Thursday, January 26, 2017

What is Susan Sherman reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Susan Sherman, author of If You Are There: A Novel.

Her entry begins:
and telling myself it’s for research, although it’s such a pleasurable read that I can hardly say I’m working. The story is about the first flight and the eccentric brothers who made it possible. Reclusive, driven, these two builders of bicycles became a familiar sight on the shores of the outer banks in North Carolina, standing for hours on the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk studying the flight of birds. Combining their observations of wings and lift with their knowledge of...[read on]
About If You Are There, from the publisher:
Set in the early 1900s, the novel follows young Lucia Rutkowski who, thanks to the influence of her beloved grandmother, escapes the Warsaw ghetto to work as a kitchen maid in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the bustling city of Paris. Too talented for her lowly position, Lucia is thrown out on the street. Her only recourse is to take a job working for two disorganized, rather poor married scientists so distracted by their work that their house and young child are often neglected. Lucia soon bonds with her eccentric employers, watching as their work with radioactive materials grows increasing noticed by the world, then rising to fame as the great Marie and Pierre Curie.

Soon, all of Paris is alit with the news of an impending visit from Eusapia Palladino, the world’s most famous medium. It is through her now famous employers that Lucia attends Eusapia’s gatherings and eventually falls under the medium’s spell, leaving the Curie household to travel with her to Italy. Ultimately, Lucia is placed directly in the crosshairs of faith versus science –what is more real, the glowing substances of the Curie laboratory or the glowing visions that surround the medium during her séance?
Visit Susan Sherman's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Susan Sherman & Henry and Bessie.

The Page 69 Test: The Little Russian.

My Book, The Movie: If You Are There.

Writers Read: Susan Sherman.

--Marshal Zeringue