This impeccably researched historical mystery is closer to thriller than it is to romance, though the two lead characters are the widowed suffragette This impeccably researched historical mystery is closer to thriller than it is to romance, though the two lead characters are the widowed suffragette Harriet Gordon and Inspector Robert Curran, who many of the British imperialists living in Singapore tsk over because they feel he's "gone native."
Some readers might object to the very nature of the book, depicting English people during the height of the imperial period (on the verge of its fall); I thought Stuart did a superb job of walking that knife-edge between depicting people of the time, and yet not offering the unexamined prejudices of that period as admirable or nostalgic.
It was a delight watching Gordon and Curran form a friendship and partnership, each respecting the other's intelligence and skills. I loved Harriet's brother, the gentle headmaster/pastor of a struggling English school. Also a delight was the care Stuart took to give all her characters, even the ones appearing for half a page, enough complexity to make me care for them, or dread them in the case of certain ones. Even the dead took on personality.
Stuart's vivid descriptions of the torrid climate and flora of the area also impressed me. Altogether this book looks to be the start of a very promising series.
I collect letters and diaries, as I find firsthand glimpses of the past so much more interesting than fictionThis book could have been written for me.
I collect letters and diaries, as I find firsthand glimpses of the past so much more interesting than fiction written through a modern lens, or historical treatises that go on about politics without focusing on the individuals. (Though I must say, historical writing by today's scholars is veering away from white male gaze on politics and more toward the actual people involved, including women.)
But anyway. From time to time over the years, when I'm either really tired, or have just a bit of free time, I'd go through my various collections of letters and diaries and look up that day of the year, and read what people did and thought on that day, over the centuries.
Well, this book has taken the same idea. The preface discusses in an engaging way what the author did once he'd begun collecting all these letters and journal entries about Los Angeles over the years. He tried various organizational methods, then landed on a similar idea to my "On this day" game: for each day of the year, he's chosen letters and journal entries that refer to Los Angeles in some way.
The earliest entries are written by explorers and priests during the 1700s. We see Los Angeles emerging--the sharp scent of citrus, the earthquakes, the distinctive geography, the droughts--as a wild mixture of people try to find common ground in a relatively benign climate. Human nature is not so benign: some entries are high-minded declarations that everyone, no matter what their background, has similar rights (and we know how well that was observed); in other entries, there is so much casual violence that it's taken for granted, until rudimentary justice systems are set up. And we see those in action.
Interspersed are entries from Los Angeles at the turn of the century, and of course many modern ones. Inevitably there is going to be an emphasis on the film industry (and how fake so very many find the city and the life therein, while they collect their huge paychecks; the poor somehow don't have the time or luxury of finding Los Angeles life 'fake'), but there are quotes from a range of people.
The ones I found most riveting, though disturbing, are from an intelligent, observant young American of Japanese background. During 1942-4 we see glimpses of this person's life ripped apart as the FBI comes for them, then they lose everything, and of course when December 7th rolls around, we see their horror at the news, because they are helpless to do anything about what the Japanese empire has done--they are American citizens. Though not for long.
Interspersed between sometimes fatuous and sometimes sharp Hollywood commentary are Latina and Latino people, living their lives, and then, always succinct, Octavia Butler's occasional entries.
I meant to make the book last, but I simply couldn't stop reading. Especially when some of the more modern quotes intersected with my life: one famous person went to the Griffith Observatory, and enjoyed the lecture and presentation tremendously, and I thought, I bet I know who you were listening to. Another went through the same earthquake we endured in 1971. A third well-known person pawed through the used books at Acres of Books in Long Beach (sadly, tragically, no longer there), which I have been to so many times. There were other connections.
About the only complaint I have is that I could have done with a whole lot less of Theodore Dreiser's smirky sexual exploits with his very young mistress. But I could recognize them after a time, and skim for actual content, which he had, occasionally, though always self-involved.
Many entries are poignant, sharply observed, wistful, tragic, stark. It would have been nice if there were pictures, but actually, I found I had images for just about all of the places and times.
An extremely well-researched account of escape attempts (both successful and unsuccessful) by British soldiers during WW I.
As most of these were piloAn extremely well-researched account of escape attempts (both successful and unsuccessful) by British soldiers during WW I.
As most of these were pilots, readers get a vivid account of what life was like for those early pilots, as warfare made its shift skyward. The attrition rate was as terrible as it became in QQ II, but these guys still were willing to risk it. Some even relished the risk.
They brought the same attitude toward trying to escape, though conditions in prisoner of war camps were abysmal, especially under a particular pair of German commanders notorious for their cruelty and avarice.
Relying on wartime reports as well as personal letters and diaries, Bascomb takes the time to provide backgrounds on his main characters, giving at least sketches of many others. The bulk of the book leads up to, and includes, a mass escape (over seventy men before the tunnel began to collapse), and what happened after. Unlike The Great Escape of WW II, a bunch of these guys made it.
Bascomb writes with verve, demonstrating a thorough knowledge of his subject. Absorbing, often grim, read for those interested in WW I history.
There's a lot to like in this fast-paced, white-knuckle, emotionally turbo-charged historical novel, but at least for me, it was also problematical.
I There's a lot to like in this fast-paced, white-knuckle, emotionally turbo-charged historical novel, but at least for me, it was also problematical.
I see a trend these days to write women characters as hard-drinking, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed and indifferently brutal and amoral as male characters. Which is great, *if* you like that kind of character. I don't, male or female.
Still, the pages kept turning as the story veered back and forth between Charlie in 1947, going to Europe to search for her missing cousin, whom she loved like a sister, and Eve, recruited as a spy in German-occupied France during World War I.
Quinn is at her absolute best in her stunning depiction of the grimness of occupied France during those war years, and the equally gritty determination of the women who served as spies. She relied strongly on real-life histories, and vividly fleshes out the dreariness, the hunger, the pervasive fear that distorts the soul, and the sort of person who preys on the downtrodden to profiteer.
If this had been strictly Eve's story, I would have loved it unconditionally, tough and gritty as it was. Unfortunately, slightly more than half belongs to Charley, who read to me like a thirty-something born in 1985 in both language and outlook on life. But we are to believe she is a nineteen year old in 1947.
I kept being jarred out of the '47 portions, thinking that we'd leaped into the present day as Charlie does one self-destructive thing after another, often uttering nineties-speak: "Nice wheels." "It's not about . . ." Her sections were increasingly painful to read, exacerbated by (view spoiler)[Eve's drawn out PTSD behavior bits, and not helped by the preternaturally patient love interest conveniently provided, along with some other coincidences.
But others might flat-out disagree, especially younger readers who haven't read a great deal of history or the writing of the time, with its own idiom and outlook. (hide spoiler)]One thing I'm sure of, Quinn is talented, with a terrific sense of pacing, and a great eye for fleshing out secondary characters. I plan to check out her future work, especially if she writes anything set in our time....more
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