Summer is racing by and I’ve put together a few titles to help you squeeze in a bit of entertainment, mystery and really good fiction. Maybe these reading suggestions will slow down and extend the pleasures of what leisure time remains.
Susan Wittig Albert begins a new series with The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree. You will meet the local garden club of Darling, Alabama, The Darling Dahlias, in 1930 as they have just inherited the property, soon to be their first clubhouse. This lovely property comes with plenty of gardens which need tending, most especially the two cucumber trees which produce large white blossoms and red cucumber shaped fruit. The Dahlia members are as varied as the plants they tend, from the local librarian to the mayor’s wife to the local telephone operators. The mysteries are light, but very satisfying and Albert has created another delightful series for our enjoyment.
Remaining in the era of the 30’s,
The Devil Amongst the Lawyers by Sharyn McCrumb allows us to relax into another of her Ballad Novels. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the story mixes a local school teacher arrested for the murder of her father, the press in its early days of crime reporting, and a young, naive local reporter, Carl Jenkins. Carl is a seeker of truth and realizes early on that the big city reporters are more interested in the most sensational story, and the truth better not get in the way. McCrumb is noted for her Debra Knott mysteries, but the Ballads offer us folktales with expanded plots and novel characters. Mountain wise woman, Nora Bonesteel or some of her family often appear in the Ballad Novels and her appearance and insight are not to be missed.
It is difficult to realize a world without antibiotics and what it would look like. Lauren Belfer recreates that era in A Fierce Radiance with all of the needless death from injuries and illnesses. World War II has just begun and the development of penicillin is considered a weapon of war. The Americans are doing the research, both in the public and private theaters, but the government decides to nationalize the development to speed up production. Claire Shipley, Life magazine photographer documents the trials involving one patient and meets a very interesting and eligible young researcher. The descriptions of photo shoots displayed in 1940’s Life magazine are fascinating and though the tale is fictional, it is steeped in historical fact and made me want to locate those particular issues of the magazine. This story will grip you and have you thinking of the lives touched by this miracle drug.
Hope you enjoy one of these new books or browse the shelves for others. Stay cool.
Janet
|
