The Known World by Edward P. Jones , published in 2003, is a richly woven saga set in antebellum South between 1840 and 1860. The central focus is the Townsend family headed by Augustus and Mildred, who are freed former slaves. They have also bought freedom from their white former owner, William Robbins, for their …
Continue reading A novel novel: when blacks were slave owners
"All politics is loco," Senator Ed Markey told a gathering of the New England Council on Monday, paraphrasing a favorite saying of House Speaker Tip O'Neill of Cambridge. Just part of the craziness this week is the President's unilateral decision to activate the California national guard and use active duty Marines to control crowd protests …
Continue reading Markey fights Trump assault on Massachusetts – and beyond
Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell, author of A Woman of No Importance, is another display of the author’s mastery of biography. In this scrupulously researched and documented chronicle, her subject is Pamela Churchill Harriman, a too-often-dismissed woman of consequence. A woman of power and influence, she was, in the 20th century, an even more influential courtesan …
Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, was much anticipated, heavily promoted and widely reviewed. It ended up as a three-day story. More than one person has said, “Why bother? We know what it’s about, and Democrats should be looking ahead, not …
Continue reading Diving deep into the cover-up of Biden’s diminished capacity
Sitting at Fenway Park last week got me to thinking about the mystique of what used to be American’s #1 pastime. The beloved image is of a warm summer night, a gentle breeze blowing the American flag in the direction of home runs. The sport creates a timeless idyll in which , at any moment, …
The War Diaries of Simon Robert Gordon by Constance Gordon Kean is a daughter’s loving tribute to her father’s and mother’s 1940’s romance against the backdrop of a world war. Her father, a sergeant stationed for three years in the Middle East, kept a daily journal, sharing life behind the front lines supporting combat troops …
Continue reading Memorial Day remembrances of fathers at war
Time of the Child by Niall Williams returns us to the setting for his last novel, This is Happiness. We’re deposited back in the rural Irish village of Faha, where the men work hard and douse end-of-workday frustrations at the local bars while their long-suffering wives tend to domestic chores and ride herd on multiple …
To the Midnight Sun: A Story of Exile and Return by Stephen Saletan is another search for one’s own identity by researching a close relative, in this case, Saletan’s Russian-born grandmother, Eda Grigorievna Bamuner. As a child in suburban New York, Saletan spent weekends together and enjoyed a special relationship with her. From the elderly …
Continue reading Learning about ourselves from our families’ pasts
Emily Wilson's 2017 translation of The Odyssey was a very different read for me. I had read a couple of versions of The Odyssey in my younger life. But her fresh translation of Homer came highly recommended, and I decided to give it a try. The destination was the same, but the journey was quite different. …
Continue reading Decoding the Odyssey: a fresh look at an old saga
The azaleas, daffodils and hyacinths are blooming; Passover and Easter celebrate rebirth. Spring blooms, however, are evanescent. We look for more lasting signs of hope, especially in the chaotic political world around us. Dare we see this as such a sign? Harvard University has straightened its institutional backbone and is standing up to Donald Trump. …
Continue reading Spring and a growing handful of stand-ups bring hope
Marjorie Arons-Barron 