LibraryAware June2020 Past Times

Past Times— June 2020

The Historical Fiction Book Club of the Swansea Free Public Library

Recent Reads

June Read
This month we are reading The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. "Electrifying and ambitious, The Weight of Ink is about women separated by centuries—and the choices and sacrifices they must make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind". A Good Read.

March Read

April Read

May Read

Welcome

This is the first newsletter of the Past Times Historical Fiction Book Club. I hope this finds everyone healthy and safe. It has been a great time for reading books, and we want to bring everyone up to date and keep in contact while we make our way back to the real world. So what is happening?

In March our book to read was Kate Mosse's Burning Chambers (Thank you Joann for the suggestion), followed by April's read of Empty Mansions (also another thank you to Joann). I have chosen a May read, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, which I think might be appropriate for our current situation. And we have a June book, The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. We will keep track of all our books and I look forward to suggestions for the future. As it stands right now, we cannot meet in person to discuss our books. The library does have access to ZOOM and we can do a Virtual Book Club gathering for our members if we decide to do that. Also, getting copies of the books can be done one of two ways...either by ebook or by checking if your local library has a copy in house. Ordering books outside of the Swansea Library is not allowed yet but we will let you know when that will happen. For now, just keep track of what we are reading each month and when we are finally able to reunite (maybe in September) we will have a big book bash and discuss all our books. Through the summer we will be sending out a newsletter with the current book and also books to read. It is important right now to stay safe and stay healthy.

If anyone needs to ask questions or get in touch with anyone from the group see the list below.

If you do not already know it, we will say it: We Miss You!

Current Members of Past Times

Maureen Pacheco - Facilitator mpacheco4100@gmail.com

Joann Johnson lizzietish2@verizon.net

Carol Gafford carol.gafford@sailsinc.org

Giselle Parent giseleparent1@gmail.com

Lorraine Parent lap4519@verizon.net

Julienne Donald

Maureen, Joann and Carol are also on Facebook.

June 2020 Book of the Month

Weight of Ink

Our June book is The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. It looks to be a good historical read. "Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history." (Goodreads).

Rachel Kadish

Rachel Kadish is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction and the author of several novels and a novella. Born in New York City on August 12, 1969, Kadish grew up inWestchester County, New York, where she attended middle school at Solomon Schechter School of Westchester in Hartsdale, and New Rochelle High School. Kadish received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1991 and an M.A. from New York University in 1994. Her fiction work has won the National Jewish Book Award and the Julia Ward Howe Prize, the John Gardner Fiction Prize, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Fiction Award.

For More information on Rachel visit: http://rachelkadish.com/

The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse

Bringing sixteenth-century Languedoc vividly to life, Kate Mosse's The Burning Chambers is a gripping story of love and betrayal, mysteries and secrets; of war and adventure, conspiracies and divided loyalties . . .

Kate Mosse is the author of nine novels & short story collections, including the No 1 multimillion selling Languedoc Trilogy - Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel - and No 1 bestselling Gothic fiction including The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist's Daughter, which she is currently adapting for the stage. Her books have been translated into 38 languages and published in more than 40 countries. She has also written three works of non-fiction, four plays, contributed essays and introductions to classic novels and collections.

Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.

Empty Mansions is The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune is a non-fiction book by the American authors Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. about the heiress Huguette Clark(1906–2011), daughter of the copper baron and United States Senator William A. Clark (1839–1925), one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time. The book chronicles both William and Huguette's life, including Huguette's decision to live the last 20 or so years of her life in hospitals in New York City, despite owning multiple homes and a fortune worth more than $300 million.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.