Cynthia Sally Haggard's Blog: Cynthia Sally's Blog, page 22

THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict, narrated by Suzanne Toren

Döbling Wien Herbst, exhnibited in 1916 by the Secessionist painter Carl Moll (1861-1945). Hedy Lamarr spent her early years on Peter-Jordan Strasse in Döbling.

As the only woman in the room myself during my 15-year career as a cognitive scientist, I was very taken by the premise of this volume. And I was not disappointed, at least in the beginning.

I found Hedy’s abusive marriage to munitions mogul Fritz Mandel compelling, as it portrayed a powerful man who became more and more paranoid about his lovely wife. (Hedy was only 18 when she married him and powerful men never believe they have enough power, as witnessed by the actions of Vladimir Putin.)

What was absolutely astounding was how she managed to escape at the age of only 23.

If I had to quibble with this part of the story it would be with the way the escape was handled. Even though it was enthralling to hear, the author could have created even more tension in that part of the story, by dramatizing it, instead of resorting to reportage.

After we got to Hollywood, things became a lot less interesting, maybe because Hedy’s life – safe in the exclusive bubble of Hollywood movie actors – lacked the edginess of her life as a young Jewish woman in Vienna on the eve of World War Two.

Hedy Lamarr could have achieved so much more had she not been trapped behind that beautiful face, the one she called a ‘mask I cannot remove’ (Rex/The Independent)

It was a great pity, therefore, that author Marie Benedict took the story about Lamarr’s eldest son James at face value, and didn’t dig deeper. As James was born on 9 January 1939, that would have meant that the actress became pregnant with him in April 1938, about six months after she fled her abusive marriage. I would have loved to have known what drew her so quickly to John Loder (the boy’s biological father), why she married Gene Markey instead, and why she went through this whole fictitious charade of claiming that James was adopted when he was, in fact, her eldest son.

The episode about Hedy’s invention was well told but came too late in the novel. It would have been much more powerful if part of that story had been placed at the beginning of the novel as a tantalizing frame, then fed in pieces to readers throughout the novel.

Hedy’s frequency-hopping invention (that is the basis for iPhone technology today) would have allowed torpedos to be both accurate and resistant to jamming signals if, in a typically stupid and heartbreaking way, it hadn’t been turned down by the US Navy, for reasons that are not clear, but seem to have had to do with the fact that Lamarr was female(!)

Four stars.

Click here for your copy of Marie Benedict’s THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM

THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah narrated by Julia Whelan

This is a haunting book about domestic violence and the power of belief set in the remote backcountry of rural Alaska in the 1970s and 1980s.

Leni Allbright is only 13 years old when her father makes the impulsive decision to settle in a shack bequeathed to him by a deceased Vietnam buddy “not far” from Homer, Alaska. Fortunately, they arrive in May, so that even though they are completely unprepared for an Alaskan winter, their kind-hearted neighbors have time to make sure they at least have some chance of survival.

Storm clouds over Alaskan mountains with snow.

This was meant to be a new beginning, but the harshness of 18 hours of darkness and the biting cold sends most folks packing after their first winter. Ernt Allbright, Leni’s father, doesn’t run. But he becomes meaner and more paranoid. And he takes his feelings out on Cora, his wife, and Leni’s mother.

Leni’s mother is like an animal caught in a trap. It is only her belief in her husband’s essential goodness – while he beats her bloody – that prevents her from going insane.

Over the four years that they stay there, Ernt Allbright’s mood doesn’t improve, a fact that sent some readers running away from this book. And even though I see what they mean when they complain that the bad guys are very very bad, and the good ones very good, I think they are being unfair to author Kristin Hannah. For I found her portrayal of Vietnam Vet Ernt Albright compelling and entirely believable. If there is simply no help for a traumatized individual, a POW from the hell of Vietnam, then there is going to be nothing to look forward to in this life either for this person or his family.

I won’t say more so as not to spoil this story for those of you who have not yet read it. Suffice it to say, I did NOT find the plot predictable. Of course, there is tragedy, how could there not be in such a dark tale? But it is not in the way you might think. Five stars.

Buy your copy of Kristin Hannah’s THE GREAT ALONE here

Promos this month (courtesy of BookFunnel)

Book Funnel Promos (including this one) are running THIS MONTH! Grab your copy while you have time by clicking one of the buttons below.

THE END OF CHILDHOOD: What if your Master begins flirting? Would you be able to refuse? A tale about my 5 times grandmother set in 1809 during the Napoleonic wars.

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SHADES OF UNREALITY: What if you arose from your death in 1495 to come back and experience the 21st century? What is a thing? Enjoy this tale of Ontology.

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The way Ken Follett introduces his characters makes you want to know more…(PILLARS OF THE EARTH)

Poster advertising the 2010 TV miniseries based upon the novel

As everyone knows, PILLARS OF THE EARTH is a huge novel that takes place in England over a 50-year period from about 1121 to 1172. The novel begins and ends in violence: It begins with the hanging of a mysterious young man who sings a chanson before they string him up. It ends with the hanging of a thoroughly evil and despicable character as if the author is telling us that this hanging atones for the first one. At the end, as a coda, one of the main characters punishes the King of England for his part in the murder of Thomas à Becket.

Alison Pill as Queen Maud (1102-1167), daughter and heiress of King Henry I of England.

Ken Follett is a masterly writer, and the way he introduces each of the main characters makes the reader want to know more. ELLEN is the woman with striking eyes who curses the people responsible for the hanging of the young man in the prologue. PRIOR PHILIP is shown neatly outmaneuvering an opponent. TOM BUILDER carefully builds a house and stands up for his rights when challenged by his lord and master. WILLIAM HAMLEIGH arrogantly rides his enormous warhorse into a building site and nearly kills a seven-year-old girl. Sixteen-year-old ALIENA impetuously informs her suitor that she will never marry him because all he does is talk about “his dogs, his horses and himself”.

I wasn’t expecting to find so much violence in the novel, so much murdering, pillaging, and raping. But it didn’t seem gratuitous. Anyone who has a feel for the history of the time knows that the 1100s in England was stormy when the country was foundering in a civil war that went on for nineteen years. Needless to say, law and order broke down completely.

But you should not let the violence put you off. Follett has written a masterpiece, with vivid characters, and plot twists and turns that will make you stay up late into the night, (or nurse your insomnia at 5 am), and keep you entertained until the end. Five stars. #kenfollett #pillarsoftheearth #1100sengland

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict narrated by Alana Kerr Collins

Irish Landscape, House and Celtic Crosses

Despite its flaws, I absolutely loved this novel. From the very beginning, I found protagonist Clara Kelley compelling, and I loved the way that author Marie Benedict introduced a flavor of danger into Clara’s life, by having her almost forced to impersonate another young woman, also called Clara Kelley, whom she probably witnessed dying, (knocking her head while the ship pitched and heaved, and being thrown overboard the next day after she’d died from her injuries.)

And so Clara Kelley, a farmer’s daughter from Galway in the West of Ireland has to impersonate Clara Kelley, daughter of impoverished upper-middle-class people from Dublin. Somehow, she managed to pull it off, for four years, until someone made it their business to do a little investigating.

This book had heart. I loved the unflinching descriptions of the poverty of the Irish working poor in Pittsburgh and in Ireland itself. I loved the way that author Marie Benedict conveyed the hopelessness that these people were subjected to, as they were denied access to education, and were at the mercy of unfeeling landlords who took their land (and income) from them.

Interior of the first Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, opened in 1895 in the Oakland neighborhood. Nowadays, it is the main branch.

They literally had no-where to go, unless, of course, they’d had the foresight to send one of their children to the United States, someone who was incredibly smart, incredibly quick, and through her talents (and the encouragement of her master Andrew Carnegie), was able to make an unbelievable sum of money which she used to rescue her family.

It was this same Andrew Carnegie who decided, at the age of 33, for reasons that no-one yet quite understands, to be a philanthropist. And so author Marie Benedict invented the fictional Clara Kelley to give him that motivation. Five stars.

Today is the LAST day for the various promos listed below (courtesy of BookFunnel.)

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FAREWELL MY LIFE: A Dark Historical about a Hidden Murderer…

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LADY OF SPADES: What if the death of your father forces you into marriage with a thug? 

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HAUNTED BY DREAMS: What if you keep having immodest dreams?

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A SURPRISING CURE: What if your wife returned home with a much younger man?

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THE LOST EMPIRE OF ATLANTIS ~ HISTORY’S GREATEST MYSTERY REVEALED by Gavin Menzies read by Gildart Jackson

Having absolutely loved 1421, I had to see what author Gavin Menzies would make of the mystery surrounding Plato’s Atlantis. For some reason, I was not expecting a compelling argument, nor was I expecting his compelling conclusion that Atlantis was actually the island of Crete and its sister island Thera, and the “noble race” that Plato describes was actually the Minoans.

It is no secret that the Minoans were great seafarers. After all, they didn’t guard their palaces at Knossos or Akrotiri, because their fleets dominated the trade in the Mediterranean, keeping anyone thinking of a little piracy firmly in check.

A Minoan Ship with Dolphins. Vector Drawing done in the style of a Minoan Fresco by GregSm. Source: iStock.

Statue on Crete showing Europa sitting on a bull. The bull was the focus of Minoan religious practices. Photo 89775893 / Minoans © Andrei Stancu | Dreamstime.com

But what was a surprise was how far they may have sailed. Nowadays it is commonplace to say that Columbus didn’t discover America. It is obvious to many of us that America has been visited by many people including Vikings, Cornish, Irish, Breton, Welsh, Portuguese, or even Scottish fishermen (who may not always have realized exactly where they were), and not least by the Chinese who may have sent enormous fleets of Chinese junks on successive scientific explorations of the world between 1407 and 1434, as described in author Gavin Menzies’ books 1421 and 1434.

Now author Gavin Menzies posits the rather startling claim that the Minoans may have traveled as far as Lake Superior to mine the incredibly pure copper ore there, which together with Cornish tin was fashioned into bronze.

Dolphin fresco, symbol of Minoan culture, Knossos, Crete. Copyright: https://www.123rf.com/profile_iuliian

Along the way, we learn a good deal, about Bronze Age copper mines, the Gulf Sea Drift, the scatter of stone circles, and the haplogroup X2 which testifies (according to Mr. Menzies’ way of thinking) that the Minoans were trading and living in these far-flung places BEFORE one of the largest volcanic explosions in earth’s history put a sudden stop to all this activity. The date of this explosion is still not known for certain, but recent research (done in the last 10 years) puts it between 1657 and 1546 BCE with a 68.2% probability.

As everyone knows, while an eruption of that size is bad enough, with all the debris ejected into the atmosphere causing the sun to disappear for months on end, provoking crop failure and famine, what really destroyed this civilization so completely was the enormous tsunami that struck Crete, Thera and the surrounding areas of the Mediterranean so forcefully that most to the island of Thera disappeared below the waves, just as Plato describes in his CRITIAS. Five stars.

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We will fight in the forests…

The Slavic workshop Treti Pivni (translated as Third Rooster) has done a remarkable photo series with women and children in traditional Ukrainian headdresses, Vinoks, a traditional and amazingly crafted flower crown, often worn by young women at their weddings. Treti Pivni is made up of photographers, stylists, and makeup artists who have fallen in love with this beautiful decorative tradition.

I hadn’t intended to write about the war in Ukraine, but as the conditions there have deteriorated, as they have become beyond shocking, I decided I couldn’t just ignore what was going on there. 

As I am a writer who loves telling stories, I thought I would make my point in that form.

A piece of ice lying on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal at dawn.

Once upon a time, a fatherless child emerged from an area of harsh mountains. 

He unified his people (no mean achievement for they were warring clans scattered over a huge landmass) and opened diplomatic relations with the Persian Empire (the largest kingdom in the Middle East in its day.) When the Persian Shah executed one of his senior diplomats, he reacted by invading with a force estimated to be between 90,000 and 200,00 men.

Of course, he wanted to exact revenge by capturing the plump cities along the Silken Road so that he could control the trade that flowed the 6,000 miles along its route. 

Capturing these cities made sense. But, in a furious rage, he decided to crush each city to dust and murder every person inside. And not only did he and his men kill each person inside each city, but they also returned a few hours later to murder those few who managed to survive the initial onslaught.

In this manner, Burkara and Samarkand fell to him in 1220, Kyiv (1240), Aleppo (1260) fell to his sons, and Moscow (1382) fell in the twilight years of the empire he founded.

Several centuries later, another fatherless child emerged from a humble village in Austria. He had dreams of being an artist, and when that didn’t work out, he went into politics. During an exceptionally troubled time, he resonated with his people. His charisma and fiery speeches elevated him up into the echelons of power, and eventually, he assumed total control over his country.

When he marched into a demilitarized zone in 1936, people said “Oh dear, that’s a pity.”

When he marched into a neighboring country, he was met with flowers.

When he dismembered a third country, people looked on uneasily. They tried everything they could to negotiate with him, to get him to stop. They took him at his word, believing him to be a gentleman. However, he was a consummate liar who never kept his word.

Finally, when he marched into a fourth country, war was declared. 

By now, I’m sure that all of this seems chillingly familiar. What havoc just one person can wreak if he chooses to, especially if that person is a devilish combination of Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler.

Let us hope that Vladimir Putin either comes to his senses or is forced to do so by the draconian sanctions imposed upon Russia and the tenacity of the Ukrainian people under the brilliant leadership of their president Volodymyr Zelensky.