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"The Historian" and Four Other Great Simmons Library Diversions Books

Posted October 27, 2005

This week’s featured Diversions Collection books include 4th of July, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, The Historian, Zorro, and Mad Girls in Love.

4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: Mega-bestseller Patterson teams up with journalist/novelist Paetro for a rousing fourth installment of the Women’s Murder Club series. This time, bright, tough SFPD Lt. Lindsay Boxer is battling police brutality charges while chasing down a clan of murderers. When a botched police arrest of two gun-toting minors expands from a shaky preliminary hearing to what promises to be a nerve-rattling jury trial of Lindsay, she flees the pre-trial media frenzy for the serene haven of sister Cat’s house in Half Moon Bay. But instead of finding relaxation and romance with her Homeland Security beau, Lindsay becomes embroiled in the ruthless crimes of a troika of killers who’ve been slashing and flogging victims all over town. With surprisingly little aid from the Murder Club, Lindsay performs her detective handiwork (and steps on the toes of Half Moon’s police chief). As more bodies surface, sketchy suspects like a smitten grease monkey and a slimy porn star emerge, then the murderous threesome set their sights on Lindsay. Back in San Francisco, Lindsay is acquitted; she then rushes back to Half Moon Bay to apprehend the elusive villains and put to rest her unresolved first homicide case as well. Heroic super-sleuthing, a steadily gripping plot line and 146 snappy chapters add up to suspense fiction euphoria for Patterson’s legion of fans.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: Apart from its inapt title—Genghis Khan dies rather early on in this account and many of the battles are led by his numerous offspring—this book is a successful account of the century of turmoil brought to the world by a then little-known nation of itinerant hunters. In researching this book, Weatherford (Savages and Civilization), a professor of anthropology at Macalaster College, traveled thousands of miles, many on horseback, tracing Genghis Khan’s steps into places unseen by Westerners since the khan’s death and employing what he calls an “archeology of movement.” Weatherford knows the story of the medieval Mongol conquests is gripping enough not to need superfluous embellishments—the personalities and the wars they waged provide plenty of color and suspense. In just 25 years, in a manner that inspired the blitzkrieg, the Mongols conquered more lands and people than the Romans had in over 400 years. Without pausing for too many digressions, Weatherford’s brisk description of the Mongol military campaign and its revolutionary aspects analyzes the rout of imperial China, a siege of Baghdad and the razing of numerous European castles. On a smaller scale, Weatherford also devotes much attention to dismantling our notions of Genghis Khan as a brute. By his telling, the great general was a secular but faithful Christian, a progressive free trader, a regretful failed parent and a loving if polygamous husband. With appreciative descriptions of the sometimes tender tyrant, this chronicle supplies just enough personal and world history to satisfy any reader.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: Considering the recent rush of door-stopping historical novels, first-timer Kostova is getting a big launch—fortunately, a lot here lives up to the hype. In 1972, a 16-year-old American living in Amsterdam finds a mysterious book in her diplomat father’s library. The book is ancient, blank except for a sinister woodcut of a dragon and the word “Drakulya,” but it’s the letters tucked inside, dated 1930 and addressed to “My dear and unfortunate successor,” that really pique her curiosity. Her widowed father, Paul, reluctantly provides pieces of a chilling story; it seems this ominous little book has a way of forcing itself on its owners, with terrifying results. Paul’s former adviser at Oxford, Professor Rossi, became obsessed with researching Dracula and was convinced that he remained alive. When Rossi disappeared, Paul continued his quest with the help of another scholar, Helen, who had her own reasons for seeking the truth. As Paul relates these stories to his daughter, she secretly begins her own research. Kostova builds suspense by revealing the threads of her story as the narrator discovers them: what she’s told, what she reads in old letters and, of course, what she discovers directly when the legendary threat of Dracula looms. Along with all the fascinating historical information, there’s also a mounting casualty count, and the big showdown amps up the drama by pulling at the heartstrings at the same time it revels in the gruesome. Exotic locales, tantalizing history, a family legacy and a love of the bloodthirsty: it’s hard to imagine that readers won’t be bitten, too.

Zorro by Isabel Allende; translated by Margaret Sayers Peden

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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: Allende’s lively retelling of the Zorro legend reads as effortlessly as the hero himself might slice his trademark “Z” on the wall with a flash of his sword. Born Diego de la Vega in 1795 to the valiant hidalgo, Alejandro, and the beautiful Regina, the daughter of a Spanish deserter and an Indian shaman, our hero grows up in California before traveling to Spain. Raised alongside his wet nurse’s son, Bernardo, Diego becomes friends for life with his “milk brother,” despite the boys’ class differences. Though born into privilege, Diego has deep ties to California’s exploited natives—both through blood and friendship—that account for his abiding sense of justice and identification with the underdog. In Catalonia, these instincts as well as Diego’s swordsmanship intrigue Manuel Escalante, a member of the secret society La Justicia. Escalante recruits Diego into the society, which is dedicated to fighting all forms of oppression, and thus begins Diego’s construction of his dashing, secret alter ego, Zorro. With loyal Bernardo at his side, Zorro hones his fantastic skills, evolves into a noble hero and returns to California to reclaim his family’s estate in a breathtaking duel. All the while, he encounters numerous historical figures, who anchor this incredible tale in a reality that enriches and contextualizes the Zorro myth. Allende’s latest page-turner explodes with vivid characterization and high-speed storytelling.

Mad Girls in Love by Michael Lee West

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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: With young Bitsy Wentworth’s nose-shattering blow to her philandering husband Claude’s handsome face (motive: self-defense; weapon: frozen rack of baby back ribs), West launches this warm but overloaded chronicle of three generations of Southern female eccentricity and spunk. It’s August 1972, and Claude is out cold, so Bitsy flees Crystal Falls, Tenn., with their baby, Jennifer, a move that will lose her custody of (though not contact with) her daughter while setting in motion her evolution from girl-wife to worldly interior decorator 20 years later. This follow-up to West’s debut, Crazy Ladies, reunites readers with familiar characters, including Bitsy’s mother, Dorothy McDougal—who from a Nashville mental institution wages a letter-writing campaign to Pat Nixon on Bitsy’s behalf—and Dorothy’s sister, Clancy Jane, a hippie cafe owner. Despite well-wrought moments of reconciliation between estranged women throughout (Jennifer’s ultimate gesture of forgiveness for Bitsy is especially understated and touching), the novel bogs down in endless female feuding and repetitive male faithlessness (i.e., Claude; Bitsy’s second husband, Louie; and Jennifer’s almost-husband Pierre). Quirky minor characters and subplots overcrowd this 500-plus page novel, but when West focuses on the complexities of familial or romantic relationships, the novel is at its most heartfelt.

  • These recently published works, selected for your reading pleasure, may be borrowed for 14 days.

  • The Diversions Collection is located on the first floor of the Simmons Library, near the Circulation Desk.

  • To request a book that is currently checked-out, find it in the on-line catalog, then click the “REQUEST” button.

 

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