Dr. Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent: some kind words from Savvy Verse & Wit

My friend Serena Agusto-Cox was an early reader of Dangerous Neighbors, my Centennial Philadelphia novel. She wondered, when she finished reading, about that character William, who plays a secondary role in Neighbors, and when I had in hand finished copies of Dr. Radway—a book in which William stars—I sent one her way.


She writes thoughtfully and kindly here about the story, and on this day, when I'm thinking so much about my city, I am particularly grateful.


Thank you, Serena. A small part of her review is here, below. The whole can be found here.

Kephart brings home the pressure of change and darkness with the
thrumming of the machines, the locomotive commotion, and the constant
mechanization of the city pounding in the background.  While the
industrialization signifies a change and progress that can be beneficial
and create opportunity, there also is the darker underbelly of those
changes that must be dealt with — the corruption and the abuse of those
willing to take advantage of their position and of others.  There is a
keen juxtaposition of this in the characters of Officer Kernon and the
Ledger’s editor Mr. Childs — one who abuses his position to get what he
wants and the other who offers his aid in the form of mentoring and
money to young men in need of guidance.