Two books by Rosemary Sutcliff

Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad ~ by Rosemary Sutcliff, 2005, YA historical fiction (Greece), 151 pages

As the gods and goddesses of Olympus scheme, the ancient world is thrown into turmoil when Helen, the most beautiful woman in all of Greece, is stolen away by her Trojan love.  Inflamed by jealousy, the Greek king seeks lethal vengeance and sends his black war ships to descend on the city of Troy.  In the siege that follows, history’s greatest heroes, from Ajax to Achilles to Odysseus, are forged in combat, and the brutal costs of passion, pride, and revenge must be paid.  In the end, the whims of the gods, the cunning of the warriors, and a great wooden horse will decide who emerges victorious.

Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time and Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling of the classic saga embodies all of the drama, romance, and intrigue of ancient Greece.

The Silver Branch ~ by Rosemary Sutcliff, 1957, YA  historical fiction (Roman Britain), 184 pages

This is a tale of loyalty, honor, and sacrifice as violence and unrest sweep through Roman Britain.  Amidst the chaos, two cousins, Justin and Flavius, find themselves entangled in a plot to overthrow the Emperor.  Fearing for their lives, they gather a tattered band of men and lead them into the thick of battle, deter-mined to defend the honor of Rome.  But time is running out.  Can they save the Emperor before it's too late?  Rosemary Sutcliff weaves a gripping story of courage, friendship, and the struggle for power in a turbulent era.  If you want to join Justin and Flavius' quest to save the Emperor, get a copy of this book.

Bonnie's comment

I just heard of this writer and checked with my closest bookstore to see if they had a copy of that book.  No, not that one, but they had these two books by her, so I got both of the Sutcliff books they had.

Historical fiction about glassblowers

The Glassmaker ~ by Tracy Chevalier, 2024, historical fiction (Venice), 416 pages

This story follows a family of glassmakers from the height of Renaissance-era Italy to the present day.  It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade.  Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers on Murano, the island revered for the craft.  As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass — but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision.  When her father dies, she teaches herself to make glass beads in secret, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.

Skipping like a stone through the centuries, in a Venice where time moves as slowly as molten glass, we follow Orsola and her family as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague devastating Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the domination of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists.  In every era, the Rosso women ensure that their work, and their bonds, endure.

"This charming fable is at once a love story that skips through six centuries, and also a love song to the timeless craft of glassmaking.  Chevalier probes the fierce rivalries and enduring loyalties of Murano's glass dynasties, capturing the roar of the furnace, the sweat on the skin, and the glittering beauty of Venetian glass." – Geraldine Brooks, author of Horse

Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glass Maker is as inventive as it is spellbinding:  a mesmerizing portrait of a woman, a family, and a city as everlasting as their glass.  Named a Best Historical Novel of 2024 by The Sunday Times, The Independent, and BookPage.

1. On Monday, I wrote about weird things said in bookstores, HERE.
2. On TWOsday, my book was about the etiquette of calling and the etiquette of visiting during the late 1800s, HERE.
3. Wednesday's Word was "morality" with a book about people being moral animals, HERE.
4. My Thursday Thoughts were about a book for our Crown Center library, HERE.
5. On Friday, my book beginnings choice was Relative Strangers by A. H. Kim, HERE.

Sunday Salon is hosted

by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Beginning ~ with an interview

Beginning (Preface beginning with the 4th sentence)

... in 2013, I spent a couple of hours chatting with Bernie Sanders for an interview ... it was a pleasure ― unfortunately, too rare an experience ― to be with a member of Congress who actually had an informed, complex understanding of the issues facing the people.

The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America ~ by Jonathan Tasini, 2015, 

Meet the essential Bernie Sanders, an authentic and uncompromising champion of the people.  Bernie was an Independent United States  with a thirty-five-year career in public service, first as Burlington, Vermont’s mayor, then as Vermont’s sole representative to Congress, and then as a United States senator.  He was campaigning to become president of the United States when this book was published a decade ago.  His goal was to build a movement to take back our country from the rich and powerful, and return it to its rightful owners ― the American people.  (I also noticed that 75% of the people who commented on Amazon gave this book a 5-star rating.)

Wikipedia:  "Bernard Sanders (born September 8, 1941) is an American politician and activist serving as the senior United States senator from Vermont, a seat he has held since 2007.  He is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history, but maintains a close relationship with the Democratic Party, having caucused with House and Senate Democrats for most of his congressional career and sought the party's presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020.  Sanders has been viewed as one of the main leaders of the modern American progressive movement."

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Beginning ~ with Mom being evicted

Beginning of Chapter 1

They're throwing Mom out of the house.  It would be nice if you could come home to support her.

Relative Strangers ~ by A. H. Kim, 2024. literary fiction, 352 pages (including a Reader's Guide with ten questions)

From the acclaimed author of A Good Family comes a family drama featuring two half-Korean sisters, their ex-hippie mother, multiple messy love affairs, and one explosive secret that could ruin everything.

Amelia Bae-Wood’s life is falling apart.  Unemployed, newly single, and completely broke — for reasons she hasn’t told anyone yet — she finds herself hitchhiking across California to deal with the fallout of her mother’s eviction from the family estate.  Amelia needs somewhere to live and time to figure out what to do with the rest of her life, so moving with her mother and sister to Arcadia, the cancer retreat center where her sister volunteers, seems like as good an idea as any.

Amelia’s sister, Eleanor, has too much on her plate, including being caught up in a court battle with a man who claims to be their half brother from Seoul and their late father’s only son — a secret love child from his Korean youth — who is fighting for a piece of everything that belongs to the Bae-Wood women.  And when Amelia adds herself to Eleanor’s list of problems, Eleanor must figure out what to hold on to — and when to let go — before things start to unravel.

An enormously entertaining retelling of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, the sisters’ journey of self-discovery as they reshape their lives gives this classic tale a modern, feminist twist, as it touches on themes of blended families, race, class, and wealth.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thoughts about a book for our CC library

Teddy ~ by Emily Dunlay, 2024, historical fiction (Italy), 320 pages

This debut novel is set in glamorous Rome, which follows the free-spirited wife of an American diplomat as she desperately tries to contain a scandal of her own making.  It is the summer of 1969, and Rome is awash with glamour and intrigue:  the stars of Cinecittà are drinking and dancing along the paparazzo-lined Via Veneto, where royalty, American expats, and the occasional Russian spy rub shoulders.

Teddy Huntley Carlyle has just arrived in Italy from Dallas, Texas, eager for a fresh start with her new husband, a diplomat assigned to the American embassy there.  After years of “spoiling like old milk,” in the words of her controlling, politically-minded uncle, Teddy vows to turn over a new leaf.  She will be the soul of discretion; she will be conservative, proper, and polite.  She will be her most beautiful, luminous self, wearing the right clothes and the perfect lipstick, and she will be good.  She will charm her husband’s colleagues at the embassy, and no one will have a word to say against her.

Teddy keeps her promise, more or less — until the Fourth of July, when her new life explodes as spectacularly as the colorful fireworks lighting the Roman sky over the embassy grounds.  Now, Teddy is in the middle of a mess that even her powerful connections and impeccable manners can’t contain.

Thoughts:  When I was choosing books to add to our library collection, this seemed like the kind of book the retirees here like to read.  If you've read it, please tell me what you thought about it.

Why we are the way we are

The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Life ~ by Robert Wright, 1994, psychology, 486 pages

Are men literally born to cheat?  Does monogamy actually serve women's interests?  These are among the questions that made The Moral Animal a provocative book.  Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics — as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies.  An online review mentioned these points:

• Why are ants so selfless? 
• Why are boys so competitive?
• Why is a wife’s infidelity more likely to break up a marriage than a husband’s?

Word for Wednesday

mo·ral·i·ty / məˈralədē / noun = principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.  Example:  "The matter boiled down to simple morality:  innocent prisoners ought to be freed."

Yes, I'm making fun of this book

The Essential Handbook of Victorian Etiquette ~ by Thomas E. Hill, 1994, humor, 128 pages

Let me say first that the title page shows the book is by PROFESSOR Thomas E. Hill.  I suspect he considered that title to be very important.  The copyright page says this edition was adapted directly from material written and published by Professor Hill between 1873 and 1890.

They didn't have telephones until 1876, so people couldn't text or call before going to someone's home in person.  Thus, when Prof. Hill wrote about the etiquette of "calling" in one section, he meant a short visit on a single day.  When he wrote the section on "visiting," he meant showing up to stay there with the home owners.  Here are the first sentences of those sections:

• THE ETIQUETTE OF CALLING.  It is customary, according to the code of etiquette, to call all the hours of daylight morning, and after nightfall evening.
• THE ETIQUETTE OF VISITING.  Before making a visit, you  should be perfectly certain that your visit will be agreeable.

We have to remember that they didn't have motels nearby where "visitors" could stay.  How would you like it if a relative or friend showed up one day expecting you to feed and house and entertain them for however long they want to stay?  In the section on "visiting," he mentions visitors "tarrying for weeks" (p. 36).