If It’s May It Must Be Gaithersburg and it Must be the Book Festival

Once again, full disclosure, I have not read the books which the authors discussed, but I’m impressed enough to want to.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi. He is one of those science fiction writers I probably never would have read if I hadn’t wandered into his tent, looking for a chair and some shade. And there he was with his many devoted followers who knew way too much about all his novels including his blog. He has won numerous awards and likes to muddy the lines between truth and fiction, which seems to be what many science fiction writers do. But he does it better.

What attracted me was his humor and his strong feelings about billionaires. So, this is for all my family and friends who are SciFi readers. He has come to the book festival to discuss his newest book, When the Moon Hits Your Eye. The premise is simple: the moon has turned to cheese and the population of earth is answering the call.

An earlier book, The Old Man’s War, which I have been told is a good place to start, (OK that was from Amazon) takes place when Earth is trying to find an inhabitable planet…not so easy…and retirees are urged to join the Colonial Defense Force and stake a claim to some land somewhere. This is part 1 of 6. You’re welcome, my Sci-Fi friends.

The Wildes: a Novel in 5 Acts by Louis Bayard—Bayard is a historical fiction writer who looks for holes in history. The story of Oscar Wilde could be one of those holes. I’m sure that you’re aware of Oscar Wilde and his works, you may be aware of his famous trial and subsequent imprisonment for the crime of homosexuality, but did you know that he was married and had two sons? He dearly loved his wife Constance and their children but his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas brought not only him into the international spotlight, but his family as well. Bayard tells us what happened to his family as we get to know his wife, and what an incredible feminist she was. I’ve read Courting Mr. Lincoln, but apparently never wrote about it (about another hole in history) when Mary Todd meets Abe Lincoln, but also about his close friend, Joshua Speed.

What was most impressive was the amount of research he did, even interviewing Oscar Wilde’s son.

Speak to Me of Home by Jeanine Cummins–I am very excited that I had the chance to attend her book talk.

 If you’re trying to figure out where you’ve heard her name, just remember her novel, American Dirt, about Mexican refugees trying to get to the United States. This was a gripping novel which addresses the immigration issue from a different perspective. But you may remember it for a different reason. Cummins, whose family came from Puerto Rico originally, was demonized by LatinX writers who deemed it politically insensitive to tell a story about Mexican refugees when Cummins identified as “white”. Cummins shared with us her too real emotional turmoil as all her book events were cancelled. Well, they would have been cancelled anyway because of COVID but it only gave her detractors more time to demonize her online.

Cummins has used these five years to think about her identity and out of that came her newest novel: Speak to Me of Home about her Puerto Rican heritage. Rafaela meets Peter Brennan and uproots her life as they move to St. Louis, Missouri. I’m sure you’ve heard of the lives of immigrants, trying to acclimate to a new life. As her daughter Ruth grows up she has no trouble acclimating because she is American and puts aside her Puerto Rican heritage. When her granddaughter, Daisy returns to Puerto Rico and is critically injured during a hurricane, both mother and grandmother rush to her side. We learn of their life histories as both women sit by her side and finally come together.

I learned a lot about Cummins’ real family life and many of these characters are based on her family. I also learned that she grew up in Gaithersburg!

Anatomy of Exile: a novel by Zeeva Bukai—Another immigrant story, this begins in Israel when Tamar’s sister-in-law is murdered. It looks like a terrorist attack, but it is much more personal as it’s the result of a love affair between the sister-in-law and a Palestinian poet.

The family moves to New York to get as far away as possible, but life is starting to repeat itself when Tamar’s own daughter meets a Palestinian family who live upstairs and falls in love with the son.

Not only could this be a Shakespearian tragedy, but the story, once again, involves immigrants, acclimation, culture and of course divisive politics.

Zeeva Bukai was born in Israel and her own family immigrated to New York. How much this was about her own family, we don’t know. But it certainly is a fascinating concept. It’s on my TBR shelf.

Dancing Woman: A Novel by Elaine Neil Orr—Elaine Neil Orr is a child of white expat parents living in Nigeria.

Isabel and her husband, a very busy USAID worker are stationed in Nigeria in 1963. While she is trying to find herself and her art she becomes involved with the Nigerian culture including a very appealing musician.  Retreating to her little home, she finds a statue of a dancing woman buried in her field and she begins to put it all together against the backdrop of politics, war and suspicion.  

Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 by Rick Atkinson–Pulitzer Prize winning author of seven works of military history, including a WW2 trilogy, and introducing the 2^nd part of his American Revolution trilogy, Atkinson has graced the Gaithersburg Book Festival.

OK, I’m not a military history fan but when an author can make American historical battlefields as well as figures such as Henry Knox (future first secretary of state) and British general William Howe, commander of the British army come alive, then you have my attention.

In conversation with James A. Percoco, a nationally recognized history educator, they both led us through the second part of the war. Atkinson’s research was done so thoroughly you could hear it, see it and smell it. And there will be a third part.

These authors are another reason to attend any book festival, but especially the annual Gaithersburg Book Festival. Thanks to the City of Gaithersburg for a “celebration of books, writers and literary excellence”.