History in vibrant fiction

By Chris Gustafson

Demonstrations in Birmingham, capture by pirates, survival in the Bowery - the past in vibrant in this month's books.

"A Summer of Kings" by Han Nolan

Fourteen years old in the summer of 1963, oldest child Esther is trying to make sense of her place in her complicated family. Dad is a Broadway director, mom, though distracted by the fatal illness of a close friend mostly manages to keep things going at home and act as stage mother for aspiring dancer Stuart and annoying little diva Sophia. The extended household includes an eccentric great-aunt, a washed-up actress, a playwright of uncertain talent, and as the story begins, King-Roy, the teen-aged son of Esther's mother's childhood friend from Alabama. King-Roy has been accused of murdering the man who used a water hose on King-Roy, his brother, and his sister during a civil rights march in Birmingham and his mother sends him north to keep him safe, though he never feels comfortable in the upper class suburb and almost immediately heads to Harlem to follow up on his attraction to the teachings of Malcolm X. Esther's stubborn crush on King-Roy, her refusal to take no for an answer in their relationship, her growing interest in reading Gandhi and King and to immerse herself in non-violence just when those avenues have ended in bitterness for King-Roy, who is embracing the philosophy of the Black Muslims, rings so true to my memory of those times that it was like living through them again. The heartbreaking juxtaposition of King-Roy's return to Alabama with the "I Have a Dream" speech is stunning.

"A True and Faithful Narrative" by Katherine Sturtevant

There aren't so many other respectable options open to bright, lively Meg in 1680 London, and at sixteen she knows that she must soon wed. Her father is busy with his bookstore and the new family he has with Meg's sympathetic step-mother, but in his own gruff way, he is trying to create a satisfying future for Meg, encouraging her interest in his apprentice, Will. Meg's best friend Anne wants Meg to form an attachment to her brother Edward, who is setting off on a business trip to Italy. But Meg doesn't feel attracted to Edward, and she clumsily parries his quasi-proposal by saying she hopes pirates will capture him, sold as a slave in North Africa and then return safely so she can write his narrative. To Meg's horror, Edward is captured and sold, and as was customary in those times a ransom demand arrives for his family who are unable to pay it because of the sudden death of Edward's father. Fueled by guilt, Meg labors for months to gather together the ransom amount and when Edward finally returns, he tells Meg that pondering what to tell her for her narrative is all that kept him going through difficult times. Listening to Edward's story and writing it is true penance for Meg and transforms their relationship as she finds herself as a writer. Particular strengths of this excellent story are the realistic view of the place of women during this period of history, and the sympathetic description of Islam by Edward, whose experiences belie the prevailing prejudices of his time and ours.

"Bowery Girl" by Kim Taylor

Though it is never directly stated, the reader can't avoid the clear parallels between the lives of pickpocket Mollie and prostitute Annabel in 1883 New York and the experience of some poor inner city youth today. The two orphans have created their own family with each other, and a sort of extended family with the local gang of young men, one of whom is Annabel's pimp Tommy. But when newly pregnant Annabel is locked up for four months, Mollie can't keep up with the rent. She borrows the money from Tommy, who is unsympathetic when Annabel's condition makes it harder for her to help Mollie pay it back. When the girls go to the local public bath, they are annoyed to discover that it's been taken over by Emmeline DuPre, who is making it into a settlement house.