AHML Staff Choices

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The abundant rumors about Isabella Medici, a supposed unnatural relationship with her father and brother, are put to rest in this new biography. Isabella did have an unnatural relationship with her father, but only in the sense that most fathers of the time period gave little attention to daughters. Isabella was the apple of her father’s eye and a tomboy who loved to go riding and hunting and fishing. Her father found her great company.

When she married a rather lowlife member of the esteemed Orsini family her father was worried that her husband would spend all her money and leave Isabella, a Medici, in poor straits. So he made the husband come to Florence to see Isabella rather than the tradition of having the wife go to her husband’s family in Rome. Her father also felt that Rome was the place of criminal and low activity. He did not want his daughter to live there. And while this was also because her father liked having her around and knew he could take care of her–the real reason was to keep control of Isabella’s dowry from her spendthrift husband.

Her brother Giovanni was 13 months younger than Isabella and they grew up very close. When her brother was made Cardinal at 16!!! as a favor to the father, the newly married Isabella had a lot of time on her hands since she did not go to Rome with her husband. Giovanni was completely out of his league with the appointment and spent a lot of time with the equally unhappy Isabella. Murphy can find no information that the relationship was anything other than a close brother and sister. The rumors seem to have sprung up because of Isabella’s great grief at the death of Giovanni when he was 21.

Although there is ample evidence of Isabella’s murder, the title suggests that the investigation into the murder will consume a lot of the biography. It actualy is one chapter at the end. But before that happens this is an interesting story of a woman who lived  an unconventional life for her time.

Great book for anyone wanting to read about Florence–Isabella’s father built the Uffizi among other buildings. Also for anyone who enjoys reading about women of noble birth and women leading unconventional lives.

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Finding Nouf is the story of a man in Saudi Arabia trying to find out what happened to the sister of a friend. Everyone thinks 16 year old Nouf ran away to the desert to avoid an arranged marriage. Nayir, who is a desert guide and friend of her brother is asked to track her down. When her body is found, it appears that she may have been murdered.

Nayir, a working class traditional man in his thirties, can’t understand why a 16 year old who comes from a good family that is extremely rich would try to escape from this lush, rich life. When he comes to pick up the corpse from the morgue he meets a 28 year old female medical examiner who suggests that there may be more to what happened than all he has heard.

This is really the story of Nayir, a lonely man in his thirties who has only an uncle living and therefore, no one to really find a woman for him. When he meets the untraditional medical examiner he is both repelled and fascinated by her. However, the story is not a romance.

Ferraris writes wonderfully making us feel what it must be like to live in Jeddah City. She captures the villas of the rich, the HEAT, and the limted access for both men and women especially with the fears of the religious police who walk around and control inappropriate behavior or dress.

This book will appeal to those who like mysteries in other lands and especially other cultures.

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Child 44 is a novel of Stalinist Russia. Leo Demidov works for the state police. There are no local police because Communism has gotten rid of all crime except for treasonous acts against the state. Demidov begins to believe that he might be dealing with a serial killer of children. However, to even suggest such a thing would be treasonous. Therefore, he must work underground to find the answers to his questions.

This book is not fast-paced.  The focus is on the characters. Smith wants you to get a real feeling for what it was like for people brought in by Demidov and others who worked the state. When the wheel turns on Demidov and suddenly he is brought in for questioning you can feel the noose tightening on his character.

A wonderful debut that I suspect will make many “best of” lists for 2008.

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The White Corridor is another mystery starring the wonderful team at the Peculiar Crimes Unit in London. While driving to an occult conference in the southwest of England, Arthur Bryant and John May, the lead detectives, are stuck in a blinding snowstorm. Could anything worse happen to them? They discover that someone is killing people stuck in their cars on the roadway.

 

Meanwhile back at headquarters in London, the Unit’s forensic pathologist has been killed in his own lab. The doors are locked and there are no windows. How did the killer get inside? A great closed room mystery that gives some of the other characters of the Unit a chance to come to the forefront.

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The Monsters of Templeton is a story, part historical, part mystery, based on the real town of Cooperstown, NY. Templeton is the town’s name in the novel but Groff tells you right upfront that she is using Cooperstown as her backdrop. Templeton has a sports museum (in Cooperstown the National Baseball Hall of Fame) and a legendary author, James Franklin Temple, who is based on James Fenimore Cooper.

Wilhelmina (Willie) Upton returns home from graduate school, pregnant, after a degrading relationship with her professor. Her mother, Vivienne (Vi) had returned to the family home the same way almost thirty years earlier. Willie, who has been told by her mother that her birth was the result of a relationship in her hippie days, learns that this is not true and that a prominent member of Templeton society is her real father. Vi refuses to tell her who it is. But with a few clues, Willie starts to dig up the family history of the famous families, including her own, in Templeton.

Some chapters are told from the viewpoint of the person Willie is researching at the time. Other chapters are exchanges of letters between two 19th century friends, exposing the secrets of life in that time. During all of this a “Loch Ness” type monster floats to the top of the lake–verifying the beliefs of many of the locals that there has always been a monster in their midst. The monster is a suitable metaphor for the secrets that unfold in this novel.

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Fred Vargas is one of the top mystery writers of France. Unlike many of France’s mystery writers, she doesn’t write crime noir. Her stories take place all over France, including this one which focuses on the Maritime-Alps region of France on the border of Italy. Like in Yellowstone National Park, wolves have been reintroduced into the Mercantour National Park. Sheepherders and other farmers have serious concerns about this plan, especially since in the old days there were stories about the notorious Monster of the Mercantour–a werewolf–who destroyed everything in its path, sheep and humans.

Someone is playing off the fears of the locals and making it seem like the werewolf has returned. First only sheep are killed. But then the killing of humans starts. Is it a wolf? Is it a human? Who or what is doing this? Sme villagers decide to take matters into their own hands and capture the monster. This is when Vargas brings in her ace “Commissaire” Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg.

Adamsberg, a lone wolf himself, has to escape his usual post in Paris because someone is trying to murder him. He has some thoughts about the Monster of the Mercantour and joins up with three of the villagers who are tracking him down. For almost all of the book you think you know whom and what you are tracking, only wondering if our heroes will get there in time to save the next victim. But Vargas does throw in a twist at the end to keep readers guessing.

Vargas captures the sense of small villages and quirky characters in this mystery. There is little gore although the people are killed brutally. This might be a good book for those who don’t think they like mysteries.

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This wonderful book tells many stories about a mother from the Dominican Republic and her son and daughter who now live in New Jersey. Although the title suggests the book will be primarily about the son, Oscar, the book is really about what makes us unique and the impact of culture and family history on each of us and our quest to find a place in the world and love.

Oscar is an overweight geek in his early twenties who loves to write and read science fiction and fantasy. His beautiful sister Lola, escapes from the restrictions of her mother and tries to make her way in the world by herself by running off to live with different men. Lola’s mother finally sends her to live with her Aunt in the Dominican Republic. Oscar chooses to go with her.

Each chapter is a different story in their lives. Once you learn the story of the mother’s life under the brutal regime of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, you better understand why she is so protective of Lola and Oscar. You also begin to understand more about the family and the supposed curse that prohibits them from finding love. Diaz incorporates footnotes with information about Dominican republic history which is very helpful and enlightening.

But what really shines in the book is Diaz writing style. Oscar, Lola and other narraters speak in the language of their streets. Much slang is not translated but readers will have enough knowledge to understand the gist of what is being said. Some readers may not like the interruption of the notes giving the history of the Domincan Republic and Diaz’ commentary about the history–e.g., Christopher Columbus does not come off well, but others will like the fullness of the information and references to current events, products, authors, and music.

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Creature is a book of photographs of animals and other creatures (insects, reptiles, etc), caught in action or looking at the camera. It is an oversize book with no accompanying text to the photos which all appear against a white background. This really makes the colors and textures of the animals shine through. The photographs are beautiful capturing each scale of the snake or bird feather.

Both adults and children will be fascinated by the creatures within its pages. But please note that most little children will need help carrying the book because of its size and weight. A great coffee table book that people will actually look through!

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Consumption is the story of an Inuit woman whose marriage to a white man has deteriorated in modern day upper Hudson Bay, Canada. As a nine year old she was diagonosed with TB which was fairly prevalent and quite deadly among the Inuit population. Once a year a boat would come to give X-rays to all the children and any adults who were infected. The children who were infected were sent to a town with a sanatarium near Winnipeg to recuperate. The separation was extremely difficult for both the children and their families.

Victoria eventually recovers but gets lost in the system and is not sent back for approximately seven years. She barely remembers how to speak Inuit and is basically a stranger to her parents and brother. She marries a white man she does not love and has three children. This is the story of a woman who doesn’t feel totally Inuit any longer but who also does not fit into the white world that is encroaching on the land in the region.

Very descriptive story with a lot of information on the old Inuit ways, including the never far from starvation feeling that drives those who live off the land. Well-written accounts of the beauty of those who try to live the old ways and the difficulties. - mingh

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Nancy Goldstone has created a very readable nonfiction book about the lives of four sisters in 13th century Europe. Marguerite married Louis IX of France, Eleanor married Henry III of England, Sanchia (Cynthia) married Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who later became King of the Romans, and Beatrice married Louis IX’s brother Charles, King of Sicily.

Goldstone does a wonderful job depicting the plights of the sisters. Women of noble or rich birth were used as pawns by their families to gain power or wealth. The only power women held was through their husbands or their sons. This is a time when a husband’s decision can lead a sister to war with her own sister. But it can also lead to sisters working together to work out problems between countries. The roles of these women in their time is presented in a very readable book. - mingh