The anthropologist Laurence Ralph has long written about the search for meaning in lives beset by conflict and crisis. In Sito, his new book about the murder of a nineteen-year-old relative, one of the seekers turns out to be Ralph himself.
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/06/20/the-constant-presence-of-fear-sito-laurence-ralph/
As Indian democracy comes under increasing threat from Hindu nationalists, the Dalit politician B.R. Ambedkar’s fight against caste inequality acquires a new significance.
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/06/20/a-life-of-contradictions-b-r-ambedkar/
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, once kings of American culture, invented a new kind of musical theater in shows like Oklahoma!, Carousel, and South Pacific. But by the time of their final work together, a critical backlash had begun.
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/06/20/youve-got-to-be-carefully-taught-oscar-hammerstein-mary-rodgers/
rubbing the filters back and forththrough a knob on the screen that’s codedto brush glaze and bury echoeson photographs my oiled finger pads never once touched So much past arrives on my screen coupled with soft pings in the pocket strange temple bellAnd in these images pass chords of facesof which I know next to nothingwhile all fall […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/06/20/i-cant-stop-jenny-xie/
“We should remember that the people we study lived in a world crowded with invisible beings,” Peter Brown writes in our June 6, 2024 issue, as part of his review of Peter Heather’s book about the rise of Christianity. He’s referring to people living in “late antiquity,” a designation that Brown brought to the English-speaking […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2024/06/01/a-past-in-all-its-fullness/
Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About are excited to be hosting a mini challenge to celebrate Audiobook Month in June. So grab your earbuds and complete a challenge to win one of three fantastic prizes!
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First prize: 6 month credit bundle from Libro.fm. Help support local indie bookstores. Second prize is Only Hard Problems (US) audiobook from Jennifer Estep. A fantastic series! Third prize is an audiobook of your choice from the fabulous best-selling author Karen Grey. Best of luck and may the odds be forever in your favor as you listen this month!
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Original source: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2024/06/jiam-mini-audiobook-challenge-kick-off.html
Vashti’s Daughter follows a 29-year-old book publisher who discovers a mysterious manuscript; she must find a way to break an ancient curse put on her and fulfill a vow she made centuries ago, before her 30th birthday in the present. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
This will sound quite strange, but the inspiration for Vashti’s Daughter originated from a very unique relationship I was involved in with a former high school classmate several years ago.
It was so intense, I felt as if we had known each other in a previous life. When I ended it, he was quite upset and told me, “You will never find love again, now and for all eternity.” (Which was certainly not true as I’ve been married to my current and forever love for over 40 years!)
However, that one line also felt was like a “curse” made centuries ago, and most definitely was the spark that created the theme of Vashti’s Daughter, although the Jewish holiday of Purim and all that followed wasn’t originally the concept or the title of the novel.
(Unfortunately, the real person who was the inspiration for the book passed away several years ago and never knew how important he was to my creative process.)
The rest of the inspiration came to me during COVID, when I had plenty of time and plenty of unemployment, to concentrate on finishing Vashti’s Daughter. The history of basketball at Kutcher’s in the Catskills, the basketball scandals at Syracuse and Israel, the archeological dig and earthquake in Qutar, and even Alexander the Great, became part of the story. Where all these themes came from, I honestly have no idea!
Anna is a strong heroine who is determined and resilient in the face of challenging odds. Did you incorporate anything from your own life into the characters in your novel?
As with most authors, and certainly with my own novels, there are a number of personal experiences intertwined in every book. With Vashti’s Daughter, I drew from my more than twenty-five years of experience in the ever-changing book publishing industry, as well as having gone through a vicious divorce (over 40 years ago) with a very abusive self-centered jerk who became the character of Anna’s ex in the story.
My own mother Reginia Cohen was a very strong, fiercely independent woman who was way ahead of her time. She faced many challenges, as did many women of her generation after WWII ended, but I credit her intense determination as the key factor in the Anna character.
When we celebrated Purim at our ultra-conservative synagogue in Ellenville, New York, both of us dressed as Vashti while all the other women extolled the virtues of Esther. The congregation wasn’t that impressed. to say the least!
Other aspects of the novel I’ve incorporated into the story; I graduated from Syracuse and am a huge Orange basketball fan! I’ve also studied astrology, numerology, and Kabala and have been reading Tarot cards for over 60 years, and have, of course, attended many book events both here in Los Angeles and New York City over the years.
Unfortunately, many of these events as well as bookstores, author book signings, and conventions are no longer around, which makes selling novels even more challenging than ever before. Add to that, the disappearance of major publishing houses, mergers, and the new A.I. “fake” writing that’s become so popular, and it’s going to get a lot worse for creative human beings to make a living in the publishing business – BUT like Anna, I firmly believe we will prevail!
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
All of my novels have the similar theme of strong, independent women who overcome great odds. Jenny Reed is a strong, determined New Yorker who has to shake off the laid-back attitude of LA to overcome the challenges of an industry that threatens to turn her off and a man who only wants to turn her on in Red Wine for Breakfast.
Attorney-turned-writer Rachael Clark has to fight off her vengeful ex to bring justice to her new love interest in First Class Male.
Voice-over actress Melanie Tyler becomes involved with a secret spy agency to help bring down a former classmate’s evil organization in Undercover Reunion.
Two continuous themes in all my novels are first, my #1 rule of life; Always keep a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator because you never know when you’re going to have something to celebrate, and you do NOT want to be without champagne.
Second, the secret of the “socks test” which you’ll have to read the novels to discover that that is!
What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?
Vashti’s Daughter is my fourth novel! My first book, Red Wine for Breakfast was published way back in 1999. (Read The History of a Novel)
That novel was followed by what started out as a 2,000 word short story for a romance magazine that grew to the 96,000 word novel First Class Male. Undercover Reunion was written just before my own 30th high school reunion and also the 50th anniversary of the television show The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
As far as the future of my next books – Bourbon for Brunch and Daiquiris for Dinner have been sitting in my computer hoping to become completed works someday when I’m a “rich and famous” (or just rich) author and can quit my “day job.”
Author Links: GoodReads | YouTube | Raven-West.com | Website | Amazon
The festive holiday of Purim is celebrated every year in the Jewish community with costume parties, parades and special fruit-filled tri-corner pastries called Hamentashen.
But before Esther, there was Vashti, the king’s first wife. Her defiance of his order to debase herself for the amusement of his cronies led to her being banished from the kingdom. This paved the way for Esther to take her place, and Vashti was never heard from again.
Until now.
Throughout the centuries, Vashti has been both vilified and praised. She’s portrayed as the bitch of the land, or hailed as the first Feminist. The argument has been raging for decades. Vashti’s Daughter definitively ends this debate.
Actual events and locations both from the past and the present, plus several actual religious, astrological and reincarnation authorities, lend credibility to a fictional story that could very well be real.
After a mysterious manuscript appears on her desk and at her home, Anna is haunted by dreams where she is living in 366 BCE. With the help of reincarnation experts, archeologists and a Kabbalist Rabbi, Anna discovers she is, in fact, Adara, the reincarnated daughter of Queen Vashti.
Risking her company and budding relationship with book’s author, Dr. Nathaniel Braverman, a Middle Eastern Studies professor at Brandeis University, she must find a way to break an ancient curse put on her and fulfill a vow she made centuries ago, before her 30th birthday in the present, that will finally bring her true happiness in love and change the world’s view on a biblical heroine.
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/06/01/strong-independent-women/
Courting the Sun follows a sixteen-year-old village girl who is invited to attend the royal court of King Louis XIV and become the attendant of his mistress, empowering her into the inner circle of the court. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for Courting the Sun came from genealogy research I was doing into my own family ancestry and a group of young women referred to as Les Filles du Roi, or Daughters of the King. They were not true daughters, but were recruited by King Louis XIV to travel to New France (Canada) and marry his soldiers, fur traders, and farmers, and grow a colony for him. He promised to pay their passage, provide a dowry and a trousseau, and reward them financially for having babies. From 1663-1673, roughly 750 women took him up on his offer. I am descended from 23 of these women. I wondered what would cause a young woman to leave everyone and everything she knows and sail to a rough, unknown land. I let my imagination run wild, and thus Sylvienne was born, wholly fictional and very unlike the real Filles du Roi in terms of her personal journey.
Sylvienne is a young girl with big dreams who discovers the reality of those dreams is not what she envisioned. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
One of the themes of this story, I think, is to be careful what you wish for. That doesn’t mean a girl shouldn’t have dreams, but if those dreams are shallow, the outcome will likely be shallow or at the very least restrictive. Sylvienne is intelligent, curious about the world, and a bit of free-thinker and free-actor. When she gets to King Louis’ court, she learns that freedom is not a quality that is respected there and that if she is to be “free” to love whom she wishes, she will have to be subversive about it. She also learns to care about the people who care about her and to not take them for granted.
What intrigues you about the 17th century period enough to write such a captivating and emotionally resonating period piece?
I am always intrigued by and wondering about the lives of my grandmothers and many-times-great-grandmothers going back through the centuries. Once I started researching what life would have been like for Sylvienne, and thus my 7th and 8th great-grandmothers in the 17th century, I was amazed at everything I learned. It was the final century of the Renaissance period, and art, theatre, literature, and the emerging natural sciences and astronomy were at their peak, and France was at the center of it. And yet there was such a dichotomy in terms of what was believed medically, how crowded and filthy the cities of Europe were, how people were treated depending on their religious beliefs or disbeliefs, and the great divide (as always) between those of wealth & nobility vs those of the common or lower classes—though some members of the rising bourgeoisie in France were wealthier than some of the nobility and that created its own complexity.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
I am working on the sequel to Courting the Sun, tentatively titled A Tangled Dawn. It takes Sylvienne to New France (Canada) where she experiences a life entirely different from what she knew in France. She encounters those “horrendous” fur traders and “scary” indigenous people and engages in an entirely new learning curve in terms of self-survival and learning to live among and respect people who are different from herself. And of course, her love life is as complicated as ever. I am hopeful it will be released in 2025.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
In Paris, Sylvienne is quickly swept up in the romance, opulence, and excitement of royal life. Assigned to serve King Louis’s favorite mistress, she is absorbed into the monarch’s most intimate circle. But the naïve country girl soon finds herself ill-prepared for the world of intrigue, illicit affairs, and power-mongering that takes place behind the shiny façade of Versailles.
This debut historical novel from Peggy Joque Williams captures the vibrancy and quandaries of 17th century life for a village girl seeking love and excitement during the dangerous reign of the Sun King.
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/06/01/daughters-of-the-king/
CHAOS: Remnants of Ruptured Reflections is a collection of poetry that offers readers a reflective exploration of the omnipresent tug-of-war between order and chaos. What was the inspiration for this collection of poetry?
Fundamentally, Chaos (and Chaosophy) was the inspiration for this collection. It began the creative process and this collection is in some ways a bit of a sequel to my first release The Sibyl. My debut collection had a slightly extended investigation of chaos amongst other topics but this collection is more succinct. I also intended to create chaos within the readership of this text so it is a lot more pure than The Sibyl. The text may begin at either end of the book and then collapses into itself in the middle section. Chaos is ignored by many people in an everyday context but truly is the primordial condition of the spheres in which we operate and function in.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The book examines themes in conflicting dichotomies that end up turning on each other within the poems. For instance, in “Virgin and Whore,” I write to turn the virgin into a whore and the whore into a goddess. Apart from some of the more obvious ones, life/death, reading/writing, and strength/weakness are explored in the poetry. Another interesting theme that was written about is the kinds of magic practitioners that are around today: the legitimate practitioners of magick vs. the ‘Wichstagram’ type practitioners who do it more for glamour and money than actual magick. Christian/Catholic themes and those of good and evil are also brought into question throughout the text.
I found the poem “Breath” especially meaningful and thought-provoking, shining a light on how fleeting life is. Do you have a favorite poem in this collection, if so, what is it that makes it stand out?
I am glad you enjoyed “Breath” as much as I enjoyed writing it. More than a poem about the awareness of being alive, it is ironically about the death of ego. My favourites from this collection are “A Wave of Words” and “The Warlock,” which is a personal hymn to the goddess Babalon.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from CHAOS: Remnants of Ruptured Reflections?
It may be my hand that wrote this book, but I often feel that there are other forces that work through me. This book is not of my creation even though I physically worked to put this together. There are energies that need to communicate messages to the world through my mortal shell and by my name. I am not certain what messages were intended for the readers but on a personal level, I hope that my poetry is enjoyed over and over again. Perhaps some of the poetry might inspire thought or even devotion to Chaos.
While reading this text, it is hoped that readers do not read the poems in a traditional manner. Instead, readers should experience the chaos and partake of the words and themes in a disorderly fashion.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | HiddenHandBooks | Amazon
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/06/01/devotion-to-chaos/
What Lies We Keep follows a couple with a struggling marriage who separate and face the consequences of the choices they have both made. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I’ve worked in corporations for 15 years and, prior to that, in large law firms. I’ve seen people putting in so many hours they rarely see their families, people doing hurtful or devious things to others to get ahead, and people completely focused on obtaining a title whether they have the skills and qualifications for it or not. I’m sure the same holds for many work environments, be it politics, entertainment, or even non-profits. Choices like this often have consequences, although not always – as happens in Ted’s case – for the person perpetrating the negative behaviors. Corporations are familiar ground for me. I wanted to create a slice of what I’d seen and address how good people can be hurt or changed, their lives upended, by the misplaced priorities of others, by corporate culture, and so much more in today’s workplace.
Ted wants power and success and makes choices that he thinks will help him achieve this but at the cost of his family. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
In a world where everything from advertisements to social media to celebrities tell us what we should wear, read, or look like, as markers by which we can validate ourselves as being successful and part of the “in” crowd, corporations are no different. Titles, the number of people reporting to you, the budget you manage, and more become markers by which insecure people often define their worth. I wanted to develop a character who puts himself on this corporate path and, in the process, creates self-justifications to cover the reality that he’s lost focus as to what is truly valuable – truly irreplaceable – in his life. The result is one bad decision after another until he’s forced to face what he’s become and let the reader decide if he redeems himself in the end.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The book asks the central question “What happens when we embrace the life we think we should have, rather than the life we have?” Ted embraces the lure of importance and validation he sees in climbing the corporate ladder, rather than his life with Charlotte and Kelsey and the beautiful ranch in Montana that is part of his heritage. He creates justifications for his behavior, telling himself everything he does is for his family. In most of my writing, I gravitate toward themes of forgiveness, struggles with trusting others, and, in female characters primarily, finding one’s personal power through a journey fraught with struggles. Placing a marriage in the middle of Ted’s ill-fated corporate climb and Charlotte’s search for a sense of self-confidence felt like something many readers could find alignment with, whether they work with someone like Ted or are familiar with a relationship in which those involved have lost a sense of what their priorities should be.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
I’m about halfway through a first draft of a book I would describe as character-driven contemporary fiction with elements of cybersecurity and magical realism. The latter is a first for me, but I’m having fun with it. The protagonist is a woman who refuses to accept the magic she’s inherited. The antagonist is a powerful stalker who wants her and her magic. In the middle is the ghost of her mother from whom her gift descends. At its heart, it will be a mother/daughter story that asks, “Is a mother’s love so strong it transcends even death?”
I’m not sure when it will be out. I’ve been keeping it under wraps as I work on it. I’m hoping to finish the first draft before the end of the year. Currently, I’ve had no conversations with publishers or agents about this project.
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn | Website | Amazon
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/06/01/one-bad-decision-after-another/