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Monthly Archives: May 2021

The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John

28 Friday May 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, Fiction, Humor

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1950's, Australia, department stores, employees, female friendship, novels of manners, Sydney (N.S.W.), women, women's clothing industry

Set in the late 1950’s, this novella offers readers a glimpse of the lives and relationships of four women who work for a Sydney department store.  Readers will find here a thoughtfully written and gentle story filled with hope. 

“The book I most often give as a gift to cheer people up.” —Hilary Mantel

“Like the deceptively simple (but perfectly crafted) little black dress, this delicious and sly masterpiece works its magic from the very first sentence. Once you slip into its folds– full of hope and new beginnings, of luck and laughter and love– I dare you not to catch yourself smiling, and wanting to twirl, for days and days and days.” –Sarah Blake, author of The Guest House and The Postmistress

“Funny and light, this story moves quickly as each character navigates the 1950s-era challenges of being a working woman in a male-dominated society with limited options for the happily ever after they all strive for.” —Booklist

“A striking debut novel of wit, charm, female friendships and universal dreams… a delightful and uplifting slice-of-life view.” —Shelf Awareness, starred review

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The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson

24 Monday May 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, adventure, England, Fiction, Travel

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England, female friendship, narrowboats, road trips

What a delightful road trip – except the ride is on a narrowboat on British canals for four months.  Two middle-aged women desperate to ditch their mundane life situations, as luck would have it, cross paths briefly with an older woman who lives on the canals.  They trade homes and the slowed time and shared struggle give each the courage to make life-changing choices.  .  A breath of fresh air during our pandemic, claustrophobic, confined-in-our-homes times.  Excellent read.

“Lovely…Another heartening story about the possibility of striking out in a new direction at any age. It is also a soothing read, especially welcome in these anxious times.” ―Christian Science Monitor

A touching, hopeful story about figuring out what matters and mustering the courage to make necessary changes.” ―NPR

“Fans of Jane Smiley and Hannah Mary McKinnon will enjoy Youngson’s immersive, lyrical account of the women’s narrowboat summer, especially the colorful characters they meet along their journey.” ―Booklist

“Youngson, a heartfelt storyteller, takes readers on a charming excursion that provides a comforting, tender escape.” ―Shelf Awareness

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The Doctors Blackwell : How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women-and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura

17 Monday May 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, History, United States

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biography, Eilizabeth Blackwell 1821-1910, Emily Blackwell 1826-1910, health in the United States, sexism in medicine, women in medicine, women physicians

“Nimura shocks and enthralls with her blunt, vivid storytelling. She draws on the writings of Elizabeth and Emily in an intimate way that makes it feel like she knew the sisters personally. Alongside glaring descriptions of culturally ingrained sexism and discrimination, the biography also touches on how our standards of medicine have changed over the decades, showing how even the most scientific of professions are subject to major culture shifts.”― Jennifer Walter, Discover Magazine

“Ms. Nimura’s portrait of the Blackwells’ America blazes with hallucinatory energy. It’s a rough-hewn, gaudy, carnival-barking America, with only the thinnest veneer of gentility overlaying cruelty and a simmering violence. It’s an America yearning for relief from disease, besotted with séances and spiritualism, quack cures and phrenology; a deeply divided America, with bloody fissures between rich and poor, North and South, city and countryside.”― Donna Rifkind, Wall Street Journal

“All doctors and all patients owe a debt to these eccentric, determined, brilliant characters, Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, who found their way across the strange and bloody landscape of nineteenth-century medicine and transformed it forever, all brilliantly conjured in Janice P. Nimura’s wonderful book.”― Perri Klass, author of A Good Time to Be Born

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The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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19th century, Australia, exile, female friendship, governesses, life changing events, midwives, penal colonies, punishment, women

Best-selling historical fiction author of The Orphan Train and A Piece of the World transports the reader to 1840’s Australia where England sent away her prisoners – for some punishment, for others opportunity and redemption.

“Celebrating the bonds between women, the novel explores how lives that seem destined for pain might persevere.” — Real Simple

“Both uplifting and heartbreaking, this beautifully written novel doesn’t flinch from the ugliness of the penal system but celebrates the courage and resilience of both the first peoples and the settlers who came after, voluntarily or not, to create a new home for themselves and their children.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Monumental…This episode in history gets a top-notch treatment by Kline, one of our foremost historical novelists. This fascinating 19th-century take on Orange Is the New Black is subtle, intelligent, and thrillingly melodramatic.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

01 Saturday May 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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aristocracy (social classes), brothers and sisters, family secrets, illegitimate children, Japanese Americans, Kyoto (Japan), musical prodigy, racially mixed cildren

After she is abandoned by her mother, Noriko is taken in by her strict Japanese grandparents only to suffer stinging, chemical baths and regular confinement to the attic.  Life takes a new twist when her older half-brother (unbeknownst to her) comes to live with them.   The author’s new voice and storytelling won me over completely.

“Fifty Words for Rain is an impressive debut novel about a mixed-race girl growing up in post WWII Japan. Sensitive and bristling with closely-observed humanity, Asha Lemmie tells a story that we have not heard before with an ending that is as surprising as it is brutally honest.” —Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky

“[An] epic, twisty debut… Sometimes bleak, sometimes hopeful, Lemmie’s heartbreaking story of familial obligations packs an emotional wallop.” —Publishers Weekly

“Lemmie’s debut novel is a gripping historical tale that will transport readers through myriad emotions… Lemmie intimately draws the readers into every aspect of Noriko’s complex story, leading us through the decades and across the continents this adventure spans, bringing us to anger, tears, and small pockets of joy. A truly ambitious and remarkable debut.” —Booklist 

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