memories or knowledge of ancient history are a bit sketchy, the exhibit also goes a long way to explain the relationships between the Greeks, Egyptians and Romans. Egypt is the oldest of the three cultures. Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic line, the Greek conquerors of Egypt, who blended the two cultures together in government, art and religion over several centuries. When the Romans came to power and began to spread their influence throughout the Mediterranean, Cleopatra’s Egypt was a strategic trading partner because it supplied the Roman army with the grain needed for food. Cleopatra entered into political and romantic alliances with both Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony. To learn more about the details of these relationships and the tragic results, you will have to explore this fascinating exhibition on your own. Visit http://www.fi.edu/cleopatra/for complete information on dates, tickets and more.

In the fall, Camden County College will offer a free lecture series that will offer further insight into the world of Cleopatra. See http://www.fi.edu/cleopatra/CCC.htmlfor more information.

If all of this whets a further interest in Egyptology and the ancient world, a number of museums in the northeastern United States have excellent collections of ancient Egyptian mummies, artifacts and jewelry. The University of Pennsylvania’s Archeological Museum is an outstanding source in Philadelphia. Go to http://penn.museum/. In New York, the Brooklyn Museum’s collection is known for its Egyptian Galleries, http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/mummy_chamber/and the Metropolitan Museum offers the amazing Temple of Dendur: http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/egyptian_art/the_temple_of_dendur/objectview.aspx?OID=100004628&collID=10&dd1=10and an in-depth collection of Greek and Roman antiquities. 

Meanwhile, the world of Cleopatra awaits in Philadelphia just off the Benjamin Franklin Parkway!

I Had High Hopes for Prague Spring

Hoping for a read that would catch the energy, hope and heartbreak of 1968-69, a monumental time of change around the world, led primarily by young, idealistic people, I eagerly checked out this novel from my local public library. Thinking that it would offer some insights into the events of the Prague Spring, a political uprising of students and other intellectuals against the Communist rule of Czechoslovakia, I plunged into the book.

About seventy pages in, I abandoned it. It is really a pair of slutty tales presented from what appears to be a misogynistic viewpoint, with 1968 Prague as a mere background. There are two couples: one a pair of English students, he from working-class Sheffield, she from the Home Counties. The class warfare angle there comes at the reader like a blunt instrument. The other couple is (he) a British diplomat assigned to the British embassy in Prague and (she), the younger Czech student with whom he quickly begins an affair when his more proper English girlfriend returns to England. His bed is barely cold before he starts rewarming it. My time is better spent on other things.

However, having done my author research, I am going to try this writer once more with Trapeze, also an espionage novel, but with a female protagonist. As an optimist, I like to take a second chance and see where it goes.

96 Years of a Life Well-led: The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg

Not many books are written from the perspective of a 96-year-old woman, and it was refreshing to understand what it is like to look back across a lifetime of memories, happiness and disappointment.

Doris lives in Stockholm, and is alone except for her grandniece Jenny, who lives in San Francisco. They maintain contact weekly via Skype, and that relationship is the lifeline for a woman who while mentally strong, and relatively healthy for her age, has a lonely existence, except for the aides who come to help her dress, maintain her apartment, and bring her meals.

When Doris was a young girl, she received a red address book as a gift from her father, and has kept it ever since, recording the names of all those she knew. As her friends and family members died, she crossed out their names and wrote "dead".  As she reviews the names in the address book, the novel recounts the experiences of her past, and her interesting life included years in Paris as a fashion model, a great love and deep friendships, privations and loss during World War II, a period of time in New York, and her return to Stockholm.

Alone in her apartment, she has written her memoirs so that her beloved great niece will know the story of Doris's life, and the history of her own. This is unbeknownst to Jenny until Doris becomes seriously ill and Jenny travels to Sweden to be with her.

This is a gentle and touching story that left me feeling satisfied, peaceful and hopeful, and is a reminder that no one, no matter how old, is any less important or is any less complex, than those with many decades ahead.

Note: this book was translated from the Swedish by Alice Menzies.

Audio book: The Other Woman by Daniel Silva – Gabriel Allon #18

What a treat to discover an author with book #18 in a series, and know that not only do you have the seventeen preceding titles, but his prior works, to read!

In an exciting espionage plot that jumps back and forth between a small village in Spain to Vienna, Beirut, London, Washington, Beirut, Moscow and Tel Aviv, and over eight decades of back story to the present day, Gabriel Allon, Silva's invention of an art restorer who is also a master spy, unravels a plot that sounds more plausible than fictional.

What if the infamous Kim Philby, the most renowned traitor of the 20th century, who died in 1988, was still indirectly exerting his influence today on the interworkings of both international spy craft and certain events that are affecting our US domestic situation and world affairs today? This is exactly the scenario that Silva has created.

He does a fine job of exploring not just the international institutional relationships, but the human cost that they exact. Things, and people, as we all know, are not as clearcut and forthright as they may appear on the surface. The ambiguity of it all is what makes them, and this book, all the more interesting.

I'd like to add a few words of praise for the audio book reader, George Guidall, who did such a fine job. He's a master of nuance, and handles the accents, ages and sexes of the various characters with aplomb. As frequent listeners of audio books know, the reader's performance makes all the difference. Guidall has also been the reader for recent titles by Faye Kellerman I have heard and many others – over 1300, according to my research, so I must say "Bravo, George!"

Rising to the Heights – 5 Flights Up with Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman (released 2015)

A small movie with a big heart, with two of our best actors, Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman, in the leads.

As a couple married for forty years, they are contemplating selling their fifth floor walk-up Brooklyn apartment, where they live with their elderly dog, Dorothy. Both Dorothy and Alex, Freeman's character, are having difficulty walking the long flights of stairs that lead to the sunny apartment, where Alex, a somewhat successful artist, and Ruth (Keaton), a retired teacher, have made a life together. They have faced prejudice as an interracial couple, and the disappointment of infertility, but now aging is the issue.

Ruth's niece, Lily (the hyper Cynthia Nixon, also well-cast), an aggressive real estate agent, has set up a weekend of appointments with prospective buyers, and organized an open house. Ruth has some doubts about selling and moving to a building with an elevator, but Alex is far more reluctant and his recalcitrance puts off some potential buyers. Ruth is willing to do the decluttering every real estate agent demands of their clients, for example, but Alex hates the thought of strangers wandering around the apartment and especially his studio, the apartment's second bedroom, which is crammed with paintings, supplies and the typical mess one expects in to find in such circumstances.

In the midst of all this, Dorothy has an a sudden illness that requires an emergency visit to the vet, and very costly treatment that may not lead to recovery. Both Ruth and Alex are devoted to the dog, and anxious about her, and the money involved.

Ruth and Alex decide to look at apartments that may provide the space and elevator convenience they are looking for, and come very close to making a decision that will change everything about their lives.

In the end, they come to a decision that is right for them, and the crisis comes to a close with a several satisfying outcomes.

Keaton and Freeman have wonderful chemistry, and are perfectly believable as a devoted couple on long standing. They do not play cute, but with a realism that shows off their strengths and the mellowness they have reached in their later years (Keaton, now 73), and 82 (Freeman, now 82). The actors who portray their younger selves (Claire van der Boom as Ruth and Korey Jackson as Alex), have enough physical resemblance and are directed so well that they are nearly seamless in portraying the flashback scenes that successfully capture the personas of Keaton/Ruth and Morgan/Alex.

Watch the trailer: 5 Flights Up

Time Stretching Machine - a few thoughts on travel

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to set up your own time stretching machine that allowed you to create an alternative universe in which you could read as many books and see as many movies as you like?

One of my favorite travel ideas was to book a cabin on a long-haul freighter, bring along a telescope and a trunk full of books, and cruise around the world for a few months, stopping in at the ports of call if they interested me. This was before the advent of the dangers of the pirate attacks on cargo ships, and before the Kindle and IPad existed, which would have made that travel a whole lot lighter and easier. Unfortunately, it became more a fantasy than an idea as life interfered with unexpected demands, and the Great Recession changed everything.

At this point, I'm not sure freighters accept passengers anymore, but if I had the money for such a voyage, I'd still like to consider it, along with an extensive road trip in the US with no end date, and no specific destination, but lots of books on the Kindle for relaxing stops in interesting places along with visits with friends, and to see landmarks and museums.

Crazy Rich Asians, a film of the book by Kevin Kwan

I saw this movie when it was playing in theaters last year, having read the book when it was first published, and revisited it last night on HBO. I loved the production values – the sets, costumes, location settings, graphics in the opening credits and throughout the film, and the music. The story was a good one too, beautiful and accomplished Chinese-American woman from a modest background, a professor of game theory at NYU, and the scion of Singapore's wealthiest gentry family, working in New York, and complete with his own good looks, a suave British accent, and an abundance of charm, fall in love. Things are going along swimmingly until he decides to bring her to Singapore to join him at the society wedding of the year, where he will be Best Man, and to meet his ultra-snobby family. Until now, Rachel Chu has no idea who her boyfriend Nick Young is in his milieu, and it's a cultural shocker in every way.

Rachel was raised by her single mother, who fled China to escape an unhappy marriage and possible retribution for the illicit affair that made her pregnant. Rachel has been told an edited version of the true events, partly to protect her, and her mother has achieved her own success as the leading real estate broker in Flushing, Queens, the most aspirational of New York's three Chinatowns.

In contrast, the Youngs of Singapore live a lifestyle that surpasses almost anything the average person can imagine, in their private compound hidden from the public. Nick is expected to return to Singapore permanently and become head of the family business. The family may be fabulously wealthy and have all the latest accoutrements of that wealth, but they are traditional and expect family loyalty and obedience to the wishes of the elders. Male children, of course, are the most prized, especially the eldest son.

There is heartbreak, disappointment, embarrassment and a lot of revelation to consider in this tale. There is the conflict between traditional and modern thinking, old world and new world, male and female roles, self-reliance and surrender to the power of the family structure.

How does it all play out? That's for you, my reader, to find out. I am not going to spoil it, but I will say it's worth watching and considering its messages. And, I understand there are two sequel books and possibly another adaptation in the works. Congratulations to author Kevin Kwan!

I.M.: A Memoir, by Isaac Mizrahi

Hats off to Isaac Mizrahi for his candid, highly personal memoir. Mizrahi is a true Renaissance Man – fashion designer, cabaret performer, talk show host, QVC presenter, director and writer, who, from childhood, worked hard to develop his talents and has succeeded across the board.

It wasn't easy for Mizrahi to grow up in the conservative, insular community of Syrian Jews in Brooklyn. He broke every norm as an artistic homosexual in an environment that was highly critical of anyone who challenged the status quo. Having lived in Brooklyn for a number of years just blocks from the Yeshivah of Flatbush, the religious day school he attended as a child, and being a mainly non-religious cultural Jew myself, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for him from the late '60s into the '70s and beyond.

It is easy to forget just how different things were for the Gay community back in the late '80s when Mizrahi was a young man, where even in New York, rampant, systemic homophobia was everywhere. I worked in the fashion world too, and counted many Gay men among my friends, acquaintances and colleagues, and the horror that was AIDS decimated and changed that world drastically. It is sad to remember the deterioration and deaths of my neighbor just down the hall from my Manhattan apartment, then a co-worker and friend's lover, and every day the sight of so many young men who were once healthy and vibrant barely able to cross a street, and the constant obituary notices in the New York Times of both the famous and unknown (except to their partners, families and friends).

Despite that backdrop, Mizrahi has had a spectacular career, with great successes as a designer and in the theater arts. He tells all, or at least quite a lot, in this recent memoir. Listening to him read his book is both fascinating and excruciating.

It is fascinating and exhilarating to hear of his development of his many gifts from childhood onward, and his relationships and friendships with his clients and friends, who have been legion. He has known, worked for or made clothes for nearly every big name in the worlds of fashion (Perry Ellis, Halston, Richard Avedon, Anna Wintour...), entertainment (Liza Minelli, Barbra Streisand, Sandra Bernhard, Sarah Jessica Parker...), literature, dance, art and design (Mikhail Baryshnikov, Maira and Tibor Kalman). There are so many amazing anecdotes about the famous names in this book that should be for the reader/listener to discover for themselves.

The excruciating yet also enthralling part is his recitation of his painful childhood and family relationships, his struggles with depression, weight and insomnia, and his disappointments in his work, friendships and intimate relationships. It is impossible not to feel for him, especially listening to his story in his own voice. He has experienced more highs and lows than most of us would ever be willing to reveal.

For anyone with any interest in fashion, theater arts, New York life from the 60s onward, especially as seen through the eyes of a true insider, this memoir will keep you listening, or turning the pages, to learn more or perhaps to remind you of your own triumphs and struggles, whatever they may be.

An Italian Wife by Ann Hood

From my Goodreads review:

Started strong, with an introduction to the central character and matriarch of the family, Josephine. We meet her as a young girl in Italy who is unhappily wed in an arranged marriage, left behind, and then sent-for several years later by her husband, who has gone to America to improve his chances, and settled in Providence, RI.

The structure of the book is very interesting... as the all the characters are linked by their family connections, yet each one is distinct. This is not a family saga that starts out with poverty and ends as an American success story. There are a lot of dark tales here, and this is not the comforting read about the Italian-American experience that you might find from other authors. Still, it is compelling and explores themes of loyalty, sexuality, grief and anger through original characters. I'll be looking at some other works by Ann Hood – I'd like to get to know her better.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12270027-joan">View all my reviews</a>

A Hollywood Tale of the '60s and '70s - Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A.

I was intrigued by this book, not so much by Eve Babitz, whom I'd heard of, but knew little about, but because I was interested in the music scene in L.A. in the 60s and 70s. So many great musicians emerged from that time period, and they are many of the ones with which I most identify, as I grew up with their music and they are still among my favorites today.

It seems Eve Babitz was the premier party girl of those freewheeling times... everybody's groupie, having relationships with a string of musicians and actors. Reading about her sexual exploits, her extreme drug use and freeloading on her lovers and friends became almost distasteful after a while. Too much is ultimately too much.

Babitz was also a writer and album cover artist, though whether or not she was a good one, I don't know. I'll make that judgment once I have read some of her work. The author of this book, Lili Anolik, seems pretty divided in her own assessment of Babitz's writing, though she is clearly obsessed with (and most likely jealous of) her.

Anolik's book is vaguely chronological, but also jumps around so much, it is often difficult to keep track of the events of Babitz's life. Some names appear and reappear so frequently... Jim Morrison, Harrison Ford, Steve Martin, David Crosby, Don Henley, Joan Didion, Michelle Phillips and many others who found their first fame at that time. There are often many references to Marilyn Monroe, whose death seemed to be the divide between the 50s/early 60s and the later years of the 60s/early 70s.

The book drops a lot of names and is peppered with anecdotes, but seems to be without true insight into the period. Some of the outstanding musicians who emerged at the time, Joni Mitchell and Carole King among them, don't even appear, and this seems odd.

The author also inserts herself way too much into the narrative. Is the book about Babitz and the L.A. music scene or is it about Anolik and her compulsion with Babitz? I'm leaning towards the latter, and frankly, that's a bit of a bore.

The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas by Eric Rutkow

This was a very interesting topic, presented by a professor of history, with a very scholarly, and somewhat dry approach. The title was also somewhat deceptive, since getting to the Pan-American Highway itself took about 200 pages of back story. With these two factors against it, I could not rank it higher.

It started off with a bang, with a terrific introduction kicked off by a long quote from On the Road about driving into Mexico on the Pan-American Highway. How could I not be intrigued? And as one who loves road trips, and feels an affinity for Latin American cultures, I was also very interested.

Getting to the concept of a highway through the Americas was preceded by a good deal of history which centered on the development of railroads in the United States, Mexico, and the Central and South American countries. This is really a book in itself, and perhaps should have been the first of two volumes (or even three, with the middle one being the Panama Canal). As it was, I raced through it to get to the section which focused on the construction, such as it was, of the road.

There were some colorful characters along the way, and fascinating information about the effect United Fruit had on the Central American countries, good and bad. I was looking for more insights into the cultures and peoples of the regions, and how they were impacted, but there was not as much of this as I would have liked. History, in my opinion, is far more about people and concepts than about dollars and cents, though of course, knowing what the U.S. Congress appropriated for construction was interesting. The author should have added parentheticals to indicate what the amounts would be in current dollars to add context.

After reading the book, I had some conclusions that are relevant to today's economic, political and humanitarian crises centering on immigration. If the U.S. had pursued more thoughtful policies, and delivered further assistance and funding to the struggling countries in Central America and parts of South America, and more supportive trade agreements, I believe we would not be facing the issues we have today. We are directly and indirectly responsible for the drug trade, gang wars, political unrest and violence millions face in Central America and certain South American countries. With all of our might and power, we could have done a lot more good in the past, and should not be punishing people who come here now to escape some of what we created due to prejudice and shortsightedness.

Nice English Girl Conquers Hollywood – The Stylist by Rosie Nixon (Amber Green No.1)

Such fun! Late-twenties Londoner Amber Green is working in a high-end boutique in the West End and gets the plum job of assisting a renowned fashion stylist to the stars as she prepares her clients for the BAFTAs and the Oscars, which includes a trip to Hollywood. 

All sorts of unexpected challenges occur, wardrobe, personal and otherwise. It's quite a bit more than Amber expected (actually she wasn't quite sure what she was expecting), but of course things have a way of working out for the best.

If you enjoy fashion, intrigue and eavesdropping on the lifestyles of the rich and famous with a British twist, this is definitely a treat. I'm looking forward to the next installment!

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Off to London for a Bit of Fun: I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

Sometimes light is just right, especially in the hands of the skilled Sophie Kinsella. I enjoyed listening to this London-based romance/family-focused/self-discovery novel that revolves around Fixi Farr, a late-20s woman who is trying to please everyone but herself.

All the elements and clichés are here, and we know it will all work out right in the end, but Kinsella's down-to-Earth but very British dialog makes it all more fun getting there, especially hearing it read on the audio book by a British actress.

Kinsella does throw in a few twists and a unique premise which makes the book all the more appealing. Cheers!

Actor not Writer: In Pieces by Sally Field

I had such high hopes for this memoir of the actress Sally Field, who has had an impressive career playing a textile factory worker who encourages her co-workers (Norma Rae), a Depression-era widow who keeps her family together in very tough circumstances (Places in the Heart), Mary Lincoln (Lincoln) and many more. I have always enjoyed her performances in both comedy and drama, and I thought listening to her read her memoir would be an exceptional experience.

After one disc, however, I took the audio book back to the library. Perhaps it gets more interesting later, but I found her account of her childhood whiny and boring. I just could not get past that, and while I still intend to watch her future movies and TV performances, she is just not a writer... or at least, not a good one. Maybe a good editor would have helped step up the pace and draw in the reader/listener.

I'll be interested in the comments of others, in agreement or otherwise.

New York, New York, circa 1958: Three-Martini Lunch by Suzanne Rindell

It's always fun to read a book in which you recognize places you've been... and this novel, set in 1958 Manhattan, was chock-full of scenes set in familiar restaurants and bars, some of which still survive. For a time, the lead female character, Eden Katz, even lived where I did when I first moved to the city (no, not in 1958) – the Barbizon Hotel for Women, which was located at Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street. The author has done a good job of capturing the nuances of Manhattan life, as it was back then and remained until around the mid-80s, when the city began to recover from its slide into the bankruptcy, crime and blackouts that marked the 70s.

The main characters are involved in the publishing world during the heart of the period that was chronicled so well in the eight seasons of Mad Men. There was not too much difference in the way that business was conducted in the big publishing houses and the leading ad agencies. Men, white Christian men, made the money and the decisions, and nearly all the women were secretaries. Jews were barely tolerated, and African-Americans hardly ever appeared in such rarified settings.

Eden Katz came to New York from Ft. Wayne, Indiana with dreams of becoming an editor. Cliff Nelson is the son of one of those very successful editors and is living a beatnik lifestyle in the Village while he tries to write but gets distracted by the temptations all around him. Miles Tillman grew up in Harlem, is a scholarship student at Columbia and a bicycle messenger, and is trying to find out more about his deceased father, a veteran of both World Wars and a member of an honored African-American troop. How these disparate people intersect is the story and it is quite the page-turner, very much in the tradition of mid-century chroniclers of New York, with a little Herman Wouk and John Cheever, and a lot of Rona Jaffe, and perhaps a few others thrown into the mix.

It kept my interest and the movie marquees started lighting up as I read. It's a good book for a rainy long weekend, a little old-fashioned yet still contemporary... since young people hoping to make it big in their chosen profession continue to come to New York. I hope they always will.

PS: one annoying anachronism that should have been caught by the editor – nobody addressed women as "Ms" in 1958. You were Miss or Mrs. and there were no other choices.

Mary's Pregnant and on a Mission for Justice: Feared by Lisa Scottoline

Mary DiNunzio, Judy Carrier, Bennie Rosato, et al, return in this latest thriller about, of course, a murder in Philadelphia. The audio version was read by actress Kate Burton, who does a fine job with the local accents and level of tension required.

Descriptive and fast-paced, Mary and her colleagues seek to solve a murder in their midst and find justice. Some good twists and turns, and lots of great local color as usual. Author Lisa Scottoline, a former lawyer and law professor, knows her stuff and her Philadelphia (my original hometown).

A good piece of distraction, written by a practiced professional.

The Epistolary Novel, Digital-Style: When You Read This by Mary Adkins

When a young woman in her early 30s named Iris finds out she has a fast-growing, inoperable cancer she seeks out a blogging community of her fellows and begins to write about her experience, and her story becomes the basis for an epistolary novel for the digital age. 

Through Iris's entries, and email exchanges between her boss and friend, Smith, her sister, Jade and others, we get an insight into what it feels like to be young, sick and know you won't be living long enough to accomplish your goals and follow your dreams, and also about the nature of family relationships, friendship in its many forms, love and grief. 

It's a unique treatment of a difficult subject and very insightful. We've all struggled with our feelings when we are faced with the serious illnesses and potential deaths of family and friends, but when it is one's own life, it's obviously a different matter.

Adkins provides a moving and sensitive take on what it means to be seriously ill, and how it impacts friends and loved ones.

Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West by Stephen Fried

What a great book! A historical account/biography that reads as a intriguingly as a novel. Investigative journalist Stephen Fried clearly delved into his subject with relish, and as a result has produced an important work about development of (primarily) the Southwest via the railroads, specifically the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and hospitality network created by Fred Harvey, whose company fed and the housed travelers and tourists discovering the West. 

I came across this book in the gift shop of the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ during a recent trip and on my return, was able to obtain it from my local library. Not only did I enjoy it immensely, but I learned a tremendous amount about the locales where Harvey's network of restaurants and hotels were established, and in some cases, still exist under other management. Can't wait to get back out West and visit a few of them.

Idyllic Edinburgh: The Quiet Side of Passion by Alexander McCall Smith (Isabel Dalhousie Number 12)

What better escape from the daily grind is there than to virtually accompany philosopher Isabel Dalhousie on her rounds through Edinburgh, as she solves problems large and small, conquers moral dilemmas and generally puts everyone's lives to rights. 

Actually I don't just want to accompany Isabel, I want to be her. She's admired, respected and loved by nearly everyone, with the possible exception of the annoying Dr. Lettuce (one of McCall Smith's perfectly-named characters), and she lives in a large and lovely inherited home with her charming, handsome and considerably younger husband, a professional musician, and her two young boys. She edits a journal of philosophy, occasionally helps out in her niece's gourmet delicatessen, and attends a lot of concerts and plays. She also continues to cultivate Brother Fox, who lives in the woods behind her home, with the occasional roast chicken. It's a very good life and she's a good person.

I just finished this latest installment a few evenings ago and closed the book with contentment. All was made right in Isabel's world, and thus, for a little while, I shared in her good fortune. It definitely made me sleep better, and that is worth 5 stars anytime.

Anne Frank as Heroine: Annelies by David R. Gillham

Once I started this novel, I could hardly put it down. The author has created an alternate scenario for Anne Frank. Instead of dying at Bergen-Belsen, as the real Anne did, she survives and returns to Amsterdam, where she joins her father (the actual sole survivor of the eight who hid together from the Nazis), Miep, Bep and the rest of the office staff at 263 Prinsengracht.

Hers is not a happy existence. Her anger, anxiety, survivor's guilt and the post-war surroundings are portrayed with a remarkable intensity. It is all so vivid and compelling that it is easy to almost believe that it is true, not fictional. As a reader, you want to believe it.

From the age of ten or so, Anne Frank has been a part of my life. Like so many other girls, I read The Diary of a Young Girl multiple times, and as an adult, I read every book and account of her life I could find. I first visited the Anne Frank house in 1987, when it was still possible to climb the narrow stairs that led to the attic where the Franks and their friends had lived, and peer into her room, where some of her film star pictures were still glued to the walls. 

Despite all this, Anne remained untouchable and abstract. It was always clear that she had a talent and unique intelligence, and her death (along with the millions of others) was a horrible and unfathomable crime. I have always wondered what work she would have produced had she survived.

Somehow, this novel provides a context, even though it is all conjecture. It is, however, an amazing window into the workings of the mind of a survivor of a horrific experience, and into the conditions in Amsterdam and other European cities, post World War II. I don't think, for those of us Americans who were born after the war, that this is really something we can easily grasp.

The author has clearly done an immense amount of research into Anne Frank and the others who hid in the Annex, the Jewish community of Amsterdam prior to and during the war, the circumstances of the expulsions to the camps and the conditions and experiences of the inmates, survivor life in The Netherlands and elsewhere, and the psychological and emotional effects of such experiences.

On top of all that, this is a compelling story with a satisfying conclusion. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Rina and Peter on Their Own: Walking Shadows by Faye Kellerman (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus, #25)

I enjoyed this latest Decker/Lazarus novel because it examined their relationship more closely, leaving out, for a change, the extended family. Faye Kellerman brought to light some of the issues facing older couples - retirement, health concerns and worries about their own very elderly parents.

As usual, there was a gruesome murder and other crimes to solve, and good detective work by Peter, Rina and Tyler McAdams (Decker's young and prickly partner). Tyler has become familiar with Judaism, kosher food and Shabbos observance, and enjoys being a frequent visitor to his mentor's home.

I also enjoy Kellerman's very visual descriptions of the locales, the appearances of the characters, and especially Rina's wardrobe, in which she manages to follow Orthodox conventions but still look contemporary and fashionable.

There was a good tease at the end about what's next for Peter and Rina, and I'm looking forward to it!

Not a Hit Tune: Tony's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

Not Trigiani's best work, unfortunately. Too many cliches and anachronisms. I liked the heroine, Chi Chi Donatelli, until she became Tony's wife. It was all downhill after that - I just could not understand why such an intelligent, ambitious and talented woman would marry a womanizer that she didn't even love, even though they were good friends. She should have kept it that way and married the nice guy who would have supported her in her musical career. 

I found a lot of the references to characters and locations in Trigiani's other books to be somewhat forced as well. Big Stone Gap and Roseto, PA seemed very out of place in this book set on the Jersey shore. And then there was the transistor radio - these radios were not out until the 1950s, but in this book they appeared in the 1930s. How did Trigiani get that so wrong, and where was her editor? 

What a shame... Tony's Wife was just not up to Trigiani's best books, including Lucia, Lucia, Very Valentine and of course, Big Stone Gap. Hopefully, her next book will be a winner.