The Light of Luna Park

Title:  The Light of Luna Park

Author:  Addison Armstrong

Publication Information:  G.P. Putnam's Sons. 2021.336 pages.

ISBN:  0593328043 / 978-0593328040

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "No baby is happy about being pushed into this world."

Favorite Quote:  "I'm a nurse, Dr. Morrison. It's my job to see the nasty side of things. And then it's my job to make them better."

Luna Park is a seaside amusement park on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It opened in 1903 on the site of another park that operated from 1894 to 1902. In the 1940s, it was destroyed by fire and later demolished. A new park with the same name exists nearby both as a family destination and a historic marker.

In the United States, one in ten infants is born prematurely.

What, you might ask, does an amusement park have to do with preemie babies? Historically, it does.

In its heyday, the park featured rides and many sideshow "attractions" common to amusement destinations at the time. The "attractions" at one time included premature babies given a chance at life using incubators. Incubators for human use were invented in France by a physician named Stéphane Tarnier after he saw them used at a zoo! Many medical professionals at the time did not invest or research the care of premature babies as the care was thought expensive and the chance of success very slim. Another French physician named Pierre Budin brought the incubators to the 1896 World's Fair.

Martin Couney saw the "display" of babies and made the leap to a sideshow attraction. Sad to turn a family's turmoil into a sideshow or ideological to demonstrate the success of something the medical profession did not deem feasible? Probably both. An ethical conundrum.

People, Couney felt, would pay to see these infants in incubators. At the same time, infants needs the care could be helped. He brought the incubators to Coney Island, hired nurses to care for the infants, and set up the show. The "attraction" provided care the hospitals would or could not. By the 1940s, hospital began to use incubators in care. Perhaps because of the this and perhaps because of the fire of Luna Park, this attraction closed never to reopen.

This is the fascinating history behind The Light of Luna Park. Althea Anderson is a nurse at Bellevue Hospital. She sees baby after baby die. The doctors refuse to consider the facility at Luna Park as a medical solution. One day, Althea takes matters into her own hands. A baby "dies" at Bellevue but ends up at Luna Park. Another mother loses a child, and Althea becomes a mother.

Years later, Stella Wright is at a crossroads in her life. The discovery of a letter leads her to this history and her own past.

This debut novel from Addison Armstrong pulls in history, family turmoil, and parenthood. It pulls in the emotional journey of discovering that everything we know of ourselves may not be true. It pulls in the ethical dilemmas of the preemies dying in the hospitals and of a nurse and the decision she makes to save a life. A compelling first book. I look forward to reading more from Addison Armstrong.

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Maiden Voyages

Title:  Maiden Voyages: Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them

Author:  Sian Evans

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2021. 368 pages.

ISBN:  1250246466 / 978-1250246462

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "In 1908, at the age of twenty-one, Violet Jessop embarked upon her maiden voyage as a stewardess on the Orinoco, a steamer sailing to and from the West Indies carrying mail, cargo and passengers."

Favorite Quote:  "But for the women on board the ocean liner, the great ship offers hope, opportunity, romance. Whether they are travelling for leisure or pleasure, by virtue of their celebrity or to preserve their anonymity, as matrons, migrants or millionairesses, as passengers or staff, the journey they undertake will change their lives for ever."

This book is a fascinating view on history as it traverses the early twentieth century through a set of lenses superimposed upon each other. Women - from the well known to the otherwise lost in history. Transatlantic travels after a world war. Ocean liners - ships that during the long transatlantic trip created self-contained world on themselves.

The book is an anecdotal history, presenting a lot of history, a lot of facts about the ocean liners and about  the woman featured in each chapter. The stories of the women are as different as the women themselves and provide a vision on economics, politics, immigration, gender roles, and so many other aspects of society. "Maiden Voyages is a celebration of the diverse journeys made by a number of intrepid heroines, drawn from many countries and different classes."

As with any book of this nature, some women's stories prove more engaging and memorable than others.  There is the story of women who survived the voyage of the Titanic. There is the story of the dancer and singer from the American South who made Paris her home. There is the story of the woman who served as a ship's engineer during World War II. There is the story of the Olympic champion turned coach turned hostess. There is the woman who lost her sister in the sinking of the Lusitania. There is the immigrant who sought to find the American dream by scraping together enough money for a one-way third-class ticket.

Each story stands somewhat independently of each other. As such, there were points I vested in the story of the woman more than the history but that does not develop fully given the focus and structure of the book. I find myself ending sections wanting to follow the woman and find out what happens next in her story. Since the focus

At almost 400 pages, this book provides a lot of details, some of which, for me, was not needed for the impact of the book. It is nevertheless an interesting and unique look into history. At the end of the day, I respond to the story of strong women rising to the challenges facing them, overcoming obstacles, and breaking barriers. That is a lesson for all of us, and finding inspiration is that is my takeaway from this book. The fact that this book presents that message through women of different social standings, different circumstances, and different cultures is both the diversity and unifying force of this book.

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Where the Truth Lies

Title:  Where the Truth Lies

Author:  Anna Bailey

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2021. 384 pages.

ISBN:  198215716X / 978-1982157166

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The roar of the bonfire is hard to distinguish from the sound of the trailer-park boys and the schoolgirls who holler and dance in the shadow of the Tall Bones"

Favorite Quote:  "Guilt is a hard body to bury, no matter how many times you might claim God forgives you. You let some things fester long enough, they grow teeth and claws and crawl their way back to the surface again."

Reader beware:  This book features themes of physical and emotional abuse as well as violence, drinking, drugs, and more. It is dark!

This book was also published under the title Tall Bones. 

In the beauty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains lies the small town of Whistling Ridge. In this small town lies hate, discrimination, abuse, and murder. The darkness belies the beautiful setting.

A young girl disappears without a trace. The book deals with what happens next and also goes back to the events of the past that lead to the disappearance. The past and the present come together to provide the answer of what happens to Abigail.

Amongst the characters are Abigail's family - father Samuel, mother Dolly, older brother Noah, and younger brother Jude. The family covers up secrets of its own - secrets that are not quite as secret as they think for evidence of abuse is everywhere. Fear keeps them pretending otherwise. The town knows and does nothing.

Then, there is Emma, Abigail's best friend. Emma's ethnic heritage makes her stand out in this community. It also makes her the target of prejudice and hate. Abigail's disappearance adds guilt to that burden for Emma was perhaps the last person to see Abigail, and she left Abigail against her better judgement. The town knows and propagates the hate.

Finally, there is Rat, a young man who is yet another outsider in this community. As someone different, he too is the target of prejudice and of suspicion. Again, the town knows and feeds into the hate.

The darkness of this book is embedded into the characters themselves. "I know we've all got that fantasy of telling the people who hurt us just how much it hurt, but most of the time they're not even sorry, and then what? You're just going to be pissed off for the rest of your life?"

Each character seems to also accentuate a certain stereotype rather than develop into a multi-dimensional individual. It also appears that the book expands unnecessarily to include every trigger stereotypes. As such, the story does not develop for me. The impact scatters, and even the victims in the book end up not relatable or likable. In a world becoming more and more polarized along stereotypes, a book that pulls on the ideas creating that divide, for me, is a challenge to get through.

The plot is also more about the emotional ramifications of what led to Abigail's disappearance and of the ripples and seismic changes that disappearance results in. It is less about "thriller." This is a depressing and dark story, and it is nothing of what I expect from the title or the description. I walk away, completely not the reader for this book.

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the_atmospherians

Title:  the_atmospherians

Author:  Alex McElroy

Publication Information:  Atria Books. 2021. 304 pages.

ISBN:  1982158301 / 978-1982158309

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The men were outside my building."

Favorite Quote:  "Just because you're not sick ... doesn't mean you couldn't be healthier."

Two childhood friends - Sasha and Dyson - open a camp. Read into that - form a cult. The name is The Atmosphere. The members are men. The purpose is to rid the men of their toxic masculinity - define that how you will! "We'll call it The Atmosphere ... The men will be Atmospherics. It's a film term. Another word for extras:  people who provide the atmosphere and stand in the background. What better aspiration for men? To cede power, the spotlight, to let others speak, let the action continue without them."

The book gets more specific. This is about not all men but rather about white men in particular. "Over the past year, more and more me - always white men - had been hording together unprompted to perform mundane social activities. There was no way of telling how a man horde would act once it formed." I find that specificity not needed and shifts the focus to a racial issue rather than the patriarchy that many may understand.

Why? The purpose is entirely self-serving. Dyson is a failed actor. Sasha achieved success as an internet personality specializing in wellness for women. Unfortunately, responsibility for the tragic outcome of an online interaction is laid at Sasha's door. She stands to lose everything. This venture becomes an escape and a way to perhaps salvage her reputation. So, the clearly self-focused goal belies the altruistic purpose of reforming men and society. It make the whole idea harder to buy into.

The ideas of internet influencers, troll, masculine toxicity, and retreats to relearn are clearly picked from today's headlines. There are some truths to be found in this premise. I wanted to like this book for those truths, particularly the influence of social media on so many.

Based on the description, it is intended as satire. For me, the key to satire is the ability to interject enough reality so as to be recognizable and perhaps even relatable. Unfortunately, for me, the book chooses to highlight items in a direction that I find not helpful. Focusing on a gender and a race highlights divides and promotes the extensions of damaging stereotype. In the current divisive and divided atmosphere of our nation, it is, for me, not funny. Clearly, my sense of humor and that of this book lie in two different directions.

Unfortunately, I find neither the characters nor the story engaging.  Likable characters are not a necessity to a great read. However, engaging characters and/or an engaging plot are. Unfortunately, for me, this book holds neither. Having read the entire book, I do not feel like I understand Dyson or Sasha or really care about their outcome. As far as the plot, the book focuses more on the characters and on building the world of the The Atmosphere. It is challenging to follow what happens or why even up until the very end.

Sadly, I find myself walking away from the book, clearly not the reader for it.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives

Title:  The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives

Author:  Kristin Miller

Publication Information:  Ballantine Books. 2021. 288 pages.

ISBN:  1524799521 / 978-1524799526

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Pain is the first thing I remember."

Favorite Quote:  "If you're going to be two-faced, at least make sure one of them is pretty."

A small gated community of the rich and famous in the hills of San Francisco is home to the trophy wives.  Brooke Davies is the newest wife to join this community. She is a mystery writer married to a man 22 years her senior. She lives in a world of mansions and private jets for her husband Jack is that kind of rich. Erin Kent is a news anchor married to a plastic surgeon and is on a quest to keep her marriage. Georgia St. Clare is the Black Widow, for she has outlived two husbands and is now on number three. Although nothing was ever proved, many believe that she had a hand in the deaths of her first two husbands.

These are the secrets these three women come to know about each other. As you might suspect, there are many more they choose not to share. The fact that the book tells the story from the perspective of these women causes some of their secrets to be slowly revealed and in a way that they come forth to the reader before being revealed to the other characters. That is fun in allowing the reader to be a voyeur to this situation and to watch the drama  unfold.

This book is unbelievable - the plot and the characters. There are no consequences for the abuse and the murders that takes place in this book. From the ending of the book, it is clear that there are not likely to be any consequences. In a serious book, I might wish for some balance. However, this story is so over the top that it is possible to completely let go of reality and go along for what proves to be a fun almost comical ride. I don't know that this is the intent of the book, but it works for me. 

The ending is a twist that I, for one, do not see coming. Again, in a book I might follow as a serious story, I might not excuse all the things that happen. In this one, it is one more convoluted twist that makes up the farce of this book.

Although I have never watched a Desperate/Real Housewives show (nor do I think I ever could), I imagine this book creates the same environment. After having read it, I am wondering what led me to choose to read it. A Desperate/Real Housewives vibe is definitely not my TV or reading genre of choice. I suppose I expected a book that developed some depth into the characters and the relationships - marriage and friendship. This completely does not but ends up an entertaining, fast-paced ride to follow.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

A Woman of Intelligence

Title:  A Woman of Intelligence

Author:  Karin Tanabe

Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2021. 384 pages.

ISBN:  1250231507 / 978-1250231505

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Only one word cut through the noise of a New York afternoon."

Favorite Quote:  "In my world, anything that isn't impossible is possible."

Katharina Edgeworth is an unhappy wife and mother. She is married to a rich, successful physician and is a mother. She is educated and multi-lingual. Prior to her marriage, she worked as a translator for the United Nations. After marriage and motherhood, she leaves that behind. It is the 1950s, and her role as a wife, mother, and housewife superimpose themselves on all else that she is. Is it a sign of the time and place? Does she allow it to happen?

She loves her husband. She loves her children. At the same time, she feels trapped and stagnating. "I think the problem is that I'm not happy. So I'm not happily married." That is a powerful emotion and one, perhaps, that people can relate to. Choosing a path - even one you love - can at times trigger a longing for the path not taken. Unfortunately, with this character, the focus is so completely on this regret that the character ends up appearing completely self-absorbed and not likable. She appears to dwell completely in her unhappiness.

Another unfortunate aspect of the book is that the other characters, to me, are just as one dimensional. The husband is a handsome, successful physician wrapped up in his career. The in-laws are unsympathetic. Even the child embodies the essence of a tantrum-throwing toddler who needs discipline and boundaries which are not forthcoming. Another character introduces the conversation of an interracial relationship, but that thread never develops any depth either.

The plot of the book is that, all of a sudden, a man from her past enters the picture and she finds herself recruited for the FBI! Unfortunately, the way in which this happens and the speed in which this happens is, for me, unbelievable and does not ring true. Katharina is instantly willing to put her family at risk - a risk to life that a government operative may face and a risk to life that rekindling an old romance may engender. That does not seem the mark of a woman of intelligence. The fact that the FBI would recruit someone off the street and immediately put them in a high risk situation rings completely false.

That aspect of the plot also becomes complicated with many characters and connections and events that take a while to untangle and become clear. Despite its billing as a thriller, this book is a very slow read.

I appreciate the question around which this book is based. What compromise does a woman make between  independence and a career and home and family? The reality is that the discussion continues even today and definitely more so in the context of women than men. Despite the progress made, this decision arises and is faced time and again. Everyone hopefully finds an answer that works for them. It is nevertheless a decision, and there is nevertheless a path not taken.

Although the character and story was not for me, this conversation is what I take away from this book.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Personal Librarian

Title:  The Personal Librarian

Author:  Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Publication Information:  Berkley. 2021. 352 pages.

ISBN:  0593101537 / 978-0593101537

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The Old North bell tolls the hour, and I realize I'll be late."

Favorite Quote:  ".. all I've ever wanted for my children was the opportunity soar, no matter their heritage, and to live a life of meaning. That has been my fight. But in our current society with our current laws, it's enough that you succeed, that you are able to follow your passion in your work, that you leave a legacy that will benefit the multitudes - one day, even the colored multitudes."

This book does what I love best about historical fiction. It introduces me to a history I might never otherwise have learned. It tells a story that keeps me turning pages beginning to end. It sends me on a search for the actual history that underlies the fiction.

Recently, I had an opportunity to visit the Morgan Library in New York City. It is like discovering a secret treasure trove. Currently, it is a museum and research library. It began in 1890 as a private library of Pierpont Morgan and was build adjustment to his New York home. It was not until 1924, eleven years after Pierpont Morgan's death, that the library was opened as a public institution by his son, JP Morgan Jr.

On the Morgan Library website under the "about" section appears a name - Belle de Costa Greene. She served the Morgan Library for forty three years. She was first recruited by Pierpont Morgan as his personal library. After his death, she remained on in that role as the library transitioned to JP Morgan. She also served as the first director as the library transitioned into a public institution. She was instrumental in amassing the collection, transitioning it into a public resource, and building around it programs that continue to this day.

This book is the story of Belle De Costa Greene. Her career achievements as a woman at that point in history are an amazing enough story. What is even more amazing is the personal story of the woman. Belle De Costa Greene was born Belle Marion Greener. She was the daughter of the first Black graduate of Harvard College. Her father was an educator and an activist for racial justice. When her parents separated. Belle's mother moved the children to New York and changed their surname to Greene. She described their heritage as Portuguese and lived as white in what was a racist and segregated society.

It was perhaps this fact that allowed Belle to get the job she did. Yet, this dichotomy in her life was always a challenge in so many ways. There was always the obvious fear of being found out. There was the separation from family for what purpose would a white, Portuguese family from New York have in getting together with an African American family from Washington DC. Beyond, there was the constant struggle of denying a part of who she was. "I realized that to achieve one dream, you had to forsake your core identify. Changing your name is easy. Changing your soul is impossible."

Yet she did - for her entire life leaving an unmatched legacy. "One day, Belle, we will be able to reach back through the decades and claim you as one of our own. Your accomplishments will be part of history, they'll show doubtful while people what colored can do. Until that time, live your life proudly."

This is the story of this book, beautifully told and beautifully rendered. I am so glad this fiction told an engaging story and even more led me to this amazing history.

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