The Daughters

The Daughters by Adrienne Celt
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a story of four women. It starts with Greta, the legendary matriarch, who may have made a deal with the devil to deliver a daughter. Next came Ada, who immigrated to America from Poland, pregnant with her daughter Sara, and who raises Sara's daughter Lulu to be a great opera singer. Ada has molded Lulu since she was in the womb to be an opera diva, and that is exactly what she is. She is selfish and self-absorbed and not really likeable at all. She believes her daughter will fulfill the curse and take away her voice and is somehow responsible for Ada's death on the day she was born. All of the daughters perhaps are cursed, though not in the way Lulu thinks. They are all rather self-involved and rather poor mothers. Even hard-working Ada turns a blind eye to her own daughter's need for reassurance and guidance and , instead focuses all her energy on Lulu's singing career. What I did like and wished there was more of was the beautiful tales of Greta, told in lyrical mythology with magic and mystery. If there were more Greta stories and less Lulu, this would have been a five-star book.

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But I lay still, listening. And hoping: don’t let her really be awake. As though being unaware of a storm could save you from it.

 I just happen to know that sometimes the world gives a little twist and everything changes. A shout percussing across the mountain stones until one falls down and the rest tumble after. There is danger in small things.

 Wishes are dangerous things, you see. Start asking the sky to grant you requests and you better prepare for some fallout, red rain.

 Sitting in the Civic theater is like sitting in a mouth full of gold teeth, red velvet tongues periodically unfurling into aisles. Though the theater was not bright, an occasional patch of warm light glimmered off the embellishments on the walls and hung around me like hot breath. I felt the theater’s mouth yawning out from the stage and leaned into it. I wanted to throw myself down the room’s golden throat.

Tinseltown

Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When they say truth is stranger than fiction, they might want to add more entertaining. This is the true story of the murder of William Desmond Taylor, a director in Hollywood, during the silent film era. If that doesn't sound terribly thrilling, let me assure you that it is. There was more intrigue, double crossing, hidden secrets, assumed names, drugs, scandal, money and power grabs, big personalities, beauties, and bow-legged villains than you would think. Taylor's murder was never solved, but with a new clue several decades later, Mann was able to widen the perspective and theorize a probable scenario. If you like murder mysteries, or the roaring twenties, or want to learn more about how Hollywood came to be, this is an interesting, fun read.

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No matter who was in the White House, the church ladies still had the ability to organize boycotts, pressure lawmakers, and drive public opinion,

brass knocker shaped like the Mask of Thalia, the smiling muse of comedy.

Their Cupid was cupidity.

"There are times," Hays mused, "when if everyone is shouting loudly enough, a man may begin to doubt the rightness of his own decisions."

The UnAmericans

The UnAmericans: Stories by Molly Antopol
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't think the publicity blurb for this collection of short stories does them justice. These are incredibly engrossing stories of family, faith, love and death. Antopol admits that the inspiration to these stories are her own families tales and maybe that is what makes them feel alive and relevant even in settings as far back as WWII as a young woman escapes the Jewish extermination by navigating the sewers. Several are also set in the era of McCarthism and the Red Scare. Her characters are deeply drawn, often trying to balance their ambitions with their family obligations. Fame is often the temptress, with the character having to decide what and whether to sacrifice (honesty, family, political beliefs) for it. There is also a recurring theme of ;moving on after the loss of a spouse, whether by divorce or death. My favorite is "Minor Heroics" of a brother trying to find his place after his heroic older brother is injured. "The Quietest Man" is moving and surprisingly poignant. "My Grandmother Tells Me This Story" would keep any grandkid's attention.

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Eligible

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rewrites are tricky. Especially for a novel as beloved as Pride and Prejudice. Sittenfeld does a passable job updating the plot. Perhaps the things I found most dismaying about the updated version was how some things don't change (wealth=desirable) and what did change ("running away together" is no longer sensational of course, so the scandals had to be ramped up). This is not really a reflection of the choice of the author, but rather of the world we live in now. Though that is partly why I love Austen so much--the charm of a more genteel time. So I can't fault the author for society's morality these days, and I thought she did a fair job of translating the plot into a modern setting. But it is hard to be objective when one is reading the rewriting a beloved classic. I missed Austen's wit and elegant style. I missed the chemistry of Elizabeth and Darcy. It was fun escapism but can't really hold a candle to the original. I will say that I did appreciate the dignity Sittenfeld gives to Mary in the epilogue...

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Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great biography. Despite being 800 pages, Hamilton's life was so interesting, there was always something to keep the reader entertained. Chernow also sums up and explains Hamilton's contributions to the founding of America, such as defending the Constitution, establishing a national bank, creating a Coast Guard, etc. Since history is not my strong suit, I enjoyed putting all these elements in context and perspective. My only complaint is Chernow's point of view: he seems to have written Alexander Hamilton as a defense for Hamilton, as if we were already prejudiced against him and favored Jefferson and Madison. As a result, Jefferson and Madison come off as hypocritical cads and Hamilton as a brilliant, misunderstood prophet. Aaron Burr is painted as a true villain, complete with loose morals and sinister intents. This may all be true, but the adamancy with which Chernow writes, defending Hamilton's poor choices and focusing on his good qualities, while highlighting others' bad judgements and deceptions makes me question if I should read one of his nemesis' biographies to get their side of the story. Still, an incredible, gifted genus, Hamilton is definitely an inspiration.

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“Tis only to consult our own hearts to be convinced that nations like individuals revolt at the idea of being guided by external compulsion.”

  It seemed an inauspicious moment for the threatened colonies to declare independence, and yet that is exactly what they did. Faced with the military strength of the most colossal empire since ancient Rome, they decided to fight back.

  I give up my liberty to Miss Schuyler

bond formed between Hamilton and Washington during the Revolution was based less on personal intimacy than on shared experiences of danger and despair and common hopes for America’s future.

America could defeat the British in the bond market more readily than on the battlefield

A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing. It will be powerful cement of our union.”

  “As too much power leads to despotism, too little leads to anarchy, and both eventually to the ruin of the people.”

  He was not a politician seeking popularity but a statesman determined to change minds.

One who knew his habits of study said of him that when he had a serious object to accomplish, his practice was to reflect on it previously. And when he had gone through this labor, he retired to sleep, without regard to the hour of the night, and, having slept six or seven hours, he rose and having taken strong coffee, seated himself at his table, where he would remain six, seven, or eight hours. And the product of his rapid pen required little correction for the press

He wanted to be a statesman who led courageously, not a politician who made compromises.

the human word machine,

no character, however upright, is a match for constantly reiterated attacks, however false.”

Washington had had enough. “If the laws are to be trampled upon with impunity,” he said, “and a minority is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to republican government.”

  if he fornicates with every female in the cities of New York and Philadelphia, he will rise again, for purity of character after a period of political existence is not necessary for public patronage.”

  1800 elections revealed, for the first time, the powerful centrist pull of American politics—the electorate’s tendency to rein in anything perceived as extreme.

  Fisher Ames observed of Hamilton that the common people don’t want leaders “whom they see elevated by nature and education so far above their heads.”

A Study in Charlotte

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This continuation of the Holmes' legacy finds us at a boarding school in Connecticut where Charlotte Holmes, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Sherlock has been banished after some unknown scandal and break with her family, and where Jamie Watson has improbably been granted a rugby scholarship. Holmes, besides being a natural observer, has been trained to heighten her perception, though she may not be as emotionally stunted as her predecessor, and in fact, may be emotionally scarred by her forced seclusion and withheld affection. Watson seems to have an inherited sense of protection and trust for the Holmes' clan, though Charlotte doesn't make it easy. After a tense first encounter, they bond quickly when they both become suspects in a murder. Cavallaro has fun with the original Sherlock stories, mining them for copy-cat murders and clues. Her teenage characters seem genuine, even if that means that Charlotte is a bit more of a mess than Sherlock ever was--she hasn't yet gotten a handle on her drug use or her emotions. It makes her less of a savant, less of a character to be shockingly dazzled with, but more of a relatable genius. Watson, who narrates the story, becomes more integral to the story as he works with Charlotte to save them from prison, and perhaps more importantly, save Charlotte from herself.

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The Warmth of Other Suns

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this exposition on the Great Migration, an event I didn't even know about until a few years ago. Wilkerson does a masterful job of explaining what it was, why it happened, and the effects on the South and the cities in the North and West that African-Americans migrated to. The bulk of the history is told through the eyes of three different migrants, in different eras, with distinctly different experiences: Ida Mae Gladney who migrated from the cotton fields of Mississippi in 1937 to Chicago; George Starling who fled from the orange fields of Florida to New York in 1945; and Robert Foster who drove out to California in 1953. Grounding the narratives, Wilkerson fills us in with history, legislature, and public sentiment to give the reader an overall perspective. Not only is this history captivatingly recounted and scrupulously researched, but it also provides insights for our present race relations. Highly recommended to everyone.

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