The Human Relationship with the Stars

 

From the earliest times men have looked at the stars and wondered. In pre-history the stars were seen as gods. As the understanding of the cosmos increased, the stars were studied and gradually relegated to a physical part of the universe. This excellent book traces the human understanding of the sky through the science of each period.

While I thought I knew a reasonable amount about astronomy, I learned something new in each chapter. One of the big surprises was how the Polynesians navigated. Instead of plotting their course from Pacific island to island, they memorized a star route. It allowed them to travel great distances without the sophisticated instruments used by the Europeans.

The book isn’t restricted to cosmology as such. It also covers art and mythology in relation to humans trying to understand their place in the universe. The author did an excellent job of making this book, that contains a great deal of technical information, understandable by the general reader.

Probably the most important point the author makes is that through millennia we have separated ourselves from the stars, from the universe and from nature. This is a very undesirable outcome of our search for ever more technological solutions to our problems. If this book does nothing else, I hope it awakens us to what we are in danger of losing by studying our electronic screens instead of the night sky.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

Difficulty of Being a Mixed Race Child in Japan Post WWII

 

Nori is eight-years-old when her mother leaves her with her aristocratic grandparents on their estate. She tries to be a good girl and act as her mother instructed her. In spite of the abuse including chemical baths to try to change the color of her skin, she is an obedient child.

Being the daughter of a married aristocrat and her black GI lover, Nori is an embarrassment to her grandparents. She is forced to live alone in the attic and has no tenderness until her half-brother, Akira, arrives at the estate. He is the heir and surprisingly, he and Nori become friends and very important to each other.

This is a novel with some very good parts and some that distracted from the overall book. The story line follows the problems of Nori being not only a mixed race child, but also illegitimate. The early parts of the book where Nori is constantly subjected to abuse were harg to read. In fact, I thought the abuse was rather overdone.

The story lightens when Akira arrives. He befriends Nori, gets her out of the attic and gives her a view of the outside world. It was a delightful picture of friendship. The difference between how the children get along and love each other is in direct contrast to the unyielding disapproval of the grandparents. They feel their whole way of life has been betrayed by having a child like Nori and their desire is to erase the stigma.

While I enjoyed parts of the book, I found the writing a bit simple. The characters could have been more well developed. The dialog often felt stilted. I thought the author was trying for a romantic look at the manners of a slice of civilization much the same way Jane Austen did for the Victorians, however, it wasn’t as effective.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.

A High Profile Jewelry Theft in Cannes

Ania Thorne, a talented jewelry designer, has worked hard for the last five years to restore the reputation of her father’s company. She has planned a stunning collection centered around special designs for three movie stars that will be shown at the international film festival, but now the enterprise is threatened by the theft of the jewels.

Jerome Curtis is an insurance investigator. He arrives in Cannes to locate the stolen gems. He immediately sees that several things are unusual, like leaving the jewels in a separate room from Ania’s suite. Then at lunch Ania’s salad arrives with a surprise. One of the pieces is returned with a note.

The audacity of the theft and particularly the note lead Curtis to the assumption that the thief is none other than the fabled jewelry their, Leopold. Now the chase is on and he can’t ignore his increasing interest in Ania.

This book is reminiscent of a 1950’s movie. There’s glamour, priceless jewels, a notorious thief and a budding romance. The pace is fast much like a movie. The descriptions of the Carleton Hotel and the avenues of Paris combined with movie stars and jewels is an irresistible combination.

Ania’s character is perfect. She has trained herself to be an ice queen, showing no emotion, to keep her competitors from getting an emotional edge. I enjoyed seeing her transition to a warmer person as she helped Curtis chase the thief. Curtis was also an excellent character. He’s tough and smart and his rumpled appearance is the perfect foil to Ania’s icy perfection.

If you like romance with a gorgeous setting and a mystery, this is a good one.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.
 

Ocean Liners Presented Life Changing Opportunities for Women

 

Between the two world wars women were traveling alone some for pleasure, some for business and others to start a new life. Ocean liners with routes across the Atlantic from Europe to America and back, provided luxurious and also rather primitive accommodations for these women. Travel on land was somewhat restricted for women alone, so the ocean lines afforded a chance to be independent. Many women craved this, particularly those engaged in business.

In this anecdotal history we meet many women from socialites like Thelma Furness, long standing mistress to the Prince of Wales, to working women like the stewardesses and Virginia Drummond, a ship’s engineer during WWII. In third class there were many women looking to find a better life in America. This book concentrates on success stories, but many did not find what they were looking for.

The author also described in detail the liners, particularly the accommodations and salons. I found the descriptions fascinating. One liner, the Aquitania, was especially designed to appeal to women. The accommodations in third class were much more primitive with bunk beds and common facilities for bathing and personal hygiene.

The book is very well researched. With all the detail, the text could become heavy and boring. However, the author effectively uses anecdotes about the passengers not only to give a view of who was traveling, but to humanize the history.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

A Ziegfeld Show Girl in the Roaring Twenties

 

Olive McCormick dreams of becoming a star in the Ziegfeld Follies. Her conservative family objects, but Olive follows her dream first to California then to New York and a meeting with Ziegfeld himself. As a member of the cast, Olive relishes the life. While the other girls consider the job as a step to marriage and family, Olive is totally focused on being a star until she meets Archie Carmichael. He perseveres, and finally, she agrees to marry him.

She likes the way he doesn’t seem bothered by her success and independence, but once they’re engaged he starts to change. Olive is young and self-centered. She makes numerous bad decisions and finds herself in more trouble than she dreamed possible.

The glamour and excitement of New York in the twenties is on full display. The author has done and excellent job inviting the reader into the Follies. It’s a lavish picture and historically accurate. I loved it.

Olive is an independent self-centered character. I found it hard to like her, but I respected her desire to succeed as she coped with numerous difficulties. Life wasn’t easy in the twenties for a woman trying to make it on her own. I thought the author illustrated the expectations for women in the era and highlighted their struggles well.

If you enjoy well done historical fiction with a good dollop of romance, you’ll enjoy this book.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

Better that the Cookie Cutter Approach to College Applications

 

This book is a must read for anyone applying to college in the near future and for those parents and counselors helping them. The focus of the book is on being yourself. The author, who has experience in selecting college applicants, says colleges are not interested in seeing a stack of applications that can hardly be told apart. They’re interested in diversity and students who are doing things they care about. Her story in the opening pages illustrates this perfectly.

The book contains information on applying, stories of applicants, and questions for the reader to help decide who they really are and what they want. The author makes a good point that college is not the end of life; it’s the beginning. You get a better start if you’re at a place where you can pursue your real goals rather than trying to grab a place in a prestigious institution that doesn’t fit.

I highly recommend this book.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

The Cabaret Scene in 1941 Paris

Clementine, a seventy-two-year-old American ex-pat, has found a home in Paris. In spite of the Nazi occupation she doesn’t want to leave. She left her old life as a con-man and thief behind when she settled in a Paris to run a small shop specializing in perfumes she mixes for the artists in the cabaret scene at the fringes of society.

Clem is asked by her friend Day Shabille, based on Josephine Baker, to help another cabaret singer, Zoe St. Angel. Zoe is hiding the fact that she’s Jewish. Her father, a perfumer, has been taken by the Nazis and a Nazi businessman is living in his house. She wants Clem to steal his perfume book so that no one discovers that she was the inspiration for one of his famous perfumes.

The descriptions of the Paris nightlife in the cabarets is wonderful. It’s very atmospheric and makes you see Paris during the Nazis occupation. I thought that was the best part of the book.

Clem is a fascinating character. She wears men's clothes in a time when it was dangerous to be a lesbian or indeed anyone who was outside the social mores of the era. I liked her. Her memories, which form much of the story, give an engrossing picture of the time in both France and America.

The pace of the book was a little slow if you like lots of action. Much of it consists of Clem’s memories and descriptions of Paris life in 1941.

I received this book from Doubleday Books for this review.