Historical Fiction | Book Chatter

The Technologists
By Matthew Pearl
(Random House, Hardcover, 9781400066575, February 21, 2012, 496pp.)

The Short of It:

Mysterious and thrilling. The Technologists is the best kind of historical thriller. Learn a little, enjoy a lot.

The Rest of It:

Boston, 1868. The story opens with a catastrophe that no one can explain. Ships, coming in from the harbor are suddenly unable to navigate with the instruments they have. As the instrumentation goes haywire, vessels of all shapes and sizes crash into the harbor one by one. A sight that is hard to imagine, but even worse to witness firsthand. What caused this? Who caused this? Will it happen again?

This mysterious event piques the curiosity of many. Including the students of The Institute who live and breathe science and know that there must be a scientific explanation for what’s occurred. Except, society as a whole has not accepted science as an answer and in fact, would do almost anything to discredit it. Especially the Harvard boys who believe it’s just a bunch of hooey.

This creates quite a challenge for the students of the Institute, led by Marcus Mansfield and the group called The Technologists. They band together, with the assistance of the Institute’s only female student, Ellen Swallow to solve the mystery of what happened in that harbor on that fateful day, and the other disasters that follow in its wake.

I have a tiny crush on Matthew Pearl. He doesn’t know it, but that’s okay. His name might be familiar to you. A few years back he released The Last Dickens which I reviewed here. I don’t know if it is his writing, the fact that he chooses Boston in the late 1800’s as a setting (love), or what, but whatever he is doing, I am liking. The other thing to note, is that his books tend to cross many genres and they never seem to bore me. That’s always a plus. For example, I love mysterious elements but I am not a fan of mystery as a genre. Somehow, he manages to present the mysterious elements within historical fact which is endlessly fascinating to me.

This book pulls you in quickly and has just the right amount of science to make it interesting. At times, I felt the book a tad too long. In between the excitement of the disasters themselves, there is a great deal of experimentation and let’s be honest here, I couldn’t wait for the next disaster to hit and got a little cranky in-between the events when things didn’t happen right away. However, the practice of science is not a speedy task. There are notes to be taken, results to be reviewed, etc. Had it been written any other way, I’m sure I would have found fault with it. So in the end, these experimental “asides” did not keep me from enjoying the novel.

Overall, the characters are realistically drawn and the events, thrilling. To think that science was at one time compared to black magic is almost too difficult to believe, but Pearl truly gives the reader a glimpse of how it was for that first graduating class at MIT and many of the characters are based on actual students.

If you like to learn something while being entertained, you will undoubtedly enjoy this one. And if you’re lucky, you could win a copy of your own (see details below).

Source: ARC and giveaway copy is provided by the publisher via TLC Book Tours.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Matthew’s website, Facebook page, and book trailer. To visit the the other blogs on the tour, click here.

Giveaway Information

The publisher has offered me one copy of The Technologists to giveaway! Giveaway is open to the US and Canada. The publisher will send the book to the winner and the winner will be notified by me. To enter, complete the form below. Giveaway ends on February 19, 2012.

The giveaway is now closed!

The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
By Ann Weisgarber
(Penguin (Non-Classics), Paperback, 9780143119487, 336pp.)

The Short of It:

The parched, barren landscape of the Badlands is a constant reminder of what was in this harrowing tale of black Pioneers in the early 20th century.

The Rest of It:

This is a hard place. Hard to take, hard to like.

Rachel, a cook at a boardinghouse falls in love with Isaac, the boardinghouse owner’s son. Isaac wants to claim land under the Homestead Act and when Rachel offers to keep house for him in return for marriage, Isaac agrees, but only if Rachel will sign over her share of land. Seeing that they both have something to gain from the relationship, they agree to marry for a year on a trial basis.

Fourteen years later, Rachel is pregnant with their fifth child and struggling to keep food on the table. Isaac, continues to work deals to increase his land hold, but the supplies are dwindling and there is no water to be found as they are living through one of the worst droughts ever.

Rachel’s story is, without a doubt, a story of hardship, survival and courage. She is an amazingly strong woman and although her sense of loyalty is admirable, she is not naive. No, that is the one thing she most certainly is not. As the harshness of the environment continues to take its toll, Rachel ponders what it means to be a rancher’s wife and what it will mean for her daughters down the line.

Books like this one, take you outside of what you know and allow you to experience a different lifestyle from the comfort of your own home. To say that this book grabbed me from its opening pages and held on to me throughout, would be an understatement. It was a quick, riveting read and gave me a lots to think about. I highly recommend it.

If you live within the US or Canada and would like a chance to win a copy of your own, click HERE. Giveaway ends on November 20, 2011 (Pacific).