Midwest Book Review Gives Nod to “Iconoclastic” Book

Title: Damn the Novel

Author: Amr Muneer Dahab
Publisher: AuthorHouse
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403-5161
www.authorhouse.com
ISBN: 9781546271307 

$23.99, Hard Cover, 160pp

Available on Amazon

Reviewed by Jim Cox originally for Midwest Book Review

In "Damn the Novel: when a Privileged Genre Prevails Over All Forms of Creative Writing" Dahab proposes that it is time to extend our reading arena outside the novel and narrative fiction.

As Dahab notes, life is profound and gorgeous; it deserves to be experienced beyond fantasy! So in "Damn the Novel" he asserts an overt condemnation of all forms of privilege granted to a literary genre over other writing genres.

Though "Damn the Novel" could be perceived as a vociferous cry against the novel per se, it is actually an objective view against the process of perpetuating the delusion that the novel specifically, and narrative fiction in general, should inevitably be the most dominating and influential literary trend.

GAmrcDahab,

"Damn the Novel" offers an exciting and challenging reading experience, through which the reader will be able to realize that it is time for literature to embrace a fresh literary atmosphere in which all genres are granted equality to get the same chance to flourish in total freedom without any literary sponsorship.

Critique: An iconoclastic, thoughtful and thought-provoking read from first page to last, "Damn the Novel: when a Privileged Genre Prevails Over All Forms of Creative Writing" is an extraordinary and inherently fascinating literary argument and one that will be of particular interest to writers and readers in general, as well as everyone and anyone who has ever wanted to write 'The Great American Novel' in particular. While very highly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Studies, as well as Writing/Publishing collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Damn the Novel" is also available in a paperback edition (9781546271321, $13.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $3.99).

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too.

Jim Cox Offers "Mindful Reading": "Extraordinary...Insights"

The Art of Mindful Reading
Ella Berthoud
Leaping Hare Press
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1722
Publisher website: www.quartoknows.com
ISBN: 9781782407683

$14.99, Hard cover, 144pp

Reviewed by Jim Cox originally for Midwest Book Review

SYNOPSIS: 

The healing power of reading has been renowned since Aristotle; focus, flow and enlightenment can all be discovered through this universal act.

"The Art of Mindful Reading: Embracing the Wisdom of Words" by bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud embraces the joy of absorbing words on a page, encouraging a state of mind as deeply therapeutic and vital to our wellbeing as breathing.

"The Art of Mindful Reading" poses such questions as: If reading is our daily nourishment how best should it be consumed? How should you read mindfully? And why will reading mindfully help you to read better?

"The Art of Mindful Reading" deftly explores how reading mindfully can shape the person you are, give you your moral backbone, and teaches empathy with others. Through meditative exercises, engaging anecdote, and expert insight, "The Art of Mindful Reading" reveals the enriching potential of reading for mindfulness.

CRITIQUE: 

 As thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is inspired and inspiring, "The Art of Mindful Reading: Embracing the Wisdom of Words" is an extraordinary compilation of insights into the impact literacy has upon character, how what we read shapes who we are. It also subtle underscores the tragedy of functional illiteracy -- that is, the cultural impoverishment of those who can read but choose not to. While unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Art of Mindful Reading: Embracing the Wisdom of Words" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.36).

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ella Berthoud is a bibliotherapist at the international School of Life, prescribing literary cures to readers everywhere. She is the co-author of "The Novel Cure" and "The Story Cure", and read English literature at Cambridge University. Residing in West Sussex, England, Ella regularly gives talks on reading ailments and mindful reading at bookstores and other venues. 

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Alex Phuong Reviews Carol Smallwood's Poetry

Title: Patterns
Subtitle: Moments in Time
Author: Carol Smallwood,. Cincinnati, Ohio
Genre: Poetry, 
2019, 103 pp., 
$19. 
Purchase on Amazon

Review by Alex Phuong originally for BookSmugglersDen

One of the most interesting features of life is patterns that exist all around the world.  Clever designs prepend artistic merit to an otherwise mundane life.  After all, life without vivacity is oftentimes monotonous.  Patterns help people connect with one another because of the universal and fundamental fact that everything is interconnected because of the diversity that defines the world and its inhabitants.  Therefore, Carol Smallwood's newest poetry collection, entitled, Patterns: Moments in Time, once again explores the sublime nature of reality that reveals how life can be truly extraordinary.

Smallwood organizes her poetic masterpieces with a prologue, three sections, and an epilogue that create a gestalt-like collection that proves that the entirety of her collection as a whole greater than the sum of its parts.  Within the prologue, Smallwood addresses how “Driving Into Town” offers the idea of embarking on the mystical journey known as life itself.  Life has been compared to traveling on a road that can be a bumpy ride metaphorically, but Smallwood suggests that reality can be like a cabaret, or as she puts it, “a cocktail party” (4).  The classiness of an elegant party compares life to an experience that must be felt to enjoy what life can offer any given person.  Therefore, Carol Smallwood immediately establishes her assertion that “moments in time” must be enjoyed since time is limited.

Smallwood reiterates the importance of time by acknowledging the cyclical nature of life.  Her poem entitled, “A Dawn Trio” reveals how life operates like clockwork.  Specifically, she capitalizes the phrases, “Dawn Comes” (1), “My Hands” (5), and “Every Morning” (17). The structure of this poem is similar to the doctrine of the Trinity because devout Christian believers believe that the purpose of life is serving with humility.  Even though the “Dawn Comes” (1) daily, human hands must perform good work to add significance to an otherwise bland existence.  The phrase “Every Morning” (17) emphasizes the fact that people who enjoy life will be able to “recall home” (24) since Earth itself is the only home.  This “Dawn Trio” figuratively creates the daily circadian lifestyle that defines human existence and emphasizes how there is beauty in every day even though all people encounter bad days.  Therefore, this powerful poem with a structured pattern suggests that life itself is beautiful no matter how bad life may seem.

The second part of this poetry collection, entitled, “In the Observing” demonstrates how people could observe patterns in both the natural world and their daily lives by simply looking around with their eyes.  Patterns do exist in the world, and sometimes these patterns exist just because they exist.  Specifically, the poem entitled “Carl Sagan Called Our Planet” openly exhibits one of the most puzzling questions about existence, which is, “what makes water blue?” (4). Smallwood then attempts to answer that question by reminding readers that young children might also ask, “why the sky's blue?” (6). This reply suggests that some patterns in the world might exist so that there is no need for an explanation.  Maybe patterns exist just because they do, and all of the patterns in the world help create decorative elegance within an otherwise harsh and painful existence.  Life can definitely be challenging, but big questions oftentimes have no easy answers, and should instead just be accepted for what it is (just like knowing life and loving life for what it is).

The third section and epilogue of Patterns: Moments in Time emphasize the eponymous phrase through symbolic poetry.  The third part is called, “Connections” and it contains poems that beautifully explore how patterns reveal the aestheticism within everything in the world and in life.  Specifically, the poem “Select Moments” is actually similar to another poetry collection by Carol Smallwood, which is called A Matter of Selection.  This beautiful poem contains the stanza "Surely if I stood tall as possible / Long enough, tried hard enough / there'd come some hints, some pattern? (18-20). The rhetorical question that concludes this poem directly relates to the importance of demonstrating sincere effort to live a meaningful life.  Life itself is a matter of choices, as explored in A Matter of Selection, but Carol Smallwood uses this stanza to reveal how people would sometimes pursue their dreams while also confronting the anxiety associated with what the future holds.  Sometimes choices lead to unintentional consequences, but that just shows how life is a process.  People might make poor choices sometimes, but Smallwood suggests that there is no need to fret over making mistakes because of patterns that result from cause and effect.  Therefore, causes and effects are essentially patterns that form from human behavior.  Such an insightful examination of the way people act within moments in time ultimately create the patterns that exist all around them as they make choices based on their own matters of selection.

Carol Smallwood is truly a profound poet.  Her previous poetry collections delve deep into what it means to be alive, which is what most writers hope to achieve when they create their own original works of written art.  Smallwood's poetry offers insight into the connections that people in have along with their relationships with the world around them, and ultimately the entire universe itself.  In Hubble's Shadow explores how people are compared to the unfathomable universe, and A Matter of Selection reveals how choices, both good and bad, really do determine the future.  Once again, Carol Smallwood examines how human behavior establish patterns based on decisions they make within moments in time.  Therefore, she has achieved fame as one of the most gifted and prolific authors in contemporary writing.  Through simplicity and profundity, Smallwood's poetry examines what it means to be alive with audacity.  Life itself is short anyways, so why not treasure moments in time?  Carol Smallwood once again writes poetry that will hopefully inspire readers to re-examine what truly is beautiful in the world.



MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Author and Reviewer Alert! Free Review Resource Plus Review Hint #Three

Authors, Get Reviews for Your Books - Free and Ethical 

and Hint # Three for Getting Them

This is a regular service offered by Lois W. Stern to help authors find interested reviewers for their books and help reviewers find fascinating, published works to review. Watch for more of them along with hints for getting reviews. Scroll down to see both new book offerings and Lois's third How-To-Get-Great-Reviews Hint! 

______________________________________________________________

You can get any of the books listed below FREE in exchange for an honest Amazon posted review.

TITLE: The Opium Lord's Daughter

NUMBER OF PAGES: 287

DESCRIPTION: The Opium Lord’s Daughter features true events and characters within a world populated by rogue drug traders, imperialist government officials, religious zealots, and scrappy survivors. It’s a coming-of-age story filled with romance, adventure, and tragedy; an expedition through the destruction of a culture, underscoring the hold and havoc drug empires perpetually exert.  
AUTHOR'S NAME: Robert Wang

E-MAIL: rwang@opiumwar-story.com:

FORMAT: E-book available on all major retailers

AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: 18+ 

SHORTENED LINK: https://tinyurl.com/the-opium-lords-daughter

_______________

TITLE: AVENGING ANGEL:  Love and Death in Old Brooklyn
NUMBER OF PAGES: 394
DESCRIPTION: An African-American woman, struggling to overcome the trauma of a racially motivated childhood rape, finds even deadly revenge insufficient. She stalks the streets of the dark city, dangling her spider's web before potential predators. Eventually, while searching for salvation as a fearless champion of endangered women, she tests her capacity to risk being loved. a tale of revenge, survival and redemption, wrapped around an unlikely and stormy dark romance, and set within the context of some unfortunately timeless issues: Violence Against Women, and Racism.
AUTHOR'S NAME: Charles S. Isaacs 
E-MAIL: DrCSIsaacs@aol.com
FORMAT: any digital format
AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: Adults
SHORTENED LINK: Amazon

_______________

TITLE: Sensitive

SUBTITLE: My Journey through a Toxic World

NUMBER OF PAGES: 293

DESCRIPTION: Sensitive is memoir wrapped around timely and important manifesto. Through Sekmet’s lifelong struggles with chemical sensitivities, she learned crucial truths about the underlying toxicity of many of the products that surround us. This straight-shooting and bold memoir tells how she triumphed over mysterious chronic health struggles and family trauma with determination and humor.
AUTHOR: Pookie Sekmet

EMAIL: pookiesekmet@gmail.com
FORMAT: ARC (Advanced review copies)
AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: General Audience/Memoir
AMAZON URL: 

_______________

TITLE: Justice Gone

NUMBER OF PAGES: 336 (314 excluding front and back matter)

DESCRIPTION: A homeless vet is beaten to death by police. Protests erupt. 3 cops are gunned down. A multi-state manhunt. And the trial of the decade. A new kind of legal thriller.

AUTHOR'S NAME: N. Lombardi Jr

E-MAIL: nlomb269@gmail.com

FORMAT: PDF, e-book (including Kindle), 20 paper back copies

AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: teens and adults

AMAZON URL: tiny.cc/14kz7y

_______________

TITLE: Tales2Inspire ~ The Pearl Collection

# OF PAGES: 124

DESCRIPTION: True stories of fifteen Awesome Kids, each making an incredible impact to better our world.

AUTHOR'S NAME: Lois W. Stern

E-MAIL: tales2Inspire@optimum.net

FORMAT: PDF, e-book, 4 paperback copies

AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: preteens, teens and adults

AMAZON URL: https://www.amazon.com/Tales2Inspire-Pearl-Collection-Awesome-ebook/dp/B07PK51NV5/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Tales2Inspire+Collection&qid=1554513523&s=books&sr=1-

_______________

TITLE: Super Spoons to the Rescue: A Math Measuring Story

NUMBER OF PAGES: 58 Pages

DESCRIPTION: This is a math story about spoon superheroes who help people measure ingredients for things like chocolate cakes. When their town is hit by a tornado, they help dispense the exact amount of medicines needed. They fly to the rescue as requested. This book also has worksheets and activity cards.

AUTHOR'S NAME: Carolyn Wilhelm

Illustrator: Oxana Cerra

E-MAIL: cwilhelm@thewiseowlfactory.com

FORMAT: 3 PDFs, 3 of PAPERBACK BOOKS  (people can have both)

AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: Primary Grades 1-3 (Ages 6-9)

SHORTENED LINK: https://tinyurl.com/y495v5nc 

___________________________________________________________

To get your copy of any of the above titles for review:

Email the author directly using their address above.

1. Commit to writing a review within 30 days.
2. Post your review on Amazon.
3. Give the author permission to post it on this New Book Review blog, credited to you with a link to your website or social network, of course.

_____________________________________________________________

TO SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW REQUEST, KINDLY USE THE FOLLOWING FORMAT:

TITLE:

NUMBER OF PAGES:

DESCRIPTION: (Please keep pitch to 50 words or less.)

AUTHOR'S NAME:

E-MAIL:

FORMAT:(PDF, E-BOOK, # of PAPERBACK BOOKS, # of HARDCOVER BOOKS)

AGE/NTEREST LEVEL:

AMAZON URL: (Kindly send shortened link using Tiny URL or other.)

Send review requests to Lois at: tales2inspire@optimum.net

Put Blogspot Review Request IN THE SUBJECT LINE.

___________________________________________________________

LOIS'S HINT #3 FOR GETTING REVIEWS:

"Don’t overlook staff members at bookstores.  A large percentage (of them) are avid readers an many are fellow writers. Some also do reviews  for the bookstore’s newsletter."

Page 108 of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally 

______________________________________________________________

   

  MORE ABOUT THE GUEST BLOGGER AND HER TALES2INSPIRE PROJECT

Lois W. Stern's Tales2Inspire was a kernel of an idea that started in 2012 and has grown to proportions even she didn’t dare to envision. Her innate curiosity about potentially fascinating human interest stories was the spark that ignited this idea. But it was the confused state of traditional publishing that propelled her forward. Tales2Inspire delivers exactly what it promises as both an ‘Authors Helping Authors’ project and a contest. Winners get their stories published in print, as e-books, and some even in video formats with their names, headshot photos, and mini-autobiographies. Then she spreads the word about the winners and their stories on her blogs, social media and monthly newsletter. FREE to enter, this is a great competition for talented newbies and seasoned authors alike. Learn more about her and her projects here:

Tales2Inspire website: http://www.tales2inspire.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tales2inspire2

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

LinkedIn profile: http://tinyurl.com/odtw2wt

Get a FREE Tales2Inspire Sampler book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gift

Tales2Inspire trailer: https://youtu.be/FuDgXkYMHvo

Blog: http:://www.tales2inspire/blog

                                                    ___________________

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca Discussion Questions

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page and in a tab at the top of this blog's home page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so it may be used a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah

This book elicited quite strong reactions from our Global Reads for Grown-ups Facebook book group readers, particularly on the question of whether Shah relied on cultural stereotypes and caricatures in his portrayal of Morocco.

Amazon 

• ASIN: B015QNQ6R6
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385608071
• ISBN-13: 978-0385608077

1) What did you think of the book? Would you recommend it?

2) On p. 19 of my edition, Tahir Shah writes "In the West we are driven by an extreme form of guilt - if you are not seen to be working like a dog, you're perceived as being slothful. It was very clear that things in Morocco were quite different...I found people rushed about only when they needed to, and not because they knew others were watching them."
Do you agree that people in the West feel guilty for relaxing? (Or that they don't feel this guilt elsewhere?)

3) Here is a quick overview of Edward Said's concept of Orientalism and how it still shapes Western views of the East today. Do you think The Caliph's House played into these stereotypes? Did he do anything to dispel them?



4) The book begins with Tahir Shah signing the papers on his new house when they are interrupted by suicide attacks in Casablanca. What effect does it have starting the book with this effect? Why did he choose to do this?

5) [Reader question] What did you think about the family relationships in the book?

6) Did you have a favorite character?

7) Overall, would you say The Caliph's House paints a flattering portrait of Morocco? Or of the expats living there? Would you want to move to Morocco based solely on reading this book? Why or why not?

8) Have you ever lived abroad? If so, how did your experience compare with the one portrayed in the book?

9) Thinking on books about where you are from (or where you live now) was there one that really got it wrong? What book really got it right? What book do you recommend about where you are from (or where you live)?

Thank you for reading! This post was written by: 

Leanna is a homeschooler with three sweet, funny, rambunctious children.  She draws inspiration from the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith and tries to raise her Monkeys in a fun, spiritual, loving environment.  She and her husband, who is from Costa Rica, are raising their children to be bilingual and bicultural but more importantly to be “world citizens.”  All Done Monkey is dedicated to sharing this journey with you!

Leanna is the founder of Multicultural Kid Blogs.

Interview on Bilingual Kids Rock podcast

Interview on Global Mom Show podcast

Featured website on Bahá’í Mom Blogs

D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Book Review

D-Day Girls

Subtitle: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, 

      and Helped Win World War II

Author: Sarah Rose

Hardcover: 400 pages

Publisher: Crown; 1st Edition (April 23, 2019)

ISBN-10: 045149508X

ISBN-13: 978-0451495082 

Purchase on Amazon

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures.com

With D-Day Girls,  Sarah Rose has provided us with a valuable service not only in terms of setting the historical record straight for the women of the  S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive), but for the history of the treatment of women in general even when they gave their countries the very finest in the way of self-sacrifice, courage, and heroism. 

The stories of three women saboteurs, in particular, demonstrate just what skilled and brave women contributed during the occupation of France by the Nazis from 1939 to 1945.  We are told about scrappy Andrée Borrel, a demolitions expert  eluding the Gestapo while blowing up the infrastructure the occupying German army relied on. The "Queen" of the S.O.E. was Lise de Baissac, a fiercely independent Parisian who lost everything due to her wartime service. And there was my favorite heroine of the bunch, Odette Sansom, who saw S.O.E. service as a means to lead a more meaningful life away from an unhappy marriage.  While she finds love with a fellow agent named Peter Churchill, she ended up being a two year prisoner, horribly tortured by the Germans.   These women, along with their compatriots both male and female, helped lay the groundwork for D-Day by innumerable acts of sabotage, orchestrated prison breaks,  and the gathering of intelligence for the allied war effort.

But D-Day Girls  has a much deeper and wider canvas that three biographies.   The stories of the three spies are painted against a detailed backdrop that includes the policy making of the Allies leadership, how the chiefs of the S.O.E. came to involve women in their behind-the-lines operations, and how the changes in the war effort shaped what the various operatives were and were unable to accomplish.   We learn about their training, the reactions of male superiors to the use of women at all,   the bungles as well as the successes,  the very human dramas the women became involved in,  the competition between the various intelligence agencies, how the spy networks were unraveled by the successful Nazi infiltration, and the very vivid settings from which the women operated. We learn about the costly mistakes some operatives performed, the lack of following the procedures they were taught,     and the process of getting the materials and new agents parachuted in from RAF planes.

Rose is able to avoid a dry retelling of all these events with almost a novelist's descriptive eye.  For example, she doesn't merely tell us about an explosion resulting from a well-place bomb--she gives us a sensory breakdown of what happened moment by moment, second by second in color, smell, and sound.   She doesn't merely tell us about the black parachute drops,  but how they took place out in the quiet French countryside.

It's difficult to lay this book down as we revisit often forgotten corners of World War II history with often fresh perspectives. Many revelations are only possible now that many formerly classified documents have been brought to light and many misogynist  points-of-view have been replaced by what actually happened.

In many ways, the tales of what happened to these women after the war ended are the saddest passages in the book.   Because they were not part of any official military service, they were denied   the full recognition and appreciation they deserved.  Even though they had been indispensable during the war, after VE day they were relegated to the second-class status of women everywhere. There's more than one lesson in all that.

So readers who love spy stories, those interested in World War II,  devotees of women's studies, and those focused on D-Day celebrations  this year shouldn't be the only audience D-Day Girls should enjoy.  It's a wonderfully vivid and descriptive multi-layered account that should engage any reader who likes well-written non-fiction.

Note: I'm aware that this year a related book, Madame Foucade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Larges Spy Network Against Hitler by Lynne Olson was also published. It's on my summer reading list as well. Spy buffs, stay tuned--

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

  

Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and a regular reviewer for 

 BookPleasures.com. Learn more about his: 

Explore the Beta Earth Chronicles website:

Follow Wes Britton’s Goodreads blog:

Check out Wes Britton’s Beta Earth Chronicles Facebook page:

Enjoy the videos at Wes Britton’s YouTube Channel:

  

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Reviewer Ed Sarna Calls Payton's Novel "Complex, Crisp. . ."

Title: Standing in Doorways
Author: Wes Payton
Publisher: Adelaide Books
Publisher Address:  244 Fifth Avenue, Suite D27
New York, NY, 10001
Publisher Web Site:  http://www.adelaidebooks.org/index.html
Publisher Email:  info@adelaidebooks.org
ISBN:   ISBN-10: 1-949180-38-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-949180-38-1
Price: $19.60 (eBook $7.99)
Page Count: 266 pages

Trade paperback
Formats: paperback and Kindle

Reviewed by Ed Sarna originally for Windy city Reviews

Standing in Doorways is the second book by Wes Payton that I’ve reviewed, and like Lead Tears, the first one, I loved it. It showcases Mr. Payton’s clever use of wordplay and his sneaky sense of humor.

The novel is structured in two parts. Part One chronicles the lives of a group of college students afflicted with various mental disorders. They attend a prestigious Midwestern university and are ensconced in Study House, their dormitory. We come to know these students through the eyes of Vivien Leigh (not that Vivien Leigh). Vivien describes her pathology when she says, “I can’t read expressions or understand body language. I’m barely human.” When asked if that means she’s a literal, she answers, “I was for a long time until I finally figured out that people rarely mean what they say. Now I don’t really believe anything I’m told, which can be an advantage in college, but from what my counselor tells me is somewhat discouraged in the real world.”

These individuals are carefully observed, as stated in the opening sentence, “…Study House, which wasn’t named for what was required of its residents, but rather what was done to them.” They are sometimes referred to by their infliction: Schiz, a schizophrenic, Prodigy (also referred to as Digy), a genius who is editing the dictionary and has been the subject of a lifelong experiment that studies the limits of human intelligence and mental endurance, Poopy, who keeps a journal of his bowel movements, and Psycho, who may or may not be a psychopath. There is also Patty who has a constantly changing personality, but unlike a schizophrenic, “…she doesn’t have multiple personalities trapped inside of her, instead her personality continually reinvents itself, as if her mind is perpetually flipping through the channels of an internal television and she imitates whatever show is on at the moment.” There is also Vivien Leigh’s roommate, Vivian Lee, who in describing himself says, “My condition enables me to read people too accurately for comfort.”

Part One takes place in the 1990s while Part Two takes place twenty years later. In Part Two, the lives of some students intersect. Vivien Leigh is now a writer, having once written a novella called Study House, about her college years. Referring to the novella, Vivien says, “…the narrative wasn’t so much based on events that really happened but rather my impression of being a college student in the nineties.” This explanation may or may not be true. As Book Two unfolds and the characters from Book One cross paths, we are left wondering what’s real and what’s fiction. Are the things we are told truthful to the actual characters' lives or the novella’s characters’ lives? Lest you think this book merely poses philosophical questions, it also involves a murder, a possible suicide, and a mysterious pregnancy. Or maybe it doesn’t.

Wes Payton's writing is complex, crisp, and cunning. The skillful way he weaves the narrative and the novella together kept me hooked throughout the book. His railing against dumbing down language for the masses, and his warning of what happens when idiots are put in charge, (“…and because they also happened to be overpaid, they would hire incompetent subordinates who would not jeopardize their jobs by questioning their dubious credentials or their ability to make decisions…”) are beyond appropriate. I highly recommend Standing in Doorways by Wes Payton. 

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wes Payton has a B.A. in Rhetoric/Philosophy and an M.A. in English. His play Way Station was selected for a Next Draft reading in 2015, and What Does a Question Weigh? was selected for a staged reading as part of the 2017 Chicago New Work Festival. He is the author of the novels Lead Tears, Darkling Spinster, Darkling Spinster No More, and Standing in Doorways. Wes and his family live in Oak Park, Illinois.  Find him at http://wespayton.weebly.com/

  

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too!