Twenty-five actually pretty happy couples in literature

The Lit Hub staff compiled a list of twenty-five "truly happy couples in literature," which is not so easy "especially when you aren’t just talking about the ending." One entry on the list:

Jane and Charles Bingley in Pride and Prejudice

A rare instance of uncomplicated love in a Jane Austen novel—where most couples are in a state of despair, estrangement, abandonment, or (worst of all!) mismatched wealth—Jane and Charles Bingley genuinely seem to like each other. Imagine! He takes care of her when she’s sick; in return, she forgives him for leaving her with no notice because she is insufficiently wealthy and then changing his mind, which (I guess) seems like a fair trade for the era. The biggest issue that emerges during their courtship, that Jane’s shy affection leaves room for doubt as to whether her love for Charles is genuine, is a story as old as time, and one easily fixed, albeit with the intervention of a fabulously wealthy friend who had previously conspired to keep them apart. Typical dating problem. –Corinne Segal, Lit Hub Senior Editor

Read about another entry on the list.

Pride and Prejudice also appears on Ellie Eaton's list of eight of literature's notable mean girls, Sarah Vaughan's list of nine fictional bad mothers in fiction, Jessica Francis Kane's top ten list of houseguests in fiction, O: The Oprah Magazine's twenty greatest ever romance novels, Cristina Merrill's list of eight of the sexiest curmudgeons in romance, Sarah Ward's ten top list of brothers and sisters in fiction, Tara Sonin's lists of fifty must-read regency romances and seven sweet and swoony romances for wedding season, Grant Ginder's top ten list of book characters we love to hate, Katy Guest's list of six of the best depictions of shyness in fiction, Garry Trudeau's six favorite books list, Ross Johnson's list of seven of the greatest rivalries in fiction, Helen Dunmore's six best books list, Jenny Kawecki's list of eight fictional characters who would make the best travel companions, Peter James's top ten list of works of fiction set in or around Brighton, Ellen McCarthy's list of six favorite books about weddings and marriage, the Telegraph's list of the ten greatest put-downs in literature, Rebecca Jane Stokes' list of ten fictional families you might enjoy more than the one you'll actually spend the holidays with, Melissa Albert's lists of five fictional characters who deserved better, [fifteen of the] romantic leads (and wannabes) of Austen’s brilliant books and recommended reading for eight villains, Molly Schoemann-McCann's list of ten fictional men who have ruined real live romance, Emma Donoghue's list of five favorite unconventional fictional families, Amelia Schonbek's list of five approachable must-read classics, Jane Stokes's top ten list of the hottest men in required reading, Gwyneth Rees's top ten list of books about siblings, the Observer's list of the ten best fictional mothers, Paula Byrne's list of the ten best Jane Austen characters, Robert McCrum's list of the top ten opening lines of novels in the English language, a top ten list of literary lessons in love, Simon Mason's top ten list of fictional families, Cathy Cassidy's top ten list of stories about sisters, Paul Murray's top ten list of wicked clerics, John Mullan's lists of ten of the best housekeepers in fiction, ten great novels with terrible original titles, and ten of the best visits to Brighton in literature, Luke Leitch's top ten list of the most successful literary sequels ever, and is one of the top ten works of literature according to Norman Mailer. Richard Price has never read it, but it is the book Mary Gordon cares most about sharing with her children.

The Page 99 Test: Pride and Prejudice.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Liz Heinecke's "Radiant"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Radiant: The Dancer, The Scientist, and a Friendship Forged in Light by Liz Heinecke.

About the book, from the publisher:

Part hidden history, part love letter to creative innovation, this is the true story of an unlikely friendship between a dancer, Loie Fuller, and a scientist, Marie Curie, brought together by an illuminating discovery.

At the turn of the century, Paris was a hotbed of creativity. Technology boomed, delivering to the world electric light, the automobile, and new ways to treat disease, while imagination blossomed, creating Art Nouveau, motion pictures, and modernist literature. A pivotal figure during this time, yet largely forgotten today, Loie Fuller was an American performance artist who became a living symbol of the Art Nouveau movement with her hypnotic dances and stunning theatrical effects. Credited today as the pioneer of modern dance, she was perennially broke, never took no for an answer, spent most of her life with a female partner, and never questioned her drive. She was a visionary, a renegade, and a loyal friend.

In the early 1900s, she heard about Marie Curie’s discovery of a glowing blue element and dreamed of using it to dazzle audiences on stage. While Loie’s dream wouldn’t be realized, her connection with Marie and their shared fascination with radium endured. Radiant is the true story of Marie Curie and Loie Fuller, two revolutionary women drawn together at the dawn of a new era by a singular discovery, and the lifelong friendship that grew out of their shared passion for enlightenment.

Visit Liz Heinecke's website.

The Page 99 Test: Radiant.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Marshall Ryan Maresca's "The Velocity of Revolution"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Velocity of Revolution by Marshall Ryan Maresca.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the author of the Maradaine saga comes a new steampunk fantasy novel that explores a chaotic city on the verge of revolution.

Ziaparr: a city being rebuilt after years of mechanized and magical warfare, the capital of a ravaged nation on the verge of renewal and self-rule. But unrest foments as undercaste cycle gangs raid supply trucks, agitate the populace and vandalize the city. A revolution is brewing in the slums and shantytowns against the occupying government, led by a voice on the radio, connected through forbidden magic.

Wenthi Tungét, a talented cycle rider and a loyal officer in the city patrol, is assigned to infiltrate the cycle gangs. For his mission against the insurgents, Wenthi must use their magic, connecting his mind to Nália, a recently captured rebel, using her knowledge to find his way into the heart of the rebellion.

Wenthi’s skill on a cycle makes him valuable to the resistance cell he joins, but he discovers that the magic enhances with speed. Every ride intensifies his connection, drawing him closer to the gang he must betray, and strengthens Nália’s presence as she haunts his mind.

Wenthi is torn between justice and duty, and the wrong choice will light a spark in a city on the verge of combustion.

Visit Marshall Ryan Maresca's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Velocity of Revolution.

My Book, The Movie: The Velocity of Revolution.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top SFF books with broody male characters

Brigid Kemmerer is the New York Times bestselling author of dark and alluring Young Adult novels.

A full time writer, Kemmerer lives in the Baltimore area with her husband, her boys, her dog, and her cat. When she’s not writing or being a mommy, you can usually find her with her hands wrapped around a barbell.

The latest title in her Cursebreaker series is A Vow So Bold and Deadly.

At Tor.com Kemmerer tagged five of her favorite sci-fi & fantasy novels with broody male characters. One title on the list:

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This Russian-inspired fantasy series about the magic-wielding Grisha is amazing, and I’m sure you know someone who’s talking about it. I know everyone is obsessed with the Darkling, and I get it, but my heart was always for Mal. He’s the best friend, the boy next door, the guy who does what he has to do because he’s so clearly in love with the girl, but he’s going to sigh and mutter about it the whole time. He also has some really cool tracking powers. I was honestly more interested in Mal than I was in the Darkling. (Well, until Nikolai stole my heart. But I’d never call him brooding, so he doesn’t make this list.)

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Q&A with Nancy Johnson

From my Q&A with Nancy Johnson, author of The Kindest Lie: A Novel:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The title of the book works on multiple levels. The Kindest Lie centers on Ruth Tuttle, a successful, Black chemical engineer who has been harboring a secret—she gave birth to a baby when she was just seventeen and left him behind in the dying Indiana factory town where she grew up. The title reflects the lies she’s told herself over the years about outrunning her past. When she returns to her hometown to search for her son, she discovers that her grandmother and brother have been lying to her as well in an effort to ensure her success. Often, these well-meaning lies are borne out of love and expectations. Also, the title works on the macro level—America has been lying to itself for centuries, pretending to be...[read on]

Visit Nancy Johnson's website.

Q&A with Nancy Johnson.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Dennis J. Frost's "More Than Medals"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: More Than Medals: A History of the Paralympics and Disability Sports in Postwar Japan by Dennis J. Frost.

About the book, from the publisher:

How does a small provincial city in southern Japan become the site of a world-famous wheelchair marathon that has been attracting the best international athletes since 1981?

In More Than Medals, Dennis J. Frost answers this question and addresses the histories of individuals, institutions, and events—the 1964 Paralympics, the FESPIC Games, the Ōita International Wheelchair Marathon, the Nagano Winter Paralympics, and the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games that played important roles in the development of disability sports in Japan. Sporting events in the postwar era, Frost shows, have repeatedly served as forums for addressing the concerns of individuals with disabilities. More Than Medals provides new insights on the cultural and historical nature of disability and demonstrates how sporting events have challenged some stigmas associated with disability, while reinforcing or generating others.

Frost analyzes institutional materials and uses close readings of media, biographical sources, and interviews with Japanese athletes to highlight the profound—though often ambiguous—ways in which sports have shaped how postwar Japan has perceived and addressed disability. His novel approach highlights the importance of the Paralympics and the impact that disability sports have had on Japanese society.

Learn more about More Than Medals at the Cornell University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Seeing Stars.

Writers Read: Dennis J. Frost (April 2011).

The Page 99 Test: More Than Medals.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven books about break-ups and heartbreaks

Frances Yackel studied philosophy and creative writing at New York University, where she learned how to pretend she was going somewhere important. The countryside of Vermont, or more recently the mountains of New Zealand, are as much her home as the Classics section of the nearest independent bookstore.

At Electric Lit she tagged seven books to help you get through heartbreak, including:

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector

The Hour of the Star is a man’s intrusive narration of an uneducated, though ceaselessly curious, woman named Macabea whose boyfriend cheats on her with her coworker. The reader is only allowed to engage with Macabea through an unreliable narrator obsessed with himself and his writing, leaving us only a small glimpse of her experience and echoes the lack of autonomy that she is permitted in her abusive relationship. Lispector’s novella uncovers the consequences of ardent yearning without self-government.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Marshall Ryan Maresca's "The Velocity of Revolution," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Velocity of Revolution by Marshall Ryan Maresca.

The entry begins:

So, I have definitely thought about how The Velocity of Revolution might be made into a movie or series. My degree was in Film & Video Production, after all, and I like to think I write in a very cinematic style. So I definitely think the The Velocity of Revolution can translate very well to the screen It’s a dieselpunk fantasy filled with motorcycles, psychic magic connections, tacos, pansexual polycules, train heists, tacos, races, revolution, goddesses on the radio, and did I mention tacos? So it’s got a lot going on that has strong visual and cinematic appeal.

But when it comes to casting? I’m honestly not sure. Who should play Wenthi Tungét, the cycle-riding patrol officer who gets sent undercover with in the undercaste districts of the city so he can infiltrate the growing revolutionary...[read on]

Visit Marshall Ryan Maresca's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Velocity of Revolution.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Emilya Naymark's "Hide in Place"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Hide in Place: A Novel by Emilya Naymark.

About the book, from the publisher:

She left the NYPD in the firestorm of a high-profile case gone horribly wrong. Three years later, the ghosts of her past roar back to terrifying life.

When NYPD undercover cop Laney Bird’s cover is blown in a racketeering case against the Russian mob, she flees the city with her troubled son, Alfie. Now, three years later, she’s found the perfect haven in Sylvan, a charming town in upstate New York. But then the unthinkable happens: her boy vanishes.

Local law enforcement dismisses the thirteen-year-old as a runaway, but Laney knows better. Alfie would never abandon his special routines and the sanctuary of their home. Could he have been kidnapped–or worse? As a February snowstorm rips through the region, Laney is forced to launch her own investigation, using every trick she learned in her years undercover.

As she digs deeper into the disappearance, Laney learns that Alfie and a friend had been meeting with an older man who himself vanished, but not before leaving a corpse in his garage. With dawning horror, Laney discovers that the man was a confidential informant from a high-profile case she had handled in the past. Although he had never known her real identity, he knows it now. Which means several other enemies do, too. Time is running out, and as Laney’s search for her son grows more desperate, everything depends on how good a detective she really is–badge or no.

Visit Emilya Naymark's website.

The Page 69 Test: Hide in Place.

--Marshal Zeringue

Q&A with Gwen Florio

From my Q&A with Gwen Florio, author of Best Laid Plans:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Best Laid Plans is actually the first time a title I gave a manuscript was still on the book when it was published, something that makes me inordinately happy. I think it lasted because it works in three ways: It’s a play on my protagonist’s name, Nora Best. It’s the title of the book that Nora was supposed to write about her cross-country trip with her husband in their new Airstream trailer, a book about choosing adventure over the well-planned, career-climbing lives so many people lead. Most of all, it’s a nod to the fact that Nora’s own best-laid plans go straight to hell within the first few pages of the book.

What's in a name?

I had Nora’s name before...[read on]

Visit Gwen Florio's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Gwen Florio & Nell.

My Book, the Movie: Silent Hearts.

Writers Read: Gwen Florio (August 2018).

The Page 69 Test: Silent Hearts.

My Book, The Movie: Best Laid Plans.

The Page 69 Test: Best Laid Plans.

Q&A with Gwen Florio.

--Marshal Zeringue

Forty-two books to help you get through the rest of quarantine

Alyssa Vaughn is a writer and editor based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

At Boston Magazine she curated a list of reading suggestions from Boston-area booksellers, including:

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

“A Thousand Ships is a journey into the unexplored parts of the most famous Western epic ever told. Sorrowful, vengeful, and hopeful—this beautiful retelling of The Iliad illustrates the resilient heroism of women dealing with the bitter consequences of war.”
-Maddie Collins, Harvard Book Store

Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: A Thousand Ships.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Sushma Subramanian's "How to Feel"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: How to Feel: The Science and Meaning of Touch by Sushma Subramanian.

About the book, from the publisher:

We are out of touch. Many people fear that we are trapped inside our screens, becoming less in tune with our bodies and losing our connection to the physical world. But the sense of touch has been undervalued since long before the days of digital isolation. Because of deeply rooted beliefs that favor the cerebral over the corporeal, touch is maligned as dirty or sentimental, in contrast with supposedly more elevated modes of perceiving the world.

How to Feel explores the scientific, physical, emotional, and cultural aspects of touch, reconnecting us to what is arguably our most important sense. Sushma Subramanian introduces readers to the scientists whose groundbreaking research is underscoring the role of touch in our lives. Through vivid individual stories—a man who lost his sense of touch in his late teens, a woman who experiences touch-emotion synesthesia, her own efforts to become less touch averse—Subramanian explains the science of the somatosensory system and our philosophical beliefs about it. She visits labs that are shaping the textures of objects we use every day, from cereal to synthetic fabrics. The book highlights the growing field of haptics, which is trying to incorporate tactile interactions into devices such as phones that touch us back and prosthetic limbs that can feel. How to Feel offers a new appreciation for a vital but misunderstood sense and how we can use it to live more fully.

Visit Sushma Subramanian's website.

The Page 99 Test: How to Feel.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six top novels about women trying to outrun their past

Suzanne Redfearn is the bestselling author of four novels: Hush Little Baby, No Ordinary Life, In An Instant, and Hadley & Grace.

[Q&A with Suzanne Redfearn; My Book, The Movie: Hadley and Grace; The Page 69 Test: Hadley & Grace]

Born and raised on the east coast, Redfearn moved to California when she was fifteen. She currently lives in Laguna Beach with her husband where they own two restaurants: Lumberyard and Slice Pizza & Beer.

In addition to being an author, Redfearn is an architect specializing in residential and commercial design. When not writing, she enjoys doing anything and everything with her family—skiing, golf, tennis, pickleball, hiking, board games, and reality TV. She is an avid baseball fan. Her team is the Angels.

At CrimeReads Redfearn tagged six novels about women fleeing for and from their lives, including:

Barbara O’Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids

When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal is another story about wanting to put a troubled past behind. Fifteen years ago, Josie Bianci died… or so her family believed. Until one day, Josie’s sister, Kit, sees a fleeting image on television of a woman identical to her sister. Kit follows the trail to New Zealand hoping to put her own demons to rest. And when she finds her sister, alive and living a life entirely removed from the one she left behind, past and present collide, and Kit and Josie are forced to face a choice of how much they are willing to risk by facing the truth for the sake of reclaiming their relationship. A stunning story full of secrets, betrayal, loss, forgiveness, and redemption.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Sam Taylor's "We Are the Fire"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: We Are the Fire by Sam Taylor.

About the book, from the publisher:

As electrifying as it is heartbreaking, Sam Taylor's explosive fantasy debut We Are the Fire is perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes and the legend of Spartacus.

All will burn.

In the cold, treacherous land of Vesimaa, children are stolen from their families by a cruel emperor, forced to undergo a horrific transformative procedure, and serve in the army as magical fire-wielding soldiers. Pran and Oksana—both taken from their homeland at a young age—only have each other to hold onto in this heartless place.

Pran dreams of one day rebelling against their oppressors and destroying the empire; Oksana only dreams of returning home and creating a peaceful life for them both.

When they discover the emperor has a new, more terrible mission than ever for their kind, Pran and Oksana vow to escape his tyranny once and for all. But their methods and ideals differ drastically, driving a wedge between them. Worse still, they both soon find that the only way to defeat the monsters that subjugated them may be to become monsters themselves.

Visit Sam Taylor's website.

The Page 69 Test: We Are the Fire.

--Marshal Zeringue

Q&A with Allison Epstein

From my Q&A with Allison Epstein, author of A Tip for the Hangman: A Novel:

photo credit: Kristin DiMaggio

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The goal of the title was to sweep the reader up into the dangerous world of Elizabethan espionage: full of secrets, impossible choices, and people who can be swayed for the right price. A Tip for the Hangman is a pun to that effect. (My friends know I'm an incorrigible pun-lover.) On one level, my spies are searching for heretics and traitors, so the secrets they uncover will tip off the hangman about his next victim. On another, it was customary at the time for condemned prisoners to pay a monetary tip to the executioner—a weird, grim factoid that hints at how some of my characters seal their own fates.

I love the title, but it was a mess getting there: my team and I had a document with 75 options, and we went back and forth for weeks. The working title was The Devil and the Rose, which my agent loved but others thought wasn’t specific enough. Now, though, I can’t imagine...[read on]

Visit Allison Epstein's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Tip for the Hangman.

The Page 69 Test: A Tip for the Hangman.

Q&A with Allison Epstein.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Nathaniel Robert Walker's "Victorian Visions of Suburban Utopia"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Victorian Visions of Suburban Utopia: Abandoning Babylon by Nathaniel Robert Walker.

About the book, from the publisher:

The rise of suburbs and disinvestment from cities have been defining features of life in many countries over the course of the twentieth century. In Victorian Visions of Suburban Utopia, Nathaniel Walker asks: why did we abandon our dense, complex urban places and seek to find "the best of the city and the country" in the flowery suburbs? While looking back at the architecture and urban design of the 1800s offers some answers, Walker argues that a great missing piece of the story can be found in Victorian utopian literature. The replacement of cities with high-tech suburbs was repeatedly imagined and breathlessly described in the socialist dreams and science-fiction fantasies of dozens of British and American authors. Some of these visionaries — such as Robert Owen, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Ebenezer Howard, and H. G. Wells — are enduringly famous, while others were street vendors or amateur chemists who have been all but forgotten. Together, they fashioned strange and beautiful imaginary worlds built of synthetic gemstones, lacy metal colonnades, and unbreakable glass, staffed by robotic servants and teeming with flying carriages. As varied as their futuristic visions could be, Walker reveals how most of them were unified by a single, desperate plea: for humanity to have a future worth living, we must abandon our smoky, poor, chaotic Babylonian cities for a life in shimmering gardens.

Learn more about Victorian Visions of Suburban Utopia at the Oxford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Victorian Visions of Suburban Utopia.

--Marshal Zeringue

Bryan Reardon's "Let Her Lie," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Let Her Lie: A Novel by Bryan Reardon.

The entry begins:

In Let Her Lie, Theo Snyder once tasted the kind of fame most of us crave. His true crime documentary went viral and he soaked up the attention. Until it all turned, and he found himself embroiled in a lurid scandal. To reclaim his career, to turn his infamy back to fame, he decides to do his next film on the most notorious serial killer in recent history, Jasper Ross-Johnson, known as the Halo Killer. When he uncovers a connection between Jasper and a young woman named Miracle, it is almost as if his story writes itself. But when the Halo Killer escapes from prison and Theo finds himself on the run, discovering the ending of his film becomes a matter of life and death.

As you can imagine, with a plot like that, I certainly had movies on the mind. In fact, the structure of Let Her Lie revolves around Theo's filmmaking process. Often, I let my mind drift, trying to imagine who could play my characters on screen. And here's what I came up with:

Who is Miracle Jones?

Miracle is something of a local celebrity. As a newborn, she was abandoned in a restroom at a coastal State park. She survived four days before an angler found her. Her traumatic beginnings certainly left scars, both inside and out.

Who could play Miracle?

Mila Kunis – I definitely pictured her as I wrote. Miracle has an intensity to her expression, the kind of eyes that can make someone sweat. And her sharp edges hide a vulnerable soul.

Who is Zora Monroe?

Zora is the most respected investigator in the documentary world. All the major filmmakers have used her. And most secretly attribute much of their success to her work. She can find anyone and anything. That kind of expertise brings with it an expected aloofness. That, or maybe she's hiding something.

Who could play Zora?

This one was the easiest. Zora is...[read on]

Follow Bryan Reardon on Facebook.

Writers Read: Bryan Reardon (June 2019).

The Page 69 Test: The Perfect Plan.

My Book, The Movie: Let Her Lie.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six of the hottest royals in SFF

Zoraida Córdova is the award-winning author of is the acclaimed author of more than a dozen novels and short stories, including the Brooklyn Brujas series, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate, and The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.

At Tor.com she tagged six "Science Fiction and Fantasy novels with royals that will abscond with your heart," including:

Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik

We’re still in a pandemic so, escape way, way out of this world with Jessie Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion trilogy. Book one, Polaris Rising follows a space! princess! on the run, as well as the outlaw she strikes a bargain with. Leia and Han vibes can commence from here on out. In Polaris Rising, Princess Ada chose to flee instead of accepting a political marriage. For two years, she’s survived on her own but then she’s caught and thrown into a cell with an alleged murder called the Devil of Fornax Zero. Infamous for having killed his squad, this space rake might be her only way to escape. When her jilted ex ruins everything by intercepting her ship bound for Earth, Ada makes a deal with the Devil. Literally. This rebel princess is everything I love from a heroine. The romance is ~hot~, the dialogue is snappy, and the series is complete and ready for you to binge.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Gwen Florio's "Best Laid Plans"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Best Laid Plans by Gwen Florio.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the first of a new mystery series, we meet Nora Best as she flees her old life, cheating husband and all, and takes to the road with an Airstream trailer.

When Nora Best's plans on exploring the US in an Airstream trailer with her Perfect-Ass Husband go up in smoke upon finding him in a compromising position with her friend, she sets off on her own. Nora ends up drowning her sorrows in a campsite in the Wyoming mountains, but soon finds herself in trouble when blood is found around the campsite and she is accused of murder.

Visit Gwen Florio's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Gwen Florio & Nell.

My Book, the Movie: Silent Hearts.

Writers Read: Gwen Florio (August 2018).

The Page 69 Test: Silent Hearts.

My Book, The Movie: Best Laid Plans.

The Page 69 Test: Best Laid Plans.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Tina Frühauf's "Transcending Dystopia"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Transcending Dystopia: Music, Mobility, and the Jewish Community in Germany, 1945-1989 by Tina Frühauf.

About the book, from the publisher:

By the end of the Second World War, Germany was in ruins and its Jewish population so gravely diminished that a rich cultural life seemed unthinkable. And yet, as surviving Jews returned from hiding, the camps, and their exiles abroad, so did their music. Transcending Dystopia tells the story of the remarkable revival of Jewish musical activity that developed in postwar Germany against all odds. Author Tina Frühauf provides a kaleidoscopic panorama of musical practices in worship and social life across the country to illuminate how music contributed to transitions and transformations within and beyond Jewish communities in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

Drawing on newly unearthed sources from archives and private collections, this book covers a wide spectrum of musical activity-from its role in commemorations and community events to synagogue concerts and its presence on the radio-across the divided Germany until the Fall of the Wall in 1989. Frühauf's use of mobility as a conceptual framework reveals the myriad ways in which the reemergence of Jewish music in Germany was shaped by cultural transfer and exchange that often relied on the circulation of musicians, their ideas, and practices within and between communities. By illuminating the centrality of mobility to Jewish experiences and highlighting how postwar Jewish musical practices in Germany were defined by politics that reached across national borders to the United States and Israel, this pioneering study makes a major contribution to our understanding of Jewish life and culture in a transnational context.

Visit Tina Frühauf's website.

The Page 99 Test: Transcending Dystopia.

--Marshal Zeringue