Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson

"James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War--the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry--and then moves into a masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities. ...This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War, a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty"  - Amazon 

Normally I wait until I finish a book before I post my thoughts.  But I am now on page 454 of Battle Cry of Freedom (1988) by James M McPherson and this book ends at page 868.  And since I didn't want to allow too much time between posts I decided to write my thoughts now.  

Battle Cty of Freedom is a masterpiece.  Winner of the 1989 Pulizer Prize for History this book covers the American Civil War Era from 1848 - 1865.  I am so glad that I chose to read it because if I had gone with a shorter history book about the Civil War era I know I would have always wondered should I have read Battle Cry of Freedom?  But now I don't have to wonder.  I am reading what many critics regard as the greatest one volume history of the American Civil War era ever written and I agree.

At over 800 pages Battle Cry of Freedom is a long book.  You cannot zip through  it but it's not a chore to read.  James McPherson has done an incredible job of research.   But like all great historians he knows what to include and what to leave out so that Battle Cry of Freedom doesn't get bogged down in statistics and troop movements etc.  McPherson is also an excellent writer who makes history come alive.

If you are curious about the Civil War era, which remains very relevant in today's divided America, Battle Cry of Freedom is the best book out there on this subject.  5 stars for sure

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Moonflower Murders (2020) is the second book in Anthony Horowitz's Susan Ryeland mystery series.  Susan when we first met her in Magpie Murders was living in London and working as an editor at Cloverleaf Books.  Her main client was a bestselling mystery novelist, Alan Conway.  Alan was murdered in the first book and Susan almost died trying to figure out who killed him.  

Susan solved the case and at the end of Magpie Murders moved to Greece with her fiance Andreas to open a small hotel, the Polydorus.  But two years have passed and running a hotel even in a beautiful environment is not all its cracked up to be:

"I found myself starting a new life, and frankly too much of it was hard work. Inevitably, this had had an effect on my relationship with Andreas... In London, Andreas had always been my best friend. Perhaps it was because we weren’t living together that I had always looked forward to seeing him. ..But Crete had trapped us in an altogether different sort of arrangement ... I was already thinking about a way out, even if I wasn’t actively looking for one".

Susan loves Andreas but she misses London, editing and the world of publishing.  Plus the Polydorus is amassing debts.  And then a British couple, Lawrence and Pauline Treherne, arrive at the Polydorus looking for Susan.  Eight years ago a guest at their 5 star hotel was brutally murdered.  His name was Frank Parris and he was murdered on the same night the hotel, Branlaw Hall,  was hosting the wedding reception for the Treherne's daughter Cecily.  

The police arrested one of the employees working at the hotel, Stefan Codrescu, for the murder.  But Cecily Treherne has never believed Stefan was guilty.  And recently Cecily has read Alan Conway's third Atticus Pund novel "Atticus Takes The Case" which is based on the murder of Frank Parris.  Cecily is sure after reading Alan's novel that she knows the real killer.

Lawrence and Pauline Treherne have come to Susan Ryeland knowing she was Alan's editor.  They ask Susan to come to London they will pay her to interview people who knew Frank Parris, were at the wedding and the Treherne's hope Susan will be able to discover what Cecily learned by rereading Atticus Pund Takes The Case.  But Susan tells the Treherne's why not just ask your daughter Cecily?  Because Cecily is now missing.

As  with Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders is a novel within a novel. The first part of the book involves Susan Ryeland travelling to Suffolk, interviewing potential suspects and then sitting down to reread Atticus Takes The Case.  What follows is the entire Atticus Pund novel.

And it's not an exhausting experience. The time period in which Atticus Pund lives is 1950's England.  Atticus has old world charm.  He struck me as a cross between Hercule Poirot and Louise Penny's Armand Gamache. Atticus Pund suffered during the war and he is a very smart, compassionate detective who is under no illusions about human cruelty. 

We read Atticus Takes The Case knowing that the fictional author Alan Conway dropped clues in his book as to who murdered Frank Parris, the case that Susan Ryeland is trying to solve.  I know it may sound a bit confusing but I had no trouble following Moonflower Murders.  The Atticus Pund section of the book was so well done and I liked Susan Ryeland, Atticus' present day detective counterpart as well.  And Andreas, Susan's fiance, is a great guy, a partner in every sense of the word.  A four star read for me.

A Flicker In The Dark by Stacy Willingham

Dr. Chloe Davis the protagonist of A Flicker In The Dark has tried to rebuild her life after living in the shadow of the terrible crimes her father committed twenty years ago.  It has not been easy.  Twenty years ago six teenage girls went missing in Chloe's Louisiana small town.  The girls' bodies were found and Chloe's father was arrested and convicted for their murder.  Chloe was 12 at the time. 

The knowledge that their father was a serial killer has devastated the Davis family ever since.  Chloe's mother has been living in an assisted living facility since the murders, practically comatose.  Chloe's brother Cooper cannot form close relationships.  Chloe is doing somewhat better.  She is 32, a psychologist, and is getting ready for her wedding to Daniel, a great guy who cares about her. 

But not everything is wonderful.  Chloe has a pill dependency.  And then two months before her wedding a young girl in Baton Rouge where Chloe now lives goes missing and then another girl.  And the second girl Lacey was one of Chloe's patients.  History seems to be repeating itself and how will this all end?

My thoughts -  About 80 percent of the way through reading A Flicker In The Dark I was very impressed.  Stacey Willingham is a very talented writer and she does a good job in letting us know what Chloe, her brother Cooper and her mother have gone through these past twenty years trying to rebuild their lives.  And in the case of Chloe's mother never recovering.

Could A Flicker In The Dark be that rare psychological thriller that doesn't flood the zone with twists I wondered?   Granted, the backstory in which Chloe's father killed six teenage girls over one summer is over the top.  But I was hoping that the author knowing the dramatic way she began her novel would understand that more twists weren't needed. 

I had ideas about how A Flicker In The Dark would end.  One ending about who the present day killer would turn out to be I was more in favor of.  Another ending I felt would be heartbreaking but it would be plausible. But the rule now in psychological thrillers is why limit yourself to only one dramatic twist at the end when you can have three or four. 

A Flicker in the Dark has over 70,000  reviews on Amazon.com, most of them 4 and 5 stars. The book has received critical acclaim and the writing is very good..  I just think It could have been a much better novel if the author had been willing to dial it down at the end.  Sometimes less is more.  

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

 "Now, if the letter was to be believed, Vida Winter wanted to tell the truth about herself. This was curious enough in itself, but curiouser still was my next thought: Why should she want to tell it to me?" - Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale 

What to say about The Thirteenth Tale (2006) by Diane Setterfield?  It's a novel about books specifically 19th century Victorian literature, family secrets, guilt and above all it's a novel about sisters, twin sisters.  

The Thirteenth Tale is set primarily in Yorkshire, England and when the novel begins we meet Margaret Lea.  She works at an antiquarian bookstore owned by her father. Margaret has published a few articles in academic journals.  

And then one day she receives a letter from the famous and critically acclaimed author Vida Winter.   Vida is elderly and not in the best of health and is ready to tell her life story to Margaret.

"In the early years they used to try to catch me out. They would do research, come along with a little piece of truth concealed in their pocket, draw it out at an opportune moment and hope to startle me into revealing more. I had to be careful. Inch them in the direction I wanted them to take ... A delicate operation. Their eyes would start to shine, and their grasp on the little chip of truth would loosen, until it dropped from their hand and fell, disregarded, by the wayside. It never failed"

Vida ends her letter by telling Margaret "It is time. Come on Monday. I will send a car to meet you from the half past four arrival at Harrogate Station".

Many biographers and journalists over the decades have tried to get Vida to open up about her life and she never has.  And so why choose Margaret?  The two have never met and Margaret has never written a book or a biography.  That is the mystery at the center of the Thirteenth Tale. 

I won't go further because this is a gripping novel and it's best for readers to follow the story as it unfolds.  A gothic ambiance pervades this book which is perfect for this time of year.  Diane Setterfield is a very talented writer and I want to read more from her.  By the final pages I had tears in my eyes.

Hester by Margaret Oliphant

“Catherine Vernon had come to see with her own eyes that her guests or tenants had arrived, and that they were comfortable. They were relations, which justified the want of ceremony; but perhaps, if they had not been poor, and she had not been their benefactor, she would scarcely, in so very easy a way, with a shawl over her cap, and at an hour not adapted for visits, have made the first call upon them. It is so much easier to be substantially kind than to show that tender regard for other people’s feelings which is the only thing that ever calls forth true gratitude; and perhaps Catherine had not altogether escaped the deteriorating influences of too much prosperity" - Hester

Hester (1883) by Margaret Oliphant begins in the fictional English village of Redborough.  It's the 19th century and the Vernon Bank is a well respected institution that has been owned by the Vernon family for generations.  When grandfather Vernon dies the management of the bank falls to his grandson John.

A few years back it was assumed that John Vernon would marry his cousin Catherine who was smart and dependable. But John married a sweet young woman from outside the family who knew nothing about business and didn't ask questions. 

Catherine was heartbroken since she cared for John but she stayed out of the management of the bank assuming as everyone else did that John was a capable manager.  He was not.  Rumors began to start about John's overspending, mismanagement and speculating.  And one night the head clerk Mr Rule unable to find John went to Catherine who was able to save the bank using her own money as collateral.  

Years later Catherine is the most revered member in Redborough. She is also very generous and decides to build a number of homes on her property inviting her poorer relations to move in rent-free.  Her relatives are grateful but also resentful. Catherine finds it amusing.. She never married and other people's opinions don't phase her. Catherine is very strong in herself. 

But Catherine has one weakness, Edward Vernon. Years ago Catberine rescued Edward, his cousin Harry and Harry's sister Ellen from poverty.  They are all grown now. Edward lives with Catherine.  He manages the bank and Catherine considers him a son. But Edward though he disguises his feelings considers himself in prison. He resents Catherine which is unfair because she has denied him nothing. 

And then Catherine decides to invite Mrs John Vernon and her fourteen year old daughter Hester back to Redborough after John Vernon dies. It's a very generous gesture on Catherine's part since John was the cause of the bank almost failing years ago. But Hester and Catherine do not get along. They are too much alike and as Hester grows into a young woman the dislike between the two women continues until a crisis arrives which will require them to end their coldness towards each other.

I have left out alot that takes place in this book. And as I was reading Hester the novel reminded me a bit of Middlemarch. Hester also has a narrator with a good deal to say about society, class, women's role, the dangers of speculating. But it never feels like preaching. The characters are so well drawn and the writing is top quality. So much so that I am surprised that Hester and it's author Margaret Oliphant aren't better known. I highly recommend Hester. A five star read for me.

Murder On Washington Square by Victoria Thompson

"Washington Square was quiet that evening as Sarah made her way through the Greenwich Village streets toward it. The nurses with their baby buggies were gone, the old men playing chess and checkers and the respectable ladies taking the air had all retired to their homes for supper. Soon night would fall, and the Square would fill again, but with an entirely different class of people. In the darkness, prostitutes would ply their trade, and pickpockets and other thieves would gather to prey on the customers the women would attract. This time was the twilight of the Square, between the respectable and the dissolute, when a gentleman and a lady could meet without attracting too much attention".- Victoria Thompson, Murder On Washington Square

Murder On Washinton Square (2002) is the fourth book in Victoria Thompson's gaslight series of mystery novels and thank you Lark for introducing me to this series.  I have read the first three novels and now the fourth and I haven't lost interest yet.   

These books are set in 1890's NYC and we learn a good deal about what it was like to live back then and the class divisions between high society and the poor.  It's fascinating.  But the reason I keep returning is the detective duo, Sarah Brandt, the nurse midwife and Frank Molloy, the NYC detective.  

When the series begins Sarah and Frank dislike each other and Frank is particularly upset that Sarah keeps interfering with his murder cases.  But Sarah and Frank have great chemistry and by book four they are grudging friends and maybe something more?

And so when Murder On Washington Square begins Nelson Elsworth is in a heap of trouble.  Nelson is a kindhearted young man.  He works in a bank and he is the son of  Mrs Ellsworth, Sarah's next door neighbor and friend.  Nelson has been accused of murdering Anna Blake a young woman who came to his bank looking for a loan so that her mother could have life saving surgery. 

Nelson can't give a loan from the bank but he is touched by Anna's story and gives her $100 out of his own pocket for her mother's surgery.  Weeks later Anna is back.  She tells Nelson she is being evicted from her boarding house and before you know it Nelson is loaning her money to pay her rent.

Nelson visits Anna at her boarding house, one thing leads to another, and a few weeks later Anna tells Nelson she is pregnant.  Nelson proposes marriage but Anna says no.  She will go far away and raise the baby herself but she would appreciate it if Nelson could give her $1,000 so she can get settled.  

And then Anna is found stabbed to death in Washington Square Park.  The police zero in on Nelson Ellsworth.  The tabloids label him a monster and a scoundrel who murdered his pregnant girlfriend.  Nelson and his mother are at wits end.  Sarah who knows Nelson could never have done such a thing offers to help and convinces Frank to assist with the investigation.

But who killed Anna Blake?  Was she even pregnant?.  Frank and Sarah discover that Anna is not the sweet young thing she pretended to be and the list of suspects is long.  I figured out who the killer was but the ending was still a surprise.

There are 27 novels in Thompson's gaslight series and in a few months I will be on to book five.  I would suggest people begin with the first novel Murder On Astor Place but Murder On Washington Squaare was a fun read and it isn't a bad place to begin either.  It can be read as a stand-alone.

Top Ten Tuesday

 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt, hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl, is about the 2025 Fall Books we plan to read.  Here are my ten:

15 Wild Decembers by Karen Powell

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

Cursed To Death by Bill Crider

Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dresier 

Harbour Lights Mystery by Emylia Hall

Destiny of The Republic by Candace Millard

Moonflower. Muders by Anthony Horowitz

Murder On Washington Square by Victoria Thompson

Finished A Place Of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel.  It was wonderful and the ending so moving.  It's the best reading experience I have had all year.