History, Romance, and Adventure

TEXT BY PAM MCDANOLDS

Erik Larson wowed a lot of readers with his Devil in the White City. He took two seemingly unrelated topics and connected them, showing both readers and writers a new way to write about history. Larson is back with Thunderstruck. Once again, he’s found two bits of history that on the surface seem entirely unrelated – the invention of the wireless by an Italian aristocrat and an American doctor with an extravagant wife.

Set in Canada, Edwardian London, Cape Cod, Cornwall and the vast northern Atlantic Ocean, Thunderstruck meshes the stories of Dr. Hawley Crippen and Guglielmo Marconi. One exhibits the energy and drive to make wireless communication available to ships at sea and around the world. The other is a hen-pecked man determined to free himself from an overbearing wife, which led to one of the most famous criminal chases of all time. One is tall, energetic, slender and rich. The other is short with bulging eyes and thick glasses. These two vastly different men may never actually meet, but their paths do cross in the most unusual of circumstances.

Larson displays wit, never-ending research and a dash of magic to make history come alive. I don’t know where he comes up with these connections, but connect they do. Larson is a history writer for those who love the obscure details left out of larger all-encompassing works. We get the nitty-gritty on Crippen and Marconi. Once you read Larson, you, like me, will be a fan. It’s for history lovers, book clubs and anyone filled with curiosity. Got a cell phone? Thank Marconi. Need a fascinating book? Pick up Thunderstruck.

Moving backward in time to the Victorian Period, we change genres a wee bit to historical fiction. Katharine McMahon, author of The Alchemist’s Daughter, has a brand new book out entitled The Rose of Sebastopol. Dubbed a bestseller in the UK, it is now finally available in the US. It’s always fascinating that we speak the same language, but why do we need to wait six months or a year to get their new releases?

In The Rose of Sebastopol, we meet Rosa Barr: the typical fictional determined heroine who simply will not behave in the expected manner of a Victorian lady. She travels to the Crimean War front, in the Ukraine and then mysteriously disappears. Her cousin, Mariella, whose fiance is a surgeon in the war also ventures to the Ukraine. Soon dashing cavalry officers come into the scene, and the result is one big page turner of a book. 

Beautifully written and full of excitement and emotion, McMahon hits another homerun with The Rose of Sebastopol. Curl up with a cup of tea and spend the afternoon indulging yourself. Indeed, this book is a real treat. Book clubs rejoice – this book blends history, romance, adventure and the Victorian Age together in one breath-taking story. 

See you in the library or the bookstore. HBG