The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar

You have a choice. We all have a choice. We can give in to the darkness, or we can fight it, and elect to try and make the world a slightly less terrible place than it is. from The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar

The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar is one of those out-of-my-genre reads that I indulge in regularly. Tidhar imagines an alternate reality in which humans with special powers--superheroes--are conscripted for use by the Axis and Allies during WWII.

I was not a superhero comic book reader as a girl, was mildly interested in the Superman movie and television shows, saw some X-Men and Spiderman movies when my son was growing up. Early, I wasn't really in the flow with the novel. But there came a point in the book when the tide shifted, and instead of reading because I had committed to reading it, I was reading because I was truly intrigued and driven to read.

Tidhar imagines the creation of a machine that transforms humans, giving them superpowers, preventing them from aging but not from being killed. In Britain, The Old Man brought these misfits to a special school. Friendship circles formed. There is Oblivion who can evaporate objects and Fogg who produces a visual shield, and Tank, Mr. Blur, Mrs. Tinkle.

I'm here to take you to a special school. For special people. People like you. Where you will be happy, the Old Man says. from The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar

During WWII, these Übermenschen were tracked down by spotters working for the Germans and Russians to be used in the war effort. Oblivion and Fogg are sent to 'observe' what is going on in Berlin.

Berlin in '46 was an insane asylum. from The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar

They encounter others with superpowers, The Green Gunman, Frogman, Girl Surfer, The Electric Twins, Whirlwind, and Tigerman dressed in a bright costume, the Russians Red Sickle and the wolf man, and others who wreak havoc on behalf of the Nazis, including Schneestrum.

Fogg meets Sommertag--Klara--the daughter of Vomacht who created the transformer device; he realizes her power is unaltered pureness and innocence. Fogg falls under her spell. The novel centers around Fogg being called to account for a series of events after the end of WWII involving Summertag.

The history and atrocities of Nazi Germany and actual events inform the novel. Fogg's and Oblivion's school friend Tank is captured and used in Mengele's experiments at Auschwitz. Nazi scientists are repatriated to the United States, and war criminals tried and justice meted out.

The story leaps back and forth in time, revealing the back story of the men's boyhood in 1926 and school days in 1936, the war years, and later 20th c wars and events. Then, it leaps into the future, to the Berlin Wall, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and 9-11.

It is too fantastical, this world, with its marching armies and its rockets and its death camps. It's just the world of a cheap novel, surely. from The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar

The superhero myth appeals in times of crisis; the first superhero comics came onto the scene in 1938. Hitler banned American comic books; he thought the heroes were Jewish. Superman's creators were Jewish. Superhero movies took off after 9-11, a time when America again needed heroes.

Meeting one's hero is always such a disappointment, Schneestrum says. from The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar

And throughout the book, the questions are raised. What makes a man? What makes a hero?

We expect a hero to rescue us. In real life, sometimes no one comes.

The publisher gave me access to a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I previously reviewed Tidhar's sci-fi novel Central Station, my review found here, and alternate reality sci-fi novel Unholy Land, my review found here.

from the publisher:

A bold experiment has mutated a small fraction of humanity. Nations race to harness the gifted, putting them to increasingly dark ends. At the dawn of global war, flashy American superheroes square off against sinister Germans and dissolute Russians. Increasingly depraved scientists conduct despicable research in the name of victory

British agents Fogg and Oblivion, recalled to the Retirement Bureau, have kept a treacherous secret for over forty years. But all heroes must choose when to join the fray, and to whom their allegiance is owed—even for just one perfect summer’s day.

From the World Fantasy and Campbell award-winning author of Central Station comes a sweeping novel of history, adventure, and what it means to be a hero.

The Violent Century
by Lavie Tidhar
Tachyon Publications
Pub Date 02 Aug 2019
ISBN 9781616963163
PRICE $25.50 (CAD)

Helen Korngold Diary: July 28-August 3, 1919

This year I am sharing the 1919 diary of Helen Korngold of St. Louis, MO.

Helen Korngold, Dec. 1919, New York City

After graduating from Washington University and taking a trip to Colorado, Helen's life has become quiet.

July
Monday 28
Helped. Aunt Lena  & Pauline’s in evening.

Tuesday 29
Home

Wednesday 30
Nothing exciting. Ida came over.

Thursday 31
Same as above.

August
Friday 1
Cleaned up.

Saturday 2
Fooled around. Went to show in evening with Pauline & Cari. Saw Tom Ray in A Little Sport. Very good.

Sunday 3
Fooled around. Aunt B. in evening.

Notes:

July 28

Aunt Lena Frey (1877-1966) married Leon Privar who was an insurance underwriter on the 1920 St. Louis Census. They had children Zelda, Dorothy, Charles, Rachel, David and Esther.

July 30

Ida is perhaps Ida Goldman who is mentioned May 1.

Aug 2

Pauline is likely Pauline Sarason from Helen's senior class at WU.

Movie ad St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 1919

I didn't find a Tom Ray or the movie A Little Sport. On June  29, 1919, Fox released a movie Be a Little Sport with Eleanor Fair and Albert Ray. Ray plays a salesman in love with a chorus girl.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 17, 1919

The father of Oscar Hammerstein who wrote musicals died on August 2, 1919. He tried to keep his son Oscar away from the theater but happily failed.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 3, 1919

Visioning Human RIghts in the New Millenium: Quilting the World's Conscience

I was inspired to write this book because of my admiration for Eleanor Roosevelt and my belief that if women were fully empowered, they would transform the world into a peaceful place." Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi

Visioning Human Rights in the New Millenium: Quilting the World's Conscience exemplifies the legacy of quiltmaking as a political vehicle, how in the hands of artists, fiber and thread are employed to create powerful political and humanitarian statements. 

Dr. Mazloomi's preface begins, "Visioning Human Rights in the New Millenium is a call for action in the global struggle for human rights, Through artistic expression, utilizing the canvas of quilts, the artists here interpret the thirty articles of the Declaration of Human Rights." The Declaration grew out of the United Nations in 1948, a reaction to World War II, written by a committee led by Eleanor Roosevelt. It was her crowning achievement.

The 91 quilts interpret the thirty Articles in the Declaration ranging from "We Are Born Free and Equal" to "No One Can Take Away Our Human Rights." 

These are quilts that make us uncomfortable, that prick our conscience.

Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to see, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Do You Know Me? By Peggie Hartwell 

Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Cruelty Come for Us All, James Mardis, including images of a lynching tree, Rubin Stacey, Emmett Till, and Trayvon Martin.

Article 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the boundaries of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. The Monarch Butterfly by Deanna Tyson

On my first opening the book and glancing through the pages I learned one can't turn away from these images. Each quilt arrests attention; they tell a story that wants to be heard.

Many of the stories are heartbreaking.

There is an image of a woman pushing against a bull dozer's bucket, her teeth clenched in anguish and struggle. Behind her is a house, partly demolished, and a map of Hamtramck in Detroit Michigan. "Hamtramck, My Home" by Sharon Ray tells the story of a city governance determined to evict a black population and one woman who stood up to power. The city determined to tear down black residential neighborhoods to build new housing, but the displaced people would not be able to afford the new housing. Read about the 1971 ongoing court case here.

Article 17: (1)Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

There are quilts that celebrate the enjoyment of the rights in the Declaration.

On This Special Day by Gwendolyn Brooks is a celebration. Thoughtful use of fabrics, embellishments, and painting illustrate the joy and pride of marriage.

Article 16 (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitations due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage, and at its dissolution. 

And you will find hope in these quilts.

Imagine a World by Nancy Cash exemplifies the kind of world we can choose to have. It is at once an ideal Utopia and an achievable goal. Education is the first step to equality in all its manifestations: equality under the law, in the distribution of wealth, opportunity, health, and access to clean water.

 Article 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education.

This remarkable book proves again the power of quilts. It is a wonderful testament to the ongoing struggle we wage to achieve the high standards set out in the Declaration.

I previously reviewed Dr. Mazloomi's book And Still I Rise, my review found here.

I received a free book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Visioning Human Rights in the New Millennium: Quilting the World’s Conscience
Carolyn L. Mazloomi
Schiffer Publishing
ISBN13: 9780764357404
$34.99 hardcover

Mother of the Brontes: When Maria Met Patrick by Sharon Wright

If you knew what were my feelings whilst writing this you would pity me. I wish to write the truth and give you satisfaction, yet fear to go too far, and exceed the bounds of propriety. Maria Branwell to The Rev. Patrick Bronte, August 26, 1812

When I consider my previously perceived character portrait of the Rev. Patrick Bronte, the man who drove his daughter Charlotte's suitor away, it is a revelation to see the young Patrick through the eyes of Maria Branwell, who became his wife and over nine years birthed six children with him. Theirs was a love story based on mutual ideals and values, a shared love of books, and, yes, physical attraction.

Unless my love for you were very great how could I so contentedly give up my home and all my friends--a home I loved so much that I have often thought nothing could bribe me to renounce it for any great length of time together, and friends with whom I have been so long accustomed to share all the vicissitudes of joy and sorrow? Yet these have lost their weight..." Maria Branwell to the Rev. Patrick Bronte, October 21, 1812

"My Brontes are not the famous ones, Sharon Wright begins, "Mine are the 'before they were famous' ones, Miss Branwell and Pat Prunty...the Bronte backstory, I suppose. The prequel."

And what a prequel story it is! In Mother of the Brontes we learn about Maria's Cornwall roots in Penzance with its busy port, thriving trade, and restless sea. The Branwells (or Brambles, Bremells, Brembels, Bremhalls, Brymmells, Brembles, Bromewells or Brummoles) clan had deep Penzance roots with masons and export/importers. On her mother's side, the Carnes also had deep Cornwall roots, with masons, craftsmen, and merchants.

Maria grew up in comfort and society. The Branwells were Methodys, and when Maria was six she meet John Wesley when he visited her mother's cousin, known as the father of Cornish Methodism. Her Aunt Jane Branwell married the Methodist preacher John Kingston. Later, they founded the first school for itinerant Methodist preacher's children.

And yet, Maria's merchant father was involved with the Penzance underground of smugglers! He refused revenue men entry and did business with "two of the town's busiest tax dodgers" and smugglers.

Maria was under 5 feet tall, as was her daughter Charlotte, always dressed in simple good taste. She was an avid reader enjoying poetry, Christian books, and The Lady's Magazine with its racy women's fiction. Maria enjoyed the Gothic romances so popular in her day. Her father was a violinist and Maria inherited her musical talent (later passed on to her daughters, particularly Emily).

When Maria was ten, France declared war on Britain and Cornwall sprang into defensive mode. Her brother joined the Home Guard. But it was domestic trouble they had to address when starving miners marched into town. Later, the French Wars became the Napoleonic Wars.

The supernatural also flourished in Cornwall. It was an exciting blend of "ghosts and smugglers, legends and liturgy, tea parties and revivals," Wright remarks.

After the deaths of their parents, Maria and her sisters lived together with a decent shared income.  She joined the Ladies Book Club whose selections included Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.

When Aunt Jane and her husband's school for Methodist itinerant preacher's sons had grown to 60 boys, Maria was called upon to come and help keep the children clothed; Jane couldn't keep up with the mending.

And leaving her beloved home, Maria met the Rev. Patrick Bronte, the Irishman who won scholarships that took him from his family farm. He reinvented himself from Pat Prunty to Patrick Bronte. He knew Lord Palmerston from school and William Wilberforce helped him gain a scholarship for his ecclesiastical training.

The couple shared a love of books and an Evangelical bent. Their marriage was happy and they quickly had nine children, including the famous daughters.

Maria Branwell Bronte died at age 38. Her sister Elizabeth unwillingly left her home to take her sister's place in the household and ended up staying for the rest of her life.

Before Patrick's death, he had tragically lost every one of his children and was cared for by the son-in-law who he had once rejected as Charlotte's suitor.

This short biography shows Maria's legacy in her remarkable family, her literary aspirations, Evangelistic faith, and deep love for Patrick Bronte and their children.

Reading Mother of the Brontes brought images of Cornwall gleaned from Poldark and Daphne Du Maurier. Maria and Patrick made me think of John and Abigail Adams, a marriage of equals based on both shared intellectual ideals and physical attraction. The surviving letters and an essay by Rev. Bronte are included.

I enjoyed this engaging portrait of the Mother of the Brontes and it added to my understanding of this remarkable family.

I received an egalley from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Mother of the Brontës: When Maria Met Patrick
by Sharon Wright
Pen & Sword History
Pub Date 31 Jul 2019
EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781526738486
PRICE £19.99 (GBP)

As I was reading Mother of the Brontes I was also finishing my Bronte Sisters quilt! I have been making small quilts to celebrate favorite writers. It is based on the portrait by Branwell Bronte. I wanted to show the rich inner life of these women and the Jane Sassaman fabric used in the background was perfect, showing the lush richness of natural beauty, the hidden spiders and spider webs a nod to the life's dangers.

The Bronte Sisters by Nancy A. Bekofske

The Vexations by Caitlin Horrocks

On February 18, 2018, we attended the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's French Festival to hear Claude Debussy's orchestration of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies Nos.1 & 3 along with music by Dukas, Saint-Saens, and Offenbach.

I had not realized previously how much I loved French music! I wanted to attend every one of the concerts. The two Gymnopedies were the only music by Satie performed during the festival--only because Debussy had orchestrated them. The music Satie wrote before he was twenty-two-years-old is his best known.  Reading Caitlin Horrocks' debut novel The Vexations I realized how little I knew about French composers and La Belle Époque Paris.

The Vexations centers on the life of the composer Erik Satie (1866-1925), bringing to life Paris's Bohemian society of eccentric and cutting-edge artists.

The novel also tells the story of Erik's siblings, separated as orphans after their mother's death. Conrad Satie leads a respectable life as a chemist in a perfume factory. Louise is a talented musician whose short-lived marriage leaves her and her son dependent on her in-law's wealth.

The Bohemian, a portrait of Erik Satie by Ramon Casas, circa 1891

Erik is a frustrating personality, an eccentric genius who would not be shoved into expected boxes artistically or socially. People didn't understand his music. His love affair with Susan Valadon lasted six months. He did not really seem to connect to people or need intimacy. During his life he was notorious. By the time of his death, his family and even most of his friends were no longer speaking with him.

Satie played piano at The Chat Noir

In later life, Satie was associated with Surrealism, including writing music for the Ballets Russe, Parade directed by Cocteau with Picasso costumes.

Erik Satie by Santiago Rusinol 

I became very taken by Louise Satie's story, the limitations society placed on a female. Pressured to marry well, she waited for passion. And when she found herself a young widow, one night of passion labeled her a whore. She clung to her son, but the legal system gave his custody to male relatives. She moved to South American and outlived the rest of her family, long enough to discover her brother Erik had become famous, long enough to understand life.

Satie's most well-known music remains the Gymnopieds.

The novel has left me with an earworm, sadness, and a better feel for the society and time that produced some of my favorite music.

After I finished the novel I discovered Horrocks is a writing instructor at Grand Valley State University. And that our son, who graduated from GVSU with a writing major, counted her as one of his best and most favorite professors!

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Vexations
by Caitlin Horrocks
Little, Brown and Company
Pub Date 30 Jul 2019
ISBN 9780316316910
PRICE $28.00 (USD)

Helen Korngold Diary July 21-27, 1919

Helen Korngold, Dec. 1919, New York City

This year I am sharing the 1919 diary of Helen Korngold of St. Louis, MO. After graduating from Washington University she went on a trip to Colorado. This week ends with her return to St. Louis.

July
Monday 21

Hiked around – home for lunch. Talked to Leona Caplan a long time. Slept in afternoon. Walked in evening.

Tuesday 22

High drive – Fish hatchery. Fall River. Home for lunch. Slept in afternoon. Had a glorious time at dance in the evening. John [Rinker?] is a peach, so is Howard. Home at 12:30. Dandy time.

Wednesday 23

Packed. I walked. Slept in afternoon. Stanley dance in evening. Met Lawrence Glaser again. Home about 12 o’clock. Had a nice time. Saw Margaret Woods & Henry Ducker.

Thursday 24

Left Crags in auto at 7:45. Denver – 12:30 – Colo. Springs 5:40 – Walked with Uncle Jo all evening & next morning

Friday 25

Over to Ma(?)ton with Uncle Jo & Ada. Had a good time. Drank every variety of spring water. Fine staff. Have rested & left at 3:10.

Saturday 26

Spent a miserable day on the train. Met some fine fellows – Captain Tom Steele of Pitt. U., Ensign Steve House at 10 p.m.

Sunday 27

Unpacked. Rested. Show with Karol in evening.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ad, May 1919

NOTES:

July 21

Leona Caplan was born 12/25/1889 in Texas and died in 1967 in St. Louis, MO. Her parents were Abraham (1860-1941), who was a traveling salesman for John Hancock Life Insurance, and Etta Kupperman (1860-1942). The 1900 St Louis Census shows Leona, age 12, with siblings Amelia, Dora, Tillie, and Ralph. Leona never married and worked as a clerk. On 1910  Federal Census Leona worked at an advertising company. In 1940 she was a stenographer.


July 22

Fall River, CO is a tributary of the Big Thompson River and had no auto road until 1920.

July 23

A Margaret Woods appears in the 1917 Hatchet as a member of the YWCA.

A Henry Philip Ducker earned a Bachelor of Science in Commerce in the 1919 graduating class of Washington University. He also shows up the 1917 Hatchet in Student Life and Beta Theta Phi.

Lawrence Glaser may be Lawrence Samuel Glaser born 6-1893 and died 4-1967, child of Morris and Pauline and worked as a salesman for Wamsutta Shirts. His WWI draft card describes him as short with dark hair and eyes.

July 25

Manitou Springs is a historic site, with a natural springs and nearby cliff dwellings and is part of the Pikes Peak Country tour. The Native Americans regarded the mineral spring water as sacred. Manitou Springs became a health resort.
http://manitousprings.org/

Uncle Jo & Abe were Joseph Frey and Abraham Frey, Helen’s mother’s brothers.

St Louis Globe-Democrat ad, May 1919

The Rocky Mountain National Park was created in 1915. Previous to that time there was private lands with lodges, the owners building and maintaining the roads and trails and providing tours.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ad May 1919

The King's Favorite by John Vance

Not all books are meant for all readers. Many months at the library book club my husband and I are the "thumb up, thumb down" opposites. 

Deciding to not to finish a read a book is very personal. Although I chose not to finish these books, I hope to do justice to their merits as well as their flaws.

Having read Samuel Pepy's diary twice--abridged and in full--I was curious about John Vance's first novel set in the court of Charles II. His father Charles I was murdered under Oliver Cromwell during the militant Puritan revolution. The new government hoped to create a holy society on earth but instead instituted a religious dictatorship. In 1660, the Brits were ready to reinstate the monarchy and brought Charles II home to rule. 

People were no longer forced to follow the Puritan lifestyle. With the end of the Blue Laws, the playhouses were reopened. For the first time, women acted on the stage. Fancy clothes could be worn again. Adultery and blasphemy were no longer against the law. The pendulum swung, and it swung hard. And Charles epitomized his time with his profligate lifestyle--fancy clothes, many mistresses, love of the theater, and as Pepys often complained, neglect of business.

As a scholar of this time period, John Vance shows his deep familiarity in The King's Favorite, a historical mystery involving Charles II's many mistresses, the newest found dead in the king's bed. Regicide is afoot. Getting a close look is an American in London for the first time.

Charles II, showing off his admirable leg

The Restoration, what a time it was! And Vance brings in all the sexy scenes, the dirty dialogue, the raucous activity in the theaters, streets, and court. We meet Lady Castlemaine, the king's longtime mistress, as well as his other favorites vying for his attention. 

The novel is slow going plot-wise because there is so much Vance wants us to know. All these people and history and relationships he figures (rightly) that readers won't know. But he falls into the trap many writers fall into of too much telling. Many readers enjoy these kinds of details. Others find it a dull slog. I was somewhere in the middle. Until I wasn't.

155 pages in I decided to not finish the novel. The mystery just was not grabbing my attention. 

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The King's Favorite
by John Vance
Black Rose Writing
Publication July 2018
ISBN: 9781684331031
Ebook $6.99 (USD)