Book of the Week: ‘The Poison Thread’
The Poison ThreadLaura Purcell2019, 368 pagesFiction Dorothea Truelove is a believer in phrenology, the study of human skulls and how they determine personality. She theorizes that the shape of a person’s skull can explain the darkest of crimes. When she gets the chance to examine Ruth Butterham, accused murderess, she is ecstatic. But Ruth’s story proves stranger and darker than Dorothea can comprehend. Ruth is sure she has sewn...
Book of the Week: ‘The Testaments’
The TestamentsMargaret Atwood2019, 415 pagesFiction Margaret Atwood’s long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale does not disappoint. After 15 years, readers are again plunged into the familiar brutality of Gilead, with its hangings at “the wall” and monthly “ceremonies” between commanders and handmaids. Atwood intelligently and seamlessly weaves in tidbits of current events — alarmingly making this dystopian nightmare seem all too...
Book of the Week: ‘The Tale Teller’
The Tale TellerAnne Hillerman2019, 302 pagesMystery Retired tribal policeman Joe Leaphorn is persuaded to look into a case for Daisy Pinto, director of the Navaho Nation Museum. A traditional Navaho dress and a silver bracelet were not in a box of items donated to the museum. The dress is said to have been worn by Juanita, wife of the famous leader Manuelito. If it is authentic, it would be a very valuable item, one from a terrible...
Book of the Week: ‘Ellie and the Harp Maker’
Ellie and the HarpmakerHazel Prior2019, 327 pagesFiction Ellie Jacobs is feeling unsettled. She takes long walks in the countryside and writes poetry. She misses her father, who died a year ago. On the anniversary of her father’s death she discovers a barn filled with dozens of beautiful handmade Celtic harps. And she meets Dan Hollis, a handsome man with dark eyes, who introduces himself as the “Exmoor Harpmaker.” Ellie says that she...
Book of the Week: ‘Women Talking’ by Miriam Toews
Women TalkingMiriam Toews2019, 216 pagesFiction Between 2005 and 2009, women and girls in Manitoba Colony, a remote Mennonite colony in Bolivia, would wake in the morning feeling drowsy and in pain, bruised and bleeding, having been attacked in the night. These attacks were attributed to ghosts and demons. Some members of the colony thought the suffering was brought on as punishment for the women’s sins; many accused the women of...
