Ten top fictional headmistresses

Esme Kerr went to ten schools and studied History at Oxford and Cambridge. The Glass Bird Girl and Mischief at Midnight are the first two boarding school mysteries in her Knight’s Haddon series.

One of her top ten fictional headmistresses, as shared at the Guardian:

Miss Pinkerton in Vanity Fair by William Thackeray

It is at the “majestic” Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for Young Ladies, set behind a “great iron gate” on Chiswick Mall, that we find Becky Sharp at the start of Vanity Fair, having just completed her studies and preparing to set out for the grander horizons of Russell Square. To her reverent admirers, Miss Pinkerton is “the Semiramis of Hammersmith, the friend of Doctor Johnson, the correspondent of Mrs. Chapone herself”; to Becky she is a tiresome old bore. Life at the academy is a daily “battle between the young lady and the old one”, and when Becky finally escapes she takes the dictionary Miss Pinkerton’s sister has given her, and throws it from the window of her coach.

Read about another entry on the list.

Vanity Fair also appears on a list of five books that changed Vikram Chandra, Joanna Trollope's six favorite books list, Maddie Crum's top ten list of fictional characters who just might be psychopaths, Allegra Frazier's list of five of her favorite fictional gold diggers, John Mullan's list of ten of the most memorable governesses in literature, Stella Tillyard's list of favorite historical novels, John Mullan's lists of ten of the best fat men in literature and ten of the best pianos in literature, and Thomas Mallon's list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Wendy Sand Eckel's "Murder at Barclay Meadow"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Murder at Barclay Meadow by Wendy Sand Eckel.

About the book, from the publisher:

Rosalie Hart's world has been upended. After her husband confesses to an affair, she exiles herself to her late aunt's farmhouse on Maryland's Eastern Shore. With its fields untended and the house itself in disrepair, Barclay Meadow couldn't be more different than the tidy D.C. suburb she used to call home. Just when Rosalie feels convinced things couldn't get any worse, she finds a body floating in her marsh grasses. When the sheriff declares the death an accident, she becomes suspicious. The dead girl, Megan, reminds her of her own daughter, who has recently gone off to college, and she feels a responsibility to find out the truth.

Rosalie confides her doubts to her friends in her creative writing class, and they ask to join her investigation, beginning the search in earnest. Meanwhile, Rosalie works on restoring Barclay Meadow to its former glory-with help from the rugged Tyler Wells, a farmer who once leased the land. When Rosalie discovers her aunt's favorite bread recipe on a yellowed index card, she begins baking, and with her deep love for nourishing others rekindled, she starts to feel alive again. But as she zeroes in on the truth about what happened to Megan, she begins getting ominous threats. Determined to get justice for Megan and protect the new home she's begun to build for herself, Rosalie races to catch the killer in this deftly plotted and heartwarming debut.

Visit Wendy Sand Eckel's website and Facebook page.

The Page 69 Test: Murder at Barclay Meadow.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Benjamin Johncock reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Benjamin Johncock, author of The Last Pilot: A Novel.

His entry begins:

I just finished what is my book of 2015 so far: Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg. It’s a fictional reconstruction of the life of Mazie Philips, who grew up on New York’s Lower East Side during the Jazz Age. She worked the ticket booth of The Venice in the Bowery, and was well-known locally. When the Great Depression hit, it stirred something in her to help out the homeless men she...[read on]

About The Last Pilot, from the publisher:

"Harrison sat very still. On the screen was the surface of the moon."

Jim Harrison is a test pilot in the United States Air Force, one of the exalted few. He spends his days cheating death in the skies above the Mojave Desert and his nights at his friend Pancho's bar, often with his wife, Grace. She and Harrison are secretly desperate for a child-and when, against all odds, Grace learns that she is pregnant, the two are overcome with joy.

While America becomes swept up in the fervor of the Space Race, Harrison turns his attention home, passing up the chance to become an astronaut to welcome his daughter, Florence, into the world. Together, he and Grace confront the thrills and challenges of raising a child head-on. Fatherhood is different than flying planes-less controlled, more anxious-however the pleasures of watching Florence grow are incomparable. But when his family is faced with a sudden and inexplicable tragedy, Harrison's instincts as a father and a pilot are put to test. As a pilot, he feels compelled to lead them through it-and as a father, he fears that he has fallen short.

The aftermath will haunt the Harrisons and strain their marriage as Jim struggles under the weight of his decisions. Beginning when the dust of the Second World War has only just begun to settle and rushing onward into the Sixties, Benjamin Johncock traces the path of this young couple as they are uprooted by events much larger than themselves. The turns the Harrisons take together are at once astonishing and recognizable; their journey, both frightening and full of hope. Set against the backdrop of one of the most emotionally charged periods in American history, The Last Pilot is a mesmerizing debut novel of loss and finding courage in the face of it from an extraordinary new talent.

Visit Benjamin Johncock's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Last Pilot.

Writers Read: Benjamin Johncock.

--Marshal Zeringue

Judy Brown's "This Is Not a Love Story," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: This Is Not a Love Story: A Memoir by Judy Brown.

The entry begins:

Having grown up in ultra-orthodox Jewish community where movies, TV and any medium connecting one to the mainstream cultural world was forbidden, I do not know enough to fantasize about who would theoretically play the characters of my book should Hollywood come calling. I am sure there are many talented actors and actresses who could play the parts of the various Chassidim that fill my story. They would...[read on]

Visit Judy Brown's website.

My Book, The Movie: This Is Not a Love Story.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five timeless old-school thrillers

Jeff Somers is the author of Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books, Chum from Tyrus Books, and We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well.

At B & N Reads Somers tagged five old-school thrillers that would be hits today, including:

The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth

The Cold War politics of this classic thriller are long gone, but Forsyth’s novel (which won the 1972 Edgar Award for Best Novel) still carries the punch of a meticulously researched story set in a very real world. It’s a novel of agonizing anticipation: first, as we follow the slow, careful preparations and planning of the titular Jackal, hired to assassinate the President of France; then as we follow along with the equally painstaking detective work of the man charged with identifying the Jackal as time runs out. The twin stories of detective and assassin remain separate right up until the moment the Jackal takes his shot, and it’s this element of cat-and-mouse between a devious killer and a brilliant agent—plus the elevated stakes of global politics—that make this a book that stills resonate today.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Day of the Jackal is among Sam Bourne's five favorite classic thrillers and Christopher Timothy's 6 best books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Peter A. Shulman's "Coal and Empire"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Coal and Empire: The Birth of Energy Security in Industrial America by Peter A. Shulman.

About the book, from the publisher:

Since the early twentieth century, Americans have associated oil with national security. From World War I to American involvement in the Middle East, this connection has seemed a self-evident truth. But as Peter A. Shulman argues, Americans had to learn to think about the geopolitics of energy in terms of security, and they did so beginning in the nineteenth century: the age of coal. Coal and Empire insightfully weaves together pivotal moments in the history of science and technology by linking coal and steam to the realms of foreign relations, navy logistics, and American politics. Long before oil, coal allowed Americans to rethink the place of the United States in the world.

Shulman explores how the development of coal-fired, ocean-going steam power in the 1840s created new questions, opportunities, and problems for U.S. foreign relations and naval strategy. The search for coal, for example, helped take Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan in the 1850s. It facilitated Abraham Lincoln’s pursuit of black colonization in 1860s Panama. After the Civil War, it led Americans to debate whether a need for coaling stations required the construction of a global island empire. Until 1898, however, Americans preferred to answer the questions posed by coal with new technologies rather than new territories. Afterward, the establishment of America’s island empire created an entirely different demand for coal to secure the country’s new colonial borders, a process that paved the way for how Americans incorporated oil into their strategic thought.

By exploring how the security dimensions of energy were not intrinsically linked to a particular source of power but rather to political choices about America’s role in the world, Shulman ultimately suggests that contemporary global struggles over energy will never disappear, even if oil is someday displaced by alternative sources of power.

Learn more about Coal and Empire at the Johns Hopkins University Press website.

Writers Read: Peter A. Shulman.

The Page 99 Test: Coal and Empire.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Wallace Stroby reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Wallace Stroby, author of The Devil's Share.

His entry begins:

I’d been meandering back and forth between four different books lately – including two short story collections – without any of them capturing my undivided attention. That ended when I started Gene Kerrigan’s 2011 Dublin-set crime novel The Rage (Europa/World Noir). The novel, Kerrigan’s fourth, follows a just-released ex-con who’s in over his head with an ambitious heist, and a slightly tarnished cop who’s doggedly pursuing a cold case murder. Their trajectories intersect, of course, but...[read on]

About The Devil's Share, from the publisher:

It's been a year since professional thief Crissa Stone last pulled a job, and she's spent that time under the radar, very carefully not drawing attention to herself. That kind of life is safe, but it's boring, and it's lonely, and it's not very lucrative. So when Crissa starts to get antsy--and low on funds--she agrees to act as a thief-for-hire, partnering with a wealthy art collector to steal a truckload of plundered Iraqi artifacts before they're repatriated to their native country. But what's supposed to be a "give-up" robbery with few complications quickly turns deadly. Soon Crissa is on the run again, with both an ex-military hit squad and her own partners-in-crime in pursuit. And what should be the easiest job of her career--robbing a man who wants to be robbed--might just turn out to be the most dangerous.

Learn more about the author and his novels at the official Wallace Stroby website and The Heartbreak Blog.

The Page 69 Test: Gone 'til November.

The Page 69 Test: Cold Shot to the Heart.

The Page 69 Test: Kings of Midnight.

Writers Read: Wallace Stroby.

--Marshal Zeringue

Frankie Y. Bailey's "What the Fly Saw," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: What the Fly Saw by Frankie Y. Bailey.

The entry begins:

I have no one in mind for the role of my protagonist, Hannah McCabe. Even though we have been together for two books (The Red Queen Dies and What the Fly Saw), I have only a general idea of what she looks like. She is tall (around 5’8”), pale brown (biracial, black mother, white father) with brown eyes, curly, somewhat unruly, dark hair with a hint of red (her father had red hair in his youth). She is in excellent physical condition because she’s a cop and works out. But...[read on]

Visit Frankie Y. Bailey's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: What the Fly Saw.

My Book, The Movie: What the Fly Saw.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six top YA novels featuring cross-cultural friendships

Sarah Skilton is the author of Bruised, a martial arts drama for young adults; and High and Dry, a hardboiled teen mystery. At the B&N Teen blog she tagged six top YA books featuring cross-cultural friendships, including:

Burning Man, by Elana K. Arnold

Athletic Ben, a recent high school grad who hails from a small, crumbling mining town in Nevada, is one of the few teens in his area planning to attend college. Torn between leaving home on a college scholarship and abandoning everyone he knows, he is further thrown into turmoil when he meets Lala, a Romani girl who works as a fortune teller at the annual Burning Man festival. Lala is devoted to her family and her culture, and has accepted the fact that her parents have arranged her upcoming marriage. When her life collides with Ben’s, however, she begins to wonder whether a different future is hers to claim.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: Burning.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Benjamin Johncock's "The Last Pilot"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Last Pilot: A Novel by Benjamin Johncock.

About the book, from the publisher:

"Harrison sat very still. On the screen was the surface of the moon."

Jim Harrison is a test pilot in the United States Air Force, one of the exalted few. He spends his days cheating death in the skies above the Mojave Desert and his nights at his friend Pancho's bar, often with his wife, Grace. She and Harrison are secretly desperate for a child-and when, against all odds, Grace learns that she is pregnant, the two are overcome with joy.

While America becomes swept up in the fervor of the Space Race, Harrison turns his attention home, passing up the chance to become an astronaut to welcome his daughter, Florence, into the world. Together, he and Grace confront the thrills and challenges of raising a child head-on. Fatherhood is different than flying planes-less controlled, more anxious-however the pleasures of watching Florence grow are incomparable. But when his family is faced with a sudden and inexplicable tragedy, Harrison's instincts as a father and a pilot are put to test. As a pilot, he feels compelled to lead them through it-and as a father, he fears that he has fallen short.

The aftermath will haunt the Harrisons and strain their marriage as Jim struggles under the weight of his decisions. Beginning when the dust of the Second World War has only just begun to settle and rushing onward into the Sixties, Benjamin Johncock traces the path of this young couple as they are uprooted by events much larger than themselves. The turns the Harrisons take together are at once astonishing and recognizable; their journey, both frightening and full of hope. Set against the backdrop of one of the most emotionally charged periods in American history, The Last Pilot is a mesmerizing debut novel of loss and finding courage in the face of it from an extraordinary new talent.

Visit Benjamin Johncock's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Last Pilot.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Margaret Fortune reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Margaret Fortune, author of Nova.

Her entry begins:

My tastes in reading are quite eclectic and can probably be best described as “whatever happens to catch my fancy.” Fiction, non-fiction, children’s—I’ll read anything that looks interesting. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of genre fiction. When I signed a deal with DAW Books in 2014 for my science fiction series, I decided I wanted to get to know my publishing house better by reading some DAW books. As such, I usually have at least one DAW book on hand these days, among other things.

Right now, I’m in the middle of Seanan McGuire’s Sparrow Hill Road. While I’m only partway through this ghost story, already I’m drawn in by the writing and atmosphere. The prose is truly lovely and used with great effect to build this fascinating twilight world where the living and dead...[read on]

About Nova, from the publisher:

*36:00:00*

The clock activates so suddenly in my mind, my head involuntarily jerks a bit to the side. The fog vanishes, dissipated in an instant as though it never was. Memories come slotting into place, their edges sharp enough to leave furrows, and suddenly I know. I know exactly who I am.

My name is Lia Johansen, and I was named for a prisoner of war. She lived in the Tiersten Internment Colony for two years, and when they negotiated the return of the prisoners, I was given her memories and sent back in her place.

And I am a genetically engineered human bomb.

Lia Johansen was created for only one purpose: to slip onto the strategically placed New Sol Space Station and explode. But her mission goes to hell when her clock malfunctions, freezing her countdown with just two minutes to go. With no Plan B, no memories of her past, and no identity besides a name stolen from a dead POW, Lia has no idea what to do next. Her life gets even more complicated when she meets Michael Sorenson, the real Lia’s childhood best friend.

Drawn to Michael and his family against her better judgment, Lia starts learning what it means to live and love, and to be human. It is only when her countdown clock begins sporadically losing time that she realizes even duds can still blow up. If she wants any chance at a future, she must find a way to unlock the secrets of her past and stop her clock. But as Lia digs into her origins, she begins to suspect there’s far more to her mission and to this war, than meets the eye. With the fate of not just a space station but an entire empire hanging in the balance, Lia races to find the truth before her time—literally—runs out.

Visit Margaret Fortune's website.

The Page 69 Test: Nova.

Writers Read: Margaret Fortune.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Paul Moses's "An Unlikely Union"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: An Unlikely Union: The Love-Hate Story of New York's Irish and Italians by Paul Moses.

About the book, from the publisher:

They came from the poorest parts of Ireland and Italy, and met as rivals on the sidewalks of New York. In the nineteenth century and for long after, the Irish and Italians fought in the Catholic Church, on the waterfront, at construction sites, and in the streets. Then they made peace through romance, marrying each other on a large scale in the years after World War II. An Unlikely Union unfolds the dramatic story of how two of America’s largest ethnic groups learned to love and laugh with each other in the wake of decades of animosity.

The vibrant cast of characters features saints such as Mother Frances X. Cabrini, who stood up to the Irish American archbishop of New York when he tried to send her back to Italy, and sinners like Al Capone, who left his Irish wife home the night he shot it out with Brooklyn’s Irish mob. Also highlighted are the love affair between radical labor organizers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Carlo Tresca; Italian American gangster Paul Kelly’s alliance with Tammany’s “Big Tim” Sullivan; hero detective Joseph Petrosino’s struggle to be accepted in the Irish-run NYPD; and Frank Sinatra’s competition with Bing Crosby to be the country’s top male vocalist.

In this engaging history of the Irish and Italians, veteran New York City journalist and professor Paul Moses offers an archetypal American story. At a time of renewed fear of immigrants, it demonstrates that Americans are able to absorb tremendous social change and conflict—and come out the better for it.

Learn more about An Unlikely Union at the NYU Press website.

Writers Read: Paul Moses.

The Page 99 Test: An Unlikely Union.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top wartime love stories

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen is the author of One Night, Markovitch. One of her top ten wartime love stories, as shared at the Guardian:

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being takes place, partly, during the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact nations in 1968. Historically, the invasion was not considered “a war”. But for the novel’s protagonists, it was a declaration of war on the freedom to think, to act, to love. Kundera interweaves his characters’ love lives with their reaction to the brutal invasion, and presents a philosophical yet erotic tapestry.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is one of Olen Steinhauer's six favorite books. Lee Child called The Unbearable Lightness of Being "his private pick for the 20th–century novel that will live the longest." John Mullan includes it among ten of the best visits to the lavatory in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Sara Nickerson & Pico

Featured at Coffee with a Canine: Sara Nickerson & Pico.

The author, on how she and Pico were united:

My husband and youngest son were walking back from the park. They passed our local pet store, where an adoption event was taking place – mostly Chihuahuas sent up from California. The sign on Pico’s crate said, “Four year old Chihuahua mix – crate and house trained, good with cats and kids.” And there was just something sweet about him. My husband called me and said, “There’s a nice Chihuahua here.” My husband is more of a Retriever type, but I’d been talking Chihuahuas since we’d met and I guess I wore him down. And for my son it was love at first sight. I walked up to the pet store and sat with Pico for about an hour. Then I signed some papers and walked him home. He’s...[read on]

About Nickerson's new middle grade novel The Secrets of Blueberries, Brothers, Moose & Me, from the publisher:

Determined to make some extra money, twelve-year-old Missy and her older brother Patrick get summer jobs picking blueberries at a local farm. For Missy, though, blueberry picking quickly becomes about more than just money— it’s the perfect distraction from the fact that her two best friends have gone off to summer camp without her and that her dad is getting remarried. Why can’t everything go back to the way it used to be? Back to normal? But, Missy soon discovers that the summer is full of secrets: the secrets to making her family feel whole again; the secrets to keeping her two best friends from changing and leaving her behind; the secrets of a local farm’s blood feud; and most importantly, the secrets of blueberries.

Author Sara Nickerson infuses warmth and emotion into this relatable story about finding something special within yourself and a place to call your own in even the most tumultuous of times.

Visit Sara Nickerson's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Sara Nickerson & Pico.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jane Lindskold's "Artemis Invaded," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Artemis Invaded by Jane Lindskold.

The entry begins:

Several times in the past, I’ve cheerfully participated in the The Page 69 Test and discussed what I’m reading for Writers Read. However, I’ve always dodged the My Book, The Movie.

There’s a reason for this... I don’t know the names of very many actors. If I’ve liked an actor in a role, I fall for the role, not the actor…

So when people say “Who would you like to play…” I can never think of anyone. My characters look like themselves, not like Humphrey Bogart or Audrey Hepburn.

There’s an added complication to playing the casting game. Artemis Invaded, like many of my works, has animal characters. The two primary ones are Sand Shadow the puma and Honeychild the bear. Even with the increased use of CGI...[read on]

Visit Jane Lindskold's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Thirteen Orphans.

The Page 69 Test: Five Odd Honors.

The Page 69 Test: Artemis Awakening.

Writers Read: Jane Lindskold.

The Page 69 Test: Artemis Invaded.

My Book, The Movie: Artemis Invaded.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Lee Robinson reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Lee Robinson, author of Lawyer for the Dog.

Her entry begins:

I’ve just finished two books which dazzled me for different reasons. Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See is so vividly rendered, so tactile, as we feel the world through the sensibility of the blind girl at its center. This is a book...[read on]

About Lawyer for the Dog, from the publisher:

One of the sharpest attorneys in Charleston, S.C., Sally Baynard isn't your typical southern belle. She's certainly not what her mother hoped she'd grow up to be, especially since she divorced her husband, Family Court Judge Joe Baynard, and his historic family with their historic wealth and historic houses. Maybe Sally was never going to be a proper society lady, but her success as a public defender and family lawyer have been enough for her. She's represented murderers, burglars, drug dealers and lately has taken on some of the thorniest divorces, all cases closed with her Sally Bright Baynard wit, charm and brains.

Or have they? One case she's never successfully closed is her marriage. And when Judge Joe assigns her to one of his divorce cases by appointing her as the Lawyer for the Dog -- Sherman, a miniature schnauzer-- she's forced into close quarters with him again. Juggling the needs of the dog, the angry owners, her amorous but uncommunicative ex-husband, her aging, Alzheimer's-ridden mother, and the expectations of the court is more than Sally could have imagined. And as rascally Sherman digs his way into Sally's heart, he brings along his charming vet Tony, a man who makes Sally question her views on love and marriage.

Visit Lee Robinson's website.

My Book, The Movie: Lawyer for the Dog.

Writers Read: Lee Robinson.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Frankie Y. Bailey's "What the Fly Saw"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: What the Fly Saw by Frankie Y. Bailey.

About the book, from the publisher:

Frankie Bailey introduced readers to an exciting new protagonist in The Red Queen Dies, the first book in the Detective Hannah McCabe mystery series. Now in What the Fly Saw, Hannah and her partner Mike Baxter are back with an even more puzzling case.

Albany, New York, January 2020

The morning after a blizzard that shut down the city, funeral director Kevin Novak is found dead in the basement of his funeral home. The arrow sticking out of his chest came from his own hunting bow.

A loving husband and father and an active member of a local megachurch, Novak has no known enemies. His family and friends say he was depressed because his best friend died suddenly of a heart attack and Novak blamed himself. But what does his guilt have to do with his death? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. The minister of the megachurch and the psychiatrist who provides counseling to church members--do either of them know more than they are saying?

Detective Hannah McCabe and her partner, Mike Baxter, sort through lies and evasions to solve the riddle of Novak's death, while unanswered questions from another high-profile case, and McCabe's own suspicions make for a dynamite crime novel.

Visit Frankie Y. Bailey's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: What the Fly Saw.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top nine unconventional love stories

Laura Barnett is an author and journalist. Her first novel, The Versions of Us, is now out in the UK and will be published in the US in May 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. One of her top nine unconventional love stories, as shared at the Daily Express:

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Like [Anne] Tyler, Elizabeth Strout is interested in ordinary people, living apparently ordinary lives. And, also like Tyler, she manages to uncover all the transient joy and sorrow that such lives contain.

Olive Kitteridge won Strout the Pulitzer Prize in 2009, and was recently turned into a gorgeous HBO mini-series, starring Frances McDormand as Olive, Strout’s cantankerous antihero. Olive’s troubled relationship with her pharmacist husband Henry is the fulcrum around which the book turns, elapsing in a series of loosely connected stories.

It’s not a conventional love story, by any means - not least because the central characters dip in and out of the narrative. But it is a courageous, and wonderfully poignant, examination of a tricky marriage, and the layers of love and resentment and shared experience that underpin it. And there are many other kinds of love, too, to be found among the diverse inhabitants of this small Maine town. Just beautiful.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Monique Laney's "German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie: Making Sense of the Nazi Past during the Civil Rights Era by Monique Laney.

About the book, from the publisher:

This thought-provoking study by historian Monique Laney focuses on the U.S. government–assisted integration of German rocket specialists and their families into a small southern community soon after World War II. In 1950, Wernher von Braun and his team of rocket experts relocated to Huntsville, Alabama, a town that would celebrate the team, despite their essential role in the recent Nazi war effort, for their contributions to the U.S. Army missile program and later to NASA’s space program. Based on oral histories, provided by members of the African American and Jewish communities, and by the rocketeers’ families, co-workers, friends, and neighbors, Laney’s book demonstrates how the histories of German Nazism and Jim Crow in the American South intertwine in narratives about the past. This is a critical reassessment of a singular time that links the Cold War, the Space Race, and the Civil Rights era while addressing important issues of transnational science and technology, and asking Americans to consider their country’s own history of racism when reflecting on the Nazi past.

Visit Monique Laney's website, and learn more about German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie at the Yale University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten Emily Dickinson poems

Nuala O'Connor's latest novel is Miss Emily. One of her ten best Emily Dickinson poems, as shared at Publishers Weekly:

"A Bird, came down the Walk"

This is a poem I studied at school at about the age of ten. It is not as cryptic as many of Dickinson’s poems so it’s perfect for younger poetry readers. Dickinson valued the musicality of words and she loved a hymnal beat. The bird’s ‘frightened Beads’ for eyes and its ‘Velvet Head’ are the sort of recognisable, tactile images that children love. As a child who loved words, ‘plashless’ sang to me and gave me an understanding of the power of originality. I distinctly remember reciting this poem to my four sisters while acting out the part of the bird: hopping sidewise, glancing ‘with rapid eyes’ and finally unrolling my feathers to row away. Read this one to your young friends.

Read about another poem on the list.

Emily Dickinson is one of Ruth Padel's top ten women poets.

--Marshal Zeringue