Show people their shortcomings

Björn works for the Authority, a bureaucratic government agency, which will explain why he often escapes to The Room in the new book by Swedish author Jonas Karlsson.  He has a desk in the middle of a room of similar desks, but he's constantly annoyed by his co-workers.  They don't dress up to his standards, work up to his standards, or have sufficient intelligence to comprehend his superiority.  He does his work in regimented 55 minute stretches, allowing himself a break only at his self-appointed times.  Once, while on his way to the bathroom, he notices a door in the wall.  Upon opening it, he discovers a room.  There's nothing particularly special about the room.  It looks like a generic office with a desk and file cabinets.  When Björn steps into the room, however, he finds it very calming and peaceful.

His co-workers, never very fond of Björn and his strange ways, soon complain to the boss, Karl, about his odd behavior.  It seems that whenever Björn visits the room, what his co-workers observe is him standing completely still, staring off into space.  When he's in this position, they tell him, he acts as if he can't see or hear anyone else.

Björn attempts to convince himself and others that the room exists.  His put-upon boss tries to humor Björn, especially after Björn begins staying late and going into the room after everyone else has left.  He finds that while in the room, he's able to think more clearly and logically than ever before, and he is able to produce outstanding work.  His output has even caught the eye of superiors outside the department, who use it as a model for how all the work in the Authority should be performed from now on.

Naturally, this praise makes Björn feel as if he has the upper hand.  He begins setting conditions:  he must be allowed to go to the room whenever he wants, he asks for certain co-workers to be fired, etc.  As tensions build, the question remains:  does the room exist, or, as Björn thinks, is it being kept secret for some nefarious reason?

The book is short and quite funny in places.  Even though he's clearly socially isolated and awkward, Björn is sure that he is brilliant and that everyone else is jealous of him and plotting his downfall.  He never waivers in his beliefs that the room exits, or that he's on an unstoppable upward career trajectory, even if all indications are that he could be mistaken on both counts!

Jonas Karlsson, the author, is a well-known Swedish actor, famous for the films Cockpit and Bang Bang Orangutang.  It's really exciting to see him branching out so successfully into fiction writing.  I'm sure this will be made into a film soon!

Final Verdict for The Room: Four Gherkins, for being a thought-provoking book about differing perceptions of reality

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Be careful not to offend

Nina is a forty-something artist living in London with her husband and teenage daughter when she catches sight of someone from her past in Her by Harriet Lane.  The woman she spots, Emma, is a pregnant woman with a toddler.  When they do interact, it's obvious that Emma has no recollection of having met Nina at all.  So why is Emma so memorable to Nina?

The chapters in the book alternate between Nina and Emma.  Often, the same event will be told from each point of view in successive chapters.  It's clear from the beginning that Nina blames Emma for some upsetting event in her past, and that she's out to exact some sort of revenge.

At first, Nina's efforts seem to be just a way to keep in contact with Emma.  While Emma is distracted with her son, Nina is able to lift her wallet out of her purse.  She then calls Emma and tells her she found it on the ground, and offers to bring it around to her house (after carefully inspecting all the contents first).  When she gets to Emma's house, she's rather pleased to see that Emma's life is rather chaotic.  Emma has given up her job in television to raise her children, and her days seem consumed with domestic tasks, none of which she seems to take care of particularly well.  The house also seems rather shabby and in need of repairs.  Nina, on the other hand, is doing rather well both financially and professionally.

Nina's plan to somehow get back at Emma (for what we don't find out until nearly the end of the book) then take a slightly more sinister turn.  She leads Emma's young son, Christopher, away while his mother's back is turned in the park.  Nina then calls the police and says she found the boy on her doorstep.  She then convinces Emma that her daughter Sophie is available for babysitting duties, only to show up for the job herself.  Once Emma and her husband gratefully leave for their date night, Nina can then go through their house at leisure.  She doesn't do anything malicious -- she just paws thorough all their belongings.  And she makes sure young Christopher has plenty to drink before bedtime so he'll be sure to wet the bed.

When Nina invites Emma and her family to spend a week at her father's summer house in France, you know that things will probably hit a crisis point before everyone gets back to London.  All the while, Emma has no idea that she had a past encounter with Nina. She sees Nina as nothing other than a kind, helpful and pleasant friend.

The book sort of meanders along, slightly building tension without actually being "edge of your seat" suspenseful.  I was anxious to find out both what exactly it was that Emma did, and also just what Nina planned to do to get revenge.  Was the ending satisfying?  Well, not really.  Once Emma's big misdeed was revealed, it didn't seem like such a terrible transgression.  And perhaps Nina is just reacting to her daughter getting ready to go out on her own, but it seemed like she had way too much time on her hands.  Still, it was interesting trying to figure out where the book was going, and to see if Emma would ever catch on that Nina wasn't the friendly, generous person she seemed to be.  The main point of the book is interesting to ponder:  your actions, no matter what your intent might be, can easily be misinterpreted by others.

At the same time, as I read the book it seemed *so familiar* to me.  I had the nagging feeling that I'd read it before, but the copyright date is 2015, so I'm not sure which book I'm thinking of.  The story really did keep my interest, and of course, I was thrilled with all the references to places and streets in London!

Final Verdict for Her:   Four Gherkins, for being an interesting look at how people can misunderstand each other

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The millionaire lifestyle without $1 million

Author Timothy Ferriss claims to have discovered the way to become one of the New Rich without being tied to a regular, 9 to 5 job in the book The 4-Hour Workweek.  Most people have accepted the concept of deferred reward, and therefore spend 30 plus years in jobs they hate with people they dislike all for the promised reward of retirement.   If you follow the guidelines he sets out, you can begin enjoying your life now, rather than just gritting your teeth for the next few decades.

The mainstay of his plan is the DEAL process.  Definition, Elimination, Automation and Location are the 4 pillars of this guide.  By realizing what you want, avoiding that you don't, and automating your "cash flow," you can live anywhere and still reap the rewards.  Of course, everyone will want to know how to live on working so few hours per week.  The answer seems to be outsourcing.  Ferriss's first big foray into the business world was a "sports nutrition company" where he "outsourced everything from manufacturing to ad design."  That seems to be a very risky thing to do -- not just financially, but how can you ensure what is in the product (especially if it's being manufactured overseas) when you seemingly have no control of supervision over how it's made?  Even though he avoided (apparently) any lawsuits or other disasters, he was so stressed by running the business full-time that he sold it and looked for a better way to make a living. There are plenty of websites included to help you achieve each of the 4 parts of the DEAL process, as well as worksheets and examples to help you follow the plan.

Some of the advice is familiar:  you'll be more likely to shake off problems and obstacles if you are working in a field you love; failure should be seen as an opportunity to go in another (possibly more lucrative) direction; don't settle for something you don't feel passionate about, etc.  There is also a lot of what seems to be filler at the end -- posts from the author's blog, "case studies" (people who have followed this plan) and "bonus" chapters of two of the author's other books.  Still, for those who are very motivated to escape the daily grind, this book has lots of suggestions that might help to do that.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of The 4-Hour Workweek from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review

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Improving the world by increasing family stability

Although the term "family planning" is a politically-charged topic in the United States, surveys show that most families (even those to claim to be the most devout) make use of contraception.  Sadly, in many parts of the developing world, this is not an option for the majority of people.  The book The Mother & Child Project is a collection of essays from people like Melinda Gates, Hillary Clinton, Dr. Bill Frist, Jimmy Carter, and Kay Warren (wife of pastor Rick Warren) on the topic of helping countries prosper by improving access to health care for women and children.

The statistics discussed are alarming and heart-breaking:  nearly 300,000 women die in childbirth each year and nearly 7 million children die before the age of 5 from preventable causes.  The authors in this book are arguing for access to contraception methods which would greatly improve maternal health by allowing women to space out the births of their children and to allow their bodies to heal and prepare before they give birth again.  This relatively simple idea would save many lives as well as allow many more girls to continue their education longer and therefore be better able to support their families.

Most of the authors in the book take great pains to explain that access to contraception does not include abortion.  Contraception is not the only solution to the problem of repeated pregnancies -- in many of the areas discussed in the book, the cultural norm is toward big families, so many of the people who work in these areas must try to educate the communities on the benefits of smaller families.  There are many personal stories told of great suffering, due to a lack of resources, education, and entrenched views that women are only valuable as childbearing machines.  The work that the Hope Through Healing Hands project is doing to reduce maternal and child mortality is vitally important and already showing great success.

While I was deeply moved by the essays in the book, having so many authors who all basically have the same message meant that there was a great deal of repetition.  If you sit down to read through the book, each essay, sooner or later, will impart the message that HTSP (Healthy Timing & Spacing of Pregnancies) is the most important aspect of preventing maternal and child deaths.  Still the overall message is so important that this is a small quibble in an otherwise important and ultimately inspiring book.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of The Mother & Child Project from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for this review

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Haven't I read this one before?

Cat DeLuca is the owner of the Pants on Fire Detective Agency in Chicago.  She's ably assisted by her partner, beagle Inga. Bye, Bye Love is the third installment in the series by K.J. Larsen.  While out on a walk together, Inga leads Cat to a body.  The man has been shot in the face -- in fact, his face is missing.  Cat goes through the dead man's pockets to look for identification, and comes across an envelope full of cash with her Uncle Joe's name written on it.  A park employee comes by, and when Cat tells him she's going to call the police to report the body, he says he's already done it.  He then proceeds to knock her out with a stun gun.

When she comes to, she's still in the park, but the dead guy is missing.  She calls her brother, Rocco, a cop, and reports her find.  Of course, when the police arrive and find there's no body, they are reluctant to believe her story.  Luckily, there are some blood traces left behind, so Captain Bob of the police has to admit that Cat discovered something in the park, although he's not exactly sure he buys her story.

Most of the men in Cat's family are either current or former members of the police force, including Rocco, her father and her Uncle Joey.  Her boyfriend, Chance Savino, is an FBI agent who is often away on mysterious missions.  Cat must try to find out what connection her Ferrari-driving Uncle Joey had to the dead man as well as keep herself safe when the "park employee" seems to be coming after her.

If I hadn't read anything by Janet Evanovich, I probably would have enjoyed this book more.   As it was, I felt it was trying too hard to follow the same formula.  Feisty, independent young woman? Check.  Wacky co-worker? Check.  Mysterious boyfriend? Check. Putting herself in dangerous situations continuously? Check.  It just seemed to be trying too hard to jump on the Stephanie Plum bandwagon.  Also, this book was the third in a series, so I might have enjoyed it more if I started from the beginning.  I had a hard time keeping up with all her relatives, their fellow cops, and other characters, so that didn't help, either.  There were just way too many people to keep up with.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of Bye, Bye Love from Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for this review

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Any more of this, I'm joining the Tories

World War II might be over, but the ramifications of the conflict continue to impact the lives of the characters in the latest season of Foyle's War.  Although set 8 of the series won't be available in the US until April 14, you can watch it now online on Acorn TV.  Why not give the free month's membership a try and watch this excellent series?

 Former policeman Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) is still working at investigating crimes, although now it's at the behest of MI5, the British intelligence agency.  He is ably assisted by his driver, Sam Wainwright, played by Honeysuckle Weeks.  Sam is married to MP Adam Wainwright, so in addition to her day job she must find ways to support her husband when he encounters difficulties of his own.

The three episodes of Set 8 all portray situations which have their roots in events that happened during the war.  Episode One, High Castle, opens with a dead man discovered in the woods.  The man turns out to be a professor at University College, London.  In his pocket, police find the name and address of an American oil company executive, Clayton Del Mar.  While investigating the death, Foyle learns that the professor, William Knowles, was working as a translator at the Nuremberg trials.  Foyle visits Del Mar, and while he feels there's something suspicious about the man, his superiors don't want Foyle to upset the American too much.  Del Mar is negotiating with the Iranians in an attempt to get them to sell their oil to the British, rather than the Soviets.  If that's the case, why has he been spotted meeting with a Soviet agent?  At the same time, Sam's husband Adam is asked by one of his constituents to investigate a case of sex discrimination at the workplace.  She was given a supervisor's position at a factory during the war, but now that the men have returned she has been demoted and her job given to a man.  Adam must confront his own prejudices when he takes into account his own actions in pressuring Sam to turn in her resignation, since she's expecting a baby.  This episode features the delightful John Mahoney (known to Americans as the dad in the long-running series Frasier) as Del Mar's curmudgeonly, bed-ridden father.

The second episode, Trespass, deals with the still thorny issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  A man living in Palestine is arrested by British soldiers looking for Jewish terrorists.  Even though he was innocent, he has a heart attack and dies in custody.  His daughter, Lea, comes to London to study medicine and stays with her father's oldest friend, Rabbi Greenfeld and his family.  She is treated to a sight-seeing tour of London by the Greenfeld's son, Nicholas, who is a sound engineer.  Things are a bit tense in London as two meetings are planned which present great security threats.  The first is a speech being held by Charles Lucas, a Fascist and leader of the International Unity Party.  With the rationing and shortages caused by the war impacting the lives of everyone, Lucas finds a ready audience for this claims that immigrants and Jews are responsible for all the problems.  While Foyle and his superiors are concerned about the possibilities for violence and rioting if Lucas riles up the crowd, the local police seem remarkably unconcerned about the potential for problems.  The second event that is happening in London is a large international conference about the Jewish-Palestinian conflict.  During this time, Foyle is brought in to investigate the beating of a young Jewish student, Daniel Woolf.  The odd thing is that neither Daniel nor his parents seem to want the police to investigate the incident.  A few days later, the father, David Woolf, is shot and killed in his home.  Police suspect a terrorist organization, the Defenders of Arab Palestine, but Foyle isn't so sure that group is responsible.  Sam becomes concerned about a young boy with breathing problems.  Even though the National Health Service has been proposed, it has yet to be implemented and the poor are often prevented from receiving medical care due to lack of money.  When the Rabbi's family discovers Lea hasn't been admitted to medical school and seems to be missing, they wonder if she might have a secret reason for being in London.

Ms. Pierce, one of Foyle's colleagues at MI5, is approached by a young man who tells her "This is for Elise" before shooting her in the final episode, Elise.  As she recovers in the hospital, Foyle learns that during the war, Ms. Pierce was responsible for sending young female radio operators to France to work in the resistance.  Nine of the young women were identified, arrested and executed by the Germans in a very short period of time, leading the SOE (Special Operations Executive, the shadowy organization responsible for the work) to suspect that one of their members was a double-agent.  They called this person Plato, and opened an investigation to discover his or her identity, but never found out who it was.  Elise was the code name of one of the young women who was killed.  Foyle is fairly quickly able to identify her as Sophie Corrigan, and to discover that the man who shot Ms. Pierce was her brother, Miles.  Foyle has a late-night secret meeting with Miles, who says he plans to shoot everyone who was involved in getting his sister killed.  While Foyle wants to track down the people who were involved in the SOE war project, his bosses aren't that concerned with stirring up old events from the war.  Instead, they want Foyle to investigate the shady dealings of Damien White.  While White seems to be a legitimate businessman, MI5 is convinced he's heavily involved in the black market.  Once again, the police seem unconcerned with black market goods being openly sold on the streets.  Adam is also unconcerned, but his constituency chairman, Glenvil Harris (played by Jeremy Swift, known to Downton Abbey fans as Maggie Smith's butler, the disapproving Spratt), convinces him to investigate the black market goods, a situation which once again places both him and Sam in danger.

This set also features loads of interesting extras, including "A Day in the Life of Foyle's War," an interview with John Mahoney, and series creator Anthony Horowitz and historian Terry Charman discussing the real events behind each of the three episodes in this series.  Supposedly, due to the high costs of producing the series, this will be the last we'll see of Foyle's War (I was continually amazed at all the shots around London -- it must be terribly difficult to film without getting in any modern skyscrapers into the shots!). However, this has happened before, and the series came back due to public demand, so we can always hope that we haven't seen the last of Foyle and Sam!

Disclaimer:  I received access to Foyle's War on Acorn TV in exchange for this review

Final Verdict for Foyle's War, Set 8:    Four Gherkins, for being a welcome visit with old friends

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Finding your true purpose in life

While most people start dreaming of "what they want to be when they grow up" early in life, very few people are fortunate enough to actually end up in a profession that they enjoy.  Jeff Goins, in his new book The Art of Work, attempts to help people identify the signals in their lives which will lead them to satisfying, productive work.

Through interviewing many people who are working in fields which demonstrate their "true calling," the author has identified seven stages of calling, including awareness, practice and mastery.  Each of these stages is discussed in detail in its own chapter.  The main points that seem to occur over and over are that you should be aware of opportunities and not see failures as a reason to quit.  Since 87% of workers are unfulfilled by their jobs, everyone should be open to opportunities to do work that will be both important and empowering.

Many of the people whose stories are told in the book came into their current work through misfortunes or difficult situations in their lives.  Others saw their dream careers fade due to injuries or lack of motivation, with no idea what they were going to do afterwards.  Through seemingly random encounters, they were set on a path to their true calling.  One famous such person he mentions is William Hung. Even though he had a disastrous audition on American Idol, it lead to an online following and 3 albums.  However, after achieving a modicum of musical success, he discovered that his dream was actually to work in the field of mathematics.  Sometimes you need to figure out that what you think you want is not really what will make you happy.

The real test is to recognize the calling of what you should be doing with your life, and not to be discouraged by failures.  The author himself quit his full-time, secure job with benefits in order to become a writer.  Not everyone will recognize what their true calling is, but by being mindful of opportunities, listening to "that little voice" inside you, and not being discouraged by failures, people can find their true purpose in life and leave a lasting impact on the world.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of The Art of Work from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for this review

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The pink hair is so last week

Holly Cramer has a history of making bad decisions in Twisted Innocence.  The recent birth of her daughter, Lily, has made her grow up in a hurry.   She's working two jobs: one doing some private investigative work for her sister's boyfriend and the other driving a cab.  When she gets mugged while driving the cab, she begins to once again question her life choices.  Things only get worse when the police show up to talk to her.  She thinks it's news about the people who mugged her, but instead they want to know if she knows the whereabouts of Creed Kershaw.  Creed is Lily's father, but after their one night stand, Holly hasn't seen him again.  It turns out there's been a drug-related murder, and Creed is the prime suspect.  To make things worse, Holly finds out that an acquaintance has told Creed that Lily is his daughter, so she's doing her best to keep her distance from him.

Holly's two sisters are also going through rough patches.  Juliet is a single mother struggling to raise 3 kids after the death of her husband.  The third sister, Cathy, has also lost her significant other:  her fiance Joe Hogan was murdered, and she's now engaged to his brother Michael (who owns the private investigative agency).  Unfortunately, Michael is in prison, incarcerated on questionable grounds.  Cathy spends her days assembling media packets and writing letters to the governor in an attempt to get Michael released.

Holly's impulsive nature leads her to try to track down Creed herself, and results in her and Lily being "kidnapped" by him.  He is on the run not from the police, but from the criminal gang he insists framed him for the murder.  It turns out he may of knowledge of how to find Leonard Miller, the man responsible for Joe's death and Michael's imprisonment.  Can they find the killer, get Michael released from prison and keep baby Lily safe?

I enjoyed the story, but since this book is the third in a series, it feels a little like walking in on the middle of a play!  Still, the back story is pretty well explained and the pacing of the events keep you interested to find out what will happen next.  The book includes some Discussion Questions at the end for further exploration of the events and themes of the novel.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of Twisted Innocence from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for this review

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Did you lock your house? Doesn't matter

Did you change your house keys when you moved in?  You will definitely consider doing so after
reading A Pleasure and a Calling by Phil Hogan.  William Heming is a real estate agent who prides himself on his unremarkability.  People never remember him, which suits Mr. Heming just fine.  He has worked his way up to owning the agency, and he's very successful.  This is useful to him, not just financially, but because it allows him increased opportunities to pursue his greatest hobby.  Mr. Heming keeps all the keys from the properties he sells.  He watches the new homeowners to determine their habits, and when he's sure the properties are empty, he lets himself in for a leisurely snoop around.  He often takes meals in some of his "favorite" properties.  He never gets caught, but surely the possibility is part of the thrill.

While observing one of "his properties," he sees a married man who seems to be having a fairly intimate meeting with an attractive young woman.  He becomes obsessed with finding out if they are having an affair.  Soon, he is infatuated with the woman, Abigail, and determines to somehow get her away from the cheating husband.

Abigail's property isn't one of "his" so he comes up with a daring plan to get her key so he can copy it and explore her home.  He eventually achieves this, even hiding at the home when she's there (to better observe her routines).  Unfortunately, he miscalculates during one of his explorations, and this requires him to go to extraordinary lengths to keep his secrets from being exposed.  

William is certainly a fascinating character.  In telling his story, we get glimpses into his childhood which help to explain why he is the warped person he is today.  Odd as he is, he seems to appear "normal" because he has no problem in attracting female attention (when he's not trying to be invisible, that is!).  Still, the ladies would do well to steer clear of this character, and certainly not to ever try to beat him at his own game . . .

I really enjoyed the events leading up to the conclusion, but when Heming was under pressure, his attempts to cover his tracks and mislead investigators got a bit confusing.  It was certainly an interesting premise, and the deluded character of Mr. Heming (who keeps telling himself that he only wants to observe, not cause any harm) is a memorable one.  This would make an interesting film -- one that would surely inspire a great deal of unease about what may be going on in your home after you leave for the day.

Final Verdict for A Pleasure and a Calling: Three Gherkins, for being a creepy look at the activities of a less-than-benign invisible man

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Superlatives abound

Any book about London is OK by me, so I was thrilled to find this little gem of a book on my most recent visit last November (although the shop where I found it, The Book Warehouse, is sadly apparently closing soon -- if it hasn't already).  The London Book of Lists includes (according to the subtitle) "fascinating facts, little-known oddities, & unique places to visit."  It's always nice to find a book about London that presents facts in an interesting way, and this book certainly fits the bill!

The book isn't really divided into categories -- one interesting page of facts simply follows the next, although there is a "Fast Fact" of fascinating information on nearly every page.  My favorite of these is the fact that the Duke of Westminster offered to sell the US the land that the American Embassy is located on, if the US would return the land his family lost in the Revolutionary War.  The US didn't take him up on the offer, since this mainly encompassed the state of Tennessee.  It might have made for an interesting geographic feature if it had worked out!

Some of my favorite lists include "Who's Buried Where," an overview of the major cemeteries and the famous inhabitants to be found within; "Infamous Murders and their Locations," proving Jack the Ripper doesn't have a monopoly on gruesome murder sites; and "The 15 Oldest Stores" still operating in London (the oldest dates from 1676).

The book is packed full of fascinating facts and information, but there are also plenty of lists that are subjective, such as "London's Best Markets" or "The Best Fish and Chip Shops."  Still, it gives you a background on the places mentioned, as well as addresses to look them up on your next visit.  I also enjoyed the "first person accounts" included of such things as the plague and Victorian-era slums.  It's one thing to read a modern perspective of terrible places and events, and quite another to re-live them through the eyes of those who were there.

Plenty of statistics are also to be found, including those involving the Underground, The River Thames, and Westminster Abbey.  Along with the numerous photos (all in black and white), this book is a handy and fascinating look at all aspects of London.  The disclaimer by the authors at the front of the book states that they have done their best to compile the facts in the book -- even when older claims are hard to verify or sources disagree.  They invite comments on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, so we can hope this means that if there is enough interest there might be an updated and expanded second edition sometime it the near future!

Final Verdict for London Book of Lists:  Five Gherkins, for being a fun and useful look at some of the more unusual aspects of the capital

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A beautiful stately home, but at what price?

I'm sure everyone who watches Downton Abbey dreams of living in such a beautiful and historic home (generally upstairs, rather than downstairs!).  As we know from countless television dramas, however, the beautiful stately home can hide terrible secrets.  The book Black Diamonds looks at the intriguing background of Wentworth House in South Yorkshire, the largest privately owned house in Britain.  The book contains a many intriguing aspects:  an aristocratic family with secrets, a class divide, economic upheavals, and even an American connection!

Built in the 1720s, the house is the ancestral home of the Earl of Fitzwilliam and at the time of its construction, the facade was the longest in Europe.  The five miles of passageways were so confusing that guests had to strew confetti to find their back back to their bedrooms after dinner.  The events in the book begin with the inheritance struggle that occurred in 1902 following the death of the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam.  His son and heir had died in 1876, so grandson Billy, who was estranged from the family, inherited, much to the dismay of the old Earl's children.  Billy's Aunt Alice, in particular, set out to prove that the odd circumstances surrounding his birth (in a remote cabin in Canada) must show that he was a "changling" -- a male child substituted for a daughter born to the heir.  Eventually, Billy was declared the rightful heir and took up residence at Wentworth House.

The wealth of the Fitzwilliams was based on coal.  Their mines and others in the area employed over 115,000 men at the time of the 6th Earl's death.  While the "family owned" mines, such as those operated by the Earl, had better conditions than most, the lives of the miners and their families were hard, dirty and poverty-filled.  To make matters worse, some of the mines were operated by outsiders who had no ties to the local area or the people who lived there.  They controlled every aspect of the lives of their employees, who depended on the mine owners not only for their employment but also for housing, food and drink (through company owned stores and pubs).  When the owners refused to pay miners in the small village of Denaby for the time they had to clear away dirt from the mines in order to get to the coal, the miners refused to work.  Eventually, the mine owners sent in the police to evict over 3000 people from their company-owned (but still shoddy and primitive) homes.  In the years following Billy's inheritance, the country was torn by a series of strikes across many industries.  The King and House of Lords were slow to accept that their way of life was changing and that workers were no longer going to accept such poor working and living conditions.

In 1912, King George V and Queen Mary visited Wentworth House.  The plan was for the king to visit one of the Fitzwilliam mines, and to show an interest in the lives of the miners.  During the visit, two explosions occurred in a local mine, killing over 80 miners.  While the royal couple did visit the area during the effort to recover the bodies of those who died, nothing changed in the mining industry.  World War I stopped the growing hostilities between the workers and the mine owners for a time.

Billy's cousin, Toby Fitzwilliam, was also estranged from the family.  In his case his mother, Evie, strongly objected to his marriage with Beryl Morgan.  A former chorus girl herself, Evie had no right to put on airs and reject Toby's lower class choice for a wife, but that's exactly what she did.  She felt that Beryl misrepresented herself as being from a "good" family, when in fact she was only "the daughter of a draper."  Evie grew so upset at the perceived insult from her son that she even suggested that he was illegitimate -- born before she and his father were married.  In this way, she hoped her younger son would inherit from his father instead of the disrespectful (as she saw it) Toby. This family rift was to have consequences for the fate of Wentworth House many years in the future.

After World War I, the old animosity between miners and mine owners resurfaced.  There were calls to nationalize the mines, which the mine owners strenuously fought against.  Fear of Bolshevism as well as a perceived war on their way of life motivated the mine owners and operators to stand firm against the miners.  General strikes in the late 1920s caused unease and fear in the whole country.  At the same time, demand for British coal was falling as other countries were able to provide a less expensive product.

Billy and his wife Maud were the parents of four daughters before their son and heir, Peter was born. There were rumors of infidelity on the part of both Billy and Maud, and Billy was thought to have numerous illegitimate children in the village.   Peter was a pampered, overweight child who was nothing like his robust and athletic father.  In 1933, when he was 23, Peter married Olive "Obby" Plunket.  During World War II, stately homes were requisitioned by the government for various uses, and Wentworth House was no different.  Since it was so large, Billy and Maud moved into the "West Front," part of the house and made sure all valuable objects were moved there as well.  Their son Peter had been called up soon after war was declared and was recognized as a brave and respected soldier.  He and Olive had, after 7 years of marriage, only one child, a daughter called Juliet.

Enter Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, daughter to US Ambassador Joe Kennedy and sister to future president John F. Kennedy.  She had lived in England with her family in the late 1930s, but as World War II began to seem inevitable, she and her siblings, along with their mother, returned to the US.  In 1943, she came back to England as a Red Cross volunteer.  She renewed an attachment she made before the war, to another Billy, this one the son of the Duke of Devonshire.  They were attracted to each other, but the fact that she was a commoner (not to mention a Catholic) had put a damper on their relationship.  Eventually, they married, but her family never accepted the union.  When Billy was killed during the war, she was accepted back into the Catholic Church and the Kennedy family.

The war had taken a toll on Wentworth House and the Fizwilliam family.  The newly elected Labour government nationalized the coal industry, which meant that the rich coal seams in the gardens and fields surrounding the stately home could be mined with no payment or consideration to the family.  The environmentally destructive "open-cast mining" operation dug up centuries of carefully tended parkland. The 7th Earl, Billy, had died, and Peter took over as the 8th, but the family wealth and power were waning.  There was wrangling over the ownership of the house, with Peter offering it to the National Trust, but that offer fell through.  Eventually, his Aunt Mabel struck a deal to allow the house to be used as a school for female PE teachers, with the family allowed to stay in their private apartments.  The cost of repairs and upkeep would fall to the County Council.

At this time, Peter, the 8th Earl Fitzwilliam met the widowed Kick.  He was still married to his wife Obby, but their time spent apart during the war had caused their relationship to become strained.  He had a well-known reputation as a gambler and philanderer, so Kick's friends were less than impressed with the relationship.  Once again, her family (especially her mother) threatened a complete break if she were to marry Peter.  A tragedy occurred that put Wentworth House in the center of a court battle, the outcome of which has repercussions to this day.

It was so fascinating to read about the history of this beautiful house, which, because it is not open to the public, is largely unknown.  While we like to think we'd love to live in such opulent surroundings, the toll on the land and families who lived there make it more of a tragic house than a beloved stately home.  I really enjoyed reading about the downfall of the Fitzwilliam family, and to learn about what has been the fate of Wentworth House since the fortunes of the family and the coal industry, which supported it, have collapsed.  Now in private hands, one can only hope that at some point in the future Wentworth House will be opened for the public to tour and appreciate.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of Black Diamonds from the publisher in exchange for this review.

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That Jane Austen sure gets around

Poor Jane Austen never lived such an exciting life until after she'd been dead a few centuries!  The book First Impressions had a Jane-centered mystery at its heart, traveling back and forth in time between Jane's time and the present.

A young Jane meets the 80 year old Rev. Richard Mansfield and delights to discover that he is someone she can discuss literary subjects with.  They spend a great deal of time together and Jane shares her literary ambitions with him.  She's been busy with a work called "Elinor and Marianne" that she lets Rev. Mansfield and her family read as she completes each section.  She hasn't yet attempted to get anything published, so she's somewhat thrilled to learn that Rev. Mansfield has published a book entitled "A Little Book of Allegorical Stories."  Talking with Jane gets Rev. Mansfield thinking about putting out a second edition of his work.

In the present day, Sophie Collingwood has just graduated from Oxford and finds herself at something of a loose end.  She loves literature (and Jane Austen in particular), but she's not really sure what sort of job that will lead to.  As a bibliophile, she's had the great fortune to grow up in a stately home, Bayfield House, with an enormous library.  Unfortunately, her father keeps the library and the books locked up except for occasions when there are special visitors to the house.  Luckily, his brother Bertram is a fellow book lover who takes a special interest in Sophie.  She makes frequent visits to Bertram's London flat, and he takes her with him as he visits bookstores and book sales in the capital (shouldn't we all be so lucky to have such a doting uncle!).  Since he must agree to any disposition of property at Bayfield House, he has so far successfully blocked his brother's attempts to sell off books from the library to pay for repairs to the family home.

One day, when Sophie is visiting her parents at Bayfield, there is terrible news.  Her beloved Uncle Bertram has fallen down the stairs and died.  Sophie is devastated, and can barely function for a while.  When she does finally accept the news, she learns that Uncle Bertram has left his London flat to her.  She is sad to live there under such unhappy circumstances, but consoles herself with the knowledge that she'll be in a place she loved, surrounded by her uncle's beloved books.  When she arrives in London to take possession of the flat, she's dismayed to discover that all the books have already been sold -- her uncle's will didn't specify that the books belonged to her, only the flat, so her father has sold the books to help pay Bertram's debts.

Because Sophie had accompanied her uncle on his many book-buying jaunts, she is a familiar face to the booksellers of London.  She is offered a job as an assistant in a bookstore she used to visit with her uncle.  Not long after she starts working there, she's stunned when two separate buyers contact her and ask her to locate a specific book for them: the 2nd edition of Rev. Mansfield's "A Little Book of Allegorical Stories."  One of the potential buyers is the charming and handsome Winston Godfrey.  The other one, who only ever reaches her by phone, is the sinister and threatening George Smedley.  Both are desperate to get their hands on this book, which doesn't seem to exist, but Sophie has no idea why.

Sophie begins a relationship with the hunky buyer, Winston, while at the same time having feelings for Eric Hall, an American she met briefly before he left to tour the continent.  Eric continues to send her postcards and gifts, but Sophie has a hard time carrying a torch for him with the gorgeous Winston much nearer to hand.

As Sophie attempts to figure out the mystery of the Mansfield book, she begins to suspect her Uncle Bertram's death might not have been an accident.  Could her life also be in danger?  I enjoyed the story and the shifting time perspectives.  It was a bit disturbing that Sophie went around during her investigations stealing anything she thought might help her in her quest.  I found it a bit hard to believe that the bookstores and archives she pilfered from didn't at least have some cameras or alarms in place to watch over some of their valuable and irreplaceable property.  Surely the story could have moved along with wholesale theft!  Still, it was an interesting story and I enjoyed the build-up of suspense as we learned why everyone wanted the second edition of the book -- not to mention which of Sophie's suitors she would end up with.

Final Verdict for First Impressions: Three Gherkins, for being an interesting historical mystery

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