Nonfiction Review: The Zookeeper's Wife

Way back in 2007 when The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman was first released, I heard scores of rave reviews, so I added it to my want-to-read list (a very long list). Fast-forward to 2022 when I was visiting Little Free Libraries in my town--supposed to be just dropping off--and I spotted the book and snatched it up. I finally read it last month for Nonfiction November. Wow, what a stunning book! It was definitely worth the wait.

The book opens in 1935 in Poland, describing the beautiful world of the Warsaw Zoo, run by husband and wife Jan and Antonina Zabinski. Their zoo was filled with unique and fascinating animals in realistic habitats, with a large collection of exotic birds, reptiles and amphibians, animals from around the world, and animals unique to their region, like the European bison (I never knew there was such a thing!) and Przywalski horses. Their large, modern house on the premises was filled with a strange menagerie of baby or injured animals being nursed back to health, many of whom became family pets, beloved by their young son, Ryszard. It was a peaceful, harmonious, lovely place. Then in 1939, they woke one morning to the sounds of German warplanes, followed by weeks of bombs directly hitting the city--and the zoo--and soon, the Nazis marching in to invade in September 1939. The Nazis walled off a Jewish ghetto and began their process of restricting, then later ending their lives. The animals still left in the zoo, those not killed or run off by the bombing, were taken by a colleague of theirs, a German zookeeper they had previously been friends with and with whom they enjoyed discussing zoology during annual professional meetings. He assured them he was talking their most valuable animals back to Germany "to keep them safe." With few animals left, and Jan involved in the underground resistance, they used their connection with the German zookeeper, up high in the Nazi organization, to repurpose the zoo several times during the war, as a placed to raise animals for fur for the German armies and other uses. With Germans coming and going freely from their zoo and home, they also brazenly used their property to hide and save hundreds of Jews during the war, putting their own lives at risk.

This remarkable true story is told in a very effective way. The author used many primary sources, including Antonina's own diaries kept throughout the war, and the effect is to make you feel like you are right in the middle of what is happening. It is horrifying, shocking, and inspiring as the Zabinskis and their "guests" struggle with starvation, despair, and satisfying basic needs while never losing hope. They not only kept all those people safe but created a temporary home for them, filled with art, music, and conversation, all right under the noses of the Nazis. My husband was teasing me as I read this book because I kept reaching for my iPad while reading the book, to look up all kinds of fascinating details: animals I'd never heard of, sculptures and artwork created by their guests, real photos and videos of the Nazi invasion and all that came after it. To me, that is the best kind of nonfiction book: the kind that is fascinating and helps you learn a lot but also makes you want to know even more. Both the subject matter here and the way the story is told make for an engrossing, captivating book, which also includes photos. I'm so glad to have finally read it.

368 pages (but the text ends on page 323, with lots of extra details at the end), W.W. Norton & Company

Blackstone Audio

I just discovered this book was adapted into a movie that we definitely want to watch!

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Monthly Motif - Around or Out of this World - Poland

Alphabet Soup Challenge - I got a Z!

Nonfiction Reader Challenge - Science (zoology)

Diversity Challenge

Travel the World in Books - Poland

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 

Nonfiction Review: Destiny of the Republic

My neighborhood book group met last week to discuss Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. I've mostly been reading fiction for the R.I.P. Challenge, but with that subtitle, this nonfiction book fit the darker themes of the challenge! We all very much enjoyed the book and had a lively discussion.

Most people, myself included, know very little about the 20th president of the United State, James A. Garfield, because he was only president for six months in 1881 and spent the last two of that bed-ridden. Here, the author provides a dual narrative, of both the president and his assassin, along with some fascinating history about medicine and inventions of the time. Garfield was a remarkable man who was born into poverty but went on to become well-educated and work in academia. He graduated from law school, worked as an attorney, and was a major general in the Union Army during the Civil War. Afterward, he represented Ohio in Congress, though he had no intention of running for president until a unanimous vote at the Republican National Convention made him their nominee. Meanwhile, a man named Charles Guiteau was becoming more and more delusional, thinking that he was an important, powerful man who helped get Garfield elected and then getting angry when he wasn't appointed ambassador to France. Madness is definitely the right term for this man who eventually shot Garfield in the back in a Washington train station. Garfield didn't die of the shot, though. He died of horrible infection after a power-hungry, ignorant doctor insisted he be the president's sole caregiver. Alexander Graham Bell even got involved in trying to save the president's life, but Garfield died in September, leaving Chester A. Arthur as the new president.

I knew absolutely nothing about Garfield when I started this book and not only learned a lot but was gripped by the story right from the start. The author weaves together the dual narratives of Garfield and Guiteau, including their early lives, Garfield's rise to the presidency, and some of the key turning points that fed Guiteau's delusions. I was especially riveted by the account of the Republican National Convention in 1880: it took hundreds of votes to come to consensus and ultimately, Garfield was nominated in spite of insisting he didn't want to be (two things that would never happen today!). Along the way, the author also provides fascinating historical details about inventors of the day, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, and Dr. Joseph Lister, who first applied Germ Theory to medicine and discovered ways to prevent infection during and after surgery. All of these various threads eventually come together in a perfect storm that doomed Garfield. I listened to this book, and the audio production was excellent, pulling me right into the story from the first chapter. My book group gave this book an average rating of 8 out of 10, so it was a hit with almost everyone. For another engrossing historical story from Millard, our group also enjoyed River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey. 

368 pages, Doubleday

Random House Audio

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader Challenge - History category

Literary Escapes Challenge - District of Columbia

R.I.P. Challenge

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (there's also an audio sample at the link).

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 
  

Nonfiction Review: The Sun Does Shine

I heard Nikki of the Red Dot Reads channel on YouTube rave about the memoir The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton and Lara Love Hardin. When I was planning for Nonfiction November, I discovered I had already downloaded the audio. Given Nikki's recommendation, I made sure to get to this audio book last month. And she was right! Wow, what a stunning, inspiring true story.

Anthony Ray Hinton, known as Ray, had gotten into a little trouble as a teen, but he was determined to get his life together and be a good man. By his twenties, in 1985, he was working steadily for a temp agency and living with his beloved mother, helping her take care of the house and yard. He was out mowing the grass one day when a police car drove up. In front of his mother, the police handcuffed him, arrested him, and drove him to the police station. He kept asking why they were arresting him, and finally, in the car, the detective told him they were arresting him for armed robbery and murder. Ray told them he was innocent and that he would never hurt anyone. He assumed this case of mistaken identity would be straightened out. But Ray was detained in prison, given a public defender, and convicted of two counts of capital murder. It didn't matter that security records showed he was at work at the time of the crime or that the bullets from his mother's gun, found in her house and not fired for decades, didn't match those from the murders. The judge sentenced Ray to death. Ray spent almost thirty years living on death row in a solitary cell, as one court after another upheld his verdict, and 54 of his fellow inmates were put to death. With the help of an incredible lawyer named Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, the U.S. Supreme Court finally overturned Ray's conviction, and he walked out of the prison in 2015.

That's a brief outline of the bare facts of Ray's unbelievable case, but there is so much more to this moving memoir. Hearing the story first-person--and particularly on audio (though read by a professional narrator)--was absolutely compelling and so powerful. If you read about Ray's case in a crime novel or saw it on a TV series, you'd say, "That's not realistic; that could never happen," but the stunning series of problems, issues, blatant racism, and outright lies that led to Ray's conviction really did happen. I've read other nonfiction books about wrongful convictions, but this one is special. It's not just about Ray and his case but about what it's like to live on death row. Ray befriends the other inmates (even though they are each isolated in solitary cells) and reaches out to them with compassion. He found purpose in connecting with others while on death row for a crime he didn't commit. It's heartbreaking and poignant but also very inspiring. This powerful memoir should be required reading for every U.S. citizen. I'm so glad I read it.

(I see there is also a version for Young Readers, so this book should be in every classroom, too!)

368 pages, St. Martin's Griffin

Macmillan Audio

To hear directly from Ray, listen to this powerful interview with Kate Bowler, from her Everything Happens podcast (one of my favorites for inspiration). He not only talks about his remarkable story but also his commitment to forgiveness.

Kate also recently interviewed Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer who finally got Ray released and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader Challenge (category - linked to a podcast)

Diversity Reading Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Alabama

Fall Into Reading Challenge - nonfiction

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the foreward by Bryan Stevenson, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  

    

 

Or you can order The Sun Does Shine from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Nonfiction Review: These Precious Days

I usually try to write my reviews in the order I read the books, so according to that rule, I should be writing about another (very good) book, but I just finished listening to These Precious Days by Ann Patchett yesterday on audio, and I couldn't wait to tell you about this warm, funny, moving collection of personal essays by the renowned novelist.

Ann has put together a wonderful collection of personal essays, written at different points during her writing career. Some were previously published (there's even one that was a talk she gave), but she says that most were revised and updated for this collection. While the topics sort of jump around, as a whole they cover her entire life, from childhood to unsure young adult to author to bookstore owner. It's difficult to review such a varied group of essays, so I will highlight some of my favorites. In the first essay in the book, Three Fathers, Ann describes her biological father, her stepfather as a child, and her second stepfather when she was an adult. She talks about what makes each of them special and unique and delves into her relationships with each of them. Either here or later in the book, she also describes the end of each of their lives and her role. All of her father writing was very moving to me, as I lost my dad seven years ago and helped my father-in-law the past few years during his slow and difficult decline. 

But, I don't want you to think this is a depressing book. Certainly, Ann tackles some difficult topics--including death--with honesty and openness, but the collection is a lot of fun, too. She has a wonderful sense of humor, which comes across in many of her essays, including To the Doghouse, where she writes about how she was a Peanuts-obsessed child and how Snoopy was her greatest influence in wanting to become a writer. Beside the amusement of listening to this delightful essay, I could so relate to it, as a fellow Peanuts-ophile who read all the books and had Snoopy everything as a kid (I still wear a Snoopy watch!). Similarly, her descriptions of discovering Kate DiCamillo's magical books as an adult were pure pleasure that had me smiling ear-to-ear as I listened. The heart of this collection, though, is its title essay, These Precious Days, that recounts the bizarre chain of events that led her to a life-changing friendship with a woman. Sookie worked as Tom Hanks' assistant, and--through a series of events I will leave you to discover yourself--she ended up living with Ann and her husband in Nashville during the pandemic while undergoing cancer treatments. Ann writes about Sookie and the strange course of their relationship in a loving, tender way. In all, there are 22 essays here, and each one is unique and wonderful in its own way.

I loved every moment of this book! The essays are each very different, yet linked together in a way that paints a picture of Ann and her life, and the people she loves. She is very close to my own age, so there was a lot I could relate to in her memories of childhood and her relationships with her parents. But, I was also fascinated by the inside look into her life as a famous author and bookstore owner (I must get to Parnassus Books!). I wish I could share some quotes or excerpts with you, but that is one downside of listening to an audio book. However, I would definitely recommend listening to this book on audio, hearing these beautiful stories told directly by Ann (listen to a sample from the introduction). I always enjoy listening to memoirs read by the author, but this one is extra-special. I am, though, thinking of also getting the print copy of this book because I think this is one I will want to return to. This wonderfully-written collection of essays is moving, funny, heartfelt, and powerful. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

336 pages, Harper Perennial

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

2022 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

Literary Escapes - Tennessee

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, read by Ann Patchett, from the introduction, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     

 

Or you can order These Precious Days from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Memoir Review: Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau

Booktopia 2022 is quickly approaching (click Events for more info; my recap of Booktopia 2019), and I am continuing to read the new releases from the authors who will be there for the weekend. Last month, I read a memoir,  Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau, by Ben Shattuck. This unique nonfiction book is filled with nature, beautiful outdoor writing, and the kind of introspection I love in memoirs.

The author began retracing some of Thoreau's walks spontaneously during a low point in his life. He set out to walk the coast of Cape Cod, wholly unprepared and poorly equipped, on a whim (it felt a bit like Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods at that point!). But he met some fascinating people, saw some amazing sights, and came out of that walk a little bit better in mind and body, so he continued his mission. He based the six walks on both the published books and essays written by Thoreau and also on Thoreau's personal journals (which I guess have been published). As often as possible, he tried to re-experience the exact same places in similar ways to Thoreau, though of course our modern world has changed things quite a bit. Besides two walks along Cape Cod (along the inner and outer shores), he also ventures up a mountain in Massachusetts, along the MA/RI coast starting from his own home in the salt marshes where his family has lived for generations, up Mount Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park (the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail), and canoeing with a friend in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine, to the exact island where Thoreau and his colleagues camped on his own canoe trip there. Throughout the book, Shattuck shares his most intimate thoughts and feelings, as well as his observations of nature, and quotes from Thoreau himself. The result is both an emotional and physical journey.

From Thoreau, on how walking echoes life, quoted in the book:

"There is, however, this consolation to the most wayworn traveler, upon the dustiest road, that the path his feet describe is so perfectly symbolical of human life,--now climbing the hills, now descending into the vales. From the summits he beholds the heavens and the horizon, from the vales he looks up to the heights again. He is treading his old lessons still, and though he may be very weary and travel-worn, it is yet sincere experience."

From Shattuck, comparing nature to life:

"Grief and joy are in the same life, but it's only in the forest where you notice the shafts of sunlight spilling through."

As someone who loves nature, loves walking (as much as I am able), and has visited Cape Cod and Maine (one of my favorite places), I thoroughly enjoyed taking this journey with Shattuck. His nature writing is lyrical, bringing the forests, lakes, and coastlines to life on the page. I'm embarrassed to admit I have never read any Thoreau (I plan to rectify that), so I also enjoyed reading these passages from his many writings. And I could appreciate the healing power of nature and the author's own personal journey in this book. He accompanies this lovely writing with his own sketches, which were so beautiful that I ordered a hardcover copy of the book, even though I've already read an ARC on my Kindle. All of these elements come together in a beautifully written memoir that combines nature, travel, literature, and personal experience. I can't wait to meet Ben Shattuck at Booktopia in a few weeks!

175 pages, Tin House Books

Audio: Blackstone Publishing

PLEASE NOTE: Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau will be released on April 19, 2022.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Nonfiction Readers Challenge (category Wild Animals)

Literary Escapes Challenge - Maine 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. There is an audiobook, narrated by actor Jonathan Todd Ross. I'm guessing the audio sample will be posted on the book's publication date.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

    

 

Or you can order Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Memoir Review: Black Boy

When I decided to focus my February reading on Black History Month, I searched through my huge backlog of audio books and found the perfect fit. Black Boy by Richard Wright is a memoir that was originally published in 1945, about a boy's difficult childhood and adolescence in rural Mississippi and his early adulthood in Chicago, all in the first part of the 20th century. It's an engrossing, fascinating (and at times, horrifying) account of a young life that was defined by constant struggle and the author's striving for more for himself, his family, and other Blacks.

Richard begins the memoir with his earliest memories, as a four-year-old boy in Natchez, Mississippi, living with his parents and brother. His father soon leaves, which starts an endless struggle for his mother to try to care for her young sons while also supporting the family financially. Richard is an early reader and an eager student, but he begins trying to earn money to help his family as soon as he is able, first running errands and doing odd jobs, even hanging around the local bar to earn a penny or nickel from patrons (and having his first alcohol when he was much too young). He drops out of school after eighth grade so he can help to support his family. They move around the area, as they struggle to make ends meet, sometimes having to move in with family or living in ever-smaller, shabbier apartments. Richard's grandmother has a decent house, and they live there for while, but she is a religious fundamentalist with extremely rigid ideas about how Richard should behave, and life there is intolerable for both Richard and his mother (though they have to tolerate it for a while). As he gets older and begins reading more and becoming more aware of the world around him, Richard begins to notice the horrible inequities in the South between Blacks and whites. As an intelligent and increasingly well-read young man, he can't understand why things are this way or why his people put up with such abhorrent treatment. Eventually, Richard escapes north to Chicago and is later able to move his mother and brother up there with him, though life isn't much easier. Richard is stunned to meet white people (often Jews or other immigrants who are outsiders themselves) who treat him kindly and fairly, though much of society is still stacked against people of color, even in the exalted North. He is attracted to the Communist Party for its rhetoric on equality and the presence of other well-read Blacks, but he is soon disillusioned by their in-fighting and other issues.

Richard's life story is a compelling one, both as an intriguing coming-of-age story and as a fascinating glimpse into the Jim Crow South and the challenges faced by Blacks in the early 1900's. I found it all the more powerful listening to the first-person narration on audio. Having been published first in 1945, the narrator is of course not the author, but Peter Francis James does a wonderful job of completely inhabiting the voice of the boy and man so that you feel like he is telling his story directly to you (audio sample here). While much of the discrimination and outright abuse faced by Richard and his family are greatly disturbing, there are moments of humor woven in, too, as Richard recalls his naivete as a child. The first half of the book, in Mississippi, was a little more interesting to me than the later sections, where Richard gets involved in Communism, but I was still riveted by his powerful, engaging story from beginning to end.

Vintage Classics

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Back to the Classics Challenge: a nonfiction classic

Nonfiction Challenge (#3) - in category of Social History

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Mississippi

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the beginning of the memoir when Richard is a very young boy, read beautifully by Peter Francis James, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     
  

Or you can order Black Boy from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Nonfiction Review: The Sisters of Auschwitz

For Nonfiction November, I tried to read a variety of different types and genres of nonfiction, so I chose a historical book from my audio backlog, The Sisters of Auschwitz: The True Story of Two Sisters' Resistance in the Heart of Nazi Territory by Roxane van Iperen. I sometimes think that between novels and nonfiction, I have learned everything there is to know about World War II and the Holocaust ... but this book still surprised me and described a wholly unique experience.

Janny and Lien Brilleslijper were two Dutch Jewish sisters, who grew up in Amsterdam with their younger brother and parents. Their peaceful lives were interrupted suddenly when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands in 1940. By then, the sisters were both married (or almost married) to non-Jewish men, which gave them a little bit of flexibility at first, against the Nazi's ever-more-stringent restrictions against Jews. They began by going into hiding in Amsterdam, like many of their countrymen, but soon it became too dangerous for them to stay in their beloved city. They managed to find a huge house out in the forest in a rural area, with no other houses nearby; with the help of their husbands and fake documents, they rented the house from two elderly sisters. It was named the High Nest because it was up on a hill and was a safe haven. Besides housing their own families, the High Nest soon became a hiding place and underground center for the Dutch Resistance and a sort of artists' haven. The sisters did a lot of work to help others and resist the Nazis, but finally, they, too, were captured and sent to a series of camps leading eventually to Auschwitz. In fact, they were in the same camps at the same time as the Frank family and became close friends with Anne and Margot. Against all odds, they were luckier than the Frank sisters and managed to survive the war.

Wow. This story was so vivid and visceral that I was completely immersed in the book from beginning to end. It was particularly powerful on audio, read by narrator Susan Hoffman in a Dutch accent. I did struggle a bit at the beginning to understand the Dutch names, but once I caught on, the story propelled me forward. These unsung--virtually unknown--heroes of the Dutch resistance lived brave and principled lives that inspire awe, though they themselves just felt that they were doing their duty. This outstanding book had the power to convey some amazing--and horrifying--experiences. It taught me that there is always more to learn about the quiet heroes that saved lives and helped to win the war against evil.

320 pages, Harper

Harper Audio

For more about the Frank family's experiences--and another perspective on being a Jew in Amswterdam during the war--these two books were both excellent:

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - young Anne's famous memoir of life in hiding 

Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family by Miep Gies with Alison Leslie Gold - an outstanding memoir by one of the women (a close friend of the family) who helped hide the Franks, also excellent on audio.

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the start of the book about the family history, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

      

 

Or you can order The Sisters of Auschwitz from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Fiction Review: The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

It's sometimes discouraging when I have to temporarily pause a seasonal reading challenge I'm enjoying to read something else for one of my book groups, but in October, my neighborhood book group's pick fit right in with the R.I.P. Challenge: The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict. This is a fictional account of a real-life event, when Agatha Christie went missing for eleven days in 1926. 

No one knows what really happened to her or where she went during those eleven days (the author herself didn't even mention the disappearance in her autobiography), even though her disappearance made newspaper headlines across Europe and inspired a countrywide search in England. The novel alternates chapters between the days after her disappearance and her earlier life, leading up to it. The chapters on her earlier life begin when she is just a young woman, living with her family and meeting Archie, her husband-to-be, for the first time. That narrative thread continues through their courtship during the Great War, their impulsive marriage while he is on leave, the birth of their daughter, Rosalind, and the beginning of her writing career. The chapters taking place after her disappearance go day by day, showing Archie's reactions, the police investigation, and the flurry of activity in the frantic search for her across the region and then the country. Gradually, the two narratives come together, when the mystery of Agatha's Christie's mysterious disappearance is finally solved.

As you can see, I'm not providing many details about the story itself because it unspools much like a Christie mystery itself, with suspense and surprises, and much of the delight of this novel is in that slow discovery of its secrets. There is a lot packed into this short novel. It is something of a biography, providing a glimpse into the famous author's life and the beginning of her writing career, which would eventually lead to her selling more books worldwide than any other writer! It's fascinating to see how she became the famous mystery writer we all know and love. The author did extensive research, so both the information about Christie's life and the historical details are based in well-known fact. But the mystery! Benedict has come up with a creative, clever story to fill in those missing eleven days of which I think the Queen of Mystery herself would approve. It was a fun, highly entertaining novel.

270 pages, Sourcebooks

Audible Studios

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the early days of the disappearance and investigation, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  
  

Or you can order The Mystery of Mrs. Christie from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Memoir Review: The Mighty Queens of Freeville

My last book group pick before a summer hiatus was The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter, and the Town that Raised Them by Amy Dickinson, the famous advice columnist, Ask Amy. Everyone in my book group enjoyed this honest, funny memoir.

 

Despite her relative fame and public persona, Amy has written a very personal memoir. It's about her family and her hometown, and her experiences going back there as a single mother after a devastating divorce. As she explains in the beginning of the memoir, hers is a family of mostly women (dubbed by her daughter as The Mighty Queens of Freeville), and many of them are/were divorced single mothers. She describes the divorce from her husband, which was a complete surprise to her, her long road through grief, and her process (erratic though it was) of figuring out what to do with her life. She brings us along as she heals, surrounded by her family, takes those first independent steps in moving to Washington, DC, and through her many experiences as a single mother. The memoir takes us right up to the present, with her daughter off at college and she herself cautiously dipping her toe back into a loving relationship.

 

It was well-written (of course), moving, and immersive. She's very honest about how damaged she felt after the unexpected divorce and her struggle to get back on her feet and figure out what to do with her life. I also enjoyed that her hometown is in Upstate NY, not too far from where I grew up (though I grew up in a suburb of Rochester versus her rural town). Although I haven’t read her column before (our newspaper doesn’t carry it), I enjoyed her honest and funny writing, which was both heartwarming and hilarious. It was an enjoyable read, for me and for the rest of my book group.

 

225 pages, Hyperion 

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