Depression Era Titles

The popularity of the movie “Cinderella Man” starring Russell Crowe has renewed a lot of interest in our country’s “Great Depression” era. Originally a book written by Jeremy Schaap, the “Cinderalla Man” is about a common man, James Braddock, and his family; Max Baer, a boxing great; and the greatest upset in boxing history.

The events occurred during one of the most trying times in recent human history. It was a time that tested the common man’s force of will, when survival was often dependent upon circumstances. Strength of character and family were of great importance, but oftentimes sheer luck was the ultimate determiner of men’s fate.

The “Depression” also inspired some of the greatest works ever written in American literature. One such book is “The Lost Mother” by one of my favorite authors, Mary McGarry Morris. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award. “A Dangerous Woman” was chosen by Time as one of the five best novels of 1991. “Songs in Ordinary Time”,was an Oprah Book Club Selection and national bestselling novel.

“The Lost Mother” is Miss Morris’ sixth novel; she proves once again that she is a master storyteller by weaving a haunting and unforgettable tale about an ordinary family’s struggle to survive in extraordinary times.

Trevanian is the author of “The Crazyladies of Pearl Street”. His other novels include: “Shibumi”, “The Eiger Sanction”, “The Loo Sanction”, “The Main”, “The Summer of Katya”, “Incident at Twenty-Mile “, and “Hot Night in the City”.

“Crazyladies of Pearl Street” takes place in Albany, New York in 1936. Six-year-old Jean-Luc LaPointe, his little sister, and their spirited but vulnerable young mother have been abandoned ---again--- by his father, a charmer and a con artist. With no money and no family willing to take them in, the LaPointes manage to create a fragile nest at 238 North Pearl Street. For the next eight years, through the Great Depression and Second World War, they live in the heart of the Irish slum, with its ward heelers, unemployment, and grinding poverty. As Jean-Luc discovers, it’s a neighborhood of “crazyladies”: Miss Cox, the feared and ridiculed teacher who ignites his imagination; Mrs. Kane, who runs a beauty parlor/fortune-telling salon in the back of her husband’s grocery store; Mrs. Meehan, the desperate, harried matriarch of a thuggish family across the street; lonely Mrs. McGivney, who spends every day tending to her catatonic husband, a veteran of the Great War; and Jean-Luc’s own unconventional, vivacious mother. (Parts of this review were gleaned from the dust jacket.)

It’s a heartfelt and unforgettable look back at one child’s life in the 1930s and ‘40s; a story that will be remembered long after the last page is turned.

The Annual Book Sale is fast approaching. The dates this year will be Thursday, August 11th through Tuesday August 16th. We can always use book donations, but our last day to accept items will be Monday, August 1st.

Regarding donations, one of the most generous “acts of kindness” experienced by the library is when a patron makes a donation to the Columbus Library Foundation in memory of a loved one. Monies received this way are pooled and later used to purchase books and other library items that are beyond the library’s regular budget. Please consider making a donation to the Library Foundation in memory of a loved one.