Monday Moments - The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

 cover blurb  London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society, with a single  goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second-class citizens by their male counterparts.  Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy plan to solve an actual murder, a young woman found strangled in a park in France. 

Marie Benedict writes a lark of a novel, The Queens  of Crime. From start to finish, this book is daring fun. She captures the voices and bearing of strong women.  They use their own writing process and inhabit  their particular detective characters to think through the murder of this young nurse. They are appalled at the  lack of police attention.  But  they are not shocked that high  levels  of British establishment are involved.

This book was inspired by a true story in  Dorothy Sayers's own life. Benedict does a superb job of  showing strength in numbers when it comes  to the clever brains  and determination of  these successful women.  And she keeps  us guessing from start to finish as clues, red herrings, and more keep  the pages turning. 

Very, very fun find  at my library. 

Monday Moments - The First Ladies

 What a nice surprise treat!  The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray gives us a novel insight into the friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. Two women. What's so strange about this?  Well, back in 1927 this was the beginning of a life long friendship between a white woman and a black woman. (Swoon!)

Frankly, as I read this book, I did keep shaking my head. The segregation. The ridiculous treatment of Dr. Bethune is beyond fathom.  And yet, sadly today, still a bit current. From then, through the 1930s, the 1940s (WWII), and 1945 - the UN Charter these women grew to work together, to appreciate each other, and truly make life better for so many. 

I love how this book gives equal story opportunity to both characters.  We all feel we know quite a bit about First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a force to be reckoned with and worked hard on so many causes in the shadow of her husband FDR.   Mary McLeod Bethune is less well known, but should be. An activist and educator, she is a person to admire. 

Their friendship formed the foundation for the modern civil rights movement. 

Kudos to the author - one  white,  one black. Their  melded chapters flowed and like The Personal Librarian (another genius book) they truly give us a story for the ages.  Please read The First Ladies - learn and appreciate an amazing piece of history in novel form. 

Finally Friday - PA Book Club Zoom

 cover blurb - She possessed a stunning  beauty.  She also possessed a stunning mind. Could the world handle both?

 She fled the Third Reich, and the whirlwind escape landed her in Hollywood. She became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.

But she kept a secret even more shocking than her heritage or her marriage: she was a scientist. And she knew a few secrets about the enemy. She had an idea that might help the country fight the Nazis...if anyone would listen to her. 

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict explores an amazing life - a fictionalized version of Hedy Lamarr's life. She was a young Jewish woman who married Fritz Mandl, an armaments manufacturer. She hosted Nazis in their castles. She fled, became a famous Hollywood actress, all while designing a frequency hopping invention, a precursor to spread spectrum technology. 

I had hoped for more from this book. The writing and story line almost had a soap opera tone, in my opinion. A lot of chapters established her beauty and life with Fritz - a very controlling man. Then once in  Hollywood, the writing offered a lot of hand wringing and guilty dread for her life. I would have liked more on the science breakthrough that was so brilliant. Indeed, she was born at the wrong time to be taken seriously. 

It's quite a tale and quite a life. There was just a missing element in the writing for me. Tonight my PA book club friends discuss the book on Zoom. I'll be curious to  hear their thoughts. 

Monday Moments Book Review - The Personal Librarian

 Wow and wow

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray kept me captivated for a weekend.  I tore through this book and savored the writing, the characters, and the impressive amount of research the authors did to keep this book  so authentic. Kudos. 

Belle da Costa Greene is a black woman passing as white in the 1900s.  She's brilliant in the world of art, books, and negotiating.  As  THE personal  librarian for J.P. Morgan, she  helps build and curate an impressive world of rare manuscripts, books, and  artworks for the new Morgan Library. 

Her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating made this a world class collection. 

Her secret is the story. 

Trust me. Just read this book and learn and appreciate an amazing woman.  Who cares  about her color? At that  time, she was a woman beyond it all.   Wow and wow and wow.