About Town: Cool Reads for Hot Days, Part III

It seems that many Patch readers who responded to last week’s query, “What are you reading this summer?” are consumed by biographies of historical women: women who left their mark on history in a very indelible way—some for better, some for worse. Here’s a peek at some your neighbor’s book shelves. And don't forget to tell us—what are you reading this summer?

Marie Antoinette: The Journey, Antonia Fraser

So riveting is this novel that Sofia Coppola made a movie based upon it. Fraser’s acute eye for historical detail, coupled with her talent of being a skilled story teller, will transport you to 18th century Paris, where you’ll find yourself eating petit fours in the teenaged queen’s Petit Trianon. You won’t be able to put this book down, so don’t worry about dinner. Let them eat cake!

Great Catherine: The Life of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, Carolly Erickson

Meet Mother Russia when she first arrived on the royal scene as Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst. Betrothed to the heir to the Russian throne, Catherine single-handedly (with the help of her armies) brought Russia out of the dark ages and made it a viable political power by extending its borders. Based on the memoirs of Catherine the Great, Erickson has a knack for making history come alive through her engaging storytelling. Court intrigue, gossip, infidelity, accusations, the unbridled quest for power and control, this book reads like a script from The Bold and the Beautiful.

Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff

It’s quite possible that in addition to giving birth to Caesar’s son, Cleopatra also gave birth to tabloid news. This last Pharaoh used her liaisons and affairs as a way to keep her political power only to be thwarted by the pitfalls of her own celebrity. Following the murder of Caesar, Cleopatra seduced Mark Antony as a means to secure her rule. This Brangelina of the first century, (Antopatra? Sounds like an airborne disease or an Italian appetizer) mythologized their role as history’s most storied lovers by performing tandem suicides. And guess what? Angelina Jolie is slated to play Cleopatra in an upcoming blockbuster movie about her life. A Pulitzer Prize winning author, Schiff’s narrative reveals the lurid details about the woman behind the myth.     

The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln, by Kate Clifford Larson

By utilizing lost interviews, confessions, and court testimony, Larson relates the gripping, true story about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and how Mary Surratt’s actions played a pivotal role in his death. Espionage, sex and murder seep through every page of this riveting story that’s set against the backdrop of the Civil War. This book reads like a crime thriller and is told from the perspective of the only woman conspirator, Mary Surratt, who was the first woman to be executed by the federal government.   

Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell, Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia, by Janet Wallach

A woman whose confidence and power threatened the hold of men in politics? No, this isn’t a story of Hilary Clinton’s run for the office of the Presidency; it’s the story of Gertrude Bell at the turn of the last century. Sir Mark Sykes, pre-WWI British Foreign Office Arabist called Bell, “That damned fool” who created an uproar wherever she went in the Middle East and labeled her the “terror of the desert.” After a visit to Tehran, Bell couldn’t go back to living a sheltered life as a single woman in Victorian-era England so she made the bold move to make the Middle East her home. Travelling all around the Ottoman Empire, Bell extensively explored and mapped the terrain and, in doing so, became highly influential to British Imperial policy-making. Because of her extensive knowledge of the land and the tribes, Bell was charged with the task of carving up former dynasties into modern day Jordan and Iraq at the end of WWI. Wallach’s narrative brings the sands of the desert to life. Reading this book will not only give you a glimpse of a very powerful woman in a time and place where women held no power, but it will also give you a better understanding of the political problems facing the Middle East which are, in large part, a residual effect of decisions made by Gertrude Bell.

See parts I and II of this series here and here, and don’t forget to drop us a line or write a comment on what you’re reading so we can share it with everyone.