Archive for December, 2013
THE PARIS ARCHITECT by Charles Belfoure
It is Paris in the spring of 1942. Paris, the glorious “City of Lights” is even more wondrous in the springtime….but not for the French, not in 1942. It is the second year of the victorious Nazi occupation, and the French are struggling to get by. There are economic problems with the payment of the costs of a three-hundred-thousand strong occupying German army, which amounts to twenty million Reichmarks per day; lack of food for French citizens – the Germans seize about 20% of the French food production, which causes severe disruption to the household economy of the French people; the disorganization of transport, except for the railway system which relies on French domestic coal supplies; the Allied blockade, restricting all imports into the country; the extreme shortage of petrol and diesel fuel; (one walks or rides a bike); France has no indigenous oil production and all imports have stopped; labor shortages, particularly in the countryside, due to the large number of French prisoners of war held in Germany. And then there was the Jewish problem.
December 8, 2013
· 
Judi Clark · 
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Tags: 1940s, Holocaust, Paris, Sourcebooks Landmark, Time Period Fiction, War Story, WWII · Posted in: Debut Novel, Facing History, France
THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS by Elizabeth Gilbert
From the opening pages, it is evident that Gilbert can write with lyricism, confidence, and substance. I was afraid that her mass popularity would lead to a dumbed down book with pandering social/political agendas or telegraphed notions. I am thrilled to conclude that this was not the case. Gilbert is a superb writer who allows her main characters to spring forth as organically as the natural world that they live in.
December 5, 2013
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 19th-Century, Elizabeth Gilbert', Nature, Time Period Fiction, Viking · Posted in: Character Driven, Facing History, Family Matters, Reading Guide, United States, US Mid-Atlantic
MURDER AS A FINE ART by David Morrell
MURDER AS A FINE ART by David Morrell is one of the best mystery books I’ve read this year. It is historically based, taking place in the nineteenth century. As some of you may know, Morrell is best-known for his book, First Blood, upon which the the Rambo movies are based. Murder as a Fine Art is very different from his first writings. It is literary fiction and page-turning at its best.
December 3, 2013
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: Mulholland, Real Event Fiction, Real People Fiction, Time Period Fiction · Posted in: Character Driven, Facing History, Literary, Mystery/Suspense
