Non-fiction Spotlight: "Only Yesterday" and "Since Yesterday"

Today I'm pleased to spotlight two books that will be of enormous help to those of you writing books in the 1920s and 1930s. Of course, if you're a fan of those decades, you will also find these books very interesting.

Only Yesterday and Since Yesterday were published by Frederick Lewis Allen in the 30s and 40s. Allen was a journalist who wrote many pieces for such publications as Atlantic Monthly and Harper's. These books are being re-released in digital format and can be found at Amazon.

Only Yesterday begins when President Woodrow Wilson declared the end of World War I in a letter to the American public, and continuing through his defeat, Prohibition, the Big Red Scare, the rise of women’s hem lines, and the stock market crash of 1929. Allen, of course, was a first witness to all these events, so this is a very interesting piece of primary history. Since Yesterday picks up where Only Yesterday left off. Published in 1940, starts in the days before the stock market crash.  From the Lindbergh kidnapping to the New Deal, from the devastating dust storms that raged through our farmlands to the rise of Benny Goodman, the public adoration of Shirley Temple, and our mass escape to the movies, this book is a hopeful and powerful reminder of why history matters.

 Both books are now available.

What I'm Reading

Hello folks,

I thought that it would be appropriate to detail what I've been up to and what I'm reading (or in some cases preparing to read). I have a whole host of books that are lined up on Netgalley waiting for me to read.

I'm currently reading "City of Jasmine" by Deanna Raybourn. I'm a huge fan of her Lady Julia Grey mystery series. Her standalone novels are equally good. I really enjoyed her first, "The Dead Travel Fast." I didn't get around to "A Spear of Summer Grass" but I'm familiar enough with the characters to determined that there are some mentions of them in "City of Jasmine." The novel follows Evangeline Starke (don't you just love that name?), a female aviatrix who is doing a press tour of sorts through Europe and the Middle East. A widow for over five years, she is quite distressed to discover that her dead husband is very much alive. I think I've already picked up on the husband has been up to and what he had to disappear but I love Raybourn's knack for sexually charged conversations between the hero and heroine. I really need to finish this one off soon! This book also released this past Tuesday, so fire up your Knidles and pick up a copy.

Next up is "Madam" by Cari Lynn and Kari Martin. This one I am reading and reviewing for the
Historical Novel Society so I won't post the review until May when it appears in the Historical Novel Review. But I will of course be posting here and on Goodreads then. New Orleans is the backdrop for this novel, and who doesn't love a good novel featuring ladies of the night plying their trade in New Orleans? The protagonist Mary Deubler is a back alley whore when the local government decided to create a formal red light district. Mary doesn't think she will belong amongst the high class clientele of "Storyville" but with a bit of grit and determination she eventually rises to become the famous Madam Josie Arlington. I read Lois Battle's "Storyville" a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it so I am looking forward to this novel as well.

I am also very excited about Marci Jefferson's "Girl on the Golden Coin" which released just a couple of weeks ago. I've been intrigued by Frances Stuart ever since I ran across her portrait while studying Peter Lely's Hampton Court beauties series. She's is seemingly the only woman to have resisted the powerful force that was Charles II, eventually eloping with her cousin. Some say that she was the only woman Charles ever truly loved and that he was devastated to learn of her marriage, but she eventually found her way back into his favor. And the golden coin? She was the muse that eventually appeared on English coins as "Britannica". Long time readers will know that I contemplated writing a book on Frances myself but decided against it once I learned that another author had recently released a novel featuring her. I read that one (Maeve Haran's "The Painted Lady") and enjoyed it. I'm very interested to see how Ms. Jefferson spins Frances in her novel as there are many disputed reports of on Frances's character.

Also in the queue to be read:

It's going to be a busy spring!

Happy reading and have a fantastic weekend!