Novel Whore

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Reading a book that was actually written in the period the characters are living always adds a sense of drama for me. Obviously it’s much easier for the writer to catch the small details that transformed lives in the period, but it’s easier for me to also understand the differences and similarities, often unexpected. The The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is set in the late 1800’s and was written by Wharton in 1920, so she had a pretty good idea of the morals and daily events that took place in drawing rooms across New York City at the time.

I fell in love with The Age of Innocence by simply envisioning myself dressing for dinner, attending the opera at least once a week, and being able to act like a lady without looking like a pompous idiot like I sometimes fear in my current life. Imagine not only walking down 5th Avenue in NYC, but being one of the elite families that founded NYC and contributed to the mecca of westernization it is today. Ah, but back to the story… (more…)

I’m not a big fan of Sci/Fi, and vampires have really never gotten my attention, especially scenes from Ann Rice and other “thrillers,” as they are mainly focused on violence. When my best friend handed me The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova it came with a warning that I might not like it.

The Historian takes a different view on vampirism as it retraces what happened to the remains of Vlad Tepes, a 15th century Byzantine ruler of Wallachia, through Istanbul, Bulgaria and Romania during the Cold War era. The search begins as several characters receive an antique book that contains nothing but a wood print of a dragon and the word: DRAKULYA. (more…)

I adore Michael Crichton, and I’m not ashamed to admit it, he’s hot. I especially adore how he combines technology and history in Timeline, well that and his laugh lines.

Timeline is set in the twenty-first century and focuses on a group of archeologists that are working on a historical site that includes Castelgard and La Roque, two ancient towns separated by the Dordogne River. Like many historical and sporting sites these days, the site is sponsored by a corporation which is rumored to be buying the surrounding land for what appears to be nefarious plans.

As the plot unfolds, it comes to light that the corporation has knowledge of the architecture of the site that seems impossible, unless they’ve actually seen the towns when they were occupied, in the 1300’s. (more…)

Sometimes you need a little levity in your life, and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen fits the bill perfectly. I’ve never been a big fan of the circus, but being able to connect with performers and workmen, and learning the differences that existed on the trains that carried circuses in the early 20th century was fascinating.

One of the things that strikes me in novels set in the past is how much violence actually occurred in everyday life. (more…)

I’ve always been drawn to novels with strong mother-daughter relationships, probably because my relationship with my own mother has been so lacking (thank you psych degree), but what strikes me so throughout this book, is how each daughter is actually denied a relationship due to varying circumstances, and yet each is tied so securely to their mother.

Set in early 20th century china, the characters in The Concubine’s Daughter suffer through standard Chinese torture regiments including foot binding, working in the silk farms with substandard conditions that we Americans can barely comprehend, opium dens, and finally becoming a si-fu studying the Way of the White Crane. Chinese customs that seem so alluring from the outside, remind us of how many women have gone before us through a system that was determined to “cure” our evil souls by making us submit. Yet, in the end, each generation succeeds one step further than the last until at last we triumph. Feminism be damned, this is about finding our true selves, and recognizing that men, real men will always be our supporters, and we theirs.

But you want to hear about the juice don’t you? Of course. (more…)