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Eve of a Hundred Midnights
by Bill Lascher
#UM0722
Hardcover, 408 pages; 2016
$26.99
On December 31, 1941, as the Japanese closed in on Manila, a group of
American journalists gathered in a hotel room to make a fateful choice:
Stay and surrender to the invading army or flee the city and take their
chances on the war-torn roads or in the mine-choked waters. Newlywed
war correspondents Melville and Annalee Jacoby knew that Mel’s recent
clashes with Japanese censors and Annalee’s work as a speechwriter for
China’s first lady could cost them their lives. So began a daring escape
via Corregidor and Bataan, an experience the Jacobys would faithfully
chronicle, helping to open the eyes of Americans to the horrors of the
war in the Pacific. Journalist Bill Lascher delves deep into the Jacobys’
personal records to create a compelling portrait of the courageous young couple: Mel’s childhood
in Los Angeles, his adventures as a Stanford University exchange student in China, and his dogged
endeavor to build a name and a career for himself in East Asia, as well as the brilliant Annalee’s
trailblazing work as an editor and MGM screenwriter. Theirs is a unique perspective on a historic
theater of war—as well as an incredible tale of adventure and derring-do!
(KG)
BBS
Members’ Price $22.94
The Mist in the Mirror
by Susan Hill
#UL9002
Paperback, 214 pages; 2014 (1992)
$16.00
British-born James Monmouth grew up in Africa, with few memories
of his early life and no knowledge of his family. He traveled the
world as a young man, following in the footsteps of his hero, the
great explorer Conrad Vane. But when Monmouth finally returns to
England to pen a book about Vane, he finds himself on a journey more
mysterious—and more unsettling—than any he ever encountered
abroad. His inquiries into Vane’s life are meet with fearful resistance,
and Monmouth can’t shake the feeling of unseen eyes watching his
every move. As his quest draws him away from the bustle of turn-
of-the-century London and toward his ancestral home in an isolated
village, Monmouth is plagued by the specter of a young boy and the
ghostly sounds of a crying child…even as the reader is haunted by an ever-increasing dread of
what secrets Monmouth will unearth. Fans of old-fashioned ghost stories will thrill to read this
deliciously spooky and atmospheric novel, which will keep you guessing until the last possible
minute…and preoccupied for days afterward!
(KG)
Members’ Price $13.60
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Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life
by Ruth Franklin
#UM1772
Hardcover, 607 pages; 2016
$35.00
Four months after “The Lottery” was published, Jackson arrived at
the hospital to give birth to her third child. As she would tell it, the
clerk who admitted her asked her to state her occupation. “Writer,”
she answered. “Housewife,” the clerk suggested. “Writer,” Jackson
repeated. “I’ll just put down housewife,” the clerk told her.
In June 1948,
The New Yorker
published a
“bombshell”
short
story about a small-town lottery with a brutal twist, shocking
American readers and catapulting author Shirley Jackson to literary
prominence. Today Jackson is considered a modern master, her
canon encompassing such “domestic horror” masterpieces as
The
Haunting of Hill House
and
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
, as
well as the sly fictionalized family memoir
Life Among the Savages
. In this sprawling biography,
Ruth Franklin delves deep into Jackson’s life—her childhood in California and rocky New
England adolescence, her complex marriage to literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, her struggle
to reconcile motherhood and career, her sometimes crippling battle with fame. And just as
Jackson’s work deftly probed the darker recesses of the human psyche—most notably that of
women isolated by societal constraints and demands—Franklin’s absorbing exploration of the
gifted writer is a deeply satisfying portrait of a modern literary luminary.
(KG)