The Indigo Girl is historical fiction based on real life agriculturist, Eliza Lucas, who figured out how to grow and extract dye from indigo plants on her plantation in South Carolina, which eventually brought great wealth to the territory. It’s an intriguing story and an interesting read. Continue reading →

Cutting for Stone is an elegantly written novel that is both a family epic and a tribute to the art of medicine and surgery. Continue reading →

The Only Woman in the Room is an historical fiction novel about the legendary actress, Hedy Lamarr, who was much more than a beautiful face – she also invented a torpedo guidance system. Lamarr’s story is fascinating, but I’m not quite sure this novel did it complete justice. Continue reading →

In The Good Lord Bird, we get an inside (although fictional) view of abolitionist John Brown’s violent crusade against slavery in the Kansas Territory and subsequent raid on Harper’s Ferry in the years leading up to the American Civil War. It’s told from the perspective of Henry, who was a ten-year-old slave when he was liberated by Brown and then rode with his “army” for four years, including to Harper’s Ferry. Continue reading →