REVIEW: THE BAT by Mary Roberts Rinehart

I am so excited to tell people about this book.  It’s witty and campy at the same time.  It belongs firmly in the “B” or pulp category — but deliciously so.  Reminiscent of the smart, slapstick movie Clue, it is just plain fun. Older (but not elderly) Miss Cornelia is of New York blue-blood stock.  She…

REVIEW: THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI by Helene Wecker

In the turn-of-the-century New York City, a Syrian tinsmith names Arbeely is repairing a copper flask, when he unwittingly releases a jinni.  The spirit has been captive an untold number of decades, unable to enjoy the freedom he once enjoyed.  The tinsmith, stunned, takes in the wayward jinni.  He gives him a cot and the…

REVIEW: THE CHAPERONE by Laura Moriarty

For this one, you have to think back, imagine a time when Victorian mores hadn’t yet lost their grip.  For women, hair was still worn long (as were skirts – no pants), yet they were about to win the right to vote.  There was a constant tug between the past and the future.  It must…