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…
Lucy Riley is someone with secrets that haunt her from England to the American East to the Mid-West to the West Coast. They even chase her out of San Francisco to the Farallon Islands in the Pacific. She becomes a teacher to the rough island’s children. The handful of adults on the island are employed to man the lighthouse and harvest exquisite eggs. It’s a place that next to no one wants to go to,…
This book opens with Phoenix Yuan-Whyller’s mother “Rain” dying in Toronto at the ripe old age of eighty-three. Rain had lived a full life spanning two countries on two continents. Phoenix spent most of her life caring for her mother, yet her mother’s early life remained buried in mystery even to her daughter. Having recently married a Anglo-Canadian, Phoenix spent most of her life tethered to her mother. Grief and curiosity combined, and Phoenix flies…
Even my 11-year-old daughter observes that World War II still defines our modern era. It brought the United States of America into prominence; it ushered in a relatively peaceful Europe; it set the boundaries of communism and democracy; it opened up Americans’ eyes to the global order. Many younger people are realizing this history’s impact as their parents and grandparents have recently deceased. In this book, Brown seeks to kindle one fictional family’s history, from…
In a little-known part of the Holocaust, a Chinese diplomat facilitated the rescue of thousands of Jews from Vienna, Austria, by using his visa-writing powers. They were sent to, of all places, Shanghai during the Japanese invasion of China. (Of course, a war zone is much safer than the overzealous rage of Hitler.) As described in the Author’s Note, this Chinese diplomat, named Ho Fengshan, was not recognized until after his death in the late…
The 1960s were transformative years for America, particularly for women. Coming out of the 1950s, many women felt constrained by limiting gender roles. However, in the early 1960s, feminism had not yet taken deep root. Women began to ask spiritual questions about whether there was more to life than being “well behaved.” This book chronicles women’s challenges of this era while shining light on repressive issues like domestic violence. Ruth Applebaum is a newlywed with…
This book weaves together many types of historical knowledge in one place. It provides an account of the Manhattan Project in New York City to develop the atomic bomb. It covers the critical but relatively unheralded role that women played in supporting wartime efforts. It shows cultural gaps in New York elitist life. It spans medical subjects like poisons, plants, and remedies to toxic substances. The narrative also explores gender and sexuality, albeit in a…
As I write, Russian troops are invading the independent nation of Ukraine. This backdrop compelled me to hurry up to read this book for insight into the current conflict, and I am glad I did. It tells a complex tale of three generations of Ukrainian women trying to make a life amidst international strife. The coincidences are stultifying, but the author claims that the general narrative is true. The story reminds us of the enduring…
The genre of historical fiction is as well-known for romances as it is for stories set in World War II. This book takes those simple premises but upends them by adding so much more to produce a beautiful product of art. Its setting – Shanghai, China, during the war – is unusual as are its main protagonists, a Chinese businesswoman and a Jewish refugee. Apparently, Shanghai, long-known for its prowess as an international business culture,…
The story of freedom is both an American story and a universally human one. In this novel, Coates reminds us that personal loyalties to family sometimes transcend the desire for freedom. Using the motif of finding one’s own free way, he describes the story of Hiram Walker, an enslaved person who was educated due to his superb memory, only to become intermixed with the Underground Railroad. Along the way, he discovers the backcountry of Virginia…