Sarah Gale is a seamstress and convicted murderer awaiting execution in Newgate Prison. She was tried for assisting her boyfriend, James Greenacre, in the killing of another woman and has lost her case against the Crown. With only a few weeks until her sentence is carried out, Edmund Fleetwood, a barrister, is assigned to review…
This is the first book I’ve read by Alex Grecian, though it is the fifth in the series that began with The Yard. [I tried to read The Harvest Man (#4) but I just could not get into it.] The novel begins with the escape of a nameless man and for a few chapters the reader isn’t…
Author Benjamin Wood seems to find his stories among the desperately brilliant and talented, who can’t seem to get a handle on their own intelligence. In The Bellwether Revivals, his characters get themselves into trouble because Cambridge somehow isn’t intellectually stimulating enough. Wood’s characters are continually grappling with the anxiety of influence, paralyzing themselves entirely.…
You can now see beautiful country walks in England on Google Street View. A view of the Margate Shell Grotto, a mysterious garden folly. If only flying were still as luxurious as Pan Am advertised. It’s always nice to know that sometimes the NY Times makes mistakes too. Ken Adams, giant of vast film set design,…
In the mid 18th century, Caroline Herschel became the first woman to discover a comet. Sister of noted astronomer William Herschel, she had no rigorous formal education — only a curious mind and a supportive brother. Caroline — Lina — and William were two of eight children and were raised in Hanover, Germany. Their father…