History - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Village Healer’s Book of Cures

By Scott J. Pearson | October 8, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Witchcraft and alchemy, when they appear in literature, often do so in a young adult novel teaching about the difference between such crafting and reality. In a twist, Jennifer Sherman Roberts attempt to spin these entities into a tale of historical fiction geared towards adults. Set in 17th-century England – the age of Republican passions and Reformation excesses – this tale weaves together a sketchy “witchfinder” and a plain but strong village healer. The female…

James K. Polk by John Seigenthaler

By Scott J. Pearson | September 27, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

US President James Polk (1845-1849) elicits strong opinions from those aware of his record. They either love him for his effectiveness and performance or hate him for his difficult personality and the Mexican War. So-called “Young Hickory,” styling himself after “Old Hickory” Andrew Jackson, Polk set out to be a one-term president and to accomplish four specific goals outlined in his inaugural. He accomplished all of them and died a few months after leaving the…

History Psychology

Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind

By Scott J. Pearson | August 25, 2023August 25, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Kay Redfield Jamison is a well-known psychotherapist at Johns Hopkins who herself famously suffers from bipolar disorder. In 1996, she wrote eloquently about her journey in An Unquiet Mind. In this book, she posits the idea that to be most effective, healers – the doctors, counselors, and leaders – need to be healed themselves. To support her argument, she provides life narratives of many such eminent people, with a focus on the early-to-mid twentieth century.…

Biography-Memoir History Society

Don’t Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Massacre in Her Own Words

By Scott J. Pearson | August 15, 2023August 15, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

After emancipation, the Greenwood community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, served as an example of what African Americans could build in a free world. So-called “Black Wall Street” epitomized a community built around entrepreneurship, social responsibility, freedom, and neighborly love. They embodied American ideals of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as much as anyone else. Until the jealous white mob got involved in 1921. One night, in response to false accusations against a black citizen,…

Fiction-Stories History

Don’t Forget to Write: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | August 10, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

American attitudes towards family have changed a lot since the 1960s. Young women are less regarded as family property to be given off in marriage, and feminism has thankfully facilitated women making life choices for themselves. It’s helpful, however, to remember occasionally what life was like in this prior era, which really isn’t so long ago. In this novel, Sara Goodman Confino takes us back through the story of a young lady who, in embracing…

Fiction-Stories History

Sing, Wild Bird, Sing: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | July 4, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

This plot’s preamble begins in 19th-century Oregon, but quickly pivots to a prior time in Ireland during the famine of 1847. It shares the true story of an entire starving village traveling to its British landlord begging for food. Sadly, the landlord refuses succor, and the entire town dies beside a nearby lake. In O’Mahony’s tale, only one person survives, and utterly alone in the world, Honora immediately determines to move west to America in…

Healthcare History Psychology

Desperate Remedies: Psychiatry’s Turbulent Quest to Cure Mental Illness

By Scott J. Pearson | June 20, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

I must begin this review with a confession of my biases. I have had bipolar disorder for 20 years and have learned through hard-fought experience how to control it. I also have progressed through medical school, but do not practice medicine due to side effects of medications for bipolar disorder. For a career, I build software infrastructure that supports the medical research system. I found Andrew Scull’s history of psychiatry enlightening. He clearly explains how…

History Poetry Religion-Philosophy

The Epic of Gilgamesh: A Poetic Version

By Scott J. Pearson | June 17, 2023June 17, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

The Epic of Gilgamesh, the truly ancient of ancient stories, is vitally important to civilization for several reasons. First, it’s a really good story talking about the meaning of life, much like Job is to the Bible. Second, it provides a window into early civilization with the view that humans have always been, well, relatively human. It’s a timeless classic. Finally, it’s a religious work from a non-Roman, non-Hebrew, and non-Greek source. It illustrates the…

Fiction-Stories History

The Life She Wanted: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | June 15, 2023August 14, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Pandora Carmichael is the daughter of a once-famous tennis player who now teaches the sport to the well-to-do in the Hudson Valley in 1920s New York. She grows up around opulence, but she possesses none of it. A teenager at the beginning of the book, she explores dating relationships, but struggles to achieve exactly what she wants out of life. She has a deep passion for fashion design, but in pre-World War II America, a…

Fiction-Stories History

Flatlands

By Scott J. Pearson | June 13, 2023May 24, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Telling her story in a journal, Freda evacuates from London in anticipation of German bombing. She comes from a humble family with weak bonds to each other. Her grandmother Nan is the only person she feels close to, but she soon dies after Freda’s departure. Her mother and father have recently divorced as her father has left for another woman. As a mere twelve-year-old, she is alone in the world. After a railroad trip, she…