The Rainaldi Quartet: A Legendary Violin Brings Murder to Cremona, Italy

The Rinaldi Quartet by Paul Adam is a book that I suggested for the mystery F2F group that I attend, and they selected it.  I was pleased because it sounded unusual. The central character who investigates the case is luthier Gianni Castiligione. Luthiers  make stringed instruments. The Wikipedia Article on Luthiers shows a picture of a luthier's workshop in Cremona, Italy where this book largely takes place.  The mystery is about more than the murdered luthier, Tomasso Rinaldi.  It deals with a quest for a legendary violin.  I hoped to get an education about luthiers, violins and their history.

                                                   

 

I did learn a great deal. I researched a number of violinists referred to in this book who were previously unknown to me.  In this context, I would like to mention Louis Spohr (1784-1859). Not only did his tremendously valuable Del Gesu violin get stolen as we are told in this novel, but I learned from Louis Spohr on Wikipedia that his opera Jessonda was banned by the Nazis because it deals with a romantic relationship between a Portuguese general and a princess of India which the Nazis considered an example of  heinous race mixing.

I really liked the perspective of The Rainaldi Quartet .We get to see into Gianni Castilliogne's mind. We get insight into how he experiences music and his love for violins. I was impressed by what he had to say to Rainaldi's granddaughter, a budding violinist.

Other good points of this novel were the plotting, the background about luthiers, violin dealers and the history of violins. I was also interested in the historical and cultural background of Cremona, Italy.The story about the violin dealer at the Festival of the Dove was quite vivid.

Original Death: A Mystery of the French and Indian War by Eliot Pattison

I would have read Original Death by Eliot Pattison eventually because I am a fan of his Colonial American mystery series to which this book belongs.  I am glad to have had the opportunity to read it a good deal sooner since I was provided with an advance copy by publicist Julia Drake.

                                           

One reason why I like this series is because it reminds me so much of the classic Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper.  Another reason is because protagonist Duncan McCallum was exiled to America on suspicion of being a Jacobite.  I have a sentimental attachment to Jacobites that goes back to when I was a wee child enthralled with Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.  For more of my observations on Jacobites see my March 2013 post Playing Red Rover With William Wallace .

Yet the best reason to like a mystery is a plot with unexpected twists.  Original Death definitely delivers plot twists. When the revelation of whodunit finally came, I could honestly say that I didn't expect it.

The characterization was excellent. The anguish of Duncan's Native American companion Conawago over the village massacre that he and Duncan encounter was quite moving as was Duncan's inner conflict precipitated by this mystery. There were also some wonderful side characters such as Hetty the Irish seer, Kassawaya the Oneida warrior woman and the real historical personage, Colonel William Johnson. I was grateful for Pattison's recommendation of a biography of William Johnson in his author's note.  I will want to read White Savage by Fintan O'Toole and probably review it on this blog.

There were also some instances of lyrical prose which lend extra power to this novel. For example when Duncan is reflecting on the Native American perspective he says to himself that  "The settlements, the armies, the endless flow of farmers were like rot in the root of their world."  As a poet myself, I was pleased by the alliteration.

I can recommend this novel to fans of historical mysteries and of the Sara Donati novels that take place in the same period and were also inspired by the Leatherstocking Tales.  I would say that I recommend it to fans of the bestselling Outlander novels by Diana Gabaldon as well except that Outlander fans seem to prefer gargantuan tomes with too little plot to justify their length.  Eliot Pattison's books are never over written.  He certainly deserves a wider audience for his work.

East Meets West in Shanghai Love

When I read the summary of Shanghai Love by Layne Wang I was interested in the inter-cultural relationship that is the focus of the novel.  It deals with the intersection of two people with very different histories and backgrounds--a Chinese woman and a German Jewish man.  To find out more about this intriguing meeting of East and West, I requested a review copy from The Bookplex. 

                                                    

Layne Wong writes in her author’s note that a novel dealing with a Jewish refugee from Hitler’s Germany  in Shanghai  deals with an obscure topic.  It’s not as obscure as it was once.  Prominent mystery writer S.J. Rozan’s  Shanghai  Moon , published in 2009, brings her  Chinese-American detective Lydia Chin to Shanghai to investigate a case involving Jews in Shanghai during World War II.   Many readers became aware of  World War II  Jewish refugees in Shanghai as a result of reading Shanghai  Moon.

What I valued most about Shanghai Love was the female central character, Peilin.  She might seem weak to many American readers, but she comes from the Chinese cultural matrix where duty to your family comes first.  She would not be an authentic character if she simply threw her traditions aside.  I also loved the role played by Chinese herbalism  and Taoist ritual in this novel. 

I wondered why the German Jewish male protagonist’s name used the French spelling, Henri.  A German version of the name would be Heinrich.  A possible explanation could be that his  family originally came from Alsace which was part of Germany until  it was annexed by France in the 18^th century.   It’s also possible that  his original name was Herschel which is Yiddish, and a more likely name for someone of his background.   He could have changed it because Herschel would have been associated with ghettoized Jews.  A French name like Henri  would have sounded more sophisticated.

Henri is in some ways fairly typical of his culture of origin.   Many German Jews  were assimilated, and  only loosely affiliated with the Jewish community during this period.  Yet I didn’t find him as interesting as Peilin.  I respected his dedication as a physician.   His openness to Chinese culture was unusual as is shown by the insularity of other Jewish refugees in Shanghai Love. On the other hand, he exhibited a pattern of terrible insensitivity in his personal relationships, beginning with his first love in Germany,  that bothered me.  I think that the events of the novel forced him to mature eventually, but  I would have found Henri  more likeable if he had become more empathic earlier. 

The resolution was satisfying.  It allowed Peilin to feel that she was still behaving correctly by Chinese standards  even though she was following her personal  inclinations in the Western manner.  

It occurred to me, however, that Henri's idea that he and Peilin would face less prejudice in the United States is untrue.  Many states prohibited marriages between Caucasians  and Asians as "miscegenation" until anti-miscegenation laws were ruled unconstitutional in 1967.  See Anti-Miscegenation Laws on Wikipedia .  So Peilin and Henri would probably not have had a happily ever after ending in America at that time in history.

Furies: A Noir Mystery in Roman Alexandria

D. L. Johnstone, the author of Furies, posted to a group on Goodreads.  I clicked on his name and was intrigued by what I read about this book.  It's a historical mystery taking place in ancient Alexandria during the Roman Empire.  I consider that  a very interesting setting. 


                                                       

I was impressed with the thoroughness of  Johnstone's research and his ability to incorporate it into the plot without trying to overwhelm us with detail.  For those who are interested in knowing more, there is a glossary which includes the sectors of the city of Alexandria.  I learned that Epsilon sector was the site of the original Egyptian city which was called Rhakotis.   I did notice one small error.  Native Egyptians were not called "Fellahin"  during the Roman Empire . This Arabic term arose during the Ottoman Period many centuries later.  See Fellah on Wikipedia 

 Johnstone also researched the Roman aspect.  I learned about how the laws and economy of Roman Alexandria.  I also learned about the opening act at gladiator exhibitions who were called the Praegenarii
They engaged in mock combat with blunted weapons for laughs.

I was surprised that the protagonist's wife, Titania had the right to take his son when she left him in the opening of the novel.  According to Wikipedia on Women in Ancient Rome , in a marriage between two free citizens, a wife could take custody of the children if she could prove that her husband was "worthless".  Titania probably could have done so because he had lost everything he owned.

From a mystery standpoint, this is a noir novel which is not my genre.  Aculeo, the sympathetic central character, made Furies seem less dark with his sense of honor and decency in the midst of all the corruption. Another character that I really liked was Sekhet, the Egyptian healer/medical examiner who assisted Aculeo in solving the case.

Although it was Kelli Stanley who inaugurated Roman noir with Nox Dormienda,  it says something when an indie author like D. L. Johnstone can write a book that is fully the equal of a traditionally published author like Kelli Stanley.  I will be looking forward to seeing what D. L. Johnstone writes next.

Fourth of July African American History Focus: A Novel About Fort Mose

I first learned about Fort Mose from a historical novel called Pirates of Savannah by Tarrin Lupo.  I was intrigued by Lupo's brief reference to Fort Mose and wanted to know more.  It was a settlement of escaped slaves in 18th century Spanish Florida that was the first community of free African Americans in the United States.  This was not something I'd ever seen in history books.  I am happy to be posting about this on Fourth of July because I think it's patriotic to heighten awareness of aspects of American history that should be better known.

When I saw that there was a novel available on Net Galley about Fort Mose I thought that this is my opportunity to become more educated on this topic. So I downloaded The Other Side of Free by Krista Russell for review.

                                                 

I could see from the description that Krista Russell had written a coming of age novel about thirteen year old protagonist, Jem, who was sent to Florida so that he could be free.  Fort Mose was an unfamiliar environment for him. This meant if he didn't understand his new environment , I could learn right along with him.  That's an advantage of  having a young protagonist.  Yet I don't think this is really children's fiction despite the marketing label.  The level of complexity and sophistication in the historical background, and in the lives of the characters could be appropriate for a YA audience however.
   
 It became increasingly clear over the course of the novel that Spanish authorities weren't allowing the community at Fort Mose to exist in their territory out of kindness toward African Americans or because they were opposed to slavery.  The people at Fort Mose were compelled to swear an oath that they would fight the English if they were to invade Florida.  This coincided with the interests of these former slaves because they knew that they would be returned to slavery by English troops.  The Spanish had invited slaves in the English colonies to Florida hoping to incite a mass exodus that would de-stabilize English society in North America.  It would be interesting to speculate about how different life in North America would be if they had succeeded with this strategy.  Certainly, the United States of America as we know it would not exist today.  So this novel deals with a pivotal moment in American history.

Animal lovers will enjoy Jem's relationship with an infant owl who had a broken wing.  Jem shows compassion by adopting the injured young owl.  He named the owl Omen in response to the attitude of others toward him, but Jem saw the owl as a friend.  The owl got up to some hilarious antics that provide some comic relief in what is otherwise a book with a very serious tone. 

Jem is generally portrayed as naive, but that's appropriate considering his age.  I liked the fact that he did mature and come to understand more about the people in his life.

There was a funeral ritual called "teijami" performed in this book which involved using a mortar and pestle to grind rice into flour as an offering for the dead.  Since I was interested in its origin, I ran a search on "teijami" and located a description of a documentary The Language You Cry In which identifies teijami as a Mende funeral ritual from Sierra Leone.  The text of the teijami song which inspired the documentary is included in both the original Mende and translated into English.  The title of the documentary comes from a Mende saying "You know who a person really is by the language they cry in."  I don't think I've really discovered the entire truth about the people who lived at Fort Mose, but The Other Side of Free has provided me with some more clues.

Jhumki Basu: The Science Education Reformer Who Was Like A Nova

It was the name of my idol Jane Goodall on the cover that first drew my attention to  Mission To Teach by Dipak Basu. If Goodall wrote a foreword to a biography, it would have to be the story of an extraordinary life.  So I requested it from The Bookplex, and  I have to tell you that my expectations were met! Sreyashi Jhumki Basu, known as Jhumki,  was indeed an extraordinary woman.

                                                   

                                                                   

                                      Golden Mask Award for Most Viewed 2013 Post

                                                                                                                 

The nova simile in the title of this review was used to describe Jhumki at her memorial ceremony by a young student of hers named Jordan Franklin. Jordan's image struck a chord with me.  Jhumki had a truly explosive career. 

It’s appropriate that a biography of an innovator would not be the traditional sort of biography.  Because the author is the father of the book’s central focus, its tone is more intimate and its coverage of her life has more depth  than it might have had if someone who didn’t know her as well had written it.   It also doesn’t  follow  the events in Jhumki's life  chronologically.  Some readers may find this confusing,   but I decided early in my reading of this book  that Dipak Basu  must have reasons for presenting his daughter  to us  in the way that he did.  By the time I finished it, I understood that the life of a unique individual like Jhumki   could only be portrayed in a unique way.

When I received my copy of this book for review, I wondered how the life of a woman who died so young could be so long.  I discovered that Jhumki  packed a great many accomplishments into her brief life.  It was also a very well documented life.  Jhumki  wrote long letters and kept a journal.  She also published a number of articles dealing with her approach to science education.  Dipak Basu and those who assisted him with this biography undoubtedly had to sift through a mountain of material.

As a member of  Dr. Susan Love’s Army of Women which was founded to assist in breast cancer research,  I was very interested in reading about Jhumki’s cancer treatment. Dr. Clifford Hudis, her oncologist at Sloan-Kettering, has a very different perspective on cancer.  He believes that our perception of cancer is based on our ability to detect it.  So we say that cancer goes into remission and then suddenly reappears.  Jhumki's cancer seemed to be in remission for five years. Yet what if during the period we thought it was in remission, the cancer was still present, but below the level that we can currently detect?  Readers who understand how science operates will realize that this is a hypothesis.  It's a very likely hypothesis based on what we know about the progress of  other types of medical conditions.  For example, no one suddenly wakes up in the morning with full blown Alzheimer's.  It's a slow process of deterioration in brain function that may be scarcely noticeable at its outset.  So there is a good probability that metastatic cancer could also be a gradual process that isn't visible using the methods we have now.   Perhaps someday advances in instrumentation will allow physicians to identify cases of metastatic cancer sooner. Dr. Hudis also thinks that metastatic cancer that is detected early might be treatable. This optimistic outlook is contagious. Hopeful readers will want to believe right along with Dr. Hudis.  I too look forward to improvements in diagnosis and treatment in oncology, so that  tragedies like Jhumki’s don’t recur in future generations.

Jhumkhi tested negative for the two genes associated with breast cancer that had been discovered in 2000 when she was diagnosed.  On the Army of Women website, which I hyperlinked in the paragraph above, there is An Interview With Jennifer Ivanovich of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis,  who is researching  breast cancer in young women below the age of forty like Jhumki. In her discussion of genetic factors she mentioned seven genes associated with breast cancer and said that there were more that she hadn't mentioned.  Her study has a particular focus on  aggressive cancer in young women.   Perhaps we will soon understand more about the condition that brought about such an early departure from this world for Jhumki and so many other vital young women who were never able to realize their dreams.

Cancer interrupted Jhumki’s lifework, but this book shows that  Jhumki’s  method for getting  low income minority youth  interested in science is effective.   She emphasized that science can be fun.  Yet mastery of any scientific field requires discipline.  Are students who’ve been attracted to science by cool projects that are relevant to their lives going to be able to sustain that enthusiasm over the long haul so that they can pursue a scientific profession?  It will be interesting to find out how many of  these students do have successful careers as scientists.   As an educator,  Jhumki’s  legacy is measured by the lives she has impacted.

Jhumki took a "physics first" approach.  This means teaching physics to ninth graders instead of biology.  The School for Democracy and Leadership that Jhumki co-founded was allowed to do this because it was in an "Autonomy Zone".  For more information about this New York City educational program instituted by Mayor Bloomberg, see The Empowerment Schools FAQ

The reasoning behind "physics first" is that physics provides the infrastructure for other sciences.  This is definitely true, but biology is an equally important prerequisite for any of the life sciences which include medicine, botany and zoology. I am sure that Jane Goodall wants to see science education that nurtures the dreams of youth who want to work with plants and animals. Jhumki also had a love of nature which was best illustrated by her honeymoon in an African jungle.  Jhumki believed in letting students have input in curriculum development. What if students had the option of taking either physics or biology in ninth grade?  This means that a student entering ninth grade who is very interested in building spaceships should take physics first, but another student who wants to find cures for diseases in rainforests could take biology first.  This would be democratic education. If we want youth to consider a career in the sciences, then they should have the opportunity to pursue the type of science that corresponds to their aspirations.

If Jhumki had remained healthy perhaps she could have followed her dream to become a teacher in space.  Most of us associate NASA's Teacher in Space program with the Challenger Disaster. We remember that Christa McAuliffe, the first designated Teacher in Space,  died when the Challenger shuttle exploded.  I hadn't known that another teacher, Barbara Morgan , trained with her as a back-up.  My link is to an article dealing with Barbara Morgan teaching about space at Walt Disney World. The article also covers her career as an astronaut.  Barbara Morgan was one of Jhumki's  heroes.   She wanted to follow in her footsteps.

Readers will be inspired by this book, but it also provides food for thought.  I recommend it to people who are drawn to new ideas and want to explore them through the matrix of  Jhumki’s  original mind.

The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo: Frida as a Visionary

I'm interested in Frida Kahlo, but so many books about her focus on the personal tragedy of her accident and its impact rather than her work, her immersion in native Mexican culture, her feminism or her relationship with artists other than her husband.  The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo by F. G. Haghenbeck looked like it would be different.


                                                         

This is the first book I've seen that deals with Frida's childhood and teen years before the accident.  Haghenbeck depicts her as a naughty prankster and as an adventurous athletically active young adult.  What a different side of her! Unfortunately, Haghenbeck unrealistically portrays Frida as being athletic after her accident.  She had a shattered pelvis and many unsuccessful surgeries.  This is a magical realist novel, but there are limits to what I'm willing to accept. Although I don't want a novel that focuses on her injuries, I also don't want one that seeks to nullify them.  This is an important flaw in The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo.

Yet I'm particularly interested in this book's portrayal of Frida as a visionary, and her devotion to Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) along with other Mexican religious customs despite her scorn for conventional religion.  Frida considered herself a Communist.  Communists are supposed to be thoroughgoing materialists, but I've been noticing some interesting anomalies like Brazilian Communist Jorge Amado's relationship with Candomble , and Frida's with Mexican folk religion.

Haghenbeck has Frida dreaming of being in a cemetery after her accident and speaking to La Llorona who is conceptualized in this book as the Goddess of Death. Frida is depicted as making an offering to La Llorona every year on Dia de los Muertos. Here is a very interesting page from an academic website about her : La Llorona   I don't get the impression that she was ancient.  She seems to be a post-Conquest myth and is usually depicted as a ghost.  In Aztec religion the ghosts of women who died in childbirth became powerful spirits called Cihuateteos.  In this book Frida and Diego are told by a tour guide that La Llorona is a Cihuateteo.  These spirits are conventionally regarded as demonic.  For a contrasting feminist revisionist view that Frida would probably have supported see Cihuateteo Essay by Anne Key.  I realize that scholars would not approve of this article, but I found Key's perspective very striking and in keeping with the subject of this review.

Nelson Rockefeller, who commissioned a mural from Diego that he later destroyed because it was so blatantly Communist, is a character in this novel.  It's intriguing that Rockefeller plays a spiritual role.  He tells Frida about an African American  tradition dealing with ancestor spirits that I thought was wonderful.  It sounded like an Americanized version of an African belief . It's unlikely that Nelson Rockefeller would have known about it, but I found that scene very charming. 

There are a number of other real personages from the 1930's who appear in this novel that play more expected roles, but I enjoyed seeing them.  Other readers may enjoy the recipes included, and the remarks that Haghenbeck has Frida writing about the context of these recipes.  This book is not perfect by any means, but I did find it to be a very good read. 

 In Haghenbeck's version, Frida isn't always in the process of dying.  She is very much alive and ahead of her time. This is why she is far more appreciated now than she was in the 1930's.