The Women of the Copper Country

The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell

Fiction

2019 Atria Books

Finished on March 21, 2022

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

In July 1913, twenty-five-year-old Annie Clements had seen enough of the world to know that it was unfair. She’s spent her whole life in the copper-mining town of Calumet, Michigan where men risk their lives for meager salaries—and had barely enough to put food on the table and clothes on their backs. The women labor in the houses of the elite, and send their husbands and sons deep underground each day, dreading the fateful call of the company man telling them their loved ones aren’t coming home. When Annie decides to stand up for herself, and the entire town of Calumet, nearly everyone believes she may have taken on more than she is prepared to handle.

In Annie’s hands lie the miners’ fortunes and their health, her husband’s wrath over her growing independence, and her own reputation as she faces the threat of prison and discovers a forbidden love. On her fierce quest for justice, Annie will discover just how much she is willing to sacrifice for her own independence and the families of Calumet.

From one of the most versatile writers in contemporary fiction, this novel is an authentic and moving historical portrait of the lives of the men and women of the early 20th century labor movement, and of a turbulent, violent political landscape that may feel startlingly relevant to today.

The Women of the Copper Country is one of those books that took well over 100 pages before I became interested. I'm a big fan of Mary Doria Russell's novels and felt my efforts would be worth the wait, especially since so many of my favorite books have taken over 80 pages before getting hooked. I came to care about Annie, Michael and Eva, and wound up enjoying this historical novel, but it's not one of my favorites by this author. 

As with most of the historical fiction I've read, I fell down a Google rabbit hole, discovering all sorts of articles about Annie Clements, the Calumet strike, Mother Jones' visit to Calumet, and the 1913 Italian Hall tragedy (sadly occurring on Christmas Eve and killing 73 people, including 59 children).

Photo Credit: Copper Country Reflections

Photo Credit: Copper Country Reflections

Photo Credit: Mother Jones Cork

The Women of the Copper Country will appeal to fans of historical fiction, particularly those who have grown weary of dual timelines (with alternating points-of-view), preferring a more straightforward, linear narrative. With her extensive research and meticulous attention to detail, Mary Doria Russell not only educates and informs her readers of historical events, but she's quite entertaining as well. I have two books (Doc and Epitaph) left to read, but I can highly recommend Dreamers of the Day and The Sparrow. These are my favorite novels by this exceptional author, although A Thread of Grace follows closely behind. 

Click on the following links to read my reviews of MDR's books:

The Sparrow (reread)

The Sparrow

Dreamer's of the Day

Children of God

Widely praised for meticulous research, fine prose, and the compelling narrative drive of her stories, Mary Doria Russell is the award-winning author of seven bestselling novels, including the science fiction classics The Sparrow and Children of God; the World War II thriller, A Thread of Grace; and a political romance set in 1921 Cairo called Dreamers of the Day. With her novels Doc and Epitaph, Russell has redefined two towering figures of the American West: the lawman Wyatt Earp and the dental surgeon Doc Holliday. Her latest novel, The Women of the Copper Country, tells the story of the young union organizer Annie Clements, who was once known as America’s Joan of Arc. Mary holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan and taught anatomy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry.  (Author's website)

My interview with Mary Doria Russell 

Looking Back - Children of God

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
Science Fiction
1998 Villard Books
Finished in May 1998
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Mary Doria Russell's debut novel, The Sparrow, took us on a journey to a distant planet and into the center of the human soul. A critically acclaimed bestseller, The Sparrow was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly's Ten Best Books of the Year, a finalist for the Book-of-the-Month Club's First Fiction Prize and the winner of the James M. Tiptree Memorial Award. Now, in Children of God, Russell further establishes herself as one of the most innovative, entertaining and philosophically provocative novelists writing today. The only member of the original mission to the planet Rakhat to return to Earth, Father Emilio Sandoz has barely begun to recover from his ordeal when the Society of Jesus calls upon him for help in preparing for another mission to Alpha Centauri. Despite his objections and fear, he cannot escape his past or the future. Old friends, new discoveries and difficult questions await Emilio as he struggles for inner peace and understanding in a moral universe whose boundaries now extend beyond the solar system and whose future lies with children born in a faraway place. Strikingly original, richly plotted, replete with memorable characters and filled with humanity and humor, Children of God is an unforgettable and uplifting novel that is a potent successor to The Sparrow and a startlingly imaginative adventure for newcomers to Mary Doria Russell's special literary magic.

My Original Notes (1998):

This started out very, very good, but about halfway through, it lost steam. I got very confused with all the new characters and couldn't keep their names straight. It was also difficult to keep the two separate species straight, especially as the generations expanded. It lacked the humor that was so abundant in The Sparrow. The end of the novel gained speed, but still fell short. I was fascinated with the language aspects of the book. Ms. Russell basically created a new language!

I'll still read more by her, if she continues to write fiction.

It was nice to learn more about Sandoz's experience on Alpha Centauri and to discover what happened to Sophia.

My Current Thoughts:

I have read The Sparrow multiple times and I know I will read it again, but Children of God was such a letdown that I know I will never read it a second time. Thankfully, Mary Doria Russell has gone on to write several other novels, which I thoroughly enjoyed. As a matter of fact, she has a new release coming out in August. It's called The Women of Copper Country. I'm looking forward to reading it!

Looking Back - The Sparrow

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Science Fiction
1996 Fawcett Columbine
Finished in October 1997
Rating: 5/5 (Excellent!)

Publisher's Blurb:

The Sparrow, an astonishing literary debut, takes you on a journey to a distant planet and to the center of the human soul. It is the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a twenty-first-century scientific mission to a newly discovered extraterrestrial culture. Sandoz and his companions are prepared to endure isolation, hardship and death, but nothing can prepare them for the civilization they encounter, or for the tragic misunderstanding that brings the mission to a catastrophic end. Once considered a living saint, Sandoz returns alone to Earth physically and spiritually maimed, the mission's sole survivor--only to be accused of heinous crimes and blamed for the mission's failure.

In clean, effortless prose and with captivating flashes of wit, Russell creates memorable characters who navigate a world of exciting ideas and disturbing moral issues without ever losing their humanity or humor. Both heartbreaking and triumphant, and rich in literary pleasures great and small, The Sparrow is a powerful and haunting book. It is a magical novel, as literate as The Name of the Rose, as farsighted as The Handmaid's Tale and as readable as The Thorn Birds.

My Original Notes (1997):

Wow! Excellent book!! This is one I plan on reading again. It was fun to read my first "sci-fi" novel and enjoy it as much as I did. I loved the extrapolation of technology. The characters were very likeable and I felt so sad when some died. A very thought-provoking book. Suspenseful. Funny. I'd love to see a movie of this. Kind of reminds me of Contact.

My Current Thoughts:

What can I possibly say about this amazing novel?! I've read it twice and it was just as wonderful as the first time around. I met the author at a book conference in Cleveland in 1998 and she was delightful and funny and so sweet to our small book club, all of whom were quite taken with the book and eager to talk to her about the characters and the possibility of a film. This is a keeper and one I'll read again and again. 

Click here to read my 2008 review of The Sparrow.

Coming Attractions

Doc
by Mary Doria Russell
Due out on May 3, 2011

From Mary's blog:

At this very moment, sitting on my desk, just to my left, there is an unopened Fed Ex package containing a copy of Doc, almost warm from the printing press. I’ve worked hard on all my novels, but I have not loved a book so much since The Sparrow. I have not loved a character so much since Emilio Sandoz. If anything, I love John Henry Holliday more.

In a recent interview, John Connelly remarked, “Obviously it is different to write about, say, the real Doc Holliday than about an imaginary Jesuit in space like Emilio Sandoz. How does writing about a historical figure compare to writing about a fictional one?”

“Well,” I answered, “as terribly as I treated Emilio Sandoz in The Sparrow, I was able to bring his crisis of faith to some resolution. At the end of Children of God, Emilio has gotten past his anger and bitterness. He has learned to put his pain to work on behalf of others. [Spoiler removed] I could leave him with the prospect of a contented and useful old age.

“John Henry Holliday spent 15 years – his entire adult life – dying of a debilitating and painful disease. Nothing I wrote could change that.

“It comes down to this: John Henry Holliday didn’t have a mother to love him when he was grown, so I have taken him for my own. I couldn’t give him a better life or a longer one. So I’ve told the story of a single season of happiness – the summer of 1878 – when he felt well enough to resume the practice of a profession that gave him great satisfaction in a place where he made a few good friends. I have tried to win him the compassion and respect I think he deserves.”

I've read all of Mary's novels and I'm very excited about her upcoming release. The Sparrow is my favorite, but I have a feeling this one is going to be a winner, too.

You can preorder a copy of Doc here.

You can read my interview with Mary (for Dreamers of the Day) here.

My review for The Sparrow can be found here.

My review for Dreamers of the Day can be found here.

The Sparrow

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Science Fiction
Arthur C. Clarke Award1996 Fawcett Columbine Book (Ballantine Publishing Group)
Finished on 6/17/08
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)

Product Description

"A NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT . . . Russell shows herself to be a skillful storyteller who subtly and expertly builds suspense."
--USA Today

"AN EXPERIENCE NOT TO BE MISSED . . . If you have to send a group of people to a newly discovered planet to contact a totally unknown species, whom would you choose? How about four Jesuit priests, a young astronomer, a physician, her engineer husband, and a child prostitute-turned-computer-expert? That's who Mary Doria Russell sends in her new novel, The Sparrow. This motley combination of agnostics, true believers, and misfits becomes the first to explore the Alpha Centuri world of Rakhat with both enlightening and disastrous results. . . . Vivid and engaging . . . An incredible novel."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"POWERFUL . . . Father Emilio Sandoz [is] the only survivor of a Jesuit mission to the planet Rakhat, 'a soul . . . looking for God.' We first meet him in Italy . . . sullen and bitter. . . . But he was not always this way, as we learn through flashbacks that tell the story of the ill-fated trip. . . . The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"SMOOTH STORYTELLING AND GORGEOUS CHARACTERIZATION . . . Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them."
--Entertainment Weekly

I have three brothers, so naturally I was outnumbered when it came to voting on television shows when we were growing up. Forget The Partridge Family, Family Affair, or The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. I got stuck watching episode after episode of Star Trek. I think that's when I decided I hated science fiction! I never ventured into the Sci-Fi section at the library or book store and honestly, I just couldn't understand the appeal.

Well, if it hadn't been for my online book group choosing The Sparrow back in 1997, I may have not only missed out on one of the best books I've ever read, but I would've remained stubborn about science fiction in general. Fortunately, I have gained a great appreciation for the genre and have gone on to read several more books, leaning heavily on the post-apocalyptic theme (as well as becoming a huge Battlestar Galactica fan). I initially thought The Sparrow was the first science fiction book I'd ever read, but then I remembered I'd read (and loved) Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine back in seventh grade. I also have a vague recollection of borrowing my brother's copies of Logan's Run and The Adromeda Strain, which I think I enjoyed as well, although the details are a bit fuzzy.

It's been over a decade since I first read The Sparrow and as with most of my favorite books, I'd been meaning to read it again for several years, but kept putting it off for something I hadn't read yet. When it came time to nominate a science fiction title for my face-to-face book club, I decided the time had come. I was very happy when the group voted to read it this past month. More importantly, I am happy to say that it withstood the test of time! It was just as enjoyable as the first reading. Maybe even more so since I wasn't rushing through the chapters, eager to see where the story was leading me. I read more slowly and paid much more attention to all the details. I was actually a bit surprised that I had forgotten so many! I was fairly certain of a few important plot points, but as it turned out, I had forgotten the specifics and was pleasantly surprised by the turn of events. It was almost like reading a new novel. However, the extrapolation of technology that had so intrigued me back in '97 wasn't quite as exciting this time around. Laptops and PDAs are such a big part of our lives now that I barely noticed the mention of similar devices in the book. Yet, in spite of the lack of technological thrills, I fell back in love with all the characters. It felt almost like a reunion of sorts, visiting with old friends of whom I'd grown so very fond.

The Sparrow wound up on my Top Ten list back in 1997 and everyone on my Christmas list received a copy that year. When I went to work for Borders Books & Music in Fort Worth, the book became one of my favorite titles to recommend (to customers and employees). I had recently returned from a small book conference in Cleveland where I met Mary Doria Russell and I was eager to tell customers about her upcoming sequel and the news of a possible movie (which, unfortunately, still remains to be filmed).

If you're one of those people (as I was) who swear they'll never read any science fiction, don't be too quick to dismiss this remarkable book. The author has created some wonderful characters that will stay with you long after you finish the book. The writing is both captivating and provacative, not to mention quite funny here and there. I've yet to meet anyone who didn't love it.

Author Interview - Mary Doria Russell

I am so excited! My review of Dreamers of the Day and the following interview both appear in this month's issue of Estella's Revenge! Be sure to check out all the wonderful reviews and articles in the March issue. This month's door prize is an autographed copy of Cathleen Schine's latest novel, The New Yorkers. Enjoy!



I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Doria Russell in Cleveland at a small book conference in 1998. I was thrilled to receive an uncorrected proof of her new novel, Dreamers of the Day, and even more thrilled to spend a bit of time (albeit via email) chatting with her about the book.

LS: You obviously know your Middle East history, yet near as I can tell, all your degrees are in Anthropology. You must love all the research that goes into a novel such as this (and A Thread of Grace).

MDR: Research is what I like best about being a writer -- it's Anthropology without Portfolio. I love finding some new topic that pulls me deeper and deeper into the background of the world and time I'm writing about.

So far A Thread of Grace has taken the most effort and time -- seven years -- because it was such an important topic and so many people had entrusted me with their memories. Dreamers of the Day was a lot easier -- much more restricted in time and place, fewer characters, one point of view. Still fun, though. I learned a lot, writing it.

LS: How long did you work on Dreamers of the Day?

MDR: Two years to a complete first draft, and then about six months of editing.

LS: Did you make a similar journey to that of Agnes'? The details were deliciously descriptive, reading like a travel essay.

MDR: Thanks! I'm glad they seemed that way. This book was all library research. I considered traveling but it turned out there's not much to see in Cairo that dates to 1921. Cairo is like Chicago with earthquakes -- lots of fires and it's constantly rebuilding itself. I relied on a shelf full of period travel memoirs for the incidents and detail that make the novel seem real. There's a list of them in the acknowledgments. I also used modern studies of Nile flora and fauna and asked two recent travelers to check my details to correct errors.

LS: Was any of Agnes' story based on your own family history? Was your mother the basis for Agnes’ "Mumma"?

MDR: In part, this book was a thought experiment: what would I be like if I'd been raised by my mother's mother? I don't know that I really learned very much about my mother's psychology, but I did learn a lot about childrearing ideas at the turn of the last century. Baby Boomers were raised by people born in the 1920s who were raised by people born in the 1890s. I suspect a lot of my readers in their 50s will recognize attitudes and techniques their parents used to raise them.

By the way, the Boomers weren't really Dr. Spock babies. That was more the Gen Xers, who are now in their 40s, being raised by the Silent Generation that came of age after World War II... Whole different world...

LS: I was going to ask you if Rosie was based on a family pet, but I answered my own question by reading the "About the Author" page on your website.

MDR: YES! Annie is definitely the model for Rosie, and I must say that I believe my portrait of Rosie is the finest portrayal of a 15-pound long-haired black and tan dachshund in modern American literature.

LS: I noticed that Agnes liked to say, "You see" quite a bit. Just as I began to notice her "verbal tick," it suddenly disappeared. Was this intentional?

MDR: Agnes becomes less apologetic as her story progresses. Her personality emerges more strongly as her experience goes on. She no longer has to explain herself to her mother and as that need for Mumma's (rare) understanding fades, Agnes is more direct in her opinions. She stops asking you to confirm to her that you see, that you understand. She's more sure that she is being clear and that you will understand, once Mumma has stopped undermining her confidence.

LS: I loved all the tidbits of information/trivia. I had no idea Bob Hope's real name was Lesley Hope.

MDR: True! And he really did date a Cleveland girl named Mildred!

LS: Or that the apex of the Great Pyramid is a flat square and not a point!

MDR: You can see it, once you know to look.

LS: Or that the shortening of skirts (and thus, a significant change in fashion design) was due to the lack of available fabric during the war.

MDR: Similar things happened in World War II. The Andrews Sister look -- pencil skirts, no lapels -- lasted until the war ended, when Dior's New Look -- big, billowy, full skirts -- replaced it.

LS: Not only did I enjoy learning about the outcome of the Cairo Conference, but I found all the personal details about T. E. Lawrence (Neddy!), Gertrude Bell and Winston all quite entertaining and enlightening.

MDR: Glad to hear it. Fascinating folks, but of course, I liked Neddy best.

LS: If the movie rights are purchased for Dreamers of the Day, who would you like to see play Agnes?

MDR: Well, there is a movie rights agent shopping the manuscript already. Her first thought was to approach Nicole Kidman for the role.

Now Nicole Kidman is not the last person I'd have imagined to play Agnes Shanklin. Probably David Spade would be the last person who'd come to mind... but even with an unattractive fake nose, Miss Kidman seems a little glamorous for Agnes.

Not sure who I'd cast in the role. When I was writing the book, I could hear Betty White's voice, but she's not the right age!

LS: Do you have a favorite scene in Dreamers of the Day?

MDR: Had to think for a minute, but yes, I love the scene where Churchill gets Agnes drunk on gin and tonics, and when she gets sick on the way back to her hotel, Lawrence tells her, "I was an undergraduate at Oxford. I've seen worse."

LS: I see that you have another novel in the works! Sounds like a fun project (and quite a departure from your previous four!). Where do your story ideas come from?

MDR: Not enough data points to form a statistically significant pattern, but for three of the five? Movies.

The Sparrow was, in part, a response to the disappointment I felt upon seeing Black Robe. I thought, "Nobody involved with this movie gets the main character. None of them understand why he does what he does, why he suffers all this... He isn't psychotic and he's not a masochist. So what's driving him?"

And for Dreamers of the Day, of course, there was Lawrence of Arabia, which changed my 12-year-old life and gave real direction to my studies as an adult.

For my fifth novel (no title for that one yet -- I keep changing my mind), the movie Tombstone got me thinking about how contemporary the issues of the Old West still are. Illegal immigration, conflicting commercial and legal interests, gun control, vice laws, etc. Lots of other things will be going on in the novel, but Tombstone got me started.

LS: Which authors have most influenced your work?

MDR: Dorothy Dunnett and Robert Ludlum. How bizarre is THAT combo? Dunnett was a superb Scottish historical writer whose Lymond Chronicles were like a graduate degree in writing fiction: layered, complex plots; the slow peeling back of the characters' motives and psychological drives; gorgeous prose.

Robert Ludlum's thrillers written back in the 1980s taught me that trick of having two or three braided storylines that keep readers turning the pages.

LS: What books are currently on your nightstand? Do you find time to read for pleasure every day?

MDR: Oh, dear. You're going to be disappointed in this list. I have a stack of books about Dodge City in the 1870s:

The Merchant Prince of Dodge City by C. Robert Haywood

Dodge City, Queen of the Cowtowns by Stanley Vestal

Cowboy Capital of the World by Samuel Carter

I'm doing research for my 5th novel, which is a murder mystery set in Dodge in 1878. A genre two-fer!

LS: What were some of your favorite books as a child?

MDR: Interestingly, I'm rereading a lot of them right now because they're good sources about horses: Black Beauty, King of the Wind, Black Gold. I loved all those horse stories written for pre-adolescent girls!

LS: Of the novels you've written, do you have a personal favorite?

MDR: You know, I like Dreamers a lot. I miss Agnes! She was such a good companion to write for, and I enjoyed her company. I guess, though, that The Sparrow is probably my favorite overall. First child, you know. Always special.

LS: Finally, I read that you wrote the introduction for the reissue of A Canticle for Leibowitz. I have a very old copy of the book in my stacks and was planning to read it this month for an online Sci-Fi Challenge. I just finished Alas, Babylon, which I absolutely loved, and I hope to read several more post-apocalyptic works. I'll have to buy a new copy of A Canticle for Leibowitz so I can read your intro!

MDR: And what a huge thrill that was -- being asked to introduce a book that had such an impact on me! That was the first present my future husband gave me -- we were in high school in the mid-sixties at the time.

I'd like to thank Mary for taking time out from her busy schedule to chat with me about her new book and life as a writer. I'll be counting the days 'til the next one is published!

Dreamers of the Day

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell
Historical FictionCopyright 2008
Finished on 1/22/08
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)
ARC - Tentative On-Sale Date: March 4, 2008



Book Description

“I suppose I ought to warn you at the outset that my present circumstances are puzzling, even to me. Nevertheless, I am sure of this much: My little story has become your history. You won’t really understand your times until you understand mine.”

So begins the account of Agnes Shanklin, the charmingly diffident narrator of Mary Doria Russell’s compelling new novel, Dreamers of the Day. And what is Miss Shanklin’s “little story?” Nothing less than the creation of the modern Middle East at the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, where Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Lady Gertrude Bell met to decide the fate of the Arab world—and of our own.

A forty-year-old schoolteacher from Ohio still reeling from the tragedies of the Great War and the influenza epidemic, Agnes has come into a modest inheritance that allows her to take the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and the Holy Land. Arriving at the Semiramis Hotel just as the Peace Conference convenes, Agnes, with her plainspoken American opinions—and a small, noisy dachshund named Rosie—enters into the company of the historic luminaries who will, in the space of a few days at a hotel in Cairo, invent the nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.

Neither a pawn nor a participant at the conference, Agnes is ostensibly insignificant, and that makes her a welcome sounding board for Churchill, Lawrence, and Bell. It also makes her unexpectedly attractive to the charismatic German spy Karl Weilbacher. As Agnes observes the tumultuous inner workings of nation-building, she is drawn more and more deeply into geopolitical intrigue and toward a personal awakening.

With prose as graceful and effortless as a seductive float down the Nile, Mary Doria Russell illuminates the long, rich history of the Middle East with a story that brilliantly elucidates today’s headlines. As enlightening as it is entertaining, Dreamers of the Day is a memorable, passionate, gorgeously written novel.

About the AuthorMary Doria Russell is the author of The Sparrow, Children of God, and A Thread of Grace. Her novels have won nine national and international literary awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the James Tiptree Award, and the American Library Association Readers Choice Award. The Sparrow was selected as one of Entertainment Weekly’s ten best books of the year, and A Thread of Grace was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Russell lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

When I heard that Mary Doria Russell had a new book coming out this spring, I did a Snoopy-dance for joy! I met Mary (yes, I like to think that we're on a first-name basis, although I highly doubt she would recognize me in a crowd) ten years ago this summer at a small book conference in Cleveland. I had just read her first novel, The Sparrow; probably the first science fiction book I'd ever read—well, with the exception of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine (which I read back in junior high in 1975). I loved The Sparrow (it remains one of my all-time favorites) and was thrilled to meet the author at such an intimate gathering. When I heard about Dreamers of the Day, I decided to send Ms. Russell an email and see if I could possibly get an Advanced Reader Copy. Well, in addition to a lovely response, I was thrilled to receive a copy of the Advanced Uncorrected Proofs of the novel. (Is this different than an ARC?) I felt quite honored and didn't want to let the book languish on my shelves as so many other ARCs have been known to do in this house. With a couple of long flights to (and from) Virginia Beach pending, I knew this would be just the book to pack in my carry-on.

I began the book a couple of nights before our departure, not wanting to start en route, as that's always a bit distracting and I wanted to be eager to resume my reading once we took off. I was far enough along to feel a sense of anticipation as we boarded the plane in Omaha, anxious to settle into my seat and my book! My poor husband. Throughout the entire flight to Dallas and then on to Norfolk, I kept interrupting his own reading with exclamations of enthusiasm: "This is such a good book!" "What a great read!" "Have I told you how wonderful this book is?" "Did you know this?" "Were you aware of that?" "Hey, you've got to read this passage!" And on and on and on.

I must confess, I'm a bit relieved that I wound up enjoying this book as much as I did. When I first read the plot description (and Mary's comments in her email to me), I was a bit intimidated by the subject matter. I am not well-versed in the history of the Middle East history or in its politics. As a matter of fact, I'm quite ignorant of most of the history of that region. However, I got so wrapped up in Agnes' story, I found myself zipping along through all the factual information, eager to learn and understand more about the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference. Of course I had heard of T.E. "Lawrence of Arabia", but had no idea he'd been involved in the creation of the modern Middle East (along with Winston Churchill and Lady Gertrude Bell). There were a few instances in which I felt a bit confused by some of the historical facts, but I decided to sit back, continue reading, and not try to turn the reading into a history lesson. Having said that, my copy of the book is full of Post-It flags and highlighted passages. I am actually considering a re-read of the novel when it comes out in hardcover, as I'd love to own a real copy of the book. Now that I know the fictional side of the book, I'd like to focus more on the facts. In addition to a re-read, I plan to read Janet Wallach's bio of Gertrude Bell, Desert Queen and Assignment: Churchill by Walter H. Thompson (Churchill's bodyguard during that period). I'm also considering a read of The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry. I was quite intrigued by the details about the influenza epidemic in Russell's novel. And finally, if I'm ever feeling bold enough to further educate myself, I might just have to read A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin (although after a quick skim of this earlier today, it might be a bit dense). And, now that I think of it, I should add Lawrence of Arabia to my Netflix queue!

Dreamers of the Day has a bit of everything: history, romance, humor, even a bit of mystery. As with The Sparrow, the characters and situations will remain in my memory for years to come. Kudos, Ms. Russell! You've got yourself another winner! Nice to see I have something for my Top Ten of 2008 so early in year.
To read an excerpt from the book or for book tour information, go here.