The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, is a novel that brings to life 18th century Maine as a midwife tends to the ills of her neighbors, some physical and others emotional, and deals with the early American legal system and its treatment of women. Please see “Reviews-Fiction.”
Category: Uncategorized
Suffused with Gratitude
12-16-23
Hannah Coulter (See Fiction Reviews) helps end the year on a quiet and reflective note.
19th Century Women Scientists
11-26-23
A dual biography (please see “Reviews, Non-Fiction”) and two novels (Reviews, Fiction) about early 19th century women who helped transform our understanding of the natural world.
What we do for love
11-18-23
North Woods by Daniel Mason: The forest of western Massachusetts is the setting for linked stories over three centuries. One of my favorite books of the year.
The Criminalization of Abortion
11/6/23
The Trials of Madame Restell recounts the true story of one of the 19th century’s most well-known “female physicians,” who provided abortions and other women’s health services. The story shows how the provision of abortions, practiced by trained women for centuries, became a hotly contentious cause of medical men and pornography activists. Please see the review in the Non-Fiction section.
Two Books about Dealing with Our Precious Possessions
The Museum of Ordinary People (Fiction) and The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter (Non-Fiction) about what to do with our most cherished possessions.
10-26-23
A novel about a grieving widow
10-14-23
With sympathy, but not sentimentality, and a light hand, Katrina Kittle offers a novel that encompasses many of the current concerns in our world.
Choices about death as well as life
A novel, The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, that explores the determination to choose the end of one’s long life. Please see Reviews-Fiction.
Life before Roe v. Wade
9-19-23 – All You Have to do is Call, by Kerri Maher. Berkley Books, 2023, 364 pages.
Just published: Fiction about life just before Roe v. Wade – a reminder of what it was like, and the work we have to do now.
Please see “Reviews – Fiction”
Just published
9-13-23
Stories of My Life, by Katherine Paterson
This newly updated memoir, by the 90-year-old multiple-award-winning children’s author, reads almost like an adventure story.
Please see “Non-Fiction Reviews.”