Book Reviews

Istanbul Passage

Published on 09/06/12

BOOK REVIEWS BY JOAN G. SMITH JGS 353

ISTANBUL PASSAGE BY: JOSEPH KANON

Joseph Kanon is a very special writer. He takes historical facts and writes a work of fiction that gives the reader a view of the reality of that time and place. He takes you behind the headlines with his characters and you begin to see cause and effect.

Mr. Kanon has not written a historical novel for sometime, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. Istanbul Passage begins in Istanbul in 1945 – WWII has just ended and the Russians, Turks, Americans, Brits and Jews are all in a period of making decisions about the future. Who are friends and allies, who are now enemies and where do we go from here?

Istanbul was neutral during WWII and became a Central gathering place for spies and refuges, adrift in secrets and lies. Leon Bauer was drawn into this world during the war and did courier runs and all sorts of odd jobs for the Allied war effort. Now is a time of change and he becomes entangled in a web that leads to a fight for his own survival. He knows Istanbul and Turkey like the back of his hand. As the novel unfolds, you get a view of the politics and choices that have surely led to where we find ourselves today , 2012. This is the Dawn of the Cold War and sometimes there are only bad choices, and Leon has been an honest man, but what is the right thing?

This Ottoman city is ancient, beautiful and filled with bazaars, mosques and crumbling mansions and Leon has studied it and learned to love it. The characters reflect all the nations that have changed its history and passed on through.

Years ago I read The Good German and Los Alamos and never forgot the history portrayed in their pages. Joseph Kanon is a winner of both the Edgar Award and the Hammet Prize. He lives in New York City. The dialogue is wonderful and the view unique in Istanbul Passage.

The Night Circus

Published on 09/06/12

BOOK REVIEWS BY JOAN G. SMITH JGS 354

THE NIGHT CIRCUS BY: ERIN MORGENSTERN The Circus always arrives at its next location without warning – and no advertisements. The tents are black and white stripes and appear magically; all set up and ready to go, but never before midnight! The Night Circus travels the world and each tent contains something unique – the participants each have their own specialty to perform and the audience may wander on paths from one to another at their own pace and preference. The scenery in each tent is magical as well. Make mo mistake, this is a totally dream like experience for the visitors. Smoke and mirrors, illusionists, fortune tellers, and fantastic food and drink. There is a peculiar owner, of course, that is orchestrating this display of fantastic and unbelievable acts. However, this is a secret game, with two main players that have been raised from childhood to participate until one wins. They are unaware of each other for years, but the fun really begins when the two main participants grow up and take matters into their own hands. This plot is both a dream and a nightmare, like most fairy tales, but this is one made for adults. I loved fairy tales as a child, but The Night Circus is something else. This is Erin Morgenstern’s debut as a novelist, and it is by turns enchanting, nerve wracking, funny, and exasperating. I can’t wait to hear the reactions and opinions of my book group! There are seven of us and we are all vociferous readers with interesting and wildly divergent interpretations of our books. We also have fun and often agree as well, but this is a wild ride. Take a chance and give it a try – there is some kind of magic at work here !

The Greater Journey

Published on 06/26/12

328

Reviewed by Joan G. Smith

BY: DAVID McCULLOUGH

The Greater Journey is a masterpiece in and of itself. Most of us know that Benjamin Franklin and John Adams lived and studied in Paris in the 1700’s. In the 1900’s we know many of our favorite authors called Paris home, such as Fitzgerald and Hemingway. However; in David McCullough’s nonfiction, inspiring book we find many adventurous Americans making the long and dangerous sea voyage to France in the years between 1830 and 1900. Many of these stories were untold until now, in The Greater Journey. These men and women were artists, doctors, architects, politicians and writers – and traveled to Paris to study and learn.

The United States at that time did not yet have great teaching hospitals, wonderful museums and teachers in many fields that were the best in the world. The list of these remarkable Americans and their achievements is unbelievably long in this book. Their names may be familiar, but their struggle to learn from the best profoundly changed America’s history and achievements.

These men and women went to the theaters and opera as well as pursuing their studies, and found the Louvre to be a fountain of information, no matter where their various careers would take them. I can only mention a few of the names – so many were involved in these pages. James Fenimore Cooper, Samuel Morse, George R. A, Healy, Elizabeth Blackwell ( first female doctor in America ), Oliver Wendell Holmes, as well as more writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Henry James, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Harriet Beecher Stowe was not to be left out, and Emma Hart Willard, a teacher who brought many new ideas home to her school in the United States. This woman was in her 40’s when she came to Paris and an author of histories as well as teaching.

Some of these Americans had wealthy parents to help with expenses; but many did not. Their struggles to learn French, survive the winters and finally the Commune are all part of this story.

The color plates of the famous and those who became famous, as well as ballerinas, The Louvre , the architecture and even hotels and restaurants are beautiful, and included in this book.

I find myself making this review of a book much longer than usual, so I will end with a quote from the author, David McCullough; “Gnot all pioneers went west “.

David McCullough has received two Pulitzer Prizes, for Truman and John Adams.. He was the recipient twice of The National Book Award . To top it off, he also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, this nation’s highest civilian award.

Published: SIMON & SCHUSTER

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

The Distant Hours

Published on 06/26/12

327

BY: KATE MORTON

This novel begins in 1992 in England. It is a story about families, and it looks back to what happened to two families in particular, during World War II. Bermondsey is a small town in England, and a mailbag is found with undelivered mail half a century later, in the attic of the mailman’s home after his death. There was no choice – the mail must be delivered to anyone that is still alive to receive it.

Edie, a young woman, is helping her Mum prepare Sunday dinner, when a letter to her Mum is dropped through the mail slot at their home. Edie heard it drop and went to retrieve the letter, which was to her Mother. Her Mother’s reaction was astonishing – she forgot about dinner, went to her room and stayed there – crying and in shock.

Back in 1941: when the bombs were beginning to fall in England, the children were rounded up and put in coaches to take them to a safer location in the country, where the villagers who were available would come to take a child home to live with them until safer times. Edie’s Mum’s brother and sister were picked up first and her Mum was frightened until a young lady arrived who commanded respect and picked her Mum for “my evacuee ” ! The young lady was Juniper Blythe, the village was Milderhurst, and the lady lived in Milderhurst Castle.

Edie’s mum just said it had been a lovely experience, and she had never gone back after the war to see this family. A veil came down over her Mother’s face, and that was the end of the story, or so it seemed!

Edie has a job. She is an editor at Billings & Brown Book Publishers, Notting Hill. It’s a small firm and well thought of, but Edie saw that they needed a new image to get more clients. She has been successful and is moving into an apartment in the office building, after ending an affair with Jamie, her first real boy friend.

On a trip to see a client, she becomes lost on the way home( she daydreams). The meeting had gone well, contract’s signed, but due to traffic she is completely off course when she sees a signpost that says Milderhurst, three miles. That’s it, she is out of the car and suddenly certain she’s been here before! Half a mile along the road, there are rusty gates to the Castle. Now she is certain her Mum had taken her there when she was small, and there’s no stopping now.

Edie goes on to the village and stays at a Bed & Breakfast run by a Mrs. Bird, who also arranges tours to the castle. There are three sisters still living in the castle – twins and the youngest Blythe is Juniper. Well, that’s how it all began and Edie becomes involved in unraveling the story of Raymond Blythe, his wives and his daughters. There are books and mysteries and when Edie discovers this Raymond Blythe wrote one of her favorite books, The Mud Man, there is no going back.

This novel is part Gothic, and totally an intricate and mysterious story of the Blythe family and eventually of Edie’s own family.

Morton’s novels are #1 bestsellers in England and Australia. The Forgotten Garden was a New York Times bestseller.

This is a haunting tale that stays in your mind long after the last page is turned!

Published: ATRIA BOOKS, A Division of Simon & Schubert, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020