My review of The Girls in the Stilt House is for the novel by Kelly Mustian that appeared in 2021. It’s the story of Ada and Matilda, two young women who grow up poor in 1920s Mississippi. The young ladies live on the Natchez Trace in a swampy area (that’s why the house needs stilts) […]
Month: July 2022
Nessie the Loch Ness Monster? A Quick History of the Nonsense
It’s likely you’re familiar with Nessie the Loch Ness Monster. Or, should I say, the hoax that some kind of creature inhabits Scotland’s Loch Ness. But this historical hoax actually goes back quite a ways. This makes it a subject of historical inquiry, even if Nessie the Loch Ness Monster is as real as elves […]
The Last Rose of Shanghai – Rob’s Latest Book Review
I had high hopes for The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel. High enough that I semi-broke one of my personal rules, which is to avoid World War 2 historical fiction. Why do I avoid World War 2 books? Because they’re so ubiquitous. Every writer has a World War 2 novel, it seems. […]
Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial – History’s Most Famous Concert?
Truly, history’s most famous concert is a matter for debate. But the performance of Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial on April 9 of 1939 was memorable for a host of reasons. Anderson, a world-famous contralto, sang before an audience estimated at 75,000 on Easter Sunday that year. It’s a performance still remembered today. What […]
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire – Why Does This Tragedy Matter?
Take a look at the following photographs. They come from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911. The first looks unexceptional, perhaps. A building is on fire. But the second show the rest of the story—the bodies you see are young women who had to jump from the building to escape the flames. This is […]