TwoNewfs Publishing

02/16/2022

LICORICE PIZZA - A Film Review by Cat Ruiz Kigerl. 2022.

United States
2022. Director, Paul Thomas Anderson
Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson

When I sat down to view Licorice Pizza in a near empty theater on a Saturday afternoon, I only knew that it was a coming-of-age story set in early 70’s Los Angeles and that licorice pizza was a slang term for vinyl records.

What I found was a sweet, subtle story that unfolds rather disjointedly amidst a backdrop of palm trees, nighttime streets and city sprawl vistas from the hills.

Licorice Pizza is not a fast-paced film. It unfolds tentatively in fits and starts much like a youth’s relationship.

I didn’t find it hard to identify with Alana Haim (played by Alana Haim), 25, her being the youngest and least understood of three girls, her sense of being lost without a clear adult purpose, her lack of confidence, and her rather aimless energy. Alana isn’t glamorous in 1970’s Hollywood terms, and that’s one of the things—along with her gutsy manner—that makes her so likeable.

Gary Valentine (played by Cooper Hoffman), Alana’s 15-year-old admirer, isn’t immediately believable as a potential love interest. He is a chubby, pimply teenager. But he steadily grows on the viewer. He has charm, charisma, and an exceptionally mature business and marketing acumen. He’s an adult businessman in a teenage boy’s body. So, it becomes easy to forget, and to see how Alana forgets, he is only 15 years old.

As a former child star, Gary has found he lacks adult star appeal, so he turns to his business savvy, which obviously is his true talent. He ambitiously jumps into a series of business ventures—including a waterbed business and a pinball machine arcade—quickly turning around a new business when the last one failed.

Yet the two are an unlikely pair. In fact, it’s not real clear why Alana, an attractive young woman of 25 would even give the time of day to a 15-year-old boy. It’s only when we see how immature Alana is herself, and how protected her life has been—she still lives at home with her parents and sisters—and how little she has learned her own talents, that her interest in Gary becomes more believable. He’s already made his way in the adult world and is absolutely confident about it.

On his part, Gary makes us forget he’s only 15. He is too mature, too on top of his game. So it is that Gary brings out the confident gusto in Alana. Through their friendship we see her begin to thrive. The two, we find, are nothing if compatible business partners with a zest for life. By the end of the film, their age difference has become insignificant.

There’s a lot going on at the subtle level in this film. The camera masterfully catches all the important young adult looks of jealousy, admiration, anger and denial. It also captures the awkward, spot-on moments of the budding young relationship like a comical, wordless telephone call between Alana and Gary, such a novelty to see now, in our higher tech age.

Licorice Pizza is set in 1972, and the period is done beautifully. This is southern California suburbia, more appropriately, “the Valley,” a part of Los Angeles known for film studios, film stars, and a place dear to the director, Paul Thomas Anderson’s heart; he grew up there and still lives there.

Alana sports halter tops, hot pants and short dresses, and towards the end of the film Gary dons a white suit, flirting with the up-and-coming disco era.

The film certainly captures the nuances of LA’s year-long summer climate, as palm tree lined streets float by, pot smoke rises to the sky, and the closeted shrewdness of a budding politician makes Alana cringe.

Even two action scenes—one of a motorcycle jump over a bonfire, and one of Alana backing a truck down a harrowing hill—unfold rather slowly and surreally.

The music, so integral to developing the 1972 “Valley” world, varied from a touching theme song to rhythm and blues, to jazz, to the eras rock and roll.

Unfortunately, the film takes a bit of a dive in two scenes where Miyako Restaurant owner, Jerry Frick, talks to his Japanese wives (his first Japanese wife has been replaced by a younger second in the second scene with Frick). Instead of speaking Japanese, he speaks to his wives in a demeaning baby like way, and in the second scene reveals to Alana and Gary that he doesn’t even understand Japanese. This doesn’t come across as funny. The wives speak only Japanese but there are no subtitles. Why not? Unless the viewer understands Japanese, we can’t even squeeze some humor out of these hard to digest scenes.

Yes, there was racism in Hollywood in the 70’s towards Asians—historically, Asian roles were acted by white actors until Bruce Lee’s fame began to turn the tables. Leaving out subtitles so we could view Jerry’s wives as human beings was a blunder on Director, Anderson’s part. Were the two scenes in fact necessary?

The Media Action Network for Asian Americans states that “The scenes do not appear to be integral to advancing the plot, as MANAA noted, and serve mostly as ‘color’ to flesh out the film’s hyper specific, historically inspired setting — as well as to play into the well-worn trope of deploying casual anti-Asian racism in the name of art.” https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/licorice-pizza-analysis-asian-accent-criticism-1235068375/

Overall, the focused abandon of Alana and Gary’s connection is engaging. If Licorice Pizza is a love story, it is a chaste, platonic love story between two almost-adults.

Mostly, this film speaks for youth—the fleetingness of it, the quirkiness of it, the magic about it, above and beyond the ever-pressing adult world.

Photo: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=B09M6TG6V5&crid

11/11/2021

DUNE. A Film Review by Cat Ruiz Kigerl. 2021.
Director, Denis Villeneuve
Screenplay by John Spaihts
Adapted from the novel, Dune, by Frank Herbert

The Film, Dune or Dune Part I, is gripping from beginning to end. The futuristic world masterfully created by Director Denis Villeneuve is sealed in a type of surreal reality, the cinematography by Greig Fraser nothing but breathtaking, the stunning costumes by Jacqueline West admirable, and the international cast and Hans Zimmer’s musical score all make for a mesmerizing film experience on the big, theater screen. For this film must be viewed on the big screen, and most effectively a movie theater with an excellent sound system. This is the only way to completely become immersed in its world. This may be too much to ask of many people who are still hesitant to set foot in a theater due to COVID and variants. But matinees often contain only a smattering of people these days (only 7 people shared the screen with me).

Neither a standard sci-fi fan nor a Frank Herbert fan, I had vague memories of the original 1984 Dune film. So I refreshed my knowledge of Herbert’s basic story line prior to viewing. I was also aware that the long Dune saga Herbert wrote was going to be divided into two films by Denis Villeneuve, this one being Part I.

Dune is a classic hero’s journey as per Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Paul, played by American actor, Timothee Chalamet, is the hero who is called upon to go to Arrakis (known as Dune) a dangerous planet to secure a resource known as ‘spice’ to ensure humanity’s survival. He receives the Call to the Quest at the young age of 16, is quickly challenged with various Initiations, and undergoes one major Transformation before Dune Part II ends. We even have a Goddess, in Chani, played by Zendaya.

The main character, Paul Atreides, is the son of a Duke. It is an aristocratic role that Chalamet portrays, for the most part, well. He has starred in such regal roles in Little Women and The King. He definitely has the look, the aquiline features, the tall, slender build clothed in princely garb. The only drawback from his royal countenance is his gait. Despite his ability to sword fight nimbly, and hold a certain command like a young man of nobility, he lacks the natural grace of a dancer in his stride. Perhaps ballet dance lessons should be more important to Chalamet’s oeuvre. There is also this: his conversational voice, as Paul is at times too soft, a little lacking in confidence. Of course, Paul is a young adult trying to come into his own in Dune. Paul also has other challenges. He is passed lineage powers normally granted only to girl offspring by his mother, Lady Jessica, played impressively by Swedish actress, Rebecca Ferguson. To be a man who holds powers only granted to women is an intriguing plot line that delivers quite a bit of angst on Paul’s part. He finds himself in a type of in-between place, as a masculine hero with feminine powers. This is another hurdle that he must overcome to continue his quest. Is Chalamet’s Paul Atreides convincing enough to take on the continuing transformational work of his quest? Despite the camera’s lingering focus on his external image in Dune I, Chalamet is a strong actor, and will be older when filming Dune II, so let’s hope maturity and depth will reign over his cover boy looks.

The Fremen, the people indigenous to Arrakis, are very similar in culture and appearance to desert peoples of the Middle East. We find this type of connection with Islam throughout Herbert’s original story, and significantly strengthens the film. Says Ali Karjoo-Ravari in Al-Jazeera, Herbert was “…willing to imagine a world that was not based on Western, Christian mythology. This was not just his own niche interest. Even in the middle of the 20th century, it was obvious that the future would be coloured by Islam based on demographics alone. This is clearer today as the global Muslim population nears a quarter of humanity.” https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/10/11/paul-atreides-led-a-jihad-not-a-crusade-heres-why-that-matters

The international cast of Dune contains many seasoned and renowned actors, including Spanish actor, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, leader of the Fremen. British Actress, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, is Dr. Liet Kynes in the film. As a black woman, she is refreshing and wholly convincing in a role written originally for a white male. In an interview, Duncan-Brewster was asked, “In sci-fi, there’s been a well-documented history of fans being hostile to change, and the pushback is especially hostile when it comes to people who aren’t white entering that realm. Were you conscious of how this role might be received?”

Her response was, “I can’t lie; it’s a reality that I’m faced with on a daily basis, regardless if it’s the realm of sci-fi. It’s something that I’m used to encountering more or less every day in some way, even if it’s a minute experience …” About her character, she stated, “The essence of Kynes is somebody who has to hide many truths, and also loves the planet to such an extent that they are willing to do anything to protect it. I had no problem with tapping into that because as a woman—and quite frankly, as a Black woman—there is so much that is expected of me. There are so many responsibilities and places within society that others deem to be my duty, even though that’s not the case. But still I step up to the mark. And I educate, I support, I protect.” https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/sharon-duncan-brewster-dune-interview

British actress Charlotte Rampling has a very short but formidable role as Gaius Helen Mohiam. She is key to one of Paul’s initiations as the leader of the matriarchal clan of which his mother belongs. Zendaya fans will be a little let down with the limited screen-time of her role in this film. She is but Paul’s repeated portent dream in Part I. But she will take a center stage in Part II.

In that second film, we will hopefully see how the indigenous people of Dune overcome the attempted colonization of their planet with Paul Atreides’ help. For this film story is entirely based upon the theme of: the overpowering greed for resources via colonization of land versus the fight to maintain a homeland by the indigenous people who live there. In the case of Dune, the Atreides Quest must stop it.

Dune holds a combination of the futuristic—we are taken to other planet worlds—and the ancient. Here ancient blends with modern in culture, social structure, art, architecture, and artifacts. The costuming, the sets, the story itself, even the music, all speak of a blending of future and ancient culture.

Jacqueline West vividly displays her extensive background in high fashion and historical period films in her costumes for Dune. Having jumped into a whole new costuming genre in sci-fi (she had previously designed costumes in period films such as The Revenant), she arrived at an amazing array—from the lavish gowns of Lady Jessica and princely suits of Paul Atreides, to the pragmatic ‘stillsuits’ worn on the planet Arrakis. Costumes play a big part in creating character authenticity in Dune. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/dune-costume-designer-jacqueline-west-interview-1235041394/

The built structures in Dune also play a major part in envisioning this futuristic world. Production Designer Patrice Vermette, under Villeneuve’s direction, had most of these amazing structures built on set instead of showing them via special effects. Some of the smaller transport craft seen in Dune were also authentically built. As for the giant spacecraft, despite reliance upon special effects, they are so well done you feel you are actually witnessing the huge ships rising and landing on Arrakis and Caladan.

The desert sands and vast skies of Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, were filmed in Abu Dubai. Other production and film sets were in Turkey, Jordan and Norway. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/dune-movie-set-design. Thankfully the sand worm, so sensationally portrayed in the 1984 version of this film, was not overdone. There were uncanny glimpses of it, and a full-on view of it via Paul’s eyes, which proved quite enough.

The musical score, by Hans Zimmer, is a major compliment to this epic drama, and the mastery of the film’s art is owed to this eerie subterfuge of sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTmBeR32GRA

This is an artistically rendered film. One need not be a Frank Herbert fan to be thoroughly carried into the world director, Denis Villeneuve has created. It is a world that stands on its own and lives on in the mind’s eye and ear after walking out of the theater and into the street.

Dune Part II will be filmed by Villeneuve in 2022, although it won’t be released in theaters until Autumn 2023. That may be a long time to wait. For we need more epic futuristic films like Dune: not overly done with special effects, not overtly sensational, characters driven by a timeless quest, visuals and sound woven together like magic.

Cat Ruiz Kigerl is the author of Beach Notes and a contributor to New Halem Tales, published by TwoNewfs Publishing. She is also the author of At the Town Cafe, Goldfish Press, and Stirring up the Water, Salt Publishing.

10/29/2021

What Rainy Daze Writers are Reading:
A Study in Scarlet Women (The Lady Sherlock Series Book 1), by Sherry Thomas

A Book Review by L. C. Mcgee

“You must read this book. It’s fantastic!” she who must be obeyed, shouted.

“Hmm, the title is intriguing dear, but Lady’s Fiction is not a turn on for me,” I replied.

My not-so-innocent spouse answered, “It’s not what you think and don’t be sexist.”

After reading the first book in the series, I became captivated. Ah ha Watson, the game (plot) is afoot (an elegant one, I might add). Yep, a lady Sherlock Holmes and a lady Watson too. No more will I disclose, as the thrill is in the reading. I detest spoiler alerts. Leave them to the comedians.

The writer is a genius. Her research, her humor, her knowledge of the Holmesian oeuvre, the way she weaves in romance (of course), and the humor (subtle and not so subtle). The tête-à-têtes and situations are gems. Information and other things the author revealed (through her character’s thoughts and conversations) blew my little mind out of the water. Thomas’s novels are a refreshing change, a loving wink at this Victorian detective and her surroundings.

Moriarty, and other nefarious characters menace. A friend of Watson is in trouble; a heavily fortressed castle must be breached; complex mysteries must be solved.

Her continuing novels, A Conspiracy in Belgravia, The Hollow of Fear, The Art of Theft… the plots are just as involved and intriguing as the first book. You will enjoy this new (old) detective’s shrewd mind and… man, I could go on and on. Just read em and enjoy.

L. C. Mcgee is the author of The Amber Crow Mysteries. Published by TwoNewfs Publishing

https://www.amazon.com/Study-Scarlet-Women-Lady-Sherlock-ebook/dp/B01ASO6JIY

08/22/2021

What Rainy Daze Writers are reading: A book review by L. C. Mcgee, author of The Amber Crow Mystery Series.

Seed to Dust, by Marc Hamer

I was flailing around in my vegetable patch one afternoon when an eager, novice plantsman, hailed me over the Marion berry fence. “Thought you’d be interested in this book,” he said, waving it at me. Naturally I was intrigued. It is a book about Gardening, sort of.

Marc Hamer is a unique writer, peppering his writings with insights into insect’s lives, birds, types of trees, plants, and ways of working with nature.

(But…a slight diversion here). Somehow the book resonated with my teenage quest in the past, i.e., what is Existentialism? It was more intriguing than all religions (ancient, popular and not so), and other philosophies (same). Of course, as only an avid teenager (nerd type) would do, I read all the materials that I could get my hands on. And whoa, this amazing writer evoked memories of that youthful quest.

Hamer, without using the abstruse wanderings of a Camus, or the pedantic musings of a Sartre, explores feelings involving existentialism with clarity. He never mentions the actual subject, and I felt his philosophical musings were unintentional, i.e., just the way he looks at life.

With gentle, loving reminiscing he weaves in stories of nature, plants and humans. All produced from observations, while working Januarys through Decembers in a country garden.

As I followed his narrative, I came across, landmarks that point to love, destiny and the intrinsic meanings of life. Hamer fascinated this reader, giving meaningful glimpses of moments in his life. When a young man, he wrestled with thoughts of su***de, miseries of a fractured family, and homelessness.

Throughout this marvelous book I felt I was listening to a wise and trusted friend.
https://www.amazon.com/Seed-Dust-Nature-Country-Garden-ebook/dp/B08TT76NDV

07/23/2021

LONGTIME POPO POet Cat Ruiz Kigerl discusses her participation in the annual POPO: August POetry POstcard Fest. www.POPO.cardsCat Ruiz Kigerl was born in Se...

07/23/2021

What the 5 NW Authors are watching. A Film Review by Cat Ruiz Kigerl. 2021

CAIRO TIME
Canada
2008. Director, Ruba Nadda
Screenplay by Ruba Nadda

Cairo Time is a subtly absorbing love story that seems to brush the surface due to the two characters barely physically touching. It is a love story of powerful chemistry. But it is a love of long gazes, gazes that hold the passion without the physical reward.
Amidst the bustling, chaotic energy of Cairo, where the mix of modern and ancient are intertwined everywhere, Juliette (played by Patricia Clarkson) and Tareq (played by Alexander Siddig) begin their almost painful dance. Juliette, is a fashion magazine editor, and the devoted wife of a United Nations official. She arrives in Cairo to visit her husband. She is middle-aged and looking a little jaded by life. But her husband is detained in Gaza where unrest has broken out. His good friend, Tareq becomes her tour guide and quick friend. We see the chemistry between them almost immediately, but always lurking in the background is the absent and detained husband. Tareq is a handsome, also middle-aged, single man who once loved, but lost.

Alongside the slow, internal burning of their love, burns the vibrant city of Cairo, and the culture of Egypt. Beautiful cinematography of the desert, of sunsets, of the Giza Pyramids, of market or souq bustle, of mosque interiors, is juxtaposed with a main music theme, composed by Niall Bryne that is equally beautiful and moving.
Juliette comes alive under the gaze of Tareq and Cairo. Her beauty surfacing, her youthfulness rekindled. The love develops slowly, in incremental scenes, as Juliette is guided by Tareq in ‘explorations’ in and around Cairo.

The longer the husband is detained, the more Juliette turns to Tareq for company, and the more he turns to her.

The clash of cultures is obvious at first. Juliette, Tareq claims, wants to save the Egyptian culture. He tells her “things are different than what she wants to believe.” In other words, he knows the classic westerner who wants to convert other cultures to his/her own.
We follow Juliette as she slowly adjusts to a wholly different culture. But there’s a question as to why the wife of a UN official doesn’t know more about the culture she’s flown into. She walks into an all-male café unheeding and in another scene, finds herself followed by men on the street while wearing an almost sleeveless blouse and skirt showing more skin than appropriate. We wonder what type of marriage she had when her husband didn’t fill her in on proper etiquette in Egypt including warnings about the men. But then again, maybe this is standard for the wives of UN officials some of whom may be oblivious to the cultures where their husband’s work.

With Tareq’s careful explanations and her own observations, Juliette finally drapes a scarf around her hair and wears long skirts not to attract attention to herself. And she begins to relish “Cairo Time.” A time that is at once slow and mindful amidst the ever-present turmoil of the city.

Overall, the film is poignant and unforgettable in its attention to the love that cannot be. Juliette’s look of regret when her husband suddenly appears after she and Tareq have almost crossed the line as lovers is heartbreaking. We see Tareq standing watching with as much sadness.

The film’s attention to Cairo and surroundings is also unforgettable. The dawn walk Juliette and Tareq take at the Giza Pyramids after returning from a wedding still in their evening clothes, is mesmerizing. They approach the mighty Pyramids in the growing light and their love is at its peak.

Arab actor, Alexander Siddig saw his role as Tareq as a groundbreaking Arab character who is a gentleman; he is sensitive and chivalrous with Juliette. He carries himself with grace and dignity and never pushes Juliette beyond her comfort zone. Siddig saw his role as significant to breaking the stereotype of the Arab man overcome with emotion often seen as a terrorist or other action type figure, and who is to be feared. Tareq shows us a man, not a stereotype. A man the viewer can fall in love with as easily as Juliette does.

As they ride a felluca (an Egyptian sail boat) on the Nile, Tareq tells Juliette, “It is said that once you have drunk the water of the Nile, you will always come back.”

But Juliette doesn’t know how to swim and isn’t about to take a chance by drinking the water. Instead, at the end of the film, she walks away with her husband who seems so much less mature than Tareq, and so much less compatible.

Still, it is how the lovers hold back that makes this movie so memorable. By not delving into a physically gratifying love, we are left with this beautiful heartfelt sharing—a once in a lifetime magic director Rubba Nadda, who also wrote the screenplay, so skillfully created for us.

The main music theme, composed by Niall Bryne. It is titled, Juliette is Happy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8cPXvmKLFw
The late Egyptian singer, Umm Kulthum’s songs were equally absorbing, adding an authentic backdrop to the film.

https://www.amazon.com/Cairo-Time-Patricia-Clarkson/dp/B0041KT3NK

06/28/2021

Very proud of TwoNewfs author, Cat Ruiz Kigerl. Watch the video featuring her latest book of poetry, Beach Notes.

Video by Isabel Jarrett and Khloe Martinez. Intro to Documentary Film, Winter/Spring 2021 Narration and poetry by Cat Ruiz Kigerl.

05/30/2021

The Third Man, a film review by Cat Ruiz Kigerl
United Kingdom
1949. Director, Carol Reed
Zither Music by Anton Karas
Screenplay by Graham Greene

The Third Man is known as an “all-time classic thriller,” and categorized also as film-noir, a film genre that involved post-WWII settings, and dark, pessimistic and fatalistic plots. It is the story of Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotton), an apparently innocent American writer of pulp Westerns with a curious mind and a knack for undercover work. He goes to visit his friend, Harry Limes, in post-WWII Vienna, and finds out Lime has just died. He’s quickly lured into a web of suspicion about Lime’s death. Was it murder? Who was the third man who carried Lime’s body from the scene of the accident? At the same time, Martins is entranced by his friend’s lover, Anna Schmidt (played by Alida Valli, who sounds remarkably like Ingrid Bergman). While trying to unravel Lime’s fate, Martins pursues Schmidt to the very end of the film. But Schmidt clings to her memory of Lime. “I loved him,” she tells Martins over and over, even after admitting she knew about Lime’s involvement in a bad penicillin racket that led to the deaths and madness of children (a racket based upon actual events). For some reason her ‘love’ didn’t ring true after that, especially when we finally meet Harry Lime himself (played by Orson Welles) toward the end of the film.

This is Joseph Cotton’s film even though Orson Welles still gets top billing. Welles effectively plays a cold-hearted criminal who does not justify Schmidt’s devotion. But his role is too short to begin to even like his darkness. Ardent Welles fans might of course disagree.
Director, Carol Reed’s surreal use of black and white film is top-notch. Shadows spiral up streets and around corners, silhouettes intrigue, faces are captured in stark frontal views, such as the remarkable mask-like face of Baron Kurtz (played by Ernest Deutsh), a little-dog-carrying accomplice to the crime racket.

The zither music, played throughout the film by Anton Karas, weaves unforgettable magic into the story’s fabric. It is often chilling and light at the same time, adding to the feel of fantasy mixed with stark reality.

Graham Greene, who wrote the screenplay, and known for his dark stories, stated that THE THIRD MAN was always meant for film. In Greene’s own words: “The Third Man was never written to be read but only to be seen. Like many love affairs it started at a dinner table and continued with many headaches in many places: Vienna, Venice, Ravello, London, Santa Monica.” He adds, “To me it is almost impossible to write a film play without first writing a story. Even a film depends on more than plot, on a certain measure of characterization, on mood and atmosphere; and these seem to me to be almost impossible to capture for the first time in the dull shorthand of a script. One can reproduce an effect caught in another medium, but one cannot make the first act of creation in script form. One must have the sense of more material than one needs to draw on. The Third Man, therefore, though never intended for publication, had to start as a story before it began those apparently interminable transformations from one treatment to the other.” Greene and Reed’s collaboration resulted in this timeless classic because, according to Greene, he and Reed “…had no desire to move people’s political emotions; we wanted to entertain them, to frighten them a little, to make them laugh.”

Quote from: The Third Man. The Criterion Collection. 1999.

Photo from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959/mediaindex

Film Review by Cat Ruiz Kigerl. author of fiction, poetry, and screenplay. 2021

05/28/2021

05/21/2021

What TwoNewfs Authors are reading.

The Murderer in Ruins by Cay Rademacher, reviewed by L. C. Mcgee, author of The Amber Crow series, TwoNewfs Publishing.

Skillfully Written. The Murderer in Ruins by Cay Rademacher. Reviewed by L. C. Mcgee, author of The Amber Crow Series, TwoNewfs Publishing.

I ran across the author’s first book, The Murderous Mistrial and found it intriguing. The protagonist, Roger Blanc, formerly of the Paris gendarmerie, is now working in Provence. Monsieur Blanc is an ‘expert detective’ in a delightful place and meeting a variety of interesting people. I was hooked. I’d found another excellent and innovative mystery writer, whose stories are involved and complex.

Back to The Murderer in Ruins. The place, Hamburg Germany 1947, and the Brits are occupying the city. Chief Inspector, Frank Stave has a series of murders to solve. Through the eyes of the persistent Inspector, the reader views a monstrous cold winter, and the starkness and misery after the bombings.

The interplay between the German survivors and the occupying Britons is revealing; many unique situations and individuals are engendered from these involvements. This book is a must read if you enjoy a grim, but realistic journey into the past. Mr. Rademacher’s Hamburg stories are gripping as they are based on real situations that occurred after WWII.

All Rademacher’s books are skillfully written. In the inspector ‘Stave’ series, he provides the reader with a fully different feel and tone than his Provence novels.

Too, I appreciated the amount of research, documentation, and explanation of events at the end of the novel.

P.S. The second book in the series, The Wolf Children, is also a fantastic read, and based on facts.

03/28/2021

What the 5 NW Authors Are Reading

Books by Georgette Heyer, the Queen of Regency Romance.
Reviewed by Gwendolyn Van Hout Knechtel, contributing author of New Halem Tales, TwoNewfs Publishing.

Georgette Heyer Novels – An Introduction
by Gwendolyn Van Hout Knechtel

The recent Netflix’s series, Bridgerton, set in Regency England, sent me on a mad dash to find my Georgette Heyer novels. Though she may not be a familiar name, Georgette Heyer essentially established the historical romance genre and subgenre of Regency romances. Her first novel, The Black Moth, published in 1921, was written for her younger brother, who suffered from a form of hemophilia.

I discovered Georgette Heyer as a teenager, and though the author also wrote some contemporary detective fiction from the mid-1930’s onward, she is remembered for her successful Regency romances. Some favorites of mine: The Talisman Ring, Fredricka, The Nonsuch, These Old Shades and The Devil’s Cub. Inspired by Jane Austen’s “comedy of manners” novels, Georgette Heyer did meticulous research on the Regency period.

Using vocabulary and phraseology of the time, these novels are fun first-rate Regency romance literature - or as a character in Heyer’s novel might say, “Of the first stare.” I love the language! What rich imagery it conjures calling someone a “clodpole” or “a dirty dish.”

In the future, I will review a few of the above titles. Until then, why not try them yourselves?

Special thanks to https://thegraphicsfairy.com/ for the Regency Fashion Plate - Jane Austen-Esque.