Month: October 2016

  • From dark times, brilliant fiction

    Two novels, both set in France during World War II, provide Paul O’Connor with a feast of outstanding fiction. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE NIGHTINGALE. By Kristin Hannah. St. Martin’s Press. 440 pages. $27.99. ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE. By Anthony Doerr. Scribner. 531 pages. $27. It’s early summer. We’re in the family…

  • Dealing with the devil

    Bob Moyer was in Germany recently, but at least part of the time, his imagination was in New Orleans. He offers a review of the book that transported him to the Big Easy. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer LET THE DEVIL OUT. By Bill Loehfelm. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 304 pages. $26. The last time we…

  • An uncommon friendship

    The Roosevelts, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War – these are fascinating topics of fairly recent history that have been dealt with extensively in books, movies and TV documentaries. Susan Quinn, coming at them from a different angle, has written a fascinating book that sheds new light even on stories we’ve heard…

  • A secret hero

    Before there was James Bond, before there was John le Carré, there was Baroness Orczy. Paul O’Connor reviews her inventive and rewarding classic. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL. By Baroness Orczy. Barnes & Noble Classics. Softcover. 252 pages. $8.05. It’s 1792, and the Reign of Terror is well under way in Paris. The…