PEARL BUCK IN CHINA : JOURNEY TO THE GOOD EARTH
by Hilary Spurling

When The Good Earth was published in 1931, it became a worldwide bestseller. Depicting the lives of illiterate rural Chinese opened the door between the American and the Chinese worlds. The author would spend the rest of her life cranking out fiction portraying the reality of the Asian people.
Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born in West Virginia in 1892 the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries.
Absalom was a mostly absent father while Carie, who had been an idealistic bride, learned to live without him and manage their ever growing brood.
Before Pearl was even two years old, the entire family moved to China. Pearl would learn to talk from Wang Amah (her nurse), play with the children of neighboring farmers, eat the simple food of the poor and therefore, considered herself to be more Chinese than American. That is until the Boxer Rebellion forced them all to flee. Many more flights would happen before Pearl finally returned to live in the United States.
Hilary Spurling has crafted a magnificently written book. I didn't really know much about Pearl Buck and what is revealed here is absolutely riveting.
Pearl Buck was a woman ahead of her time. Her life was transposed in her writings. This biography has brought her out of the shadows.
Highly recommended.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF WALWORTH : A TALE OF MADNESS AND MURDER IN GILDED AGE AMERICA
by Geoffrey O'Brien

Saratoga Springs, in its heyday, was a tourist destination. Its healing waters brought people there in droves. For the aristocratic, it was an exclusive club.
The Walworth family ruled over by Chancellor Reuben Hyde was the most prominent family that fit right in with the romance of the place. Judge Walworth rose to fame by his legal successes and amassed quite a fortune. While he was virtuous, strict and orderly and ran his home that way, his son, Mansfield, was the complete opposite. Mansfield, who considered himself to be a spectacular writer (pulp fiction) would marry his stepsister Ellen and then later would abuse her, for years, with threatening letters.
In due time, their private lives would become public all because of a shooting.
American Gothic meets Poe. Corruption, religious conflict, madness (all hereditary), marital problems, violence, prisons, asylums.
O'Brien is brilliant in how he sets up the characters with all of their strange personalities and quirks. He effortlessly writes about 19th century New York and holds you spellbound from the first page to the last.
Not to be missed.
Highly recommended.

OPERATION MINCEMEAT : HOW A DEAD MAN AND A BIZARRE PLAN FOOLED THE NAZIS AND ASSURED AN ALLIED VICTORY
by Ben MacIntyre

It was 1943. Hitler assumed that the Allies would target Sicily and that would be the next big attack. In order to throw off this thought, a plan had to be put in place to deceive the Nazis.
Two brilliant intelligence officers put their heads together: Charles Cholmondeley (pronounced "Chumly") of MI5 and Ewan Montagu, a British naval officer. Though opposite in temperament and style, their partnership created quite a tour de force.
The idea was to get a corpse, attach false papers to it of where the invasion would be, then drop the body off the coast of Spain. The Germans fell for it bait hook, line, and sinker.
Ben MacIntyre is a phenom of an author. The details of how a corpse had to be found, creating an identity, how it was to be outfitted, bringing in an imaginary fiance are some of the inventions and facts that MacIntyre writes about flawlessly. Spies, double agents, heroes and scoundrels abound.
If you like intrigue, WWII, behind-the-scenes information, then grab this book. You won't be disappointed.
Highly recommended.

JENNIEMAE & JAMES : A MEMOIR IN BLACK & WHITE
by Brooke Newman

"Most every man be good, but not every man be good for everything."
"You can hide a fire, but what do you do with the smoke?"
"Trouble is what troubles."
"When you dream, that dream is the truth, and when you wake, that truth is nothin' but a dream."
These words of wisdom were constantly spoken by Jenniemae Harrington, an illiterate, black woman from Alabama, who was hired as a maid for the Newman family in 1948. Although devoutly religious, she played and won an illegal lottery ("policy") quite frequently. Her uncanny love of numbers impressed James Newman, who was no slouch in that category. He was a mathematical genius. At the tender age of five he was already considered a prodigy. James would be known as the man who brought the concept of "googol" and "googolplex" to the world.
The friendship and relationship between these two people endured through political upheavals, cultural changes, technological advances, and racial divisions.
The author writes in simple prose about the complexities of her father, her beautiful, intelligent, but tormented mother, Ruth, and Jenniemae who settled the chaos that surrounded the family.
Jenniemae & James is a loving tribute that is both inspiring and compelling. A truly, wonderful book.
Recommended.

LOST RIGHTS : THE MISADVENTURES OF A STOLEN AMERICAN RELIC
by David Howard

The year was 1789. James Madison had just pushed through a Constitution. Citizens were not too happy about it. Freedom of speech and religion were not guaranteed. Back to Congress it went and was debated upon for six days. Finally, the amendments were passed, but they had to be in a separate document. There were fourteen handwritten copies; one for each of the original states and one for the federal government. They would come to be known as the Bill of Rights.
Fast forward to 1865. The Civil War is ending. Robert E. Lee surrenders, Abraham Lincoln is shot, and Sherman's army marches into Raleigh, North Carolina. The Capitol is in shambles. Soldiers have destroyed whatever they could find, which included pillaging, inside the building and have left it in total disarray.
One unknown man walks off with a folded piece of parchment paper.
Lost Rights follows the saga of this document in the course of 138 years. The book is so exciting that it's impossible to put down. The tale involves antique dealers, historians, investors,
manuscript experts, auction houses, attorneys, governors, the FBI, and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Phenomenal research (Sources consists of 24 pages) and superb writing makes for one heck of a read.
Highly recommended.

MY GRANDFATHER'S SON : A MEMOIR
by Clarence Thomas

"Play the hand that you're dealt." "Any job worth doing is worth doing right." These words of wisdom would forever remain fixed in the mind of Clarence Thomas and he would strive to adhere to them his entire life.
Thomas was born in Pinpoint, Georgia and lived in dire poverty (the house was a shanty with no electricity) until he was seven. He and his brother were then sent to Savannah and raised by their grandparents. Myers Anderson (his mother's father) was a very proud man with a strong work ethic who was determined to mold the two boys in his own image. He was Daddy to Thomas as his own father was nonexistent. His grandmother was Aunt Tina who created a loving home for them.
These two people would be his greatest influences as he grew up.
My Grandfather's Son is a tribute to Clarence's grandfather, his hero, who made him the man that he is today. Thomas writes honestly and openly about his life. What is really interesting is how his ideology changed and how much of an individual he is.
I found this book to be awe-inspiring. Clarence Thomas has grit, determination, courage, ambition and integrity.
Highly recommended.

APPETITE FOR AMERICA : HOW VISIONARY BUSINESSMAN FRED HARVEY BUILT A RAILROAD HOSPITALITY EMPIRE THAT CIVILIZED THE WILD WEST
by Stephen Fried

If you mention the name Fred Harvey to most people, the response will be a blank stare. Most of them have no idea that this visionary created this huge hospitality empire in the western half of the United States from the 1870s through the 1940s.
His birthplace was England, but he left, at the age of seventeen, to come to America. Fred's first job was a dishwasher (the lingo at the time was a pot walloper) and he worked his way up acquiring culinary chops at the same time. Always looking forward, Fred knew that he wanted to be a businessman and when the Santa Fe railroad was founded, so was the Harvey House.
Eventually there would be restaurants, hotels, retail shops, newstands and bookstores from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Fred Harvey brought tourism to America.
Appetite for America is brilliantly researched with superb writing. It is jam-packed with trivia and details, such as: background information on Howard Johnson (he was a cigar salesman), George Mortimer Pullman (cabinetmaker and a side business of moving buildings), J. Williard Marriott (started out with an A&W Root Beer stand), how the Harvey Girls, the country's first female workforce began, the Grand Canyon, Native American arts and crafts, plus so much more.
Sixteen pages of photographs grace the pages. There are three appendices which comprise the trip that Stephen Fried took with his wife to look for what remains of Fred Harvey's empire; recipes that the all-star chefs cooked with very precise instructions; a list of all the locations of Harvey's operations, whether the building still exists, is restored, functioning or closed.
Not to be missed. A terrific read.
Very highly recommended.