Book Review: The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish *****

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the mid-seventeenth century Jews were first allowed back into England after 350 years, the philosopher Spinoza was formulating daring new ideas in Amsterdam, and the false messiah Shabbetai Zvi was electrifying Jewish communities across Europe. Rachel Kadish explores this vital era in her National Jewish Book Award winner The Weight of Ink.

The novel begins in England in the year 2000, when Professor Helen Watts is asked to examine some papers found behind a hidden panel in an old manor house. Due to health issues, she reluctantly accepts the help of American graduate student Aaron Levy, and they embark on a journey of discovery. In alternating chapters, the story of a passionate, brilliant woman, fighting the suppression of her desire for knowledge, is told as it happens and as the researchers discover it. Ester Velasquez; the rabbi she for whom she acts as a scribe, blinded by the Inquisition in Portugal; their Polish servant; and the many people they encounter in 1660s London are brought vividly to life by Kadish’s writing.

In the present, as well, the crusty, aging professor and the brash, cocky student, antagonistic toward each other at first, gradually come to a deeper understanding of themselves and form a true friendship, and while the ending is sad to some extent, a sort of justice is done, both for Helen Watts and for Ester Velasquez.

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Book Review: In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey ****

Charles Hayden and his wife Erin first met and bonded over the obscure Victorian fantasy novel In the Night Wood, by Erin’s distant relative Caedmon Hollow. After their daughter’s tragic death on her sixth birthday, however, the two are estranged, each trapped in his or her individual grief and, in his case, guilt, when they discover that Erin has inherited Hollow House, the ancestral manse where Hollow had lived and written the book, on the edge of one of the oldest forests in Britain. They cross the Atlantic in the hopes of escaping their own demons and, in Charles’ case, of finding material for a biography of the mysterious author. Instead, they find themselves drawn deeper into Caedmon Hollow’s world, where the forest is deep and dangerous, and little girls can get lost forever in the fulfillment of a dark bargain made long ago.

This is exactly the type of book I like—gothic; carefully structured, with people and events echoing and referring to one another; allusive; and deeply rooted in British folklore. I would love to give it 5 stars, and if half stars were allowed I might consider four and a half. Its biggest flaw, however, which I could not ignore, was its portrayal of Charles’ wife Erin, especially considering that she ends up playing a pivotal role at the climax. To me, Erin barely exists at all, as she is consumed by her grief for her daughter. There is reference to her having been an attorney, I believe, but the only time I can ever remember seeing her as a person is at the time of her meeting with Charles. Maybe it’s necessary for the plot and I’m suffering from a failure of empathy (I can’t even imagine how devastating it must be to lose a child), but her obsessive wallowing starts to seem self-indulgent, and it’s hard for me to believe she could rouse herself to the extent she does. Charles also comes off badly in his apparent willingness to allow her to essentially destroy herself, though again, it could be argued that this is necessary to the story. I also found the ending a bit abrupt. Some of the aforementioned problems I had might have been assuaged if we had seen something of what followed and—assuming that Erin might have begun to heal from her grief—a fuller, more rounded picture of her.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From October 29, 2018

Book Review: Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII's Unwanted Wife by Sarah-Beth Watkins ***

Anne of Cleves is one of the more intriguing of Henry VIII’s wives, if only because she is so routinely passed over and even denigrated, despite not only surviving him but living on - apparently happily - through the reign of Edward VI and into that of Mary I, so I was excited to get the opportunity to read this new biography of her by Sarah-Beth Watkins.

However, one problem with those in history, especially women, who were not at the center of affairs, is that there is generally very little material available that can be used to flesh them out and bring them to life. For Anne, this seems to consist mainly of mentions in letters and dispatches, some (relatively formal) letters of her own, and household records. This means that even a short biography such as this contains a lot of narration about what was going on at the time but not much about how many of these events would have affected her personally.

Watkins certainly does do her best with what is available, and I found new information (to me, at least) in her recounting of Anne’s early years and relationships, Henry’s search for his fourth wife, and her life after her brief tenure as queen. Since Watkins also seemed to try to avoid speculation about what Anne was thinking or feeling (except during her marriage and the process of its dissolution), which is understandable since it’s a pet peeve of mine with other authors, especially when it becomes excessive, I didn’t get a real feel for the type of person she was - except that she obviously was a warm person (making lasting friendships with people like the Duchess of Suffolk and the king’s daughters, particularly Mary) who did not hold grudges. I would also have liked to know how she went from being “one of the richest women in England” to someone who was continually having money troubles, though that may have been mainly due to Henry and his successors not honoring his financial commitments except for right after the annulment.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From October 6, 2018

Book Review: Domina by Guy de la Bédoyère *

The period of the end of the Roman Republic and the beginnings of the empire has always held great fascination for those of us in later generations, especially with its larger-than-life characters, originally portrayed with great gusto (and more than a little bias) by Suetonius and others and in the twentieth century by Robert Graves in his classic I, Claudius and Claudius the God.

In his book Domina, Guy de la Bédoyère gives us a look at the real people behind the myths and gossip. He also shows how, as the male line failed, descent through the female line became crucial to keeping the dynasty alive, as well as the methods by which these women, with varying degrees of success, circumvented the legal bar on their holding power to exercise influence through their husbands and sons. In fact, sometimes this could be an advantage, since a system that doesn't allow for female power also has very few ways to control it.

The book begins with a brief overview of the Roman view of women and their place, including what was seen as a “good”  woman (Lucretia, who killed herself after being raped, or Cornelia, the exemplary mother), as well as the “bad,” generally, as so often in later years, one who “usurped” the power of men or blatantly exercised power over them, notable examples being Marc Antony’s wife Fulvia and of course Cleopatra. De la Bédoyère then embarks on a comprehensive history of the women in the Julio-Claudian family (mainly descendants of Augustus, his sister Octavia and his wife Livia by her first husband, as well as Octavia and Livia themselves). Livia - almost certainly nothing like the Machiavellian schemer portrayed by Graves - was perhaps the most successful but was still cut loose by her son Tiberius at the end of her life. Agrippina the Elder (wife and later widow of Germanicus) and Claudius’ wife Messalina, completely different in their personalities and approaches, both failed - and paid for it with their lives - for widely varying reasons. Agrippina the Younger (mother of Nero), saw her son become emperor but in the end, lost her influence and was murdered by him. Many other women populate these pages, from Augustus’ tragic daughter Julia to others who are familiar to those of us who have read Graves’ work and still others who are more obscure but still played their part.

Finally, in an epilogue, de la Bédoyère spends time examining the second great flourishing of female power in the Severan dynasty, which includes Septimus Severus’ wife Julia Domna, her sister Julia Maesa and Julia Maesa's daughters, with a brief sketch of later empresses and their influence or (mostly) lack thereof.

I enjoyed this book very much; it was engrossing as well as careful history and, despite my prior knowledge, I don’t believe it would be excessively confusing even to those who are less familiar with the history, although some confusion is perhaps inevitable, with multiple Julias, Claudias, Octavias, and Agrippinas to keep track of. I believe it would be a rewarding read for anyone looking to learn more about this period in particular in general or specifically about the part women played.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From September 29, 2018

Book Review: Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen: Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians by Margaret C. Jones ***1/2

In Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen, Margaret C. Jones labors mightily to flesh out a life of Aethelflaed, eldest child of Alfred the Great, “Lady of the Mercians” after her husband Aethelred’s death, and most recently known to many as a character in The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell’s book and TV series about Anglo-Saxon England at and after the time of Alfred. She is successful only to a degree, mainly because there is so little known about even men of the period, let alone women, that gives a true sense of their personalities. (While I understand why she included them and they may help other readers, the author’s vignettes of various moments of Aethelflaed’s life, how she might have felt and experienced them, didn’t do much for me.)

Jones aims to present a balanced view of Aethelflaed, as opposed to others who she seems to feel have overemphasized one aspect of her personality at the expense of another (warrior over ruler or patron of the Church, for example), and in this, she is largely successful. She looks at the upbringing a young girl might have received at the time in conjunction with known events of Alfred’s life and how they (and her relationship with her father) might have affected her life, her marriage to and partnership with Aethelred, and her life after his death, including her efforts to ensure the succession of her daughter Aelfwynn, who was unfortunately deposed by her uncle Edward (Aethelflaed’s brother) and disappears from history at that point. This section was the part where I felt like I came closest to Aethelflaed as a person. Her patronage of churches, leading of her troops into battle and foundation of burhs (fortified towns to defend against the Vikings), both with her husband, during his long illness and after his death, are also examined.

Finally, after her death and a disappearance from history almost as complete as Aelfwynn’s, Jones examines how Aethelflaed has been brought forward once again and celebrated in various ways, culminating (although not ending) in the millenary celebrations of many of the towns and cities where she was instrumental in founding burhs in the early 1900s, as well as her portrayal in fiction, nonfiction, art and film/TV, including Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom.

This was overall a well-written and enjoyable book, and any flaws I found in it were more the fault of the time period and lack of sources than of the author.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From August 14, 2018

Book Review: Restricted Fantasies by Kevin Kneupper *****

At least since I saw the movie The Matrix, I, along with many others, have been fascinated by the idea that our reality is not reality, but a simulation, and of course virtual reality, where we enter into a simulation from the real world, has provided endless fodder for speculation as well. The well-written and thought-provoking stories in Kevin Kneupper’s Restricted Fantasies explore the possibilities from a wide variety of perspectives, virtually all of them disturbing.

It is impressive how Kneupper is able to inhabit the minds of a plethora of different characters, from a bereft Amish mother to a self-educated college janitor to a disreputable “info diver” in the distant future, and he brings the reader there with him, allowing us to feel their frustrations, regrets, and ambitions. His settings are as varied, from the near (and frighteningly) plausible future of “Seven Minutes in Heaven” to a simulated prison in which inmates can virtually experience a sentence of several lifetimes in seconds or minutes (“Panopticon” - a reference to a system of control proposed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 19th century) to distant futures similar to The Matrix where humans (or non-humans) live entire lifetimes or longer in simulations as their bodies lie immobile in vats. Every one of these stories sucked me into its vividly imagined world, and not one of them disappointed. A very impressive collection.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From July 15, 2018

Book Review: How Do We Look: The Body, the Divine, and the Question of Civilization by Mary Beard ****1/2

How Do We Look: The Body, the Divine, and the Question of Civilization by Mary Beard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars. An examination, as part of an updated version of Kenneth Clarke's Civilisation, of not only how people have appeared over the ages, and, in the second part, how they have imagined and attempted to depict the divine, but also, “how we look,” as viewers and consumers of art, at the same images. Unlike the original, which I have sadly never seen or have possibly only seen parts of, and to which Ms. Beard pays unabashed tribute, this survey does not concentrate only on Europe, but ranges from the Olmec heads of Mexico to Angkor Wat, in addition to art and architecture in England, Italy, Greece, and Egypt. Short - just a little over 200 pages - but very thought-provoking in its insights and reflection, and the photos are gorgeous.

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