Helen Korngold Diary, November 3-9, 1919

Helen Korngold, Dec. 1919, New York City

Helen's father is on the road to recovery and she begins her third teaching job.

November

Monday 3

Teaching at Harrison. I’m as “stern as stern can be” – youngsters are lambs.

Tuesday 4

This is a pipe dream. The kids are so cute.

Sunday 9

Over to Pauline’s – Satellites in evening.

Notes:
From an article on the Benjamin Harrison School found at http://preservationresearch.com/historic-preservation/harrison-school-slated-for-rehabilitation/

Benjamin Harrison School is a magnificent example of the earlier St. Louis Public School buildings. The basic plan comes from architect August H. Kirchner, who designed the original 1895 section of the building. (Coincidentally, Kruntchev’s other school project, Grant School in Tower Grove East, also involved a Kirchner school.) That one-story, four-room section was designed for expansion. After all, the city and the Fairgrounds neighborhood were growing rapidly, and until construction of Harrison the only other school in the vicinity was Ashland School, first opened in 1870. Kirchner made attempts to overcome the limitations of previous school buildings, which were dour, crowded and devoid of proper ventilation and light. Kirchner made the classrooms large with substantial windows for light and air. His ideas would influence his successor as district architect, William B. Ittner, who expanded Harrison School with additions in both 1899 (adding additional floors to the 1895 section) and 1909 (adding the north wing).

The result of the architectural evolution is an imposing Romanesque Revival school whose brick body is articulated through buff brick and red Iowa sandstone. The design is very similar to other Kirchner schools later expanded by Ittner, including Adams and Euclid schools. One of the striking features of Harrison is a kindergarten in the 1909 addition that placed two trapezoidal bay windows on either side of a hearth, an Ittner innovation that was not repeated.

A sad article from the Nov. 13, 1919, St. Louis Star and Times:

In the news:

A headline in the Nov. 3, 1919, St. Louis Star and Times shows the continued fear of foreigners after WWI. The coal strike and other labor movements were blamed on outside influencers.


A few pages later, the Star shared the reality of the coal miner's life.


A Nov. 7 photo in the same paper:

Pubic opinion, in general, was against labor organizing.


Another instance of how some things don't change, women's dress was blamed for unwanted male attention.


On the other hand, a doctor accused American women of flirting too much but also said that having suitors made women happier and prettier!

" A lack of love affairs would be to my mind more apt to cause that 'tired look' than too great a number. "It is absolutely true that the girl with many suitors looks happier and healthier than the neglected unattractive young woman," continued Dr. Hinkle. "Attention satisfying the ego, makes her feel her own value. Her opportunity to pick and choose from many men gives her a feeling of power. The unsought girl suffers an agony of unappreciation that reflects itself in her unhappy look."

Nov 7, 1919, St Louis Star and Times

On a lighter note, there was a contest for the best Uncle Wiggly Doll

The Winter Army by Maurice Isserman: The WWII Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division

Over twenty years ago I met Floyd Erickson, born in the Upper Penninsula Michigan. During WWII Floyd served in the 10th Mountain Division. His life-altering experience under fire on Mt. Belvedere was legendary; everyone knew of his bargain with God which led to his becoming a well-beloved patriarch of the church.

I recall how Floyd, still trim, proudly donned his uniform to join his fellow soldiers at a reunion. And the stories his wife Elizabeth told of how Floyd supported his large U.P. family and the alteration in his character when he returned from war.

Maurice Isserman quotes Floyd in his history of the 10th Mountain Division, The Winter Army, in the chapter concerning the Allied invasion of Kiska. After months of training in extreme conditions, the Army was uncertain of what to do with this 'winter army' of men trained for mountain snow and ice. Their first deployment was to oust the Japanese from Kiska in the Aleutian archipelago.

"It was a terrible night, that first one," Floyd said, recalling the twelve-hour ascent carrying his gear and machine gun ammunition, then digging a foxhole in the pouring rain. The Americans did not know that the Japanese army had already abandoned Kiska. Nineteen mountain troopers died from 'friendly fire'. It was a demoralizing blow.

Floyd Erickson in Italy

Isserman narrates the history of this legendary division with details drawn from oral histories that bring the story to life.

Toward the end of the war, the 10th Mountain was sent to the Italian Alps. They were there to keep the German army busy. Climbing the iced mountains, crossing the open Po Valley the Po River, and the final battle was horrific.

Floyd saw his best friend killed in action and suffered permanent hearing loss from a blast.

Isserman's book focuses on the extraordinary men, the "mix of Ivy League students, park rangers, Olympic skiers, and European refugees," who "formed the first specialized alpine fighting force in US history."

After the war, these men impacted the ski industry. One became the first executive director of the Sierra Club; another co-found The Village Voice. One co-founded Nike; another became a renowned historian. And there was Bob Dole, US senator, and presidential candidate.

And there were men like Floyd, an ardent skier from a small town with a large impoverished family, a good man whose life was dedicated to his family and church and community.

I was given access to a free book by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

The Winter Army: The World War II Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division, America's Elite Alpine Warriors
by Maurice Isserman
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pub Date 05 Nov 2019 
ISBN:9781328871435
hardcover $28.00 (USD)

Patchwork Quilt Design Coloring Book & 24-Hour Quilting Projects

Lovely book mail from Dover Publications included two super books--Patchwork Quilt Designs Coloring Book and Rita Weiss's 24-Hour Quilting Projects.

This coloring book was a fortuitous arrival as I am recovering from surgery and needing to 'take it easy,' something I am not used to doing.

The 31 pages of quilt designs presented by Carol Schmidt include a variety of styles, from patchwork samplers to applique samplers.

 I decided to try my hand with the Crazy Quilt.

Patchwork Quilt Design Coloring Book

Carol Schmidt

Dover Publications

ISBN-13: 978-0-486-78031-3

$5.99

*****

Quilters are always looking for fast and easy projects for gifting. We want patterns that are adaptable to different fabric choices, interesting yet simple, and with no-fail instructions.

In 24-Hour Quilting Projects, Rita Weiss offers twenty quilts of all sizes that can be constructed in a day--or less!

Most are pieced patterns based on traditional blocks including the Log Cabin, star variations, nine-patch, and pinwheels. She includes several quilts that combine appliqué and piecing. Each pattern tweaks the traditional block for an interesting twist.

Also included are full-page color photograph of the completed quilt, materials and yardage lists, step-by-step instructions for making blocks, borders, and completing the quilt, and a useful color picture layout of the completed quilt.

I especially was impressed with her general quiltmaking instructions with great information for beginning quilters. Her rotary cutting guide is detailed with lots of photographs and includes instructions for right and left-handed persons, She also has guides for 'stitch and flip' methods, chain piecing, binding, fussy cutting, and appliqué.

Rosebuds 50" x 56"

Originally published in 2005, 24-Hour Quilting Projects is now republished by Dover Publications. The fabric choices and colors in Weiss' projects reflect her preference for bright colors and the prints of 2005. Contemporary quilters can image these patterns in the fabrics trending today.

For instance, her Angel Fantasy includes a fussy-cut 9 1/2" block using a print of angels which is no longer available, but today's quilter can choose one of the wonderful new prints available as a feature fabric.

24-Hour Quilt Patterns
Rita Weiss
Dover Publications
Publication Date: March 12, 2016
$19.95

Mighty Justice: My Life in Civil Rights by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe

Mighty Justice begins with a powerful chapter of Dovey remembering her grandmother's nightly ritual of soothing her gnarled and twisted feet after a day of nonstop work. Hearing the story of how her feet were broken, and the courage she showed standing up to power, is unforgettable.

Each chapter is vividly rendered in Dovey's voice, telling her story of accomplishing what most would have deemed impossible. The remarkable people who inspired and mentored Dovey over her life are lovingly portrayed, from her grandmother to Mary McLeod Bethune, her teacher Mary Mae Neptune who personally sacrificed to keep Dovey in college, Julius Winfield Robertson who became her law partner, her pastors, her family and those she adopted as family.

Out of our indebtedness I believe, our real selves are born. For it is when we grasp what we owe, how beholden we truly are, that we remain children no longer. ~Dovey Johnson Roundtree, Mighty Justice

But Dovey herself also was a mentor, ministering to her people. She was a defender of the weak and a rectifier of injustice. She came to recognize that children were the victims of racism and violence and how children mirrored the violence in their lives through their actions. She came to believe that in ministering to children and changing their lives, "redemption is truly possible."

Determined to change the world, Dovey earned a law degree, was in the first wave of African American women in the Women's Army Auxillary Corps  championed by her grandmother's friend Mary McLeod Bethune, argued at the bar for an end to segregation on the railways, and was one of the first women to be ordained in the African Methodist Church. Each chapter of her life is riveting and thrilling with a story arc all its own. The law cases were well presented in their historical context with moving insight into Dovey's personal dedication and hopes.

And the ending of the book, Benediction, brings the story full circle, back to the inspiring grandmother whose example first inspired Dovey.

Katie McCabe words have recreated Roundtree's voice in a narrative that is thrilling and moving.

I received an ARC from the publisher through a LibraryThing giveaway in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Mighty Justice
by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe
Algonquin Books
Publication: November 5, 2019
$16.94 paperback
ISBN: 9781616209551

Winner of the 2009 Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize

"The book moved me at times to tears. Dovey Roundtree's nobility, the courage and effectiveness of her work, are enough to restore anyone's hope for the human race. The book, though it describes an era that is past, is above all a study of something that doesn't change much: human character and its possibilities." -- Time Magazine essayist Lance Morrow

Mighty Justice recalls all the major stories in the history of Civil Rights. Some of the people who inspired Dovey:

Mary McLeod Bethune appears on my quilt I Will Lift My Voice Like a Trumpet

See the Mary McLeon Bethume quilt from HERstory Quilts here

Pauli Murray also is on my quilt. Read my review of Murray's autobiography Song in a Weary Throat here

Other books I have reviewed that you may want to consider:

Lighting the Fires of Freedom by Janet Dewart Bell
My Life My Love My Legacy by Coretta Scott King
Just Another Southern Town: Mary Church Terrell and the Struggle for Racial  Justice in the Nation's Capital by Joan Quigly

One Mississippi, Two Mississippi: Murder, Methodists, and the Struggle for Racial Justice in Neshoba by Carol V. R. George

Irving Berlin, New York Genius by James Kaplan

I sped through this delightful biography of Irving Berlin in two days.  From the Preface to the end, I was totally captivated.

James Kaplan presents the iconic composer's nine-decade contribution to the Great American Songbook through Berlin's work, personal experience, and as a Jewish immigrant. It's a rags-to-riches story based on Berlin's intense work ethic, but he was also helped along by friends and peers.

Everyone knows Berlin's God Bless America. It was written during WWI but was set aside until WWII when Berlin dusted it off and finally shared it with the world.  It was the right song at the right time. White Christmas is another well-beloved Berlin song that matched its time, resonating with WWII troops across the world.

Berlin was criticized for his patriotic song--because he was an immigrant. The Beilin/Baline family fled Russia's pogroms to settle in New York City. Berlin's father was a cantor, usually unemployed. After his father's early death, Berlin left home to fend for himself. The story of Berlin's years on the street, selling newspapers and busking Tin Pan Alley songs, exemplifies his life-long work ethic, pluck, and luck. 

Unable to read or write music, Berlin worked with a series of pianists who brought what Berlin heard in his head to the page.

As a Jew, Berlin encountered the rampant anti-Semitism leading up to WWII.

Berlin created a Christmas song without religion and his Easter Parade brought a secular vision of the most important Christian celebration. 

I was familiar with many of Berlin's hits because I have been a sheet music collector for forty years. 

1909

I wrote about My Wife's Gone to the Country Hurrah! Hurrah!; read it here.

1911

Berlin revived Rag Time with his megahit march Alexander's Ragtime Band which George Gershwin considered "the first real American musical work."

1911

1912

1913

WWI found Berlin conscripted, supporting the troops with a traveling revue, Yip Yip Yaphank. Actual soldiers performed. His song Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning resonated with millions. I wrote about it previously here.

1918

The musical revue was Berlin's favorite venue to write for.

1920

Berlin opened the Music Box Theatre to present his revues.

1921

1928

1928

Berlin wrote for Hollywood, including the music for the Marx Brother's first film The Cocoanuts. 

1929

1930

1937

During WWII, Berlin revived his revue Yip Yip Yaphank, taking the show on the road to soldiers at both fronts of the war. A movie version of the revue was released as This Is The Army.

During the war, other songwriters had successful shows on Broadway. Berlin chose to support the troops over advancing his career. He was exhausted and personally broke by war's end, struggling to adapt to peacetime.

1942

Berlin came to write Annie Get Your Gun after the death of Jerome Kern and he was offered to replace his dear friend.

Berlin was exhausted from taking his revue across the world. He was worried about writing for a Western, female character. It was his biggest challenge and he excelled, creating his best work.

1946

Berlin did the remarkable: he asked for a lower share of royalty percentage and that the show's producers Rodgers and Hammerstein and librettists Dorothy and Herbert Fields share equal billing with him on all publicity and sheet music. 

His later work never met with the same success.

1950

Berlin lived to be 101 years old.

1952

Berlin's friends and peers populate the biography as well, including Harold Arlen, a fellow wordsmith and cantor's son. (Read my review of Arlen's biography, The Man Who Got Away by Walter Rimler, here.)

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

All sheet music pictured is from my personal collection.

Kaplan's book is a part of Yale University Press's series on Jewish Lives.

Irving Berlin: American Genius
by James Kaplan
Yale University Press
Publication November 5, 2019
Price: $26.00
ISBN: 9780300180480

from the publisher:

Irving Berlin (1888–1989) has been called—by George Gershwin, among others—the greatest songwriter of the golden age of the American popular song. “Berlin has no place in American music,” legendary composer Jerome Kern wrote; “he is American music.” In a career that spanned an astonishing nine decades, Berlin wrote some fifteen hundred tunes, including “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “God Bless America,” and “White Christmas.” From ragtime to the rock era, Berlin’s work has endured in the very fiber of American national identity.

Exploring the interplay of Berlin’s life with the life of New York City, noted biographer James Kaplan offers a visceral narrative of Berlin as self‑made man and witty, wily, tough Jewish immigrant. This fast‑paced, musically opinionated biography uncovers Berlin’s unique brilliance as a composer of music and lyrics. Masterfully written and psychologically penetrating, Kaplan’s book underscores Berlin’s continued relevance in American popular culture.

Helen Korngold Diary: October 27-November 2, 1919

Helen Korngold, December 1919, New York City

Helen's father has been ill for some time. After graduating from Washington University, Helen quit one teaching position and was a temp at a school she loved. She has been home doing housework and worrying about her father. He is finally rallying.

October
Monday 27
Up & around

Tuesday 28
May get up tomorrow

Wednesday 29
Up & around quite a bit. I don’t like this housekeeping.

Thursday 30
Pop is much better

Friday 31
Up for the most part

November
Saturday 1
Junior Council meeting – Pop is all right. We went to grandma’s today.

Sunday 2
We all feel relieved Pop ate dinner with us.

*****

In the news:

An army surplus store was opened in the city.

The coal workers have gone on strike and the newspapers report limited supplies at local dealers.



GOMPERS SAYS INJUNCTION ONLY INCREASES BITTERNESS President of Federation Asserts Court Order Raises New Issues and Won't Fill Empty Stomachs. By the Aneiated Press, WASHINGTON, Nov. 1.
Samuel Gompers, speaking for organized labor last night, declared the injunction in the coal strike case "can I'nly result in creating new and more disturbing issues, which may not be confined solely to the miners."

The statement, issued jointly by Gompers, Vice President Woll and Secretary Morrison of the Federation, after they had protested to Attorney-General Palmer against the-action of the Federal Court at Indianapolis, follows: "Throughout the period of the war and during the nation's time of stress the miners of America labored patiently, patriotically and arduously, in order that the principles of freedom and democracy might triumph over the forces of arbitrary authority, dictatorship and despotism.

"When armed hostilities ceased to undertake to suppress the legitimate last November the miners found themselves in the paradoxical position where their intensive labors were being used to further enrich the owners of coal mines and merchants dealing in coal by the immediate reduction of the mining of the coal."

Of course, the mine owners readily conceived that an overabundance of mined coal would seriously disturb the high prices of coal and endanger their large margin of profits.

On the other hand, the miners found that with the constantly rising cost of necessaries of life and with their income reduced more than 50 per cent because of idleness, they had reached the limit of human endurance.

Orderly and improved processes were invoked to negotiate a new understanding with the mine owners and which would enable the miners to work at least five days during each week throughout the entire year, and allow them a wage sufficient to enable them to live decently and free from any of the pressing uncertainties of life.

In attempting to negotiate this new understanding and relation, the miners found that their plea for continuous employment would destroy the mine owners' arrangement to curtail the mining of coal so as to continue exploiting the public with high and exorbitant prices.

The mine owners very cleverly met the Issue by appearing willing and anxious to negotiate, but only if the miners would first throw aside the only power at their command to gain a respectful hearing and fair consideration the decision to strike whenever it was demonstrated fair dealings did not prevail.

We are now faced with a coal strike of vast magnitude. The Government now proposes to intervene because of a possible coal shortage. Apparently, the Government is not concerned with the manipulation by the mine owners which has made for present coal shortage and undue unemployment of the miners for the last 11 months.

Instead of dealing with those responsible for this grave menace to the public welfare, it now proposes to punish those who by force of circumstances have been the victims of the coal barons' exploitation. The miners are now told the war is not over and that all war legislation is still in force, and if reports received here are correct the Government intends to apply existing war measures, not against the owners of the coal mines, but against the coal miners.

The Government has taken steps to enforce war measures by an injunction and it lias restrained the officials of the United Mine Workers from counseling, aiding or in any way assisting the members of this organization for relief against previous conditions of life and employment.

It is almost, inconceivable that a Government which is proud of its participation in a great war to liberate suppressed peoples should now undertake to suppress the legitimate aims, hopes, and aspirations of its own people. It is still more strange that a nation which may justly be proud of its Abraham Lincoln should now reverse the application of the great truth be enunciated when lie said that as between capital and labor, labor should receive first and foremost consideration.

The injunction against the United Mine Workers bodes for ill. An injunction of this nature will not prevent the strike, it will not fill the empty stomachs of the miners, it may restrain sane leadership, but will give added strength to unwise counsel and increase bitterness and friction. This injunction can only result n creating new and more disturbing issues, which may not be confined solely to the miners.

These views were presented to Attorney-General Palmer in a conference lasting nearly two hours by President Gompers. Secretary Morrison and Vice President Woll, of the American Federation of Labor.

Palmer said he told the union men that they were at liberty to say to either side in the strike that the President is ready to act immediately to have the controversy settled amicably whenever the strike is called off.

"I explained the necessity for the action," Palmer said, "and the manner in which this case must be differentiated on its facts from all other cases in which injunctions have been used. I have been opposed and the administration has been opposed to government by injunction, were by employers might use the processes of the courts on an ex-parte hearing to force their employees into submission.

This is the Government itself, using its own courts to protect itself from paralysis. It is not an injunction obtained by employers, not for the benefit of employers, not to settle the controversy, but to save the people of the entire country from disaster. It doesn't affect the right of a man to work when he pleases.
CLIPPED FROM
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis, Missouri
01 Nov 1919, Sat  •  Page 2

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 2, 1919



St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 2, 1919
My husband owns this machine!

Things I Never Understood #1: Clothed Lawn Geese

On my walks around the 'hood I think about all kinds of things. Today it was those concrete geese that people dressed up back in the early 1990s.

I never understood why women were making fancy dresses and bonnets for concrete geese. There were all over! Often the geese had an old fashioned dress and a poke bonnet. I haven't seen one in a long time.

I did a quick Internet search and learned that the fad actually began in the 1980s in the area from Pittsburgh south to Kentucky and spread from there.

I found an Atlantic article from 2018 "Nothing Says Midwest Like a Well-Dressed Porch Goose" by Julie Beck that informs the demand for clothes was met by start-ups like Goose Clothes Galore. Then the pattern companies caught on.

Simplicity pattern for lawn geese clothes

Turns out outfits for lawn geese are still a hot commodity. You can order Christmas and even Halloween outfits on eBay,  Etsy and at Miles Kimball.

Miles Kimbal geese outfit

Apparently, there is a 'hipster' revival as a new generation inherits those concrete geese!

I found a Prairie costume along with all kinds of dresses at The Depot that felt like the classic clothes I recall seeing.

clothes from The Depot

At least one person is making dresses for their real geese, with patterns at House Goose.

If you have a goose and don't want to dress it you can learn how to repaint it at Petticoat JUNKtion.

Our little two-square-mile suburban town is writing ordinances for fowl keeping, so I guess this is the new trend: why have a fake fowl when you can get the real thing? We will have a limit of four hens per household and strict rules for housing and cleanup.

Now I wonder if they have patterns for chicken dresses...

The History of Goose Lawn Ornaments
https://www.ehow.com/info_8059753_history-goose-lawn-ornaments.html

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout's Olive, Again only confirms her as one of my favorite contemporary writers of literary fiction.

The temperamental Olive in her later decades demonstrates qualities that only come with experience and self-reflection, enabling her to be an instrument of grace to others. She is still a straight-shooter who sees things unvarnished, her truthfulness sometimes abrasive.

The stories in this book revisit characters from Strout's fictional world of Crosby, Maine. 

This was a hard story to read. At age 67, my husband and I have undergone several surgeries this year. I am all too aware of the brevity of life and how we allow ourselves to be propelled through the years impassively until some change in our abilities stops us up short. We reconsider our mistakes; our view of the past and its relationships become torqued with new understanding. We wonder how we could have allowed love to become a battleground, fear to fence us from our dreams. We become invisible, an unwanted portend to others of their own inevitable future. We recognize that we are strangers to each other--and are incomprehensible even to ourselves.

What kind of life can we live in these ever-shortening days? The answer is in the line that had me in tears: "I think our job--maybe even our duty--is to--" Her voice became calm, adultlike. "To bear the burden of the mystery with as much grace as we can."

Life is a mystery. People are a mystery. There are no answers, no easy to follow instructions to guarantee success and happiness. 

Like Ranier Maria Rilke wrote in his Letters to a Young Poet, we must "be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked doors and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."*

I don't know if Olive's story is completed. And I am not sure I want to follow her to her end. It's all too close to home. Strout is a fearless writer who dares to confront us with things that disturb our equilibrium. We recognize ourselves in her characters. 

I read a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Olive, Again
by Elizabeth Strout
Random House Publishing Group - Random House
Pub Date 15 Oct 2019
ISBN 9780812996548
PRICE $27.00 (USD)

* excerpted from Letters to a Young Poet by Ranier Maria Rilke, translation by M. D. Herter Norton, W. W. Norton & Company

Mini-Reviews: Things We Save In A Fire and Shadow of the Lions

Non-review books, people! A romance and a mystery--

Human connection had its upsides, but it sure was a lot of work. The risk-reward raion was low, at best.~ from Things We Save In A Fire by Katherine Center

A cute, page-turner romance with darker themes of forgiveness and overcoming challenges, this was an enjoyable distraction, the kind of book I pick up between heavy, demanding books. I read my husband's ARC provided to him by the publisher.

From the publisher:
Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she’s seen her fair share of them, and she’s a total pro at other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own.

The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren’t exactly thrilled to have a “lady” on the crew—even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping . . . and it means risking everything—the only job she’s ever loved and the hero she’s worked like hell to become.

Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

Things You Save In A Fire
Katherine Center
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781250047328
Publication Date: August 13, 2019

*****

"We weren't brothers; we were beyond that. He was perhaps the one person whose counsel and opinion I held higher than my own."~Shadow of Lions by Christopher Swann

They were waiting for the future in the form of an acceptance letter from UofV when Matthias' best friend Fritz disappeared from the grounds of the Blackburne School. Their last encounter had been contentious and Matthias never got over the guilt or the loss.

Over the nine years since then, Matthias had reached the pinnacle of success with a published book, a girlfriend, loads of cash, and a movie contract--and lost it all. When Blackburne offered him a teaching job Matthias had to accept it, even if returning meant reopening wounds he had sought to bury.

As Matthias grapples with his new job, surrounded by ghosts of the past, he determines to follow any trail to find Fritz.

"Everybody searches for something," ex-cop Briggs says to Matthias. "You telling me Fritz isn't your white whale?"

Shadow of the Lions is a great read with wonderfully drawn characters, unexpected twists, and terrific writing.

from the publisher:
How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth? That is just one question that Christopher Swann explores in this compulsively readable debut, a literary thriller set in the elite—and sometimes dark—environs of Blackburne, a prep school in Virginia. When Matthias Glass’s best friend Fritz vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past—guilty, responsible, alone.

Almost ten years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies, and buried secrets—and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.

A sharp and moving tale full of false leads and surprise turns, Shadow of the Lions is also wise and moving. Christopher Swann has given us a gripping debut about friendship, redemption, and what it means to lay the past to rest.

Shadow of Lions
by Christopher Swann
Algonquin Books
ISBN-10: 1616205008

ISBN-13: 978-1616205003