Ann S. Epstein Writer

My Amazon and Goodreads review of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Rating 3) – Cluttered. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride is the story of pre-WWII Chicken Hill, a poor area in Pottstown, Pennsylvania inhabited by Jews and Negroes. Among the “good” Jews are Chona, the generous proprietress of the title establishment, and her open-minded husband, Moshe, a theater entrepreneur. Among the “good” Negroes are Nate, a hard-working man with a past, and his good-hearted and loyal wife Addie, who have taken in Dodo, their bright but deaf orphaned nephew who the State wants to cart off to an “educational” mental institution. The town itself harbors many “bad” bigots, most notably the despised but powerful Doc Roberts. The collusion of Negroes and Jews to save Dodo drives the story, but what should be a propulsive tale is instead a novel cluttered with less-than-minor characters, confusing plot fragments, and digressions that merely show off the author’s wit. McBride needs an editor with the chutzpah to tell him to cut three-quarters of the self-indulgent prose. As a novelist myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I’ve learned that at least ninety-percent of the fascinating (to me) information I discover in my research should remain in my notes. Facts serve fiction when they further character and plot. Otherwise, they belong in engaging nonfiction tracts. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is somewhat redeemed by the touching Epilogue, but it doesn’t justify the hours spent reading what precedes it. If you enjoyed McBride’s Deacon King Kong, you’ll probably like The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. If, like me, you were irritated by the former, I expect you’ll be impatient with his latest book too.

A community unites to save a boy

Why writers read: “My alma mater was books, a good library I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.” – Malcolm X

My Amazon and Goodreads review of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (Rating 5) – The Story of a Story. Although I bought Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr soon after it was published, I intended to wait before reading it. Having been awed by All the Light We Cannot See, as both a reader and fiction writer (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page, I was saving Cloud Cuckoo Land to prolong the anticipation of being wowed again. But when I discovered that Doerr would be speaking in the college town where I live in a couple of weeks, I decided to read it before his talk. I got only halfway through before his lecture, because reading this book cannot be rushed. It is meant to be ingested slowly. The novel alternates between five characters (six if you count the Greek figure from whose tale the book’s title is derived) and three eras, from the distant past to the not-so-distant future. With intricate plotting, atypical characters, and an erudition that reflects his insatiable curiosity, Doerr builds the connections between them. Despite humanity’s tragedies — from ancient wars to present day environmental destruction — Doerr salvages hope, and reminds us of the power of storytelling.

Storytelling at its most captivating

Why writers read: “Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed?” – Annie Dillard

My Goodreads and Amazon reviews of The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura (Rating 4) – A Remarkable Sibling Duo. The Doctors Blackwell by Janice P. Nimura, is the history of the first female physicians in the United States. Elizabeth, the determined older sister, was first. She encouraged — in some ways pressured — her younger sister Emily to follow in her footsteps. Elizabeth’s admission to Geneva Medical College actually began as a student prank. Its absurdity (no spoilers) emphasizes how outlandish the idea of a woman doctor was in 1847. To the surprise of her peers and the faculty, Elizabeth turned out to be a stellar pupil. For men entrenched in the belief that women had no place in the profession, her achievement was the exception that proved the rule. In the words of the Dean, she was that rare woman who “possessed the proper moral, physical, and intellectual qualifications to be admitted to the medical brotherhood.” Actually, that attitude was fine with Elizabeth, who also saw herself as superior. Nimura highlights the differences in personality between the sisters, the elder self-confident and judgmental, the younger self-doubting but compassionate. To her credit, their respective flaws are not sugar-coated. Instead Nimura shows how well they complemented each other. To echo the subtitle, Elizabeth focused on education, bringing women to medicine; Emily applied herself to practice, bringing medicine to women. My one criticism is that the book is too detailed. Nimura’s laudable desire to thoroughly document the untold lives of these remarkable women is sometimes overshadowed by forgettable lists of addresses, people, and occasions. As a writer of historical fiction (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I know the importance of being selective about how much research one shares with readers. That caveat aside, The Doctors Blackwell reminds us that advanced in women’s professional acceptance and health care owe much to the determined efforts of these two trailblazers.

The untold history of two pioneering women

Why writers read: “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” – Groucho Marx