Some of the best American Library Association meetings have been in the Windy City. The place is full of such history that few authors can resist documenting or imagining more in Chicago. Check your library for these!
City of Scoundrels: The Twelve Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago by Gary Krist. Crown (Random House), 2012.
This book begins July 21,1919 with a blimp exploded over the city and crashed into a bank downtown. It ends with an epilogue in May, 1920. Before 1919, the city was expanding and full of optimism and ambitions. The disaster really made government officials and everyday residents think about their own futures. The case of a missing young girl followed, and then race unrest caused old prejudices to flare into new confrontations. Historical people like Ida Barnett-Wells and Jane Addams make appearances. The baseball scandal and other negative things that happen later are linked to this time period. Much of the book follows the politics swirling around the mayor and the governor, but the parts that focus on the human element captivate.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness
at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson.
Random House, 2003. (Adult Nonfiction).
Much more gripping is this tale of Chicago in the times surrounding the 1893 World's Fair. Alternating with the story of the planning, construction, and hosting of the great exposition, is the story of a murderous doctor who has his own plans for some of the unsuspecting visitors to the city. This book won several awards for its accurate and riveting writing.
Fair Weather by Richard Peck. Penguin, 2003.
(Children's Fiction),
And, no mention of the Chicago World's Fair is complete without this treasure about a thirteen-year-old girl and her siblings who get to visit their aunt and go see the sights. While their "country" mother and their "city" aunt are not close, the children learn about their family and appreciate both. Grandpa almost steals the show though! Richard Peck uses historical details about life at the turn of this century and introduces some of the key figures of the time.
The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe.
Hyperion, VOICE (2012). Adult Fiction.
Beginning with the April, 1912 Titanic voyage of Eulah Allston and her mother, this is really the story of the older sister, Sibyl, who stayed in Boston. Sibyl, her father, and her brother and their world are interesting enough to carry their own stories. From opium dens to seances to war, their experiences blend and merge into rich portraits of time gone by. Fans of Downton Abbey might enjoy this novel.
The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons.Penguin, 2011.
Adult Fiction
In 1938 Vienna, Elise Landau has led a life of privilege with her Jewish family. But, times are changing and Elise signs on with an English country house to become a servant and escape to a safer land. Mr. Rivers and his handsome son, Kit, will change her life forever.
This will appeal to fans of Downton Abbey with life in the big house details, but is a satisfying read about WWII, too. The reference to Rebecca will not be lost on astute readers! The haunting quality of the writing and the young heroine's search for her family pull readers forward toward the conclusion.
The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay. St. Martin's Press, 2012.
(Adult fiction).
De Rosnay is the author of Sarah's Key, the wildly popular adult fiction that combines a modern and a WW II era tale into a readable, haunting novel. Her second novel was A Secret Kept about a brother, a sister, and a family secret. This third novel is full of secrets, too. Set in Paris in the 1860's, it is the story of Rose, an older woman who has outlived her beloved husband and lives in their home on a street that is about to be demolished for new, wider boulevards. Alexandrine, the lovely younger woman who runs the local flower shop befriends Rose and their futures are linked in the city's renovations. While the city looks to the future, Rose remembers the past.
A map on the endpapers and an included photo of the real neighborhood give the fictional story a very real setting. A nod must go to the book's designer for the gorgeous full-color cover which manages to evoke the feeling of the novel and its characters. The chapters alternate with letters from Rose to Armand, from Rose to her daughter Violette, and others. As in her other books, the secrets come out slowly and the action is not fast-paced, but leisurely. In all her books, De Rosnay excels at invoking the atmosphere of Paris and French life. If you're having a staycation this year and longing for Paris, check out her books.
Keeping the House by Ellen Baker. Random House, 2008. Adult Fiction.
Set in 1950's Wisconsin, this is the story of Dolly, a newlywed and new to the town of Pine Rapids. Dolly wants to be a good wife and to "keep house", but she becomes lonely. The ladies of the local quilting group provide tidbits of history about the big, empty house on the hill and the elusive Mickelson family who own it. As Dolly learns more, her present and future collide with their past as both Dolly and her marriage are put to new tests. An interesting look at wives and housekeeping in the 1950's!
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. Simon & Schuster
Touchstone, 2010. Adult Fiction.
Seven-year-old Lavinia is an Irish indentured servant who arrives at a Virginia plantation in 1791. Lavinia is placed with the other servants in the slave quarters. Her voice alternates with that of Belle, the daughter of the master and a slave. Full of quarrels, violence, and an opium-addicted mistress, the big house holds its own lures for Lavinia as she grows to womanhood. As an adult, Lavinia must make choices that affect her own life and the lives of those with whom she has built a family. Not the usual time period for a slavery novel, not the usual master/slave story, but an unusual perspective well-told.
The Red House by Mark Haddon. Knopf Doubleday, 2012.
Adult Fiction.
Wealthy doctor Richard invites his estranged sister Angela's family to vacation with his new wife and her daughter in the English countrside. The whole dysfunctional family situation is taken to new heights through the alternating voices of the eight family members. Teenagers and adults have baggage, prior experiences, and the recent loss of the mother/grandmother adding to the angst.
The characters become real as the narrative proceeds and if the reader keeps the characters straight. No one ends up a stereotype! Haddon is a master at making the ordinary seem extraordinary and helping readers to appreciate the daily little things in our own lives.
If you like this, try Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
Tumbleweeds by Leila Meacham (Adult fiction)
Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group, June, 2012
Sometimes you find an author who connects with her territory and none is better at nailing the quirky Texas accents and regionalisms of speech than Leila Meacham. I have never met the retired San Antonio teacher, but look forward to more of her writing.
In her first novel, Roses, the author takes on a fictitious East Texas area that has to be the Tyler rose area. The book was a long, winding story of friendship, love, and families. Its debut heralded a "Texas Gone with the Wind".
But, in Tumbleweeds, Ms. Meacham is really beginning to strut her stuff! Set in the Texas Panhandle, Tumbleweeds takes on Texas football itself. This story of three friends has a tighter plotting than Roses, and fewer meandering paths to explore. Rather than stopping to smell the roses, the reader is swept up in the direct path of a tumbleweed in a windstorm! The regionalisms of speech are spot-on with such comparisons as a car "going a mite fast" and a woman's pale face to Sheetrock. Native Texans will hear themselves in this book. The complications are tied up rather quickly in the very last chapters, but they are all resolved.
Need a vacation book? Pack this one!
