Book Review: The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land: Stories by Omer Friedlander ****

The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land: Stories by Omer Friedlander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

March is the month of Purim, and The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land, winner of the 2022 AJL Jewish Fiction Award and the debut short story collection by 27-year-old Israeli author Omer Friedlander, seems like an appropriate book to focus on since, while it is as earthbound as the orange groves, refugee camps, and cities in which its stories are set, it is also imbued with the love of folktales and fairy tales Friedlander says he inherited from his father. Also like the story of Esther, while his stories have their tender and whimsical moments, they are haunted by the shadow of tragedy, as reminders of Israel’s history and current situation make frequent appearances.

Many of Friedlander’s characters are outsiders or outcasts, coming into contact with, and as often separating from, those who are their opposites. The Jewish girl and the Bedouin boy she falls in love with in “The Sand Collector,” the activist mother whose son was killed in the war she opposed, and the two girls in the last story, “The Miniaturist,” whose families’ professional rivalry dates back to before the expulsion from Spain, are some of these. At other times, like the title character, a feckless con man who sells his “bottles of air” to tourists with the help of his daughter and her one-eyed cat, Moshe Dayan, they stand in opposition to the “normal” world, but all are portrayed as richly individual characters in beautiful and evocative language.

Originally published in the March 2023 edition of Chai Notes, the newsletter of Congregation Shir Shalom in Buffalo, NY.

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A version of this review was originally published in Chai Notes, the monthly newsletter of Congregation Shir Shalom in Amherst, NY.

Book Review: Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk *****

Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A wonderful look at how depression shaped Lincoln's life and how his struggles with it, painful as they were, helped make him the great man the US needed to bring us through our darkest hours. Not only did it provide extraordinary detail about his life and personality, mostly but not entirely through that lens, but there was also quite a bit of context provided, such as how people of that era saw strong emotions in men, as well as some of the intellectual currents in which he was immersed.

Richard M. Davidson, the narrator, was also a pleasure to listen to and enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

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Book Review: Murder at Black Oaks by Philip Margolin ***1/2

Murder at Black Oaks by Phillip Margolin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had often considered trying one of Philip Margolin’s books and this one looked intriguing, so I figured I would give it a shot. A creepy, isolated mansion with a curse on it, a group of near-strangers gathered together when the roads are washed out by a storm, a murderous escapee from a nearby mental hospital on the loose - what’s not to like? Thankfully, although Robin Lockwood is a series character, that didn’t affect my ability to get up to speed, possibly a benefit of taking her out of her regular surroundings.

Robin is originally contacted by Frank Melville, a former prosecutor who had put college student Jose Alvarez on death row for the murder of his girlfriend. Then, years later, the real killer confessed to him but made it impossible for him to bring justice to the wrongly convicted man. Now circumstances have changed, and he wants Robin to take on the case. After Jose is freed, Frank invites him and Robin to his house, a transplanted (or recreated - I wasn’t clear on which) English mansion, complete with a rumored curse - featuring werewolves, yet! The other elements of the classic “country house mystery” fall into place in quick succession, and soon after that the first murder happens, in a novel twist on the classic “locked room.” Finally, after several tense hours, the party is put back in touch with the rest of the world, but it is only some time later that Robin manages to pull all the threads together and expose the killer.

I had slightly mixed feelings about this book. On the whole, I enjoyed it and I didn’t guess the killer, which I see as a positive as long as I feel like I had a decent chance, but I'm not sure how well the plot fits into the Christie-esque framework. It also seemed amazingly coincidental that everything (most of which was beyond the killer’s control) came together as it did, but then Margolin does have a short blurb offering this book up as a homage to Golden Age mysteries. I’ve been reading quite a few of those recently and it’s amazing how much coincidence features in those, so intentional or not, I suppose that gives it authenticity. One thing that I did feel weakened it slightly right at the start was beginning with Frank’s story in Chapter One and then having him retell the same story to Robin when he talks to her, but that was a pretty minor detail.

Final verdict: If I could, I would give this book 3-1/2 stars, but I will round up and give it 4

I received a copy of Murder at Black Oaks from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The Killer of the Princes in the Tower: A New Suspect Revealed by M.J. Trow ***

The Killer of the Princes in the Tower: A New Suspect Revealed by M.J. Trow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What happened to Edward V and his younger brother Richard (the “Princes in the Tower”) is one of the most intriguing mysteries in history. Were they murdered? If so, by whom, and if by so many people’s favorite villain, their uncle Richard III, why did he cover it up, which seems to many of us to defeat the purpose? If they weren’t, what happened to them. (Personally, I like Buckingham for it.) I was interested in reading this book, which promised a new suspect when, apart from utter unknowns, there are so few available who had motive, means, and opportunity.

A good part of the book is laying out the history, debunking other accounts, particularly that of Sir Thomas More, and examining the usual suspects, which I felt was well done and goes a long way toward my rating not being lower, if maybe a bit too snarky in places for some people’s tastes. Then….drum roll…the new suspect was revealed, and I’m sorry to say that I found them (I’ll use a neutral pronoun here)…disappointing.

One weakness - at least in the flow of the writing - comes almost immediately, when we are given an exhaustive history of the person’s family almost literally from the time of the Norman Conquest. Then we get the case. Sadly, it fails to convince - at least this reader. The person certainly had means and opportunity, but everything else (except possible evidence of greed, which many people are guilty of but which hardly indicates a murderous disposition) seems to come straight from the author’s imagination. The examination of their alleged personality, a crucial aspect of what he claims as the motive (a psychopath, acting “because [they] could”) fails - again, to me, because there isn’t enough evidence to determine that, and the reconstruction of the “crime” also is backed by as much evidence as More’s account - that is to say, none. Then this person is accused of another murder (which I have never seen portrayed as anything but a tragic natural death) almost 20 years later. The most that can be said, in my opinion, is that it’s out of the box and within the bounds of possibility, but I would need far more evidence to buy it, which as Mr. Trow admits, is unlikely to be forthcoming.

I received a copy of The Killer of the Princes in the Tower: A New Suspect Revealed from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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Book Review: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao *****

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In a future society based on traditional China, complete with female subservience and foot-binding, young men and women pilot vehicles called Chrysalises, powered by qi (life force) to fight the Hunduns, who have taken over their planet and threaten their civilization. The only catch for the “concubines,” however, is that they are usually drained of qi and die in the process, and as in so much else, the men get all the credit. Wu Zetian, a poor but strong-willed young woman, volunteers as a concubine with the aim of avenging her older sister’s death, but things go differently than she had planned. The pilot she blames for her sister’s death is killed, but by means of her qi rather than the mundane hairpin she had taken with her, and she is hailed as an “Iron Widow” and paired up with the strongest and most dangerous of the other pilots, Li Shimin. She then must work with Shimin; Yizhi, a rich young man from her village who is in love with her; and with other, much less savory characters to defeat the Hunduns and the battle strategists alike and to ensure that no more young women will die. In the process, she will discover explosive secrets about both the pilot system and the war itself.

The world-building in this book seemed a little vague at times, and I’m not sure whether that is a weakness or a strength. Hopefully, we will learn more about the society and its backstory in the next book, particularly considering the revelation at the end. I found Zetian to be a compelling and at times terrifying character, particularly after the final battle, and at least at that point she is not sympathetic, even though we have been in her head and understand her motivations, but again, I hope we will see her grow into wisdom and compassion as her story continues. I do not demand characters who are “likable”; I just want them to be well-rounded people who make me care about what happens to them, and Zetian fits the bill. I eagerly await the second installment.

The author notes at the beginning of the book that Zetian is inspired by Empress Wu, the only woman who ever ruled China in her own right, and this book makes me want to know more about her as well.

I received a copy of Iron Widow from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhac ****1/2

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry that Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I learned about the Merovingians in school and most of my previous reading (not counting the fevered imaginings of Dan Brown and the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail) was short, simple, and boring: the “long-haired kings” of the Franks, after Clovis I converted to Christianity, eventually deteriorated to “do-nothing kings” and were overthrown by the father of Charlemagne. The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhac brings this dynasty to life through its portrayal of two of its rival queens.

Brunhild was a Visigothic princess who married Sigebert, a grandson of Clovis; Fredegund was a slave in the court of Sigibert’s brother Chilperic. After Brunhild’s sister, who had married Chilperic, was murdered and replaced by Fredegund, who had previously been his mistress, the fight was on. Over the course of the next forty years, the two queens schemed and plotted against one another using everything from diplomacy to assassination and military moves, and mainly working through the men in their lives - husbands, sons, and in Brunhild’s case grandsons - given that women were not allowed to wield overt power in the Frankish culture. Obviously, both were strong-willed and charismatic, and at times Puhac’s “narrative nonfiction,” while based on the original sources, is riveting and at times reads like a novel. Sadly, after their deaths, those who followed them made sure that their memories were either erased or vilified.

The only issue that I had was that at first, I found it difficult to keep some of the names straight, given that many were not only unfamiliar to me but similar to one another as well, such as Fredegund and Radegund or Chilperic and Childebert, although that got easier since they became more fleshed out as the narrative progressed. I would recommend bookmarking the list of characters at the beginning for easy referral.

I received a copy of The Dark Queens from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Madam by Phoebe Wynne ***

Madam by Phoebe Wynne
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Madam by Phoebe Rynne is billed as a modern gothic, and the “gothic” part is certainly taken care of by Caldonbrae Hall, the forbidding Scottish mansion, now serving as a girls’ boarding school, at which teacher Rose Christie arrives in 1992 as its new head of Classics. Chosen as a result of a recommendation from a colleague, Rose’s youth and relatively limited experience seem hardly to fit her for such a senior position at a prestigious school, but the salary and benefits will assist her in caring for her mother, who has MS and is steadily getting worse. Rose is even less prepared for the secrets she will find within the walls of Caldonbrae.

Madam, which takes its title from the peculiar custom at the school of addressing all the female staff indistinguishably as “Madam” (and all males as “Sir”) had a rather slow start, although it did pick up after the first third or so as Rose gets to know and slowly win over her initially hostile students and also attempts to navigate the labyrinthine structure (both figurative and literal) of the school. After that, it builds towards a shattering climax.

While my opinion of the book improved as it went on, my biggest problem was suspending my disbelief about whether – even in the 1990s - its system of “education” could have been maintained and kept secret from the world at large, especially given the fact that part of it was that its students would be moving in the highest circles of society, and it seemed unlikely that they would have been able to be kept isolated and insulated from “new” ideas for what would essentially have been the rest of their lives. This is where the “modern” part of the description failed for me. I could see this taking place far more easily in the 1950s or 1920s, but then, of course, most of the “traditions” would have seemed much less outlandish. I also found the character of Rose to be so impulsive and unable to keep from voicing her disapproval and opposition that it became unbelievable that they would have kept her on for as long as they did, continuing to give her “another chance” however outrageously (in their view) she behaved. (view spoiler)[ Also, given the realities of human trafficking in today's world, while the school's method of operation was pretty appalling, I also found it impossible to summon what seemed to be the expected feelings of horror when it was revealed what was actually going on. (hide spoiler)]

Rose's mother, too, was not very believable as a feminist; this was a situation where the author would have benefited by “showing, not telling,” as the saying goes, since we're told that she was one but never see any evidence of it in the “present” of the book or even in the dealings with her daughter in the past to which we are made privy.

On the other hand, I did like the stories about strong women in the classical tradition (although they rarely came to positive ends) and how Rose used them to encourage her students to question the future that was laid out in front of them. On the whole, I would give this book 2.5 stars, mainly due to my issues with it, but will round up to 3 for the purposes of Goodreads, which unfortunately doesn't allow half-star ratings.

I received a copy of Madam for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Death with a Double Edge by Anne Perry ****

Death with a Double Edge by Anne Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Young attorney Daniel Pitt, when called to identify a man in the police morgue who had his card, is at first afraid that it is Kitteridge, one of the younger partners who had been late to a meeting. However, it turns out to be Jonah Drake, one of the firm’s senior partners, who has been viciously murdered in one of the seamier parts of London. Concerned for the reputation of the firm, Daniel’s employer, Marcus fford Croft, assigns him and Kitteridge to comb through Drake’s recent cases for a connection.

They soon hone in on two cases, one in which the son of a shipping magnate was acquitted of the murder of a young woman, and another in which the defendant was left with a stain on his reputation, despite not being convicted. Keeping on the right side of the shipping magnate, Erasmus Faber, is vital to the British government’s national interests as they attempt to build up their navy in the years leading up to WWI, so Daniel is warned by his father, Sir Thomas, head of Special Branch, to avoid involving him if possible, but this is where the trail seems to lead. Soon others are murdered, and Daniel, Sir Thomas, and his mother, Charlotte, find themselves deep in a web of corruption and scandal.

Since Miriam fford Croft, the daughter of Daniel’s employer and his usual partner in detection, is attending medical school on the Continent, and due to the unusual nature of the case, both of his parents have a far more central role than they have in the earlier books in this series. I, for one, was glad to see them back in the thick of the action once again, and the love of the parents for their son and for each other, even after thirty years of marriage, as well as his for them, is believable and well drawn, especially when Charlotte is put in danger in a bid to stop the investigation and they fear that they may never see her again.

The mystery, as always, is enjoyable, although I felt that the solution maybe wasn’t quite up to snuff, but where Ms. Perry has always excelled is in the creation of often quirky but always believable characters who seem to jump off the page. The first victim, Jonah Drake, in particular, comes to life (ironically, after his death), as Daniel searches his papers and possessions for clues to his murderer, and he comes to see what he thought was rather standoffish, even boring, older man as a brilliant, passionate legal mind with a wry humor and even artistic talent. Marcus fford Croft, who may be contending with the early stages of dementia, is also perceptively and sympathetically drawn.

Death with a Double Edge is a worthy entry into a series that, with the 32 Thomas and Charlotte Pitt books, now stands at 36 books, all well written and enjoyable. I look forward to Daniel’s further adventures and growth as both a human being and an attorney.

I received a copy of Death with a Double Edge for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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Book Review: Down Along with That Devil's Bones by Connor Towne O'Neill *****

Down Along with That Devil's Bones: A Reckoning with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy by Connor Towne O'Neill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Framed around O'Neill's travels through the South from the time leading up to and following the 2016 election through 2018, this examination of the controversy over Confederate monuments and the legacy of white supremacy focuses on one personage: general, slave trader, and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan Nathan Bedford Forrest, who also commanded the Confederate troops who perpetrated the Fort Pillow massacre in 1864. Although only 250 pages long, it also includes a lot of much-needed context and history for the 150-year span between the Civil War and today.

While it's clear where O'Neill's sympathies lie, he engages people on both sides of the issue with respect, as well as acknowledging the benefits that white Northerners such as himself have received from the inequalities embedded in the system since before the Revolution. His refrain of "it's us" (sorry, English purists - it definitely has more "punch" than "it's we") is a sadly-needed corrective to the upbeat message we hear so much these days that "this is not who we are." He also attempts to understand the personality and motivations of Forrest himself (and his admirers) rather than painting them as caricatures of racism and evil.

His journey takes him to places such as Selma, AL; a monumental (and ugly, in many people's view) statue of Forrest on private land facing Interstate 65 that was created by segregationist Jack Kershaw; and Memphis, among other places, and ends at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL, where he ponders whether the arc of the universe, as Dr. King said, truly bends towards justice.

I see some criticism of this book in other reviews for being centered on the author's perspective as a white Northerner, but while no doubt there are many valuable and meaningful books that could be written on the subject by others, this is the one that this author chose to write, or that chose him to write it, and I found it powerful and enlightening.

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Book Review: Queens of the Crusades by Alison Weir ***1/2

Queens of the Crusades: England's Medieval Queens by Alison Weir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Alison Weir has embarked on a project to write a series of collective biographies of England’s medieval queens, a wise idea since many of them do not have enough known about them for a full-length biography aimed at the interested layperson. Queens of the Crusades is the second volume, although she has noted that her biographies of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of France should also be included in the sequence.

Although, as Weir acknowledges, these five queens did not all go on crusade themselves, this was the time when the idea of reconquering the Holy Land from Islam permeated the air, and it influenced the lives of all of them. The five women are Eleanor of Aquitaine (married to Henry II), Berengaria of Navarre (Richard I), Isabella of Angoulême (John), Eleanor of Provence (Henry III, and spelled Alienor to reduce the potential confusion at the plethora of Eleanors), and Eleanor of Castile (Edward I). Edward I also married Marguerite of France after his first wife’s death, so I hope that she hasn’t been left out and will be included in the next volume.

Queens of the Crusades paints what is probably as full a picture as possible of the lives of these five women for the non-historian (apart from Eleanor of Aquitaine, about whom there is an abundant amount known): their upbringing, personalities, triumphs and tragedies, relationships with their husbands and children, political influence, and often details of their daily lives drawn from accounts and other records. The account of Berengaria of Navarre is disappointingly slim, mainly due to her her husband’s inexplicable neglect of her while she was queen, but there was more than I have seen before about her life after Richard’s death. (I was glad to see the idea that he was gay firmly squashed, and anyway, as Edward II and James I show, even if his chief attraction had been to men, this would have been no bar to the fathering of children.) The lives of these women often overlapped, so it was also interesting to see their interactions with one another, which mainly seem to have been positive - surprising, since all of them - even Berengaria in her widowhood - seem to have been strong-willed women with differing priorities and personalities.

My main criticism of the book is something that probably won’t bother a lot of other people. Weir said in the introduction to the first book (Queens of the Conquest ) that she would be skipping Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of France since she had written full-length biographies of both, but obviously, although she makes no reference to the factors behind it, she changed her mind, at least about Eleanor. I certainly don’t object to her inclusion in this book, since as noted, their lives do overlap, but I felt that her portion (probably a condensed version of the same information that is in the biography), took up too much of this book (I estimate almost 40% when the bibliography and other ending and beginning material weren’t included). She is such a towering figure that she overwhelms the others, and I feel that it would have been better to at least cut down her section somewhat - maybe to the time of her widowhood when her life overlaps with Berengaria’s.

Although Weir has never been one of my favorites, I feel that she did a creditable job with this book. On the whole, however, while there is a lot of information I didn’t know and they are put into the context of their times, her view of them is fairly conventional and I didn’t gain any new insights. 3.5 stars.

I received a copy of Queens of the Crusades for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird ****

The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first of the titular “three locks” in this book appears in the form of a mysterious box sent to Dr. John Watson by an aunt of whom he had previously been unaware. It had been his mother's and she had requested that it be given to him on his 21st birthday, now years in the past. The trick lock on the box, however, renders its secret inaccessible for the present. Secondly, his colleague and friend Sherlock Holmes is approached by the wife of an Italian escape artist, The Great Borelli, who begs him to discover the truth behind a feud between her husband and another magician. Borelli comes close to death that same night when Holmes and Watson attend his show and one of his acts goes horribly wrong.

Finally, Peregrine Buttons, a young Catholic deacon, asks Holmes to discover the whereabouts of a missing young woman, the strong-willed Odilie (Dillie) Wyndham, who has disappeared from her father’s home in Cambridge. The “lock” in this case is the Jesus Lock on the River Cam, which will play a crucial part in the story later on.

How are these mysteries connected, if indeed they are? Holmes skillfully juggles the two cases, in both of which lives are at stake and in both of which, if loss of life can be considered failure, he fails despite his best efforts, but, as in many of the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he succeeds to the extent that some justice is achieved. The final mystery, that of the locked box, is also solved at the end, giving us some knowledge of events in Watson’s past and how they have affected his subsequent life.

The Three Locks is the fourth in a series of Sherlock Holmes pastiches by Ms. MacBird, but the first I have read. However, I did not feel lost or confused in any way, which may be a benefit of reading a book, even out of order, that is set in a much larger fictional world. At first, I didn’t care for the somewhat testy - even rude - way in which the relationship between Holmes and Watson is presented, although there is some comedy in it, but eventually I felt that the author hit her stride. I will certainly seek out the other books in the series in the hope that they are as enjoyable as this one was.

I received a copy of The Three Locks for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Take It Back by Kia Abdullah ****

Take It Back by Kia Abdullah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Zara Kaleel, the protagonist of Take It Back, does not take the easy route. Not only did she leave the marriage arranged for her by her traditional Muslim family; a talented lawyer, she also abandoned a job at a top-flight London law firm to become a counselor at a rape crisis center.

Little does she imagine, however, the path that will open up before her when she meets with teenage Jodie Wolfe. Jodie, who has a medical condition that causes severe facial deformities, tells Zara that she was lured to an abandoned warehouse and sexually assaulted by four of her classmates, all Muslim boys from hardworking immigrant families. Taking the case will result in attacks on her, both in the form of protests and eventually physical assault, as a traitor to her “people,” and on the other hand, the risk of inflaming anti-Muslim feeling. Still, she feels strongly that she must continue to support Jodie through the charging and trial of her attackers.

Tackling the delicate subjects of sexual assault, disability, and religion, Take It Back walks a fine line, and largely does it successfully. I worried that this book would end up validating one of two stereotypes, either that of girls who lie about rape or Muslim teenagers fulfilling racist nightmares, but with a clever twist at the end, Ms. Abdullah managed to avoid doing either. The characters are complex, although the accused assailants themselves have less time devoted to them than Zara, Jodie, and her family and associates. Zara can be headstrong and stubborn, with a penchant for reckless behavior which causes near disaster to the case on at least two separate occasions, but hopefully, these issues will be dealt with in later books (this appears to be the first in a series) and will give her a chance to grow as a character.

Despite the painful subject matter, I enjoyed this book very much and will keep my eye out for the next book in the series.

I received a copy of Take It Back for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The Haunting of Beatrix Greene by Rachel Hawkins, Ash Parsons, Vicky Alvear Schecter ****

In Victorian London, Beatrix Greene operates as a medium, and she is an unrepentant fraud. While she does not believe in ghosts or the supernatural, however, she sees herself as performing a service in providing the bereaved with comforting messages purporting to come from their deceased loved ones. When out of curiosity she attends a gathering where a scientist, James Walker, promises to reveal the methods used by spiritualists and mediums, she is challenged by Walker, for a handsome fee, to spend the night in an allegedly haunted house and prove to him the existence of the supernatural.

When Beatrix and her friend and “chaperone,” Harry, arrive at Ashbury Manor, they discover that it is the 20th anniversary of a tragic murder/suicide that had occurred there, and that “James Walker” is actually the owner of the house, hoping to discover what had caused his beloved mother to kill his brother and then herself, a crime which has haunted him for most of his life. When they sit down to a seance, Beatrix is shocked to discover that she actually does seem to be channeling the spirit of James Walker's mother. The house truly is haunted, and the family cursed, and Beatrix will have to reach deep into her own unacknowledged reserves of psychic talent to bring herself and James out of  Ashbury Manor alive.

I found The Haunting of Beatrix Greene to be an initially pleasant read that became gripping as it progressed to the heart of the mystery and the struggle to free James from his family's curse. The characters, including the secondary ones, particularly the eccentric Amanda Reynolds, are well-drawn. The telling of the story from the alternating perspectives of James and Beatrix was effective and gave it more depth than if it were experienced only from one point of view. My only issue was the part of the chapter headings that sounded as if it were supposed to be the recounting of a TV show (Season 1, Episode 1, etc.), although there may be a point behind it that I'm not aware of, which seemed pointless and in my opinion, added nothing to the story. On the whole, however, I enjoyed it very much.

I received a copy of The Haunting of Beatrix Greene for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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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A version of this review was originally published in Chai Notes, the monthly newsletter of Congregation Shir Shalom in Amherst, NY.

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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