Bookreporter Reader Muriel Logan Reports on the 2022 Tucson Festival of Books
March 14, 2022
One of my favorite parts of doing our “Bookreporter Talks To” interviews is thinking of questions that book clubs may want answered from authors whose books they may be discussing. While we are sure not to talk spoilers, I love sharing the backstory on where the germ of the idea for their book originated, as well as the research they did to enhance their storytelling.
We’re still curious about how you organize yourselves for your meetings. If you have not done so already, please answer our survey here.
Editorial Content for Circus of Wonders
Book
Teaser
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of THE DOLL FACTORY comes an atmospheric and spectacular novel in which one woman’s life is transformed by the arrival of a Victorian circus of wonders.
Promo
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of THE DOLL FACTORY comes an atmospheric and spectacular novel in which one woman’s life is transformed by the arrival of a Victorian circus of wonders.
About the Book
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of the “lush, evocative Gothic” (The New York Times Book Review) THE DOLL FACTORY comes an atmospheric and spectacular novel in which one woman’s life is transformed by the arrival of a Victorian circus of wonders.
Step up, step up! In 1860s England, circus mania is sweeping the nation. Crowds jostle for a glimpse of the lion-tamers, the dazzling trapeze artists and, most thrilling of all, the so-called “human wonders.”
When Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders pitches its tent in a poor coastal town, the life of one young girl changes forever. Sold to the ringmaster as a “leopard girl” because of the birthmarks that cover her body, Nell is utterly devastated. But as she grows close to the other performers, she finds herself enchanted by the glittering freedom of the circus, and by her own role as the Queen of the Moon and Stars.
Before long, Nell’s fame spreads across the world --- and with it, a chance for Jasper Jupiter to grow his own name and fortune. But what happens when her fame begins to eclipse his own, when even Jasper’s loyal brother Toby becomes captivated by Nell? No longer the quiet flower-picker, Nell knows her own place in the world, and she will fight for it.
A gorgeously wrought exploration of celebrity, power and belonging, this is a historical novel unlike any other, with an unforgettable heroine at its heart.
Editorial Content for Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
Teaser
MADHOUSE AT THE END OF THE EARTH is the harrowing true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry --- with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter.
Promo
MADHOUSE AT THE END OF THE EARTH is the harrowing true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry --- with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter.
About the Book
The harrowing true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry --- with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter.
In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica.
But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship’s occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness.
In this epic tale, Julian Sancton unfolds a story of adventure and horror for the ages. As the Belgica’s men teetered on the brink, de Gerlache relied increasingly on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in captivity: the expedition’s lone American, Dr. Frederick Cook --- half genius, half con man --- whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica; and the ship’s first mate, soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen, even in his youth the storybook picture of a sailor. Together, they would plan a last-ditch, nearly certain-to-fail escape from the ice --- one that would either etch their names in history or doom them to a terrible fate at the ocean’s bottom.
Drawing on the diaries and journals of the Belgica’s crew and with exclusive access to the ship’s logbook, Sancton brings novelistic flair to a story of human extremes, one so remarkable that even today NASA studies it for research on isolation for future missions to Mars. Equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror, MADHOUSE AT THE END OF THE EARTH is an unforgettable journey into the deep.
Editorial Content for On Gold Mountain
Book
Teaser
Lisa See chronicles the 100-year-odyssey of her Chinese-American family, a history that encompasses racism, romance, secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.
Promo
Lisa See chronicles the 100-year-odyssey of her Chinese-American family, a history that encompasses racism, romance, secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.
About the Book
In 1867, Lisa See’s great-great-grandfather arrived in America, where he prescribed herbal remedies to immigrant laborers who were treated little better than slaves. His son, Fong See, later built a mercantile empire and married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Lisa herself grew up playing in her family’s antiques store in Los Angeles’s Chinatown, listening to stories of missionaries and prostitutes, movie stars and Chinese baseball teams.
With these stories and her own years of research, Lisa See chronicles the 100-year-odyssey of her Chinese-American family, a history that encompasses racism, romance, secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.