SMOKE AND ASHES by Abir Mukherjee

The adventures of Sam Wyndham and Surrender-Not continue in this third installment of the series by Abir Mukherjee. I haven’t read the other two but I had no trouble jumping right into the adventure in 1920s Calcutta. Set in the uneasy era between Queen Victoria’s stabling reign and the uprising of anti-colonial leaders, Sam Wyndham…

Books for Bathtub Gin Drinkers

Two books devoted to that volatile and endlessly fascinating era… Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers & Swells Edited by Graydon Carter Drawing from the best of the Vanity Fair archive, this selection of essays, poems, stories and columns from the early days are a looking glass into the era. Beginning with the days of WWI and into the…

REVIEW: ONE SUMMER by Bill Bryson

Bryson has an uncanny way of approaching his subjects.  Here he looks at human achievements, culture, art and more only during the summer months of 1927.  Using Charles Lindbergh and his historic transatlantic flight as a unifying thread, Bryson also investigates the case of Sacco and Vanzetti, the magical season for the New York Yankees,…

REVIEW: THE IMPERSONATOR by Mary Miley

Simply put, this book is just plain fun. Leah Randall, an accomplished vaudeville performer (and older than she looks) is mistaken for Jessie Carr.  Carr is the heiress to a fortune built by the lumber empire but has been missing for the past seven years.  The uncle who makes the innocent mistake then hatches a…

REVIEW: THE WOMAN BEFORE WALLIS by Andrew Rose

Before Edward took up with American socialite Wallis Simpson, before he gave up the crown and eschewed his duties as the King of England, the young prince was involved in an even more scandalous relationship. A antsy and angsty Prince is assigned to duty in France during WWI.  Seeing as he was poised to take…