Books Set in North America: United States

Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World, by Linda Hirshman (2015)

 

In many ways, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg couldn’t have been more different.  O’Connor grew up as the only child of a rancher.  She got her start in politics by volunteering for her local Republican committee.  From there, she entered state politics.  She also felt it was important to cook and keep the home tidy for her family.  She held conservative views.  Ginsburg was essentially an older child (an older sister had died when Ruth was 2 years old) and became and ACLU attorney.  She had a husband how cook and was a strong advocate for her advancement to the high Court.  She was far from conservative.

 

O’Connor was the first female Supreme Court Justice.  As such, she had to face 8 male Justices who in their hearts really didn’t want women on the Court.  The author gives the impression that O’Connor, while a trailblazer by being the first woman on the Court, was tentative in her decisions and didn’t make waves.

 

Ginsburg, on the other hand, had a history with the ACLU advocating for equality for men and women long before she joined the Court.  She had argued before the Supreme Court numerous times and suffered only one adverse Court opinion.  In her advocacy, she was taking steps to advance the rights of women.

 

If anyone believes that the High Court is without politics and partisanship, this book will dispel any such beliefs.  The author describes both the politicking behind getting justices on the Court as well as the politics of the Justices during the deliberation process.  Although the title of the book suggests that both O’Connor and Ginsburg “changed the world”, cases following O’Connor’s departure began a slow erosion of the advances that Ginsburg had made as a practicing attorney.  Ginsburg became famous for her dissents, many of which she would read in open Court.  The author suggests that, perhaps in the future, Ginsburg’s dissents will become the law of the land.

 

It was an interesting book, and provides an insight into the workings of the Court.  The author attempts to digest many of the decisions in a comprehensible manner.  (Supreme Court decisions are famously vague to a non-attorney).  I did find parts of the book a bit dry, so had to put in down several times.

 

Read:  December 31, 2020

 

3 Stars

 

Books Set in North America; United States; New York City

Not Our Kind, by Kitty Zeldis (2018)

Not Our Kind is a novel set in the late 1940s in New York City.  Young Eleanor Markowitz was in between jobs when the cab she literally bumped into Patricia Bellamy (their cabs crashed).  Eleanor had left her teaching job and was running late for an interview when the accident happened.  As fate would have it, Patricia had a 13-year old daughter, Margaux, who was recovering from polio and had just lost her tutor.  Margaux formed an instant bond with Eleanor.  Despite her misgivings, wealthy and WASPy Patricia decided to hire Eleanor, provided her friends don’t learn that Eleanor is Jewish.

The book started out with a bang, but lost steam as I continued reading.  I thought it was too cliche.  I got a feel for Eleanor and Margaux, but the other characters were too flat.  Eleanor met and was attracted to Tom, Patricia’s brother.  He was a rich playboy who had seduced at least one of Patricia’s friends in the past.  He still had a bohemian-life style.  What did Eleanor see in Tom?  The anti-Semitism was not really a main theme, other than making a point that Eleanor had to change her name from Moskowitz to Moss to get a job.  Neither she nor her mother, a hat maker, were especially observant.  Eleanor had, however, observed some of the Jewish rituals when her father was alive.  She had no problems eating shellfish and lobster in the beginning of the book, but later the point was made when treyfe was served at a party.  It was a fast and easy read, but not memorable.

Read:  December 9, 2020

3 Stars

Books Set in Africa; Nigeria

Stay with Me, by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (2017)

 

This novel takes place in Nigeria, mostly in the 1980s, against the political upheaval in the country.  Yejide and Akin were university students when they met and fell in love.  In a country where it was not uncommon for men to have multiple marriages, Yejide agreed to marry Akin only if he would not take other wives.  Yejide’ mother had died when she was born and was raised by her father’s several other wives, none of whom were especially kind to her.  In her marriage to Akin, she initially bonds with her mother-in-law.

 

After four years of marriage, the couple have not been able to have a baby.  They seek out fertility doctors and healers, all to no avail.  Akin’s family pressures him into taking another wife.  Finally, Akin is forced to give into family demands. Yejide was furious when she learned after the fact that her beloved husband took another wife.  Under mutual agreement, the new wife has an apartment on the other side of town and Akin only spends weekends with her.

 

Yejide believes that the only way to save her marriage and have life return to the early days of their marriage is to become pregnant.  She will do whatever it takes to become a mother, despite the cost.

 

After Akin’s younger no-good brother, Dotun, lost his job, he briefly moved in with Akin and Yejide.  He seduces her and soon Yejide gives birth to a beautiful little daughter.  Five months after the birth of her daughter, the child died suddenly.  Dotum again seduces Yejide a second time and this time she gives birth to a son.  When he is about 5 years old, he is diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease.  Dotum was a carrier of the disease, but not Akin.  Akin rages when the doctor tells him that he could not have been the father.

 

Later we learn that Akin knew all along that he was impotent and talked his brother into seducing his wife so that they could have children.  Akin, however, couldn’t even admit to himself, that he could not father children.  Finally, Yejide learned the truth about her husband, and leaves him, only to see him years later at his father’s funeral.

 

I loved this book.

 

Read:  December 6, 2020

 

5 Stars

 

Books Set in North America, United States, Washington, D.C.

The Residence: Inside the Private World of The White House, by Kate Andersen Brower (2015)

 

The White House – one of the most iconic symbols of the United States.  It is the temporary home to the American presidents.  It’s 55,000 square feet, 132 rooms, 147 windows, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases and 3 elevators and kept in tidy order and running smoothly by a full staff of butlers, maids, electricians, florists, chefs, doormen, plumbers, engineers and others.  This staff, or Residents, tend to every need of the President and First Family.  If they don’t perform to the liking of the First Family, they can be fired at the drop of a hat.

 

The staff doesn’t live at the White House, and the often must have two jobs to cover expenses, but they are at the beck and call of the President and First Lady.  The staff is extremely discrete.  This book is not a tell-all and does not expound on the intimate details of the Presidents and their families.  It does, however, provide an intimate account of the staff and how they go about their jobs from the Kennedy family through the Obamas.  Many of the staff work at the White House for years, through the administrations of numerous presidents.

 

The book begins with an account of all the details that must take place on Inauguration Day, as one First Family moves out and the next President moves in.  Due to security issues, on outside movers are permitted on the White House grounds.  The staff must quickly whisk out the out-going family’s belongings; and move in the incoming family’s possessions – all during the Inauguration ceremony!

 

The staff must then quickly learn the new family’s quirks, likes and dislikes.  The book hints that some families, especially First Ladies, were more of a challenge that others.  

 

I found this to be a fascinating read.

 

Read:  December 1, 2020

 

4 Stars