London

Edward Rutherford writes historical fiction novels about big cities that span 1000 years. Each book is over 1000 pages and follows several families throughout the centuries. London, however, spans a period of 2000 years and tells the stories of six families. I previously read Rutherford's China and loved it.  In my mind, Rutherford is the James Michener of the 21st century.

London begins with the birth of the Thames River and quickly moves to 54 BCE, capturing the life of Segovax, a man with slightly webbed hands and a flash of white hair on the front of his head. This description of him will be carried forward by his descendants. Segovax is the ancestor of the Ducket and Dogget families, who are fictional families in the novel. There are several historical figures who also appear in the story such as Julius Caesar, Geoffrey Chaucer, Henry VIII and William Shakespeare. We also see the rise of chivalry and the Crusades. In addition, we read about the Norman Conquest of England and the Great Fire of London as well as the Blitz during WWII. 

London is much more than a history book. The reader is given a slice of what life was like for London's residents from its beginnings to the current time period. Not knowing anything about the city during times before Christ, I learned how people dealt with marital and sexual matters, trade and also the type of clothing that they wore. We get all of this information for each time period. In addition, we read what life was like when the Romans, Celts, Saxons, Danes and Normans arrived. It seems to me that people just wanted to go about their lives as best they could when invaders came to their shores. No one really cared who was in power. People just wanted jobs and to be able to feed their families. It was interesting, too, to read about why and how the Tower of London was constructed. The building of St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey is also covered but there was a greater emphasis on the Tower.

I would have to say that the Middle Ages was covered in more detail than other eras. However, the Middle Ages covers 800 years of history. I was surprised that more contemporary eras such as the Victorian Era was not written about in great detail. As far as characters go, I loved reading about Chaucer's life in particular. He is introduced as a friend of one of the main families.  He becomes a godfather to one of the kids before he became famous for his writing. 

There is so much more to say about this book. I absolutely LOVED it and can't wait to read Rutherford's novel on Paris next. I am happily rating this novel 5 out of 5 stars.

Wrap-Up of the 2021 Chunkster Challenge

 

The rules for the Chunkster Challenge had no limit on the number of books required to read but the books had to be 450 pages or more.  I found 16.  Actually, I found 17 but will not have time to read Edward Rutherford's London until next year.  Here's what I read:

With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray

The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul

The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson

The Cartiers by Francesca Cartier Brickell

My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

Beneath an Indian Sky by Renita D'Silva

China by Edward Rutherford

Dear Abigail by Diane Jacobs

The Cellist by Daniel Silva

Dominus by Steve Saylor

Sweet Tooth Compendium Edition by Jeff Lemire

Peril by Bob Woodward

The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli

The Widow Queen by Elzbieta Cherezinska

Favorite Book:  China

2nd Favorite Book:  Dominus

Least Favorite Book:  With No One as Witness. 

All of these books except one was rated 5 out of 5 stars. With No One as Witness was rated 2 out of 5 stars so it gets the least favorite title.  9 of the authors were new to me!

I love going to my local bookstore and roaming for chunky books.  They stand out on the bookshelves and are easy to find.  Usually they are epic historical fiction novels but this year some of my favorite mystery writers published big books. The challenge is running again in 2022 and I will be signing up.

The Widow Queen

The Widow Queen is much more than a biography of Poland's Swietoslawa.  It is also the saga of the rulers of Poland, Russia, Denmark, Sweden and parts of Germany in the late 10th century. Swietoslawa's family calls her "the bold one." Her father, Duke Mieszko, plans on using all three of his daughters to make foreign alliances that will strengthen his power in the region. While the daughters tell him their preferences for husbands, Mieszko uses them strategically. However, Swietoslawa refuses to be a pawn in his schemes. She wants a throne of her own, with no husband by her side. This novel is Book 1 in the author's Bold One series.

There are many names and details to remember when reading this book. It covers alot of ground and is a slow read for that reason only. It remains a captivating tale. Our heroine is renamed Sigrid by her new husband, the king of Sweden. It was chosen because it was easier for his subjects to pronounce and it is a Swedish name, which any Swedish queen must have. Her brother Boleslaw is the heir to the Polish throne but depending on what chapter you are on, you will read about different heirs to multiple European thrones. All of them are strategizing to gain power by determining the best marriage options and also which potential rulers can be trusted. 

I enjoyed reading about these powerhouses in Eastern Europe. I also loved that the time period was the tenth century. Most of the historical fiction novels that I read take place in England, France or Germany during the Middle Ages.  The Widow Queen was a nice change. All of the characters are historical figures whom I had never heard of before.  I found myself going to Wikipedia to become more familiar with them.  A few of them include Sven of Denmark, Olav of Norway, Eric of Sweden, and Vladimir of Rus. 

Book 2 in the series has already been published in Poland. It looks like author Elzbieta Cherezinska has written a couple of other series set in the same time period but because I can't read Polish it is hard to tell. I hope all of them are translated into English because she is a fabulous writer. I love that she is writing about a place and time historical fiction fans don't see much of.

5 out of 5 stars.

The Stolen Lady

The Stolen Lady is the latest novel in Laura Morelli's art mysteries. All of them are standalone books. In this particular novel there are alternating plots that take place during the 1400s and during WWII. The fictional characters are based somewhat on real people and the backstory on how the Louvre staff moved its works of art is well researched. Below is the publisher's summary:

France, 1939

At the dawn of World War II, Anne Guichard, a young archivist employed at the Louvre, arrives home to find her brother missing. While she works to discover his whereabouts, refugees begin flooding into Paris and German artillery fire rattles the city. Once they reach the city, the Nazis will stop at nothing to get their hands on the Louvre's art collection. Anne is quickly sent to the Castle of Chambord, where the Louvre's most precious artworks - including the Mona Lisa - are being transferred to ensure their safety. With the Germans hard on their heels, Anne frantically moves the Mona Lisa and other treasures again and again in an elaborate game of hide and seek. As the threat to the masterpieces and her life grows closer, Anne also begins to lean the truth about her brother and the role he plays in this dangerous game.

Florence, 1479

House servant Bellina Sardi's future seems fixed when she accompanies her newly married mistress, Lisa Gherardini, to her home across the Arno. Lisa's husband, a prosperous silk merchant, is aligned with the powerful Medici, his home filled with luxuries and treasures. But soon, Bellina finds herself bewitched by a charismatic one who has urged Florentines to rise up against the Medici and to empty their homes of the riches and jewels her new employer prizes. When Master Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint a portrait of Lisa, Bellina finds herself tasked with hiding an impossible secret. 

To say that I loved this story is an understatement. The richness of Florence and Milan set a striking contrast to the French countryside where the Louvre employees lived a spartan existence under Nazi rule. In my mind you cannot find a more beautiful setting than Florence. I love the art, cathedrals, fabrics and food. The pleasures that the ruling class were lucky to have engaged in will always seduce my imagination. If only to be rich in Florence during the Middle Ages. 

One of the secondary characters, Lucie, is based on a real woman who, as a Louvre employee, documented the movement of the artworks from Paris to the countryside. Through her efforts we know what happened during this time period. Our protagonist Anne worked under Lucie at the Louvre but they were equals during the run from the Nazis. The author drew upon Lucie's documentation to write this part of the story. While I can't get enough of the Italian Renaissance period I believe that Anne's story is the most compelling. 

The author gives us an interesting viewpoint into how Da Vinci felt about his Mona Lisa. We see him as he begins the portrait and decades later before his death. Morelli shows him initially believing that a portrait will never bring him accolades. However, he never truly believes that the painting is finished and works on it periodically while he looks for other commissions that will bring him fame. He too is captivated by the smile that he remembers the real Lisa had and endeavors to recreate it in this portrait. 

The Stolen Lady is a must read for historical fiction fans. 5 out of 5 stars.

Peril

I knew that Bob Woodward's Peril would be a great read even though there have already been several excerpts in the media. It was. I had two profound thoughts after finishing the book but let me first state that the time period covered was the last six months of Trump's presidency and the first six months of Biden's presidency.

What struck me the most was how long the military had been controlling Trump's ability to begin a war. Military officers got together before scheduled meetings in the Oval Office to decide beforehand who would say what in the meetings. One person would be selected to take the heat from Trump, i.e., tell him the truth. Telling Trump the truth always resulted in him screaming obscenities at them. This was true from Trump's initial days in Office until he left Office. When the 2020 election was nearing, military officials were even more hands on because Trump was saying privately that he wanted military action against several other nations. It has been reported in the news that the Chinese were worried that the U.S. would attack them. This worry was true for the entire 2020 calendar year not just near the election date. In fact, the Chinese military was on high alert for an attack all year as were the Russians and Iranians. The American military had several discussions with the Chinese to advise that the U S. would not attack them and in so many words say they were in control of the nuclear weapons, not Trump. 

With such extraordinary efforts being made to avert wars why did no one remove Trump from Office? The military took some measures that were illegal. While I am glad they did so the fact remains that their actions were illegal. My latest reading of the U.S. Constitution shows that the vice president is the only person who can call a cabinet meeting to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump.  In my mind Pence is just as guilty of illegal acts by failing to do his job. I guess the military did what they could given that Pence refused to do his duty. Former Joint Chief's Chairman General Milley was quoted in the book as saying that the military only has an obligation to the Constitution, not the Commander in Chief.  He upheld his duty to the Constitution by preventing Trump from starting a war, one that would also be illegal under the Constitution. We have former Vice President Pence to thank for the mess. I was not aware how much he contributed to it before reading the book. The only reason that this mess occurred is because he failed to uphold his own constitutional duties. Note, though, that the authors did not discuss Pence. These are my thoughts.

The book begins with Biden's inaugural address where he mentions that we are in a winter of peril. The book ends with the author's statement "peril remains." I agree with their assessment but most of the time I push that thought from my mind. It's just too upsetting. Peril should be required reading. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Sweet Tooth Compendium

I was excited to get the Sweet Tooth compendium edition for my birthday last month. I had heard that this edition sold out on its publication date three months ago so imagine my surprise to receive it in the mail. Being late to comics, I hadn't previously read this story. The Compendium contains all 40 issues of the comic. The covers for each issue are also included in the book. 

Sweet Tooth takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where some of the characters are human/animal hybrids. The main  character is a young boy named Gus, a half human, half deer hybrid. He has antlers growing out of his forehead and is a chocoholic. Gus has been raised by his Bible thumping father in isolation after a manmade pandemic that began ten years earlier. When his father dies Gus is on his own. He soon meets Jepperd, a drifter who promises to help him. The two of them begin a journey into a devastated American landscape in order to locate The Preserve, a refuge for kids who are hybrids.  

The Compendium Edition, published by DC Comics, has been printed on semi-glossy paper. The pages are glued to the cover. I wish that it had been smyth-sewn because it's 915 pages will probably come loose. However, it was certainly put together better than my Saga Compendium, published by Image, and the GSM of the paper is higher.

This comic is going to look good on my bookshelf. I love to see these chunky books lined up in a row. I am rating Sweet Tooth 5 out of 5 stars.

Dominus

Dominus follows Steve Saylor's Roma and Empire historical novels. This epic story begins in AD 165 during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a time when there was peace throughout the Roman Empire. However, this novel showcases the decline of the empire. It spans 160 years and 7 generations.

The publisher's summary:  

"Marcus Aurelius, as much a philosopher as he is an emperor, oversees a golden age in the city of Rome. The ancient Pinarius family and their workshop of artisans embellish the richest and greatest city on earth with gilded statues and towering marble monuments.  Art and reason flourish but history does not stand still. 

The years to come bring wars, plagues, fires, and famines. The best emperors in history are succeeded by some of the worst. Barbarians descend in endless waves, eventually appearing before the gates of Rome itself. The military seizes power and sells the throne to the highest bidder. Chaos engulfs the empire.

Through it all, the Pinarius family endures, thanks in no small part to the protective powers of the fascinum, a talisman older than Rome itself, a mystical heirloom handed down through countless generations. But an even greater upheaval is yet to come. 

On the finger of society, troublesome cultists disseminate dangerous and seditious ideas. They insist that everyone in the world should worship only one god, their god. They call themselves Christians. Some emperors deal with the Christians with toleration, others with bloody persecution. Then one emperor does the unthinkable. He becomes a Christian himself. His name is Constantine, and the revolution he sets in motion will change the world forever."

I knew this would be a great book and I read slowly to savor it. I loved it. Not knowing much about Roman history, Dominus gave me the basics on the last 150 years of the empire. I knew there were alot of minor emperors toward the end of Rome's primacy but was not aware of how many there were. There were dozens of emperors who were in power only a few weeks or months. Constantine is the last emperor featured. I thought it was interesting how he moved toward Christianity. I had always thought that Constantine accepted this faith tradition quickly but Dominus shows that Constantine had a gradual acceptance of it and that it was made because Constantine could see the political advantages of accepting Christianity.  Dominus paints a different picture of how early Christians were perceived by non-Christians. I guess if you are raised to believe that multiple gods are necessary to achieve success, believing that god is just one person was a large stretch for them to make. Another interesting fact is how the arguments among the Christians over doctrinal matters were perceived by the Romans. Infighting was seen as a weakness of the religion. Conversely, there were no fights over the peculiarities of the Roman gods. I don't understand why the Romans did not see that the emperors' worship of the gods forced them to worship the gods likewise. They just followed what the emperors' were doing.

I was surprised by the level of insanity displayed by the emperors. We read about their need for monuments of themselves. What struck me was that they needed to destroy the monuments of their predecessors. Why? No one cared about earlier emperors, only the current one. Most of them loved violence and thought too highly of themselves, believing that because they were emperor that they were more skilled at fighting than gladiators. Another unusual aspect to these emperors was the need to deify their deceased children. The Senate was responsible for voting on their deification, which they did only to protect themselves from a raging emperor. This all seems like craziness to my modern way of thinking.

After finishing the book I googled the Pinarius family. I discovered that this was a historical family with 1,000 years of recorded history. Since the novel ends with Constantine requesting that the family move with him to Constantinople, I wonder what happened to them while living there. Surely there must be a record of them there but I did not find any.

Dominus is a fantastic novel. It would be nice if there was another book in this series but I understand that it is a trilogy and one that ends with Dominus. I highly recommend the book. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Cellist

The Cellist is the 21st book in Dan Silva's Gabriel Allon spy series. Allon, an art restorer on the side, always gets pulled away from his art to go after another terrorist on behalf of the Israeli government. Here, we have Allon dealing with everything from Russian money laundering to an attempt on the life of the president of the U. S. The story explores one of the preeminent threats facing the West today - the corrupting influence of dirty money wielded by Russia. 

The publisher's summary:

"Viktor Orlov had a longstanding appointment with death. Once Russia's richest man, he now resides in splendid exile in London, where he has waged a tireless crusade against the authoritarian kleptocrats who have seized control of the Kremlin. His mansion in Chelsea's exclusive Cheyne Walk is one of the most heavily protected private dwellings in London. Yet somehow, on a rainy summer evening, in the midst of a global pandemic, Russia's vengeful president finally manages to cross Orlov's off his kill list.

Before him was the receiver from his landline telephone, a half drunk glass of red wine, and a stack of documents. The documents are contaminated with a deadly nerve agent. The Metropolitan Police determine that they were delivered to Orlov's home by one of his employees, a prominent investigative reporter from the anti-Kremlin Moskovskaya Gazette. And when the reporter slips from London hours after the killing, M16 concludes she is a Moscow Center assassin who has cunningly penetrated Orlov's formidable defenses.

But Gabriel Allon, who owes his very life to Viktor Orlov, believes his friends in British intelligence are dangerously mistaken. His desperate search for the truth will take him from London to Amsterdam and eventually to Geneva, where a private intelligence service controlled by a childhood friend of the Russian president is using KGB style active measures to undermine the West from within. Known as the Hayden Group, the unit is plotting an unspeakable act of violence that will plunge an already divided America into chaos and leave Russia unchallenged. Only Gabriel Allon, with the help of a brilliant young woman employed by the world's dirtiest bank, can stop it."

This is another fantastic novel from Dan Silva! It has all the characters we have known throughout the series plus a few unnamed ones, i.e., the Russian president and an erratic American president refusing to concede an election. This particular installment of the series is more current with the world's political situation than the earlier ones. The plot includes a global pandemic, Russian interference in American elections as well as Russian looting of the assets of the West. The author must have written fast to include these events into his story.

As I said above, the characters were all known to the series. There weren't any new ones, which I was expecting. It was fun to read about their exploits since their last entry into the series. The Israeli characters showed growth and I suspect that one or more will not make in to the next book because of their age or retirement. Some were barely mentioned due to their age. Some will probably be promoted. It shows that Silva is constantly keeping their duties changing as they advance or decline in their careers.

All in all, this was a riveting read. I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

America's First Daughter

America's First Daughter is a well researched historical novel on the life of Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph. Patsy has to deal with the knowledge that her father loves his country more than he loves his family.  When her mother dies, she rises to the challenge and becomes Jefferson's constant companion and helper.  She even travels with him to France when he is appointed as America's minister to France.  While they are in Paris, Patsy first learns about her father's affair with a slave named Sally Hemings who is the same age as Patsy. Both are fifteen-years-old. She loves appearing at French royal court functions where the dresses, food and atmosphere captivate her.  Here, Patsy falls in love with one of her father's assistants, William Short. Short is an ardent abolitionist and has high ambitions for his political career. Patsy has a dilemma to resolve. Should she follow her heart and marry Short or continue as a devoted assistant to her father? Patsy chooses her father in this impressive historical biography and marries an American instead.

A french royal court setting is always going to be alluring for me. I just love reading descriptions of the food and dresses that the ladies wore. Post-revolution America is not as enticing but the author has written into the plot several controversial topics of the time, some of which I never heard of before and they were quite interesting. The women in the novel had to exert their power indirectly as the men had the real power in the nation and in their homes.  While I know that this just reflected the times, I hate reading about women having to live this way. 

I knew nothing about Jefferson's daughter before reading this book.  She certainly was a plucky character. Patsy's life story included running from the British during the Revolutionary War, handling many of her father's business affairs, helping him run the White House while he was president and, of course, giving birth to eleven kids after her marriage to her American cousin. I imagine that many women of this era had similar life stories to tell and I wish that I could find these stories.  Alas, they were not written down unless they were members of famous families.

The authors also wrote a historical biography of Alexander Hamilton's wife Eliza.  I loved that novel too and hope that this writing duo continues to write about the ladies of our American revolution.  5 out of 5 stars.

Beneath an Indian Sky

Beneath an Indian Sky is a historical fiction novel about a grandmother and her granddaughter.  The plots alternate between 1928 India, when Sita marries a crown prince and 2000, when her granddaughter Priya gets divorced from her husband of 11 years. 

The publisher's summary:

1928:  In British-ruled India, headstrong Sita longs to choose her own path, but her only destiny is a good marriage. After a chance meeting with a Crown Prince leads to a match, her family's status seems secured and she moves into the palace, where peacocks fill the gardens and tapestries adorn the walls.  But royal life is far from simple, and her failure to provide an heir makes her position fragile. Soon Sita is on the brink of losing everything, and the only way to save herself could mean betraying her oldest friend.

2000:  When Priya's marriage ends in heartbreak, she flees home to India and the palace where her grandmother, Sita, once reigned as Queen.  But as grandmother and granddaughter grow closer, Priya has questions.  Why is Sita so reluctant to accept her royal status ended with independence?  And who is the mysterious woman who waits patiently at the palace gates day after day?  Soon Priya uncovers a secret Sita has kept for years - and will change the shape of her life forever.

I have always loved India as a setting for books. It's tea scented air seems enchanting to me and the landscaping is beautiful. The nice hot weather is appealing to someone, such as myself, who has to deal with -20 degree weather every winter. In this novel much of the setting is the royal palace with its opulent rooms and furniture. Each room that Sita moves through is more exotic than the first. The palace even has its own zoo and Sita particularly loves the cheetahs. 

The characters are captivating and the reader gets to see Sita living the good life and her old friend Mary has to deal with many adversities.  While this is technically a book with alternating plots from Sita and Priya's point of view, it really has 3 alternating plots. The third plot is Mary's story, however, most of this book is about Sita and she is the most interesting character of the three.  Sita is unusual as she is both the main character and the villain. Mary is a supporting character but is also a foil for Sita's character.  In the end, Mary turns out to be the heroine of the novel. How the two of them change over the years and why is the basis for this sensational plot. Also, there is a shocking twist toward the end that genuinely surprised me. 

Beneath an Indian Sky is a must read for historical fiction fans.  I rate it 5 out of 5 stars!

My Dear Hamilton

My Dear Hamilton is the story of Alexander Hamilton's wife Eliza Hamilton, from her coming of age to the end of her life.  Eliza, known as Betsy by her family, grew up in Revolutionary New York as the daughter of an army general, Philip Schuyler.  She is a champion of independence and when she meets George Washington's aide, Alexander Hamilton, she is captivated by his charisma and brilliant intellect. They soon fall in love and marry, despite Hamilton's bastard birth and the uncertainties of the war.  Their marriage and the new American nation are far from perfect. The Hamiltons are at the center of the glittery inaugural balls and the bloody street riots as well as the nation's first sex scandal, which forces Eliza to struggle through heartbreak and betrayal to find forgiveness. When her husband dies in a duel, Eliza fights her husband's enemies in order to preserve his legacy. However, long buried secrets threaten everything that Eliza believes about her marriage and her own legacy.  She tries to understand the flawed man that she married and the imperfect union he never could have created without her.

I loved this novel. I did not know much about Alexander Hamilton before reading this book and learned a substantial amount of information about him.  While I always thought myself to be an expert on the founding of the U. S., I also learned a considerable number of facts about the founding of it's government.  Hamilton and how the emerging nation was formed go hand in hand.  We simply could not have done it without him.

The writing here is fluid, making this a fast read. The "characters" were all people in real-life and I don't think that any author could have created such characters on their own.  The strengths and flaws of each person probably would not have been combined in a made up character as they do not seem to go well together.  However, in this novel the author did not have to worry about that.  In addition, we don't usually see how our first 5 presidents interacted with one another during both the Revolutionary War and its aftermath.  This was fascinating to me.  I have never read anything like this before.  Another interesting fact was that Mrs. Hamilton kew Congressman Abe Lincoln.  I never considered Lincoln to be a contemporary of our founding fathers and mothers but as their careers were ending, Lincoln's was beginning.

My Dear Hamilton is a fantastic historical novel and I cannot recommend it more highly.  5 out of 5 stars.

Empire of Pain

Empire of Pain details the Sackler family's pharmaceutical businesses. The Sacklers have given us librium, valium, oxycontin as well as the antiseptic betadine and the laxative senotkot.  From the language that the author has used, it is obvious that this book was intended not just to ruin the family name (which they did a good job of themselves) but to show that the opioid epidemic in the U. S. was directly caused by the use of oxycontin. However, "gaps" in the meticulously researched expose speak loudly.  

The Sackler brothers Arthur, Raymond and Mortimer were the children of American immigrants Isaac and Sophie Sackler. As first generation kids, their parents instilled in them the desire to make a name for the family. Sophie wanted all of her sons to be doctors and they all became one. Arthur, being the oldest, led his brothers to inherit all of his jobs and businesses when he went to college, whether that be a paper route or a vice president in one of his many corporations that he started while still in high school. When it came time to start a new corporation for the Sackler family, Purdue Pharma, Arthur's push to succeed caused him to shelter the family under 30 shadow companies. This business structure remained over the decades. These umbrella corporations handled things that would be a conflict of interest for Purdue Pharma, such as medical advertising and medical trials. The main company did the research and development, the drug trials and the advertising of the drug. Arthur made a ton of money for the family and succeeding generations merely followed his business plan.

Another one of Arthur's ideas was to take a product and advertise it as not just being for the main purpose it was created for but also to broaden its functions so that more people would want to buy the product. Arthur was a master advertiser. He was taking over the advertising for companies when he was still in high school. With the Sacklers being involved in pharmaceuticals, they were steering people toward drugs that were created for patients with severe pain even though their pain might be considered slight or moderate. These company strategies were later determined to be criminal and resulted in the company's downfall.

The author performed meticulous research. He read every document in every lawsuit of which the family was a part. The author's premise that oxycontin was the sole cause of the opioid epidemic does not hold water. He shows how those people prone to addiction and those who were already addicted to other drugs became addicted to oxycontin. However, he does not cite any data that shows that all people with chronic pain became addicted.  This was the family's defense. Many patients with chronic pain from identifiable conditions shown on x-rays and MRIs could not be shown to be addicted. Given that the author researched every single document on Purdue Pharma it is suspicious to me that there was no study showing this to be true. The author always refers to specific documents to prove his point. However, he sidetracked on this point and I can only surmise that is because there is no evidence to the contrary. 

A big part why family members behaved the way they did was due to their overwhelming wealth. The second and third generations grew up with no boundaries and no real concern for how well they performed in school or how well they performed their jobs in the company. If a problem arose concerning reports of addiction from oxycontin use, they simply ignored it because it was not in their interest.

Empire of Pain is a great resource for readers who want to learn the details about the oxycontin problem.  I highly recommend it.  5 out of 5 stars.

The Cartiers

The Cartiers is scheduled for publication in June 2021. However, I was able to buy a Kindle copy last month.  The author, Francesca Cartier Brickell, is a Cartier descendant.  When her grandfather, Jean-Jaques Cartier, was still alive she found a box full of old letters and documents in his home.  They reviewed them together and this knowledge became the basis for the book.

The book covers the beginning of the Cartier jewelry dynasty from its beginning in 1819 with Louis-Francois Cartier.  Louis-Francois started out in the jewelry business as an apprentice to Bernard Picard who owned  a well established workshop.  Workshop managers were known to use a whip when apprentices made mistakes. Many apprentices did not fulfill their apprenticeships but Louis-Francois was very determined because he had watched his father build a life from nothing.  His son Alfred learned the business from him and was able to pass it on to his three sons, Louis, Pierre and Jaques. The next generation sold their jewels to the Romanov dynasty as well as other royal families throughout the world.  Today, Cartier is a prominent international jeweler known for their creativity and excellence in workmanship.  

This book is an inspiring read for entrepreneurs.  Entrepreneurs will learn how to run a business so that it grows and maintains relevance through good economic years and bad.  The Cartiers figured out how to survive during the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon, the fall of the Romanovs and both world wars.  It was interesting to read about the thoughts of the family on how to accomplish this. The book is also a behind the scenes look at how the Cartiers sold to the rich, royal and famous and offers tidbits on some of their best clients.

The Cartiers is a wonderful history book on the world of high jewelry.  5 out of 5 stars.

The Code Breaker

All of my friends raved about this book and we talked about it for over a month. I knew I had to read it. The Code Breaker is a biography of sorts. Scientist Jennifer Doudna's professional life is featured as well as the rush among the scientific field to develop the CRISPR technology.  CRISPR is the acronym for Clustered Relatively Interspersed Short Palindrome Repeats.  It can be used as a gene editing tool to cure diseases. When COVID-19 broke out, researchers had a head up on developing the COVID-19 vaccine because of the CRISPR technology.

The book opens with several chapters on Doudna's childhood. Her experiences as a white person in Hawaii formed her tenacious personality. She was regularly harassed by the Polynesian kids in her Hilo community because of her race. She was the rare Caucasian in Hilo. However, it taught her to focus on what was important, a trait that helped her in her work life.  

Several other scientists worked with Doudna on and off. Emmanuelle Charpentier is the first one I will mention as she and Doydna won the Nobel Prize for chemistry together in 2020. This award was given despite an ongoing court case over the CRISPR patents in the U. S. Supreme Court. Another scientist, Feng Zhang, fast tracked his patent application so that he would be the first person to obtain the CRISPR patent. His application was filed 3 weeks after Doudna filed hers.  His application contained false statements over who did what work. Zhang narrowed his patent application to push out other scientists who he worked with at the Broad Institute, George Church.and Luciano Marraffini. Normally 3 people are together awarded the Nobel Prize. Zhang would have been the 3rd person but that would have left out Marraffini who did most of the Zhang's work at the Broad Institute. 

Most of the scientists who did research on DNA and RNA as well as the developing CRISPR technology were doing it out of a passion for science, not financial gain. Zhang is the exception here. The other scientists were Blake Wiedenheft, Francisco Mojica, James Watson, Krzysztof Chilinski, Rodolphe Barrangou, and Le Cong. There are chapters in the book on their work as well. All worked on and off with Doudna. 

Code Breaker is a fascinating look at the search for new biotechnologies in the 21st century. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Lost Daughter

History tells us that every member of the Russian royal family, the Romanovs, were killed in 1918.  When I spotted this book at the library I thought that it might be interesting, but not great given that the premise for the plot was not believable.  However, it is so well written that I enjoyed spending an entire afternoon reading it.  In this novel Grand Duchess Maria, the third child of Tsar Nicholas, survives the assassination and is carried away from the scene by an admiring guard.  Below is the plot summary from the publisher:

1918:  Pretty, vivacious Grand Duchess Maria Romanov, the nineteen-year-old daughter of the fallen Tsar Nicholas II, lives with her family in suffocating isolation, a far cry from their once-glittering royal household.  Her days are a combination of endless boredom and paralyzing fear; her only respite is clandestine flirtations with a few of the guards imprisoning the family - never realizing her innocent actions could mean the difference between life and death.

1973:  When Val Doyle hears her father's end-of-life confession, "I didn't want to kill her," she's stunned.  So, she begins a search for the truth - about his words and her past.  The clues she discovers are baffling - a jewel encrusted box that won't open and a camera with its film intact.  What she finds out pulls Val into one of the world's greatest mysteries - what truly happened to the Grand Duchess Maria?  

The setting of Ipatiev House where the family lived and were murdered, showed alot of insight into the family's final days.  It was fascinating to read the descriptions of the rooms and the layout of the building.  It was a decrepit old building that had a sense of foreboding.  The family must have known they were coming to a bad end.  If they were really waiting for European relatives to save them, they had to be nuts.  Royalty is not sent to a building that is practically falling down to wait for repatriation.  

The daily lives of the residents of Leningrad during the Siege of Lenigrad was shown in all its horror. Most people only had 2 pieces of bread to eat per day at its end.  They were all skeletons at its ending and had endured standing in line here, there and everywhere to find food on a daily basis and that was only after a full work day.  While I have read history books on this issue, it only came to life for me from reading this book.  The shear drudgery of trying to survive was clearly apparent as the characters dealt with the war.  

There are many good reasons to recommend this book.  These are only two of them.  I highly recommend The Lost Daughter.  5 out of 5 stars.

With No One As Witness

Elizabeth George's books run hot and cold for me. With No One As Witness was lukewarm.  The mystery to be solved was interesting in the beginning but I got bogged down in all of the British words that I did not know the meaning of. The book read slowly for me.  At 627 pages, this book qualifies as a selection for the Chunkster Challenge.

The publisher's summary is below:  

"When an adolescent boy's nude body is found draped over a tomb in a graveyard, the police recognize the work of a serial killer who's been murdering boys in London.  This is the killer's fourth victim but the first to be white.  Hoping to avoid charges of institutionalized prejudice in their failure to pursue the earlier crimes to their conclusion, New Scotland Yard takes the case and hands it over to Detective Constable Barbara Haverstraw and Detective Sergeant Winston Natalie.  The killer is a psychopath who does not intend to be stopped.  But a devastating tragedy within their ranks causes the police to fumble in their pursuit, which may bring more fatal consequences."

This is a slow moving book. In addition to all of the unfamiliar British words, the abundance of descriptions made this book painfully slow. For example, an entire page may contain only a description of what a character wore or what a room or street looked like. Put two or three of these pages together and you get a bored reader. The author's note at the conclusion of the story states she is an American writing a novel set in England. I would never have guessed she was American. In fact, I thought that the book may have been written for a European audience. The plot was lost amidst this backdrop.

A disappointing read. 2 out of 5 stars. 

Chunkster Reading Challenge 2021

I used to participate in this challenge annually but think that it was discontinued for a few years.  I love the feel of a big book in my hands. In fact, I don't really feel like I am reading with a physical book in my hands.  It has made 2020 difficult to get used to reading ebooks.  I am happy to see that this challenge is back in 2021.   It is being hosted by Annette at the Impressions in Ink blog.

There are some requirements for the challenge.  

1)    All books must be at least 450 pages.

2)    The challenge runs the 2021 calendar year.

3)    All book formats are accepted for the challenge. Audio and ebooks are OK.

4)    There is no minimum number of books that you must read. 

4)    You don't need a blog to participate.

I have already purchased a few chunksters.  I will be reading Elizabeth George's With No One as Witness which she published in 2005.  It has 627 pages.  Stephanie Dray's My Dear Hamilton has 637 pages and her America's First Daughter has 587 pages.  I also plan on reading former President Obama's memoir A Promised Land.  It is over 700 pages but is just the first installment of his official memoir.