Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
Six months after the Armistice that ended World War I on November 11, 1919, when travel restrictions to former conflict zones were finally lifted, 60,000 people, most of them women, journeyed to find where their loved ones were buried. For many of the 8.5 million soldiers who died, the place and date of death remain unknown to this day. One British woman, who found her husband’s grave in the Somme said, “I have tried to think of it, and of him in it, and of what hell looks like. But I never imagined such loneliness and dreadfulness and sadness.” Read more about WWI and the women left behind in On the Shore (see NOVELS).
Desolate WWI burial ground after the Battle of the Somme On the Shore (Vine Leaves Press) by Ann S. Epstein
In Assisi embroidery, a beautiful old Italian needlework tradition, the background is stitched while the main motifs are only outlined. Outlines are black or brown, while red, blue, green, or gold thread is used for the background. Motifs feature symmetrical pairs of animals and birds surrounded by ornate filigree borders. The style dates to the 13th and 14th century, fell into disuse in the 18th and 19th century, and was revived at the turn of 20th century. A modern version of Assisi embroidery has been evolving in the 21st century, using many different colors, patterns, and motifs. However, the revived traditional version is still carried on in the town of Assisi where one can see local women sitting in front of their houses and stitching items for the local co-operative embroidery shop. Read how an Italian immigrant learned the technique from her grandmother (“nonna”) over a century ago in the historical novel Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
The 800-year-old Assisi embroidery technique is periodically revived Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press) by Ann S. Epstein
The Historical Novel Review of A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve., which HNR selected as an Editors’ Choice, is now online. The magazine, a quarterly publication of the Historical Novel Society, typically reviews 250-300 books per issue, so I’m thrilled to be singled out for this recognition. The review concludes, “Epstein’s ability to create such a believable story demonstrates her skill as a novelist. Highly recommended.” Here’s the link to the full HNR review and you can read more about A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. in NOVELS.
A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. by Ann S. Epstein (Alternative Book Press, Editors’ Choice Selection of Historical Novel Review)
In the first edition of her classic book, Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home, published in 1922, Emily Post advised ignoring the “elephant at large in the garden,” meaning a wealthy know-it-all. She wrote “Why a man, because he has millions, should assume he confers omniscience in all branches of knowledge, is something which may be left to the psychologist to answer.” Post’s book is now in its 33rd edition, but some bad behavior and good advice hasn’t changed in nearly 100 years. Read more about cultural norms in the last century in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).
Emily Post, etiquette writer, did not gladly suffer rich pompous fools A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. by Ann S. Epstein (Alternative Book Press, Editors’ Choice Selection of Historical Novel Review)
In the original Frank L. Baum story, Dorothy’s slippers are silver. So why are they ruby in The Wizard of Oz movie? The color was changed to show off the wonders of Technicolor, first used in MGM’s 1939 movie classic. Screenwriter Noel Langley is credited with the idea. The shoes began as white silk pumps, dyed red, and overlaid with burgundy sequined organza. Two weeks before filming began, costume designer Adrian added butterfly-shaped leather bows with rectangular, red-glass jewels and dark red bugle beads, outlined by red glass rhinestones set in silver. Orange felt was glued to the soles to deaden the sound of Judy Garland dancing down the Yellow Brick Road. Read more about the making of the movie in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).
Dorothy’s ruby slippers were silver in the original book Dorothy and friends dance (noiselessly) down the Yellow Brick Road A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. by Ann S. Epstein (Alternative Book Press, Editors’ Choice Selection of Historical Novel Review)
My Amazon and Goodreads review of My Name is Lucy Barton (Rating 5) – Acute Awe. Elizabeth Strout’s My Name is Lucy Barton offers hope to the despairing. In deceptively plain language, Strout evokes a panoply of emotions that leaves readers as wrung-out as Lucy’s debilitating illness, yet equally jubilant over her eventual, if mysterious, recovery. Lucy suffers from the shame of childhood poverty, imperfectly requited longing for maternal affection, indifferent children, humiliating peer rejection, snobbish criticism, and acute anxiety induced by a prolonged but undiagnosed illness. Despite being brought low by circumstance, Lucy the survivor retains her sense of awe at the wonders of the universe. Having been raised with so little, she delights in small gifts that are free: the canvas of a prairie sky at sunset, lights twinkling on at dusk in the city, a rich boy’s courtesy toward a poor woman. Lucy Barton’s only request, in the form of the title’s simple statement, is that her existence be acknowledged. Readers will not forget her name, or this book. Ditto the name and talent of prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout. As a writer myself (see my author pages on Amazon and Goodreads), I offer that testament as the highest praise.
A deceptively simple yet eloquent call for acknowledgment Why writers read: “Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” – Joyce Carol Oates
In the 1950s, many popular radio shows made the switch to television, including The Jack Benny Program, which moved in 1955 and ran for 10 years on CBS. In Jim Bishop’s book A Day in the Life of President Kennedy, JFK said he was too busy to watch most TV shows but made time each week to unwind with Jack Benny, the vain, penny-pinching miser who played the violin, badly, and insisted he was 39 years old, despite already being 61 when the show first aired. Read more about 1950s pop culture in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).
The Jack Benny Program moved from radio to television in 1955Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky) & J. Fred Muggs A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press) by Ann S. Epstein, an Editors’ Choice selection of Historical Novel Review
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Italian immigrants founded many U.S. companies still with us today: Ghirardelli Chocolate, Progresso, Planters Peanuts, Contadina, Chef Boyardee, Italian Swiss Colony wines, and Jacuzzi. Italo Marchiony is credited with inventing the earliest version of the ice cream cone in NYC in 1898 (patented 1903). Read more about the contributions of Italian-American immigrants in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
Domenico Ghirardelli, founder of the eponymous chocolate company Ghirardelli opened his first store in 1848 to sell sweets to California’s gold rush miners Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press) by Ann S. Epstein
The 1935 National Labor Relations Act (a.k.a. Wagner Act) guarantees the rights of private sector employees to unionize, engage in collective bargaining, and strike. The act does NOT apply to some of the most vulnerable workers including agricultural, domestic, and public employees, as well as independent contractors. Read more about labor laws over the last century in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
Depression era workers demand the right to unionize Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press) by Ann S. Epstein
My Amazon and Goodreads review of Gingerbread (Rating 2) – Tasteless. I finished Helen Oyeyemi’s Gingerbread only because I hate to waste food. Despite the fact that gingerbread is the book’s main entree, readers never get to relish its sensory delights. Oyeyemi does little to evoke the unique pungency of this savory-sweet confection, instead serving a tasteless meal that meanders among people, places, and times in a half-baked batter. Her themes may be the strength of inter-generational ties and the transcendent bonds of female friendship, but her characters lack heart. Not that they are cardboard; their stories are distinctive, if not downright weird. As a writer (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I appreciate Oyeyemi’s imaginative powers. But whether her creations are real people, changelings, dolls, or figments of the author’s mind, their oddity fails to warm readers’ hearts as much as the gingerbread fails to warm our bellies. If you’re hungry for a good read, search elsewhere.
Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi is a “tasteless” read “Read everything … like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master.” – William Faulkner
