AS THE FINAL PAGE TURNS moving

 Hello Fellow Readers,

More ramblings and musings on books, perfume oils and a few shiny trinkets will be found here:

https://asthefinalpageturns.weebly.com

Deadly Cure by Lawrence Goldstone

Final Rating: 3.9/5

A turn of the century desperate pursuit for answers with cameos of the titans of medical and scientific discovery

  Deadly Cure is the second novel I have read from this author and I believe I enjoyed the countdown mystery with cameos of the titans of medical and scientific discovery in this book a great deal more than The Anatomy of Deception. Perhaps it was the setting or the premise involving a desperate race for answers that passed through the dying opulence of the 19th century and the filthy avenues of changing humanity that grabbed my imagination the most. The two novels are similar in messages but also share writing that brings me back for another chapter. Whatever the winning reason, this author is indeed a master at presenting and organizing facts and I was thrilled as I began to follow the opening lines in this title that he once more nudges the reader to explore names of individuals from a bygone era on their own instead of breaking into the story with a long forced biography about a referenced name. I would recommend Deadly Cure just for that element alone of inviting the curious to investigate further long after the turn of the final page (especially about the dawning of the study of forensics). 

  Sadly with all the positives of ambiance and little details that delighted and captivated in Deadly Cure I was somewhat disenchanted with quite a few of the characters (or the noticeable gaps in their personal histories that were never mentioned after they fulfilled their intended purposes in the story) and the overly dramatic scenes that just didn’t fit comfortably in comparison to the beginning passages. It was one later awkward almost ridiculous chapter in general that really disappointed me and after that part the action overthrew the intriguing mystery to create a four part ending that seemed there for modern tastes. True it wasn’t what I expecting but I still wish there would have been more subtlety and off scene acts instead but those types of negatives may not bother another reader. In any case the last important encouraging point I must note (that overbalanced the above for me) was the ultimate resolution to the mystery which was perfect and completely believable. Overall, this is one story that keeps you guessing, thinking about the future and continually secretly glancing over at your own medicine cupboard.

*I would like to thank NetGalley and Pegasus Books for the opportunity to read and enjoy Deadly Cure 

Title to be released: November 7, 2017

The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra

Final Rating: 3.4/5

“They had no idea of the ugly side of life”

  Depending on what the reader is searching for, you may find a twinkle or brilliant beam of interest and educational distraction with picking up The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra. For me it almost ended up as a “no thank you” type of work when the author’s personal negative views broke the string of opening events but I still wished to read this title as the promised subjects deserved my patience (the story of the four sisters have always been the “the” sad real life painted fairy tale that has captivated me since childhood and I’ve always felt some kind of special understanding with introverted personalities). In a way I’m happy I stayed and took the time to read this book but I think I will search out other titles to learn more as I can’t say I didn’t want to apologize to historic individuals as I read the side comments and felt the obvious distaste of the author at certain points in the pages. I was also surprised but also disappointed this work was very drawn out in the beginning chapters, somewhat repetitive with the available information and was more of a scrap book of memories of the Grand Duchesses with much flipping back and forth of dates and events. Modern interpretation of past events can be very tricky to handle and unfortunately The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra held too much of others opinions and too little of the words of the sisters or allowed a final impression of their individual personalities for this interested reader.

*I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra

The Scarlet Mansion by Allan W. Eckert

Final Rating: 2.3/5

  The Scarlet Mansion had its vivid moments of terrifying believable scenes where I would catch myself wanting to shout out warnings to the unfortunate numerous victims in the pages but left me in the dark many other times at the uneven dialogue, repetitive chapters (containing either flashbacks of schemes, senseless murders with animated violence dominating the passages or meetings with another trusting mark) and ultimately so many wasted opportunities for this novel to really shine with an ominous lingering glow of any kind of character development. I usually enjoy a beyond gloomy entertaining book with historical essentials that keeps me up but The Scarlet Mansion just wasn’t it and I was actually hoping to get a reimagined look into the mind of the historic narcissistic psychopath and con artist known as H. H. Holmes. Sadly he was just a shadowy villain who: lurked, traveled, plotted, showed anger and then left the scene in a trail of gore. Not exactly much to think on or what I was hoping for when I picked this novel up after reading so many excited reactions to this title. Perhaps this type of story is exactly what others have been looking for an extremely dramatic: suffocate’em, poison’em, drag’em and drop’em batting of history. If that is what the curious reader has been looking for, you found a chilling example of real life inspired horror but if there are those who wanted more without awkwardly wedged lite facts in long conversations and disappearing atmosphere or even enough details to fully capture the potential of the enduring mysteries from late 19th century Chicago, you may want to look elsewhere or put this one down and pick up The Devil in the White City, Depraved or H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil. I don’t know about you, but I have always found true historic accounts and depositions more frightening than any fiction.

-purchased and read on kindle 

The Coroner's Daughter by Andrew Hughes

Final Rating: 3.8/5

“The beginnings, perhaps, of an intriguing collection.”

  In 2015 a strangely magnetic summary accompanying The Convictions of John Delahunt caught my attention and directed me into the expansive brooding atmosphere of punishing secrets, intricate metaphors and an overall impressive vintage flair with words that stayed in my mind and outside conversations for months. It was not only wonderful to find a distraction at that time from real life but a warped period puzzle all in a debut was quite something and I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mr. Hughes latest mystery caper ever since. Overall I liked The Coroner's Daughter and fully admit the opening lines to this novel called to my (disturbing) dark sense of humor, honestly how can you not want to continue reading (or hold back a chuckle) when you first come across: “For my eighteenth birthday, Father promised me the hand of a handsome young man, which he duly delivered mounted in a glass bell-jar.”

  After that delightfully odd introduction, a familiar foreboding ambiance soon followed and era details kept my full attention. The urgency of the answers to the growing mystery were all nicely drawn out until the end as well but sadly like The Convictions of John Delahunt there were a few slips into modern sounding dialogue, contemporary expectations placed around the narrator and confusing spaces of action where I had to stop or reread to understand how a character arrived at a destination or where the narrator was in the chapter. It also seemed the beginning held the best passages and the final solution a little simpler than I had hoped but still this medical mystery/drama set in “the Year Without a Summer” with an inquisitive-natured narrator is one I would revisit again.

-purchased and read on kindle 

Titanic or Olympic: Which Ship Sank? by Bruce Beveridge, Steve Hall

Final Rating: 5/5

  “Herein lie the facts- decide for yourself”.

  A good conspiracy has tantalizing secrecy and a well recognized event that evokes anger, regret and suspicion about a forgotten era. Human drama is also a must when completing this list of what continues to draw us closer when certain topics are mentioned in a hushed voice. Titanic or Olympic: Which Ship Sank? knows this is what entices the curious reader and invites them on an absolutely fascinating tour that examines in serious detail one of the greatest theories that still follows in the wake of April 15, 1912- was it TITANIC or her sister ship OLYMPIC that went down with over 1,500 souls that tragic night? Upfront the authors admit that if true and the OLYMPIC was switched for the TITANIC this would have been the largest (and most elaborate) hoaxes on the public and insurance scam of all time.

  This work then continues onto chapters filled with the passages behind the popular theory, my favorites being: “Mystery or History”, “The Lifeboat Evidence” and “Photographic Assessment". In these heavily detailed sections the believed evidence is presented with entertaining information of missing names from rescue registries, undecided final tallies, double numbered lifeboats and even oddly colored paint under where the recognized nameplate of TITANIC rests at the bottom of the Atlantic. I’ll admit after reading all of the known and displayed “evidence”; I was beginning to believe the greatest hoax happened. It was the ideal time for this work to switch direction and build reality from the keel up to her distinct swan-neck vents. Time then flew for this collector of history who just stared for large increments at the next displayed snapshots with the key parts of the ships marked to clearly illustrate differences from the minute to the hidden in plain view. I didn’t want to put this book down and I borrowed a Kindle Fire to get the full effect of the photographs (some I have never seen before). The more and more the pages turned with these intriguing comparative pictures, documented testimony and re-examinations of the previous chapters (slamming aside fragmented statements and popular myth with cold hard facts); the more I could say “well I’m convinced” as well as “I didn’t know that!”. Even after that this book went on and precisely explained the intimate particulars that any familiar crew member could never have been completely fooled over or the complex contracts of silence that would have been necessary.

  Any possible lingering doubts were finally laid to rest at that point (especially when the quote from Violet Jessop came about) and my kindle marked that the book had ended but it didn’t. There were a few more surprises left (like dazzle paint) for this fellow reader of history and the concluding sections were centered on what happened long after April 15, 1912 for the Titanic’s sister ships. Those parts were equally fascinating as the beginning chapters and turned into a poignant narrative that sounded the final three horn blows on the decadent world that created the marvels of the oceans. A fitting ending for such a fantastic reference, I don’t think I will ever pass a photograph of the TITANIC or OLYMPIC again without counting the portholes, trying to look for the number “401” or “400” on anything at museums (or even high priced estate sales- I can always hope right?) or searching cinematic scenes for round windows versus rectangle. For everything this title offered and presented this is one book I couldn’t be more overall pleased in finding. Highly Recommended.

-read and purchased on kindle

The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship—Titanic by Walter Lord

Final Rating: 5/5

The bow and stern of riveting history start where you will and discover a classic

  In A Night to Remember, Walter Lord provided a minute-by-minute narrative that catches in your throat as you feel every icy touch of reality from that harrowing April night. You follow the names that have transformed into enduring legends and their own words create racing dramatic images but as you near the final page with its somber tribute to those over 1,500 souls lost; you also have so many burning questions. That’s when you need to pick up The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship—Titanic and revisit a condensed inviting account that is broken apart in time frames and stops to examine but ultimately educates, deftly debates, proves many a point with convincing evidence and yet all tells a commanding series of stories that are forever connected to the RMS TITANIC. Although each work was written years apart they belong together and whether the beginning or ending of the history of the marvel that was Titanic calls to you, start where you will and discover something special. Highly Recommended.

-purchased and read on kindle

City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris by Holly Tucker

Final Rating: 3.7/5

“Half of the nobility have done the same thing, if I felt like talking. I’d ruin them all!”

   With a highly accessible narrative style, City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris invites the modern reader back to reinvestigate a true extravagant scandal that involved a web of: suspicious deaths, damaging accusations, painful confessions and lasting ciphers that have all become to be known under the bewitching title of The Affair of the Poisons (L'affaire des poisons). From 1677-1682 the city of Paris served as the backdrop to a deadly mystery that went unnoticed by many including medical professionals at the time, what was thought to be simply explained by gangrenous accumulations of bile or mistakes on inexperienced autopsy tables would soon be revealed in vile depositions to involve poisoned shirts and pulverized toads. As grisly as it all seems, those are all only parts of the baleful truths that Nicolas de La Reynie (the first police chief of Paris) would soon bring to light and the polite belief that stops at privilege or esteemed morals would be destroyed forever in society’s eyes.

  As fascinating as City of Light, City of Poison ended for this reader who confesses to seek out and collect subjects of dark history; I wanted more and for the stories or cases to go on beyond 54% on her kindle. I also thought the beginning a little uneven (along with some spellings and wished for more photos of key names and locations in the final pages) but appreciated the strange ambiance this work eventually brought allowing the curious to fall in step with La Reynie’s investigations and persistence in everything. I also found the back and forth private and public dramas presented from the halls of Versailles to the mean back alleys (and even in the dank reaches of frightening rooms meant for the Question) irresistibly beguiling but at the same time refined with an overall notable respectable approach. I admit not always easy topics to read in detail come about in the pages of City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris and it did have its unfortunate personal disappoints but Ms. Tucker has certainly researched and conjures all the distrustful notions from 17th-century Paris from watching what your wear, where you step and questioning who you can trust to rise and flame the mind to learn more about all presented and that’s why this title is staying on my unique shelves.

-purchased and read on kindle

 

The Good People by Hannah Kent

Final Rating: 4/5

An emotional realistic tale that is hard not to recommend

  I admit I had not completely fallen in the enchanted tangle of Icelandic atmosphere and true life inspiration that bound together the 2013 historical bestseller Burial Rites. Perhaps it was just my reading tastes at the time and not to upset anyone but I found it very easy to put down. I just needed something more than the limited cold scents and bones of characters to keep me coming back and Ms. Kent’s second novel provided this wary reader with all she has been hoping for and even a few hidden tricks to delight along the way. Simply The Good People is an emotional realistic tale that is hard not to recommend to anyone who has been waiting for a good old fashioned story that is told in elegant prose with varied personalities you love to hate but oddly care about. In this yarn the reader is confronted with multiple topics but mostly grief, religion, old beliefs and what can ensue when one suspicious threat overbalances everything we think we hold dear. Like Burial Rites inspiration is taken directly from a true regional bygone crime and in The Good People harrowing events of June 1826 in rural Ireland are spread out in fiction with liberal drams of herb lore, powerful Irish superstition, proverbs and dangers of kin suspicions.

  For this reader, there were a few negatives mostly the stiff and awkward presented dialogue, periodic measured pace and the ending felt incomplete. Usually those disappointing points would have me rating a novel lower but The Good People had one or two tricks waiting cleverly in plain sight and I couldn’t help but raise my overall final impression when I encountered memories of reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond for the first time as Nance and Mary made their initial appearances. I also enjoyed discovering the potential of endless discussions this novel could provide and my fellow nurses have already debated long into the night over this story. This type of novel is not for everyone there are some very disturbing scenes that can overstep boundaries of comfort but it is well worth reading and if you are like me and the book description is calling to you with possibilities- you may find yourself in another place and time on the first page and by the final swept by The Good People.

*I would like to thank NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the opportunity to read and enjoy The Good People

The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century by William Rosen

Final Rating: 3.9/5

A puddle skipping journey into the 14th century that still regales and educates

  Not exactly an easy overview of late 13th to early 14th-century history and survey of weather conditions but one book that is sure to skip eventually into an interest of the reader’s. In truth, I was hoping for more of a complete feeling work with organized leaps in topics that wouldn’t lose or confuse (I had heard fantastic things about this book). Still The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century certainly was an enthusiastic venture to shape the whirling descriptions and connect the Medieval Warm Period with the ever drastically changing population, geography, and complex politics leading up to the devastating roiling storm of conflicts of 14th-century England, Scotland, France and early Germany. Perhaps I misunderstood the original mini summary thinking this non-fiction title more centered on examining historic weather and famine but like Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century it has rightly found a proper place on my shelf of late 13th to 14th-century trivia especially dedicated to learning more about the charismatic names of known legends and favorite historical novels. It may have had its own lethargic and frantic passages but is definitely a title worth the time to calm the mind and sit down with on a winter day.

*I would like to thank NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking for the opportunity to read and enjoy The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century

A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson

Final Rating: 4.2/5

 An intriguing homage that stirs the imagination of the amateur sleuth in all of us

  Suspicions, deadlines and a real life mystery that still baffles meld perfectly in this entertaining hunt into the past that follows the voice of Agatha Christie as she confesses all that transpired and her puzzling silence to the world concerning eleven days back in December 1926. A most sensitive case that Christie herself would not even mention in her own autobiography but somebody knows the truth and special arrangements have been kept and decades have passed since the death of the clever writer. The time has come for a tale rife with psychological twisted pressures and a guide who has a mind and talent for murder and concealing secrets.

  The beginning of the narrative is innocent as can be but as the events are pushed in the direction of dangerous doubt, the reader is inevitably invited to sit back and observe the rest of the public and many professions speculate and search for clues to the famed author’s whereabouts. This is deftly accomplished by looking in periodically with Superintendent William Kenward, the deputy chief constable who is determined to see to the end and answer: does this case concern inescapable madness, murder or simple explanations? The mystery alone stirs the amateur sleuth in all of us as we know the truth but still hold our breath along with two more views that add to what it would have been like to open the newspaper everyday to find out about a newly discovered scuff on a dirt road or vague conversation with a trembling woman who may or not be Agatha Christie. In this element, the actual known details are cunningly scattered throughout and those little tidbits of specifics are sure to fascinate and compound racing emotions until the final page.

  For this reader, as entertaining with actual facts and creative with the still unknown to happenings in 1926, I would have liked more era slang tossed in or additional touches of the always popular locale spread into the back ground. To be honest, if I had not already been familiar with the 1926 disappearance of Agatha Christie by watching a mini summary of the case and base facts many years ago, I would have unfortunately thought this novel set in mid-century America. The side story of the female hobby reporter also added to my list of negatives sadly, I saw the importance of the character but those chapters didn’t seem as polished as Christie’s narrative and took away from the built-up suspense by repeating specifics the reader just finished reviewing in other parts. Irksome negatives aside, I still think A Talent for Murder is one novel that definitely deserves attention and praise. It not only leaves the reader with a temptation to challenge their own little grey cells in solving an unsolved mystery (or two) but it also gently nudges those to take a second glance at the library shelves or sale tables and reacquaint themselves with the Queen of Crime.

*I would like to thank Atria Books and NetGalley for opportunity to read and enjoy A Talent for Murder

Title expected to be released: July 11, 2017

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

Final Rating: 2.8/5

A remarkable topic that needs no garish dramatic trimmings…

   Some approaches to history and storytelling work more favorably than others, it just depends on the reader and audience. Unfortunately The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women tested my optimistic blasé attitude toward different writing styling and I couldn’t help thinking that in place of “If it gets someone reading…” that maybe History sometimes provides its own commentary and little needs added after. Perhaps the facts surrounding the radium dial painters is one of those perfect examples of a topic that needs no garish dramatic trimmings-those brave women’s preserved words, court documents and scientific specifics all tell their own remarkable story. I understand the connection with the stage this author has but the incessant dramatic flamboyance with heavy chapters just didn’t seem appropriate in several passages (ex. the various exhumations and awkwardly timed tangents). There were also the thickly spread expressive conjectures in these pages that had me shaking my head, I can only take so much “perhaps, as though, they were thinking, she must have been thinking, he thought only etc” before those parts have me wishing I picked another title.

   It saddens me to admit my disappointment with The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women and I do applaud the obvious research in other parts that didn’t seem just tacked on (you could clearly tell the author is fond of her subject) but the heavy chintzy figurative writing almost had me dreading turning another page and in truth I put this title down quite a few times. It was my absolute fascination with the serious subject that kept me coming back between looking up still frames, documentaries (a film entitled "Radium City", I highly recommend to anyone that wants to learn more), newspaper clippings and partial photos of the statue dedicated to the memory of those amazing women. Maybe in the end, this non-fiction work took certain flourishes a bit too far even though it was a relatively easy read in the beginning I still do not fully regret reading for the history and attention to such a serious topic. I just think I will find something more “appropriate” with something else on the available shelves. 
 

*I would like to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to read The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

*Also published under the title: The Radium Girls: They paid with their lives. Their final fight was for justice. 

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) by George R.R. Martin

Final Rating: 4.5/5

 
“I’m certain of nothing but winter and battle”

  With The Winds of Winter strongly believed to land on many readers’ long awaiting lists and shelves this year (forgive this summer child for her optimism if for any reason this does not come to pass), I join those who have been testing leonine patience and preparing vivid cracking imagination for the next bout of ultimate betrayals, brutal struggles for survival and one uncomfortable throne made of a thousand swords. A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, book 2) is my second scheduled revisit to the enthralling world of Westeros and Essos and it simply astonishes me no matter how many times I reread favorite passages I notice some singularly hidden nugget of a wicked quip, new comparisons to our own history with striking twists and another appreciation for the fully shaded characters that populate the seven kingdoms and my outside conversations (sometimes to the exasperation of my tired nighttime coworkers). This is one novel that certainly keeps me awake after having a taste on a lunch break promising to linger in my whirling mind as time creeps on those long shifts. I get such joy sharing this series of stories with anyone sitting near and catch their eyes roving over the enchanting covers or the thickness of the book. I do tend to admit some novels in A Song of Ice and Fire (A Clash of Kings among that listing) are better than others and encourage all to begin with A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, book 1) for the foundation of the rampant adventure and unforgettable maneuvers of personalities (for good or evil) that will follow but the choice to begin turning the pages where they will is ultimately up to them. Although some chapters (or points of view spread across the included maps) create more exciting visions depending on the reader’s ever discerning mood, it is all worth the effort to finish and share with those who have not heard the call or simply need another reason to escape our own world for seven others. 

-purchased and read on kindle


Also in this series:

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin

* A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) by George R.R. Martin

A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire #3) by George R.R. Martin
  
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4) by George R.R. Martin

A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) by George R.R. Martin
 
The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire #6) by George R.R. Martin

*2 more novels believed to follow  

 

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

Final Rating: 3.9/5

Inside the house on 92 Second Street...

  The dark heart of See What I Have Done is a brutal double murder that still horrifies and strangely fascinates the world. You could say the acts on August 4, 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts are laid out as one of the ultimate locked room mysteries that may never be correctly solved. Many are convinced of the final answer and even a few brave souls retrace steps taking an electronic recorder to interrogate the shadows but nothing is certain but perhaps this: the case will never be forgotten because of film, literature and the prying natures of the public. It is also one of those iconic tales that can easily become a cautionary legend that writes itself. It takes a special touch though to fully immerse the reader into the pages and luckily we have Ms. Schmidt as our unflinching guide who has a distinct way with her pen that is sure to appeal to the morose unpleasant side we all try to hide. 

  I bet you thought this was going to be one of those uncomplicated stories that are presented one way and then romance and whimsy makes an appearance. Sorry to disappoint and however lovely that would be but this isn’t that kind of novel. This is laudanum induced dream that feeds off of the reader’s morbid curiosities and taps at our most paranoid fears of what can go wrong behind locked doors. We think we are safe at home but we also can’t deny we have those times we feel shivers of doubt when we hesitate in a doorway and rethink what is lurking behind a smile or a sweaty handshake. Is the heavy greasy rancid meal you forced yourself to eat last night the real reason you are so ill this morning?  In this feverish admission of events four views offer the base facts of the case but also challenge our most basic instincts as we follow the daily routines and repeated thoughts of key personalities that all have something to contribute to the reader’s suspicions. To heighten the senses (and twist even more with your final judgments) Ms. Schmidt has prepared for her guests to this collaboration of history and imagination all the tastes, sounds, blurred visions, raised neck hairs and of course scents of the sweltering summer day. I think it would be cruel not to warn any gentle reader at this point, you may not want to look under the table or in the pot.

  As much as I found See What I Have Done a creepy though bizarrely interesting read (especially the claustrophobic tension of the Borden household but also the deep jealous thoughts and complex bonds that can occur between sisters), I still thought this novel a bit paced in the beginning and very frantic at the end where voices of characters just faded out or future events were simply related from newspaper recounts. One or two times I caught an odd afterthought on the modern leaching into the story (a few details for the era seemed just “off”). There were also the final missed opportunities in this title that I really wanted to see re-imagined like the lesser important scenes. To be specific, I was hoping for Bridget’s narration to continue after August 4, 1892 (her chapters I couldn’t wait to find more of), the infamous trial to be remembered or told from anyone’s point of view that was there and finally a creative passage dedicated to one of the final gnawing mysteries of this case concerning a swift departure in 1905 or even one cryptic whisper from 1948 that just begs for a creative wave of the pen. Such a shame to see those scenes forgotten in the mad shuffle to get to the end, still I think See What I Have Done a book to recommend. It may take a certain persistent type of the curious who enjoys history, sensory reading and the unexplained sides of human nature but I know they are out there and they have one unique book waiting for them.   

*I would like to thank Atlantic Monthly Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy See What I Have Done  

Title expected to be released: August 1, 2017