READING
FASCINATING WOMAN
Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk by Amy S. Greenberg
History has not been kind to James Polk, the unpopular president known for his Manifest Destiny policy and the U.S.-Mexican War of the 1840’s. He only served one term in office and his widow outlived him by more than 40 years. Sarah Polk, on the contrary, was charming and gracious and cultivated the image of a deferential and very proper southern Christian woman. In reality, she was also smart, well-educated and astute. She easily related to men and manipulated government officials in service of her husband’s political career, especially during the White House years. Her correspondents were numerous, and she hosted many a reception, even when she and James lived in rented rooms in a D.C. boardinghouse while he was in Congress.
The Folks were plantation owners with a raft of slaves, and after his death in 1849, Sarah continued to keep their slaves. During and after the Civil War, she aimed to be seen as friendly to the Union while quietly and privately continuing her efforts on behalf of the Confederacy and Confederate causes. Ahead of the times in her influence and power, Sarah Polk was a multi-dimensional individual who had a lasting impact on her times and was revered by many into her late 80’s. This is a fascinating and engaging biography and an account of some of the most critical years of the 19th century. (~JWFarrington)
WATCHING
ARCTIC MURDERS
Rebecka Martinsson (Acorn)
Rebecka Martinsson is an attorney at a prime law firm in Stockholm when she returns north of the Arctic Circle after the death of a close friend. Convinced that all is not right, she becomes involved in a murder investigation. There are eight episodes in Season 1, and each murder mystery is a two-parter, all taking place in the cold, frozen north.
It takes a little bit of effort to get into this series; dialogue is sparse, Rebecka is both smart and unorthodox in her approaches, and sometimes the connections between characters are hard to sort out. Nonetheless, the Chief Penguin and I got hooked on this series and watched all of it. Apparently, Season 2 has debuted in Sweden, so we can cross our fingers we’ll eventually get it in the U.S.
SUMMER READING
Here are a few of the titles I plan to read over the next few months. What is on your list or in your stack?
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (a memoir, winner of the Pulitzer Prize)
The Body in Question by Jill Cement (Notable book, novel about an affair between jurors)
German Boy: A Child in War by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel (a memoir, recommended by Dean)
The Daughters of Erietown by Connie Schultz (first novel by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist)
Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz (re-tracing Frederick Law Olmstead’s journey of the 1850’s)
Note: Header image of girl and book stack is from ipipliwool.comyr.com.
