| If a new HBO show on the era disappointed you, Kerri's got three other stories from the age you can dive in instead. | |
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| Thread's must-reads | | "The Age of Innocence" Edith Wharton
"The Gilded Hour" Sara Donati
"Passing Strange" Martha Sandweiss Buy these books
I couldn’t wait for the debut of Julian Fellowes’ "The Gilded Age" on HBO, with those luxuriously languid afternoon teas; glittering balls on Fifth Avenue; the robber barons who rattled the cages of the old money scions; and the satin and feather-clad harpies who enforced society’s rules with an iron fist.
But if you haven’t seen the show yet, I regret to report that the reviews have been deeply meh . The New York Times declared it full of “shopworn dialogue” with characters who descend into “caricature.” And the Washington Post says it’s all “surface and no shine.”
So disappointing! Fortunately, there are some superb Gilded Age novels and nonfiction to immerse yourself in if you, too, love reading about that period in American history:
"The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton. The "grandmama" of all Gilded Age novels, and one of my all-time favorite books, this one stars young, naïve, and often insipid May who is about to marry Newland Archer, a man who doesn’t realize how bored he is by New York society conventions until the beautiful and experienced Countess Olenska shows up.
"The Gilded Hour" by Sara Donati tells the story of two sisters, Anna and Sophie Savard, who are doctors in a time when the few women who were trained as physicians endured scorn and suspicion. I loved this novel for its attention to the medical details of the era and the principles that each sister, one a surgeon and the other an obstetrician, carries into her work. I wish Julian Fellowes would make a series out of this book!
"Passing Strange" by Martha Sandweiss. For more than a decade, architect, writer, geologist and scientist Clarence King kept a powerful secret. He would shed his New York society persona and slip into the life of a Black man named Clarence Todd who worked as a Pullman porter and had a wife and family. King’s double life only came to light when Todd’s wife went to court to obtain the trust fund her late husband had promised her. — Kerri Miller | MPR News |
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| | The Violin Conspiracy' is a musical who-done-it with deep notes | | "The Violin Conspiracy" by Brendan Slocumb |
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Like the protagonist of his new, breakaway novel, author Brendan Slocumb is a Black violinist. He knows the monotony of daily practice punctuated by the occasional thrill of performance. He’s experienced the racism that’s often inherent in the classical world. But unlike the lead character in his book, Slocumb does not own a Stradivarius. Check out the author's interview with MPR News host Kerri Miller on this week's Big Books and Bold Ideas show. | |
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| | How to crack the code to happiness in the second half of life | | "From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the second half of Life" by Arthur C. Brooks |
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Aging can be hardest for strivers, says social scientist Arthur Brooks, because they sometimes mourn that their biggest successes are in their rearview mirror. He advises those still in the first half of their working life to take the long view now. And for everyone to build in flexibility and be ready to adjust their expectations. | |
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| | Ask a Bookseller: 2020 captured in words and images | | "Ain’t Burned All the Bright" by Jason Reynolds |
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Donna Garban of Little City Books in Hoboken, N.J., says Jason Reynolds’ most recent title is eye-catching with only a few sentences. The text is a narrative poem that captures the experience of one Black family in 2020, spanning the awful — the pandemic, the murder of George Floyd and its aftermath — and the good as lockdowns led to increased family time. Oxygen is a fitting theme of the novel, and each section is divided into breaths. | |
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| | Grandma's garden of magical rocks is 'Where Wonder Grows' | | "Where Wonder Grows" by Xelena González and Adriana Garcia |
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A grandmother brings her granddaughters to her special garden, where they learn about their connection to nature and tell stories about magical rocks, seashells, crystals and meteorites."In school we learn that rocks are things," González writes. "But grandma has taught us they are beings." | |
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| | A high school spoken-word club changed students' lives. Now, you can read their poems | | "Respect the Mic: Celebrating 20 Years of Poetry from a Chicagoland High School" foreword by Tyehimba Jess; edited by Peter Kahn, Hanif Abdurraqib, Dan “Sully” Sullivan and Franny Choi |
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When Peter Kahn became an English teacher in 1999, he created an after-school spoken word club at a Chicago-area high school. And for over 20 years, the club has created space for students to engage in storytelling. Many have gone on to become award-winning poets, scholars, or even National Youth Poet Laureates. Now a new anthology is showcasing a portion of that talent. | |
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