David Faucheux will join us again on 4/1/25 at 8pm Eastern to facilitate the discussion of the historical fiction novel The house is on fire DB120593 by Rachel Beanland.

NLS annotation The house is on fire DB120593 Author: Beanland, Rachel Reading Time: 12 hours, 31 minutes Read by: Rachel Beanland, Michael Crouch, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Andi Arndt, Ruffin Prentiss III Subject: Historical Fiction

“Richmond, Virginia 1811. It’s the height of the winter social season, the General Assembly is in session, and many of Virginia’s gentleman planters, along with their wives and children, have made the long and arduous journey to the capital in hopes of whiling away the darkest days of the year. At the city’s only theater, the Charleston-based Placide & Green Company puts on two plays a night to meet the demand of a populace that’s done looking for enlightenment at the front of a church. On the night after Christmas, the theater is packed with more than six hundred holiday revelers. In the third-floor boxes, sits newly-widowed Sally Henry Campbell, who is glad for any opportunity to relive the happy times she shared with her husband. One floor away, in the colored gallery, Cecily Patterson doesn’t give a whit about the play but is grateful for a four-hour reprieve from a life that has recently gone from bad to worse. Backstage, young stagehand Jack Gibson hopes that, if he can impress the theater’s managers, he’ll be offered a permanent job with the company. And on the other side of town, blacksmith Gilbert Hunt dreams of one day being able to bring his wife to the theater, but he’ll have to buy her freedom first. When the theater goes up in flames in the middle of the performance, Sally, Cecily, Jack, and Gilbert make a series of split-second decisions that will not only affect their own lives but those of countless others. And in the days following the fire, as news of the disaster spreads across the United States, the paths of these four people will become forever intertwined. Based on the true story of Richmond’s theater fire, The House Is on Fire offers proof that sometimes, in the midst of great tragedy, we are offered our most precious–and fleeting–chances at redemption” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Waterville, Maine : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023. Bookshare This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:

https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5948434?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQmhvdXNlJTJCaXMlMkJvbiUyQmZpcmU

NLS annotation

The first conspiracy: the secret plot against George Washington DB93794

Authors: Meltzer, Brad, Mensch, Josh

Reading Time: 11 hours, 10 minutes

Read by: Scott Brick

Subject: U.S. History

An account of a treasonous plan by George Washington’s bodyguards, working together with New York City mayor David Mathews and New York governor William Tryon, to kill the commander in the months leading up to the Revolutionary War. Some violence. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

[New York, NY] : Macmillan Audio, 2019.

Bookshare

This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:

https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/3674411?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQmZpcnN0JTJCY29uc3BpcmFjeQ

The situation room: the inside story of presidents in crisis DB121216

Authors: Stephanopoulos, George, Dickey, Lisa

Reading Time: 10 hours, 10 minutes

Read by: Peter Ganim, George Stephanopoulos, Elisabeth Rodgers

Subjects: U.S. History, Government and Politics

“George Stephanopoulos, former senior advisor to President Clinton and for more than 20 years host of This Week and Good Morning America, recounts never-before-told crises that decided the course of history, from the place 12 presidents made their highest-pressure decisions: the White House Situation Room. No room better defines American power and its role in the world than the White House Situation Room. And yet, none is more shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Created under President Kennedy, the Sit Room has been the epicenter of crisis management for presidents for more than six decades. Time and again, the decisions made within the Sit Room complex affect the lives of every person on this planet. Detailing close calls made and disasters narrowly averted, THE SITUATION ROOM will take readers through dramatic turning points in a dozen presidential administrations, including: –Incredible minute-by-minute transcripts from the Sit Room after both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan were shot –The shocking moment when Henry Kissinger raised the military alert level to DEFCON III while President Nixon was drunk in the White House residence –The extraordinary scene when President Carter asked for help from secret government psychics to rescue American hostages in Iran –A vivid retelling of the harrowing hours during the 9/11 attack –New details from Obama administration officials leading up to the raid on Osama Bin Laden –And a first-ever account of January 6th from the staff inside the Sit Room. THE SITUATION ROOM is the definitive, past-the-security-clearance look at the room where it happened, and the people–the famous and those you’ve never heard of–who have made history within its walls”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

New York : Hachette Audio, 2024.

This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link:

https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6017442?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVRoZSUyQnNpdHVhdGlvbiUyQnJvb20

David Faucheux will be leading a historical fiction discussion as he does three times a year of Ella: a novel DB123445 by Diane Richards. Below is a book review submitted by David of this novel followed by its NLS annotation, Bookshare link, and Zoom invitation. Book review I want to thank Alan for forwarding this review of my December choice for discussion during the next Journey through History.

First the NLS annotation: Ella: a novel DB123445 Author: Richards, Diane Reading Time: 10 hours, 24 minutes Read by: Alexandra Grey Subjects: Historical Fiction, African American Topics “When fifteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald’s mother dies at the height of the Depression in 1932, the teenager goes to work for the mob to support herself and her family. When the law finally catches up, the “ungovernable” adolescent is incarcerated in the New York Training School for Girls in upstate New York–a wicked prison infamous for its harsh treatment of inmates, especially Black ones. Determined to be free, Ella escapes and makes her way back to Harlem, where she is forced to dance for pennies on the street. Looking for a break into show business, Ella draws straws to appear at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night on November 21, 1934. Rather than perform a dance routine directly after “The World Famous Edwards Sisters” number, the homeless Ella, wearing men’s galoshes a size too big, risks everything when she decides to sing Judy instead. Four years later, at barely twenty-one, Ella Fitzgerald has become the bestselling female vocalist in America.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

I have always found biographical novels of interest because they somehow — and in a way that nonfiction simply cannot – manage to bring characters to life and make us care. Sometimes, after taking one of these historic novels in, I look for a nonfiction biography to add depth or another perspective.

Reviewer’s Note: See the short bibliography at the conclusion of this review.

I found this novel about Ella Fitzgerald’s early life interesting if a bit upsetting. The novel opens on July 18, 1948, with her about to appear on The very new Ed Sullivan Show. But then we are taken back to January of 1932 when Ella is told by her mother that she will have to help out in the laundry where the mother works. Ella, needless to say, is not amused. She loves to dance and has been practicing with her neighbor; they live in Yonkers and Ella lives for dance contests especially because participants who do well can earn money prizes.

In any event, the mother unexpectedly dies at work, her white boyfriend becomes abusive to Ella who goes to live with her aunt in Harlem where she takes up with a criminal element and becomes a Numbers Runner in order to bring in much-needed income as the money is very good in the numbers racket. Her mentor is killed when the white mob decides that they want to muscle in on the lucrative numbers game. In typical mob fashion, people start dying as bullets start flying.

Because Ella has been missing so much school at the excellent institution where her aunt has enrolled her, she is picked up by the truant officer. With the help of several police officers who have accompanied the truant officer, Ella is taken to jail. She then is sent to an upstate reformatory where she is badly treated as are other “colored” girls who are told “to know your place.” They are not taught typical high school subjects such as English as are the white girls but rather made to work in the reformatory garden. They learn from other imprisoned girls about the sexual predations of several low-life white, male workers at the reformatory. Ella herself is locked up in solitary for over a week.

She manages to escape after a year when several of the girls, both white and African-American, are chosen to sing Christmas carols at the nearby town. With the help of several women hiding in the train yard, she hops a train to New York C...

We will be discussing the book Master slave husband wife: an epic journey from slavery to freedom DB112758 by Ilyon Woo. NLS Annotation Master slave husband wife: an epic journey from slavery to freedom DB112758 Author: Woo, Ilyon Reading Time: 12 hours, 59 minutes Read by: Janina Edwards, Leon Nixon Subjects: Bestsellers, Biography, U.S. History, African American Topics

“The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave. In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North. Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown. But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher. With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. [New York] : Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023. Bookshare This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5915051?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPU1hc3RlciUyQnNsYXZlJTJCaHVzYmFuZCUyQndpZmUlMjUzQSUyQmFuJTJCZXBpYyUyQmpvdXJuZXklMkJmcm9tJTJCc2xhdmVyeSUyQnRvJTJCZnJlZWRvbQ

Jana Littrell has generously volunteered some of her new retirement time to leading and programming this group’s discussion, congratulations Jana ! Her first book is Walls: A History Of Civilization In Blood And Brick, DB 92383, by David Frye. Approximately 10 hours in reading time. NLS Annotation Walls: a history of civilization in blood and brick DB92383 Author: Frye, David Reading Time: 9 hours, 56 minutes Read by: Robert Sams Subject: World History and Affairs

A historian discusses the role of man-made edifices and barriers throughout history. Explores the importance of walls in ancient civilizations, a thousand-mile-long wall in Asia, sieges of fortified cities, political conflicts centered upon walls, gated communities, and more. 2018. New York : Scribner, [2018] c2018 Bookshare This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/2790145?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPVdhbGxzJTI1M0ElMkJhJTJCaGlzdG9yeSUyQm9mJTJCY2l2aWxpemF0aW9uJTJCaW4lMkJibG9vZCUyQmFuZCUyQmJyaWNrJTJC

On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, the group will discuss 1923: The Crisis of German Democracy in the Year of Hitler’s Putsch by Mark William Jones (DB116875 ). The book recounts the unsuccessful first attempt to overthrow Germany’s democracy. This was followed 10 years later by Hitler’s appointment as Prime Minister, the end of democratic government in Germany and the deaths of millions in World War Two. Can this happen again? NLS Annotation 1923: the crisis of German democracy in the year of Hitler’s putsch DB116875 Author: Jones, Mark William Reading Time: 14 hours, 11 minutes Read by: Matt Addis Subjects: World History and Affairs, War and the Military

“In 1923, the Weimar Republic faced a series of crises, including foreign occupation of its industrial heartland, rampant inflation, radical violence, and finally Hitler’s infamous “beer hall putsch.” Fanning the flames of anti-government and anti-Semitic sentiment, the Nazis tried to violently seize power in Munich, only failing after they were abandoned by like-minded conservatives. In 1923, historian Mark William Jones draws on new research to offer a revealing portrait of German politics and society in this turbulent year. Tracing Hitler’s early rise, Jones reveals how political pragmatism and unprecedented international cooperation with the West brought Germany out of its crisis year. Although Germany would succumb to tyranny a decade later, the story of the republic’s survival in 1923 offers essential lessons to anyone concerned about the future of democracy today.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bookshare This book can be found at Bookshare at the following link: https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/5898846?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9tb2R1bGVOYW1lPXB1YmxpYyZrZXl3b3JkPTE5MjMlMjUzQSUyQnRoZSUyQmNyaXNpcyUyQm9mJTJCR2VybWFuJTJCZGVtb2NyYWN5JTJCaW4lMkJ0aGUlMkJ5ZWFyJTJCb2YlMkJIaXRsZXIlMjUyNiUyNTIzMzklMjUzQnMlMkJwdXRzY2g