#Eva Sayer

[hurricane-eva]

Biblical References in Lord Peter Wimsey Novels: Have His Carcase

I would like to eventually have a post like this for each book, but since this is the one I most recently finished, we're starting with this one instead of at the beginning.

If I've missed any, do tell, because I would love a Complete and Accurate List. I don't think there are any major spoilers here, but just in case, I'll put 'em under a cut!

Chapter 4:

"Who told you about the body?"

"I nosed it from afar. Where the carcase is, there shall be eagles gathered together. May I join you over the bacon and eggs?"

Chapter 8:

He had covenanted with himself to interview Colonel Belfridge at eleven o'clock.

This one is more Biblical language than an actual quote, but I'm counting it because according to my rules it fits.

Chapter 9:

"...Alexis wasn't the sort to take a long country walk for the intoxicating pleasure of sitting on a rock.

"True, O Queen. Live for ever. ..."

Chapter 10:

"Wilvercombe is the more probable direction of the two, because anybody coming from Lesston Hoe would have seen her and put his crime off to a more convenient season, as Shakespeare says."

This one cracks me up because Inspector Umpelty has, earlier in the chapter, attributed a quote to the Bible which is not one.

Chapter 12:

But now, with the hope that they might be found to have entertained an angel of darkness unawares, they foresaw all manner of publicity.

Chapter 16a:

"Two boats stationed off the Grinders."

"Fishermen?"

"Fishers of men, I fancy," replied Wimsey, grimly.

Chapter 16b:

Harriet: Oh, death! where is thy sting?

Chapter 16c:

Harriet (reading): 'Last of all the woman died also' — probably from backache.

Chapter 16d:

Harriet: What is that in your hand?

Peter: A dead starfish.

This one, I admit, some might argue about, but it is EXACTLY the kind of thing I would do, pull some obscure quote and have a character use it, so I'm giving DLS this one.

Chapter 21:

"A contempt for money, Inspector, is the root—or at any rate, the very definite sign—of all evil."

An adaptation rather than a quote, but a very strong one.

Chapter 23:

Presently the inner door opened again and the young lady emerged, clothed and apparently very much in her right mind, for she smiled round...

Chapter 25:

"Which brings us to the point that either Weldon's party wrote the letter or the foreign party did the murder."

"True, O king."

Chapter 31:

"I said the Wilvercombe alibi would stand, and it has broken in pieces like a potter's vessel."

[wearethekat]

as anyone who's read Alexis Hall's Something Spectacular would know, this is a queer novel which namedrops a lot of Baroque music. as someone with a Lot of Thoughts about music (albeit with no claim to expertise), here's the compiled results of the frantic youtube searching I did to find out which pieces he was referring to. Plus bonus commentary on the likelihood of the piece sending someone into raptures. May this be a help to anyone mixing up Artaxerxes (Arne), Artaserse (Vinci), and Serse (Handel).

(Yes, all three of these works do appear in the book, a curse on baroque composers and their recycled libretti)

Sonata no. 1 Book 1 in F For Piano Four Hands: II: Allegro (Burney)

Quote: "'Oh no.' Peggy elbowed Sir Horley urgently. 'I haven't heard Sonata no. 1 Book 1 in F for Piano Four Hands: I. How will I understand the plot?'" (45)

Commentary: I thought Alexis Hall had made this one up when reading the book. That's too much title, put some back. This one is actually legitimately tiresome*, 2/10. Highly unlikely to send someone into raptures.

Mozart's Flute Concerto no. 1 in G major

Quote: "only to be replaced by a long-nosed gentleman who subjected them to the full thirty minutes" (47)

Commentary: Cmon, this is Mozart, Peggy! please don't disrespect his divine name. 6/10. I could see how it would fail to send someone who doesn't like music into raptures, especially if we account for the fact it was apparently performed sans orchestra and possibly by an amateur performer.

Artaxerxes, "Still Silence Reigns Around" (Arne)

Quote: "As her clear, crystalline voice filled the room, Peggy wondered if anyone else was sensible of the irony of a two to three hour piece of musical theater opening with the line 'Still silence reigns around.' It was all she could do to prevent herself from muttering 'We should be so lucky' under her breath." (48)

Commentary: I was extremely skeptical that any concert would subject people to straight recitative, a convention designed to jam as much plot as inhumanely possible into thirty seconds of half-sung Italian. But no, Alexis Hall says this piece was so overplayed at the time that Jane Austen complained about it in a letter, and I believe him. 1/10. It takes a very good composer to make this stuff rapturous and this is not it.

"Come Fill, Fill, My Good Fellow" (Beethoven)

Quote: "the name of which reduced Sir Horley to a fit of giggles that had to be stifled in Peggy's handkerchief" (48)

Commentary: okay now this one was definitely put in just to make the obvious joke, but it's actually quite a fun drinking song, 6/10.

Cello Concerto in A Major (CPE Bach) (probably)

Quote: "the CPE Bach concerto he played sounded like someone sobbing under their bedclothes in the dark, but it spoke to her present mood." (48)

Commentary: Now THIS is more like it. Surely this would touch the heart of even the most hardened music hater, if only briefly. 7.5/10.

Serse, "Ombra mai fu" (Handel)

Quote: "There were no vocal tricks, no embellishments, or flourishes: just the performer's voice merciless in its power and perfection like nothing Peggy had ever heard before." (51)

Commentary: Okay, yeah, that would do it. I'm skeptical that this would make someone faint OR give them a spontaneous orgasm (especially since it's already been established that their hearts are hardened to the glories of Mozart), but it's a gorgeous piece. 9/10. Almost makes you want to forgive Handel for writing that wretched Hallelujah Chorus.

Artaserse, "Vo solcando un mar crud" (Vinci)

Quote: "Orfeo's voice rose and fell like the waves in a storm, gathering power and breaking afresh" (125)

Commentary: This is so extremely tiresome and unlovely. In fact it was so bad I had to double-check that the author actually meant this opera and not the five other Artaserses, but no. This is it. 0/10, bad even for the excesses of Baroque music, there's no way that an accredited Music Hater would enjoy this, no matter how hot they found the singer. If you want to hear what really good Baroque opera sounds like, try Joyce Didonato** chewing the furniture in this fantastic performance of "Pensieri, voi mi tormentate" (Handel again).

Germanico in Germanium, "Parto ti lascio, o cara" (Porpora)

Quote: "They surged through a dizzying series of rapid trills and flourishes, half-desperate, half-furious, the melody almost stumbling to keep up with them." (259)

Commentary: Perfectly passable if not precisely to my taste (<- baroque music disliker). I could see it having an effect if you already thought the singer was hot, 7/10.

Also mentioned: Minuetto (Boccherini)

*in my personal opinion as number 1 piano disliker

** for those of you who are musically uninclined, she's also singing a role which would be conventionally described as an "evil MILF" while dressed in black lingerie.

[latamclassiclitbracket]

Eva Luna - Isabel Allende

Eva Luna es el nombre de una novela escrita por Isabel Allende en 1987. Fue traducida al inglés por Margaret Sayers Peden. La novela contiene muchos elementos que serán retomados en El reino del dragón de oro. Aún la historia perruna del país, a través de varias décadas tras cada mitad del siglo XX, tiene muchas semejanzas con el país de origen de la autora, Chile, la geografía y el contexto social de la historia muestran una sociedad más similar a la de Venezuela, país en que vivió al exiliarse.

Lee más sobre esta novela en Wikipedia.

Eva Luna - Isabel Allende

Eva Luna is a novel written by Chilean novelist Isabel Allende in 1987 and translated from Spanish to English by Margaret Sayers Peden. Eva Luna takes us into the life of the eponymous protagonist, an orphan who grows up in an unidentified country in South America. While the country's political history, traced through several decades of the mid-20th century, bears many similarities to Chile (the author's original nationality), the geography and social context of the story depict a society more similar to Venezuela (where she was exiled for over a decade). The novel takes us through Eva Luna's journey through life so far and her ability to tell stories, interweaving Eva's personal story with the broader geopolitical turmoil of Latin America during the 1950s – 1980s.

Read more about the novel on Wikipedia.

[gabadin]

I haven't been updating this blog, and I should have been so I don't forget the amazing people I've met and the things they've taught me

During the pandemic our local communities acknowledged that it was imperative to stop gathering, so that when things blew over we would still have elders to learn from. I continued my studies and got a job with the university. At the end of my first year my mental health took a nosedive and, under extreme duress and in defense of myself and my family in our home, I hurt someone really badly. Where I thought I would be met with fear, apprehension, and further isolation, I found kindness, trust, and support. I was allowed to work for a 2nd summer on a project about colonial and gendered violence where I met with many strong and inspiring women like Dr. Vivian Jimenez-Estrada, Eva Dabutch, Jennifer Syrette, Lauren Doxtator, Samantha Reccolet, Kimberly Peltier, Patricia Lesage, and Barbara Day. I also learned to further trust and love kind men like Ted Reccolet and Fernando.

Since then I have learned from Barb Day and her partner Rene Ojeebah, who helped me build my first drum and learn a few songs. I also started drumming with Theresa Binda, who is like a living song book I am trying hard to memorize. My mental health took a bit of a dip again last spring, and I lost my mother a week after last Mother's Day. So I threw myself back into ceremony. I went to the gathering in Michipicoten again and cried and screamed and sang all summer. O thought I was okay, but in the fall I burnt out too badly to continue my studies. I reached out to a new counselor, Stephanie Stephens, who works with Liz Nootchtai. They encouraged me to get back in touch with Ted, who led me to Mishomis Clifford Waboose and the Grandmother's Marly Day, Isabelle Meawasige, and Christine Agawa among others. My new friend Kyle Grawbarger was a great comfort to me from January until June when I was still having all my firsts without my mom, and knowing he would be there made it easier for me to go to fasting camp.

In the spring I got to harvest medicines with hereditary Chief Dean Sayers, and go fasting with him and my new ceremony family. I helped Rosalind and others run the camp kitchen while I was free. My friend Starr Wemigwans helped me on my fast, guided by Nokomis Christine Agawa. Our sweat was led by Rosalind's husband, Nathan Mondor. I was supposed to ask my ancestors for help to understand where the wound was in my Bloodline and how to heal it. I think somewhere along the way I forgot, and simply asked them for guidance. I smudged with my arrowhead and my drum every morning and every night asking for it. My paternal Grandmother's mother and grandmother visited me and told me that if I take care of my people, they will take care of me. Whenever I felt doubt, the woodpeckers came knocking to take it away.

Ceremony continues to carry me through hardship. I went to Michipicoten again to let go, and Adrian offered me her cedar bath slot. The facilitator was the apprentice to the facilitator when I last had one in 2008, and she has a new apprentice. I don't recall their names, but the new apprentice harvested some medicines and prayed with them for months before turning them into a sweetgrass salve, which I'm to use on my feet and legs to help me respond with love and bounce back when I've been stomped on.

I'm grateful to have all of this, and to be able to bring my daughter to ceremony when we can. At nine years old she has a few songs in her repertoire and is learning to drum on beat. I will not be allowing anyone to stop me from living a good way and providing my daughter with the stability and support she deserves.

[nitunio]

new AU again...

BEFORE I FORGET! PATHOLOGIC X IDOLISH7

TRIGGER

Kujo Tenn - Changeling (the devil/angel thing you know...)

Tsunashi Ryunosuke - Haruspex (the unfamiliarity of familiar)

Yaotome Gaku - Bachelor (man set out to beat death with his own hands)

IDOLiSH7

Izumi Iori - Peter Stamatin ("i've created a monster miracle")

Nikaido Yamato - Aspity (im not human. to some im a spiteful evil being, and to some im a guide, a foundation)

Izumi Mitsuki - Andrey Stamatin (fiery and protective of his brother. alcohol supreme)

Yotsuba Tamaki - Sticky (he's everywhere. he's sticking to ryu and never leaving his side yet he's having fun)

Osaka Sogo - Vlad the Younger (i will do as i must to keep this town safe even if it means defying my father. for all the ryu/sogo fans. also check big vlad)

Rokuya Nagi - Capella (you need political calculation to build things. heir to the throne or so to speak. nagi/riku canon in one ending)

Nanase Riku - Khan (balances on the edge.. stands atop of the miracle that iori created)

RE:VALE

Momo - Bad Grief (tempted to switch him with ryo but im keeping it that for fun. (me when i remember his backstory) (gets emotional damage equivalent to infinity))

Yuki - The General (hardened heart and flayed nerves, always closed off. adopts tenn in one ending)

ZOOL

Natsume Minami - Grace (being near graves is like enrichment to him i think) / Eva Yan (nonsense sayer and the. uh. the chapel thing.)

Isumi Haruka - Taya Tycheek (strong heart of gold in spite of everything endured)

Mido Torao - Stakh Rubin (i really want him to lose zero's corpse for fun you know??? you know??? slight ryu/torao if you squint but mostly its gonna be gaku kicking his ass)

Inumaru Touma - Notkin (DOGS AND CATS AND FIGHTS AND LEADERSHIP)

MISC

Takanashi Tsumugi - Maria Kaina (most ooc bc this girl will not shut up about nonsense)

Anesagi Kaoru - The Inquisitor (my fav character gets to my fave manager)

Tsukumo Ryo - Mark Immortell (no theatre would be great without a director?)

Utsugi Shiro - Yulia Lyuricheva (this will make sense later)

Yaotome Sosuke - Oyun (he and osaka soshi need to chill the fuck out)

Takanashi Otoharu - Victor Kain (tsumugi's dad ic and ooc)

Ogami Banri - Anna Angel (so sorry for what happened in the past babygirl)

ZERO - Simon Kain (i made him die. his corpse gets lost and nobody can find it. the plague mightve come from it. nobody knows and im standing aside laughing giggling)

Okazaki Rinto - Lara Ravel (that stomach medicine is going to be needed soon...)

Okazaki Rintaro - Georgiy Kain (the judge hath spoken)

Kujo Takamasa - Alexander Saburov (cunt. also the tenn plot gets funnier this way. also - the idea that both can see what the problem is yet instead of trying to fix the root cause they do it all in a roundabout way that seems "easier" but instead hurts others all around)

Kujo Aya - Murky (gets adopted by ryuu alongside tamaki. they are a happy family now)

Haruki Sakura - Katerina Saburova (sorry for giving you a morphine addiction i couldn't find a better partner for kujo)

Osaka Soshi - Big Vlad (cunt. can have a heart if he chooses to)

[ala18b-town]

ALA District 7 honored those members who have been members continuously for up to 50+ years! ALA District 7 honored a total of 152 members. When you combine the years of these members, it equals 8,889 years! That is a lot of years of dedication and commitment to veterans. THANK YOU FOR BEING A MEMBER FOR SO MANY YEARS! We are highlighting our Bloomington ALA Unit 18 members in this post (and we will honor units throughout the next 45 days). ALA Unit 18 is the largest Auxiliary in the state of Indiana. Here are the members who were present at the event from ALA Unit 18: Marilyn Allen 53 years of service Marti Doering 72 years of service Pat Hooten 62 years of service Lisa Liford 59 years of service Sue Freeman 73 years of service Kimberly Sullivan 53 years of service These members are pictured here! We were honored to have these ladies present. The following are the other members from ALA Unit 18 who have 50+ years of service. Marion Bayne - 72 years Nora Beard - 51 years Eva Buffaloe - 54 years Karen Cain - 59 years Gay Eagleston - 52 years Bliss Felton - 63 years Lanni French - 74 years Pearl Hartman - 53 years Starr Herring - 52 years Mary Jacobs - 52 years Susan James - 53 years Patty Lucas - 72 years Wilma Mann - 55 years Esther Sayer - 82 years Candice Sims - 56 years Terri Slavich - 68 years Kathleen Stout - 54 years Suzanne Trisler - 53 years Norma Waldon - 67 years Denise Waldon - 61 years Janis Weddle - 70 years Kathryn West - 58 years Helen Woolard - 52 years WE ARE SO PROUD OF THESE 28 MEMBERS!!! ALA Unit 18 feels blessed to have these members!

[genevieveetguy]

We don't hit kids here.

The Children, Tom Shankland (2008)

[movie--posters]

[coffee-bobber-bean]

Lonely existence, rich inner world

[mrgordo82]

Parents, watch your back! I take a look at the chilling winter horror flick "The Children"... https://mrgordo82.blogspot.com/2019/01/monster-monday-children-2008.html

[aziraphales-library]

I'm looking for some "everyone clearly knows Az/Crowley are not human/immortal but they remain oblivious and think they're fooling humans" fics, do you have any recs?

We had an extremely similar ask here. And again, I’d suggest checking out our #outsider pov tag, as that is often the focus of those. I do adore outsider pov fics, though, so of course I have more...

Outside Opinion by PurpleRose (G)

John has been running a bakery for a full year now. He absolutely loves it and all of his custormers. There is one man that he finds rather odd though -- Mr. Fell.

The Telephone Exchange Near Berkeley Square by jenna221b (G)

“Crowley, I don’t know what you think you’re playing at—”

Eva rushes to cut him off, “No, no.” She has overheard enough domestics to last a lifetime. “You’re through to the exchange, sir, for calls to Mayfair.”

No answer, but there’s a distinct sigh in the background.

She persists, “It is a call for Mayfair, yes?”

And, now, the reply is swift, each word laced with frustration. “What on earth do you need to know that for?”

“Well, sir, it was just to be sure that you’ve got the right—”

“I am sorry,” the man interrupts, not sounding sorry in the slightest. “I thought it all just happened.”

“Afraid not,” Eva says firmly. She bites back, We can’t work miracles.

*

A London telephone operator transfers some most intriguing calls.

Hiding in Plain Sight by ourownmaking (T)

The premise of the project was simple enough; choose a place - somewhere in or around London, preferably - that you have a strong personal connection to, and which is at least a bit historic. Look into the history of that place, make a report, et cetera. It was all very straightforward, all very simple.

What wasn’t simple was explaining why the same man had owned A. Z. Fell & Co. since it opened.

5 Times Crowley was Mistaken for Something Else and One Time Aziraphale Was by Casidi_Mac (T)

5 times throughout history that Crowley was mistaken for various other Occult beings, the consequences of which range from being followed by a kid demanding wishes to an angry mob trying to kill him. Good thing he has Aziraphale to pull him out of hot water.

The Massive Continuity of Ducks by xXvintage_goose_incognitoXx (G)

“How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.” - Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night. Sunglasses was wearing a tartan tie. Tartan’s vest and coat were surprisingly dust-free. The ducks wanted bread.

(OR an outsider's point of view when Crowley and Aziraphale meet after the body-swap.)

Big Spooky Fan by WorseOmens (NR)

A scout troop tells spooky stories around a campfire, and one ex-Londoner has an interesting tale to tell about Soho's most bizarre urban legend: AZ Fell and his antique bookshop.

(Or: Aziraphale gets mistaken for a ghost)

- Mod D

[liriostigre]

Isabel Allende, Eva Luna (translated by Margaret Sayers Peden)

[dotsayers]

2, 4, 15, 19?

2. top 5 books of all time?

you really came in with the hard hitters here. this is going to have some recency bias BUT in no particular order

the goblin emperor by katherine addison

the wild places by robert macfarlane

gaudy night by dorothy l sayers

feet of clay by terry pratchett (here standing in for Discworld As A Whole, My Beloved)

the collected works of m.r. james (look i am fixating okay)

EDIT: THE SECRET COUNTESS BY EVA IBBOTSON OBVIOUSLY. probably would replace m.r. james or robert macfarlane but by a VERY slim margin

4. what sections of a bookstore do you browse?

if it's a chain then the sff, crime fiction and horror sections, possibly the nature writing and history if i have time. a secondhand bookshop i usually branch out a bit and look at poetry and classics

15. recommend and review a book.

one of my favourite non fiction books is called finders keepers: a tale of archaeological plunder and obsession. it's a semi-memoir semi-soapbox for the author about the ethical problems with being an archaeologist in the context of imperialism and colonialism. i don't know that i agreed with all of the conclusions in the book but it certainly Made Me Think, and the narrative voice and quality of prose dragged me in. i also think that the author's choice to explicitly compare treasure hunters and the illegal trade in antiquities to colonialist sentiments among academic archaeologists was sick as hell.

19. most disliked popular books?

wish i could say that i've read that many popular books. i guess i would say that on the whole contemporary romance doesn't do it for me, so despite starting rwrb i couldn't get into it. OH HANG ON the answer is the raven cycle. good vibes but a quadrilogy cannot live on vibes alone

also fuck david walliams but those are popular among the children i teach not my fellow tumblrheads

send me ask meme prompts...

[reyys]

answer the questions and tag 20 people you’d like to get to know better.

tagged by @nina-sayers thank you!

tagging: @andthwip, @heartlinings, @eva-greens, @marvelsamwilson, @blindfaith, @sergeantbbarnes, @sophturne

nickname: mag/magz

star sign: leo

height: 5′5

time:  9:56pm

birthday: july 23.

favourite bands & groups: the strokes, gorillaz, the black keys, florence and the machine (does that count?)

favourite solo artists: sade, jay z, teyana taylor, frank ocean, amy winehouse, lauryn hill

favourite foods: pizza anything potato except salad

favourite colours: black and blue

last thing i googled: hellboy

last show i watched: i’m watching euphoria

last movie i watched: Life of Pi in 4k

lucky number: 23

when did i create this blog: 1/1/17.

do i have any other blogs: yeah i have @elyzas-archive but it’s been dead since I started this one

why did i choose my url: i really like star wars and i really liked rey before they did whatever the hell they did to the character.

blogs who follow you: idk i think a thousand something

instruments: own a guitar but suck at playing it.

average hours of sleep: about 5.

how many blankets do you sleep with: 2

[fictionfromafar]

My favourite fifteen fabulous novels published in 2021 from around the world

While the worst of lockdown is hopefully behind us, the restrictions in place early in the year certainly opened up the opportunities to read more this year. I hope you all found the chance to do so. Here are some of the books that I particularly enjoyed reading this year which I have listed in alphabetical order by the author’s name.  While I have read some books set in Britain and the USA, I have preferred to focus on books set in other parts of the world. Where the book is a translation, the translator’s name is given:

Girls Who Lie by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, translated by Victoria Cribb, Orenda Books

2021 has been a record year for the number of translated titles from Iceland, I have read 8 yet this is my favourite. Ægisdóttir showed fantastic promise with The Creak On The Stairs but solidifies her reputation as one of the finest crime writers in Europe as she harnesses the atmospheric settings of her country without being reliant upon them, she uses multiple time periods effectively, develops her characters’ traits and builds suspense without an implausible body count in this story of the investigation of a missing woman. 

Brickmakers by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott, Charco Press

Argentine author Almada has been at the forefront of the rise in popularity of Edinburgh-based Charco Press and her third novel for the publisher tells the story of a family feud in a small rural village. We follow the legacy left to Pajaro Tamai and Marciano Miranda by their fathers who have left them predestined to clash at some time in a very claustrophobic and masochistic setting. A book of extraordinary tension. 

The Untamable by Guilermo Arriaga, translated by Frank Wynne and Jessie Mendez Sayer, Maclehose Press

The longest book I’ve read this year, but also one of the most rewarding, this story is superbly written. The Amores Peros screenwriter captivates in this coming of age story of Juan Guillermo living in the barrios of 1960s Mexico City. Juan has to tackle both criminal gangs and Catholic fundamentalists as he seeks revenge on the murder of his brother Carlos and the subsequent loss of his entire family. 

In The Shadow Of The Fire by Hervé Le Corre, translated by Tina Kover, Europa Editions

An epic historical fiction novel set during the time of the Paris Commune. It features a criminal investigation but it is so much more than that, as it captures the sounds, smells and tastes of life in a crumbling and anarchic capital city. The idealisms, the solidarity and the imagery feel so real and so captivating while the deaths of which there are many are so bloody. 

The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock, translated by Tara Chase, Crooked Lane Books/Swift Press

Published in the UK in March 2022, Danish author Hancock’s debut is the first Kaldan and Schafer Mystery and a gripping psychological thriller. I have read many Nordic Noir stories this year, yet I really felt this story went somewhere that very few other stories do - and I don’t just mean the French locations that some of the characters appear in. It’s a compulsive read and I’m already keenly awaiting a follow-up.

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray, Little Brown

While Bullet Train may capture the attention of the critics, it would be wrong to overlook Higashino’s finest novel since The Devotion Of Suspect X. Police detective Kusanagi is forced to bring his personal friend Detective Galileo into the case of the discovery of the body of a missing teenager in a plot that places a honkaku mystery within a contemporary setting.

Lightseekers by Femi Kayode, Raven Books

Inspired by a true story, Lightseekers follows developments after three young students are brutally murdered in a Nigerian university town. It sees investigative psychologist Philip Taiwo hired by one of the boy’s father’s in order to discover the truths behind their deaths. Taiwo discovers a very different location where he has to discover whether it was tradition and superstition or economics and jealousy that were the prevailing factors.

No Honour by Awais Khan, Orenda Books

A beautifully written story where sixteen-year-old Abida has to leave her village in rural Pakistan due to breaking age-old rules that the inhabitants have to stand by. She has to move to the overpopulated and dangerous city of Lahore where her life continues to take a downward spiral. No Honour highlights the contrasts in modern-day Pakistan where Abida’s father Jamil has to try to rescue his daughter. 

Velvet Was The Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Jo Fletcher Books

Known more for her speculative fiction stories rather than crime fiction, New York Times bestseller Moreno-Garcia pays homage to earlier Mexican writers such as Rafael Bernal with this superb story set in Mexico City in 1970. It focuses on oddball outsider Maite, whose wealthy neighbour disappears suddenly, and criminal for hire Elvis. This is a delightfully easily readable book that disguises quite a complicated plot. 

Oxygen by Sacha Naspini, translated by Clarissa Botsford, Europa Editions

This is such a memorable book that follows the arrest of a man for the abduction and fourteen-year detention of a young woman as the story follows the impact of one man’s crimes on those he leaves behind. Luca has to live everything that his father has done but he faces obsessions of his own. Laura was imprisoned for years but has to adjust to freedom again while her mother had started to rebuild her own life. Oxygen ventures where so few novels go. 

The Foreign Girls by Sergio Olguín, translated by Miranda France, Bitter Lemon Press

This is the second in the Veronica Rosenthal series focussed on a hard-living Buenos Aires-based journalist.  Rosenthal encounters two European girls while on a break in northern Argentina. When they are both found dead she has to discover the reason for their deaths in a complexly plotted story that focuses on the common occurrence of femicide that has sadly blighted Olguín’s home country. 

The Transparency Of Time by Leonardo Padura, translated by Anna Kushner, Bitter Lemon Press

The stories of retired Inspector Mario Conde can often be seen as a reflection on the contemporary state of Cuba as a whole and are always absorbing reads. This time Padura expands the story to include some imagery from the crusades and the Spanish civil war while Conde is required to assist the investigation of two murders apparently causes by the theft of a statue. 

People Like Them by Samira Sedira, translated by Lara Vergnaud, Raven Books

A beautiful Alpine location sees the terrible massacre of a family of four. Told from the view of the killer’s wife, Anna Guillot is made to reflect on what drove her husband to carry out such an unimaginable act. Sedira’s English language debut is a compelling story that effectively examines how a toxic combination of low self-esteem, suppressed racism, class envy, and financial tensions can change the behaviours of a seemingly ordinary man. 

The Scorpion’s Head by Hilde Vandermeeren, translated by Laura Watkinson, Pushkin Press/Walter Presents

This fast-paced thriller is the first English language release by a prolific Flemish writer. A contract killer suddenly has a conscience when he is tasked with killing a young woman and her son. Soon the hunter becomes the hunted as he looks to protect them and break up the organisation he has long been part of.  

Punishment Of A Hunter by Yulia Yakovleva, translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, Pushkin Vertigo

Set in 1930s Leningrad, detective Vasily Zaitsev is given the responsibility to investigate a set of apparently unrelated murders, later on, he discovers missing works of art. Within the backdrop of Stalinist purges he has to try to maintain the trust of his superiors while knowing he cannot trust those who are supposed to be working for him. In spite of an unusual setting this is a highly rewarding story. 

Please check out my reviews of these titles.

Here are another 15 books that I really enjoyed:

Hotel Catagena by Simone Buchholz

The Other Mother by Michel Bussi

Riccardino by Andreas Camilleri

The Measure Of Time by Gianrico Carofiglio

The Assistant by Kjell Ola Dahl

Repetance by Eloísa Díaz

The Butterfly House by Katrine Engberg

The Commandments by Óskar Guðmundsson

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka

Into The Mouth Of A Lion by A B Kyazze

All Human Wisdom by Pierre Lemaitre

The Secret Life Of Writers by Guilluame Musso

Cold As Hell by Lilja Sigurðardóttir

The Doll by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Geiger by Gustaf Skordeman

Let me know your favourites!

[sciencespies]

Hundreds of Holocaust Testimonies Translated, Digitized for the First Time

https://sciencespies.com/history/hundreds-of-holocaust-testimonies-translated-digitized-for-the-first-time/

Hundreds of Holocaust Testimonies Translated, Digitized for the First Time

On Wednesday, people around the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day—the anniversary of the January 27, 1945, liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

Due to pandemic restrictions, survivors and educational groups couldn’t visit the sites of Nazi atrocities as they have in years past. But a new digital resource from the Wiener Holocaust Library in London offered an alternative for those hoping to honor the genocide’s victims while maintaining social distancing. As the library announced earlier this month, hundreds of its survivor testimonies are now available online—and in English—for the first time.

The archive, titled Testifying to the Truth: Eyewitness to the Holocaust, currently includes 380 accounts. The rest of the 1,185 testimonies will go online later this year.

“We must not turn away from the hardest truths about the Holocaust, or about the world in which the Holocaust happened,” said Toby Simpson, the library’s director, during a recent virtual commemoration, per the Jewish News’ Beatrice Sayers.

Among those who spoke to the library’s researchers in the years after World War II was Gertrude Deak, a Jewish woman from Hungary who was interned in multiple concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau. In her testimony, Deak outlined details of life in the camps, including brutal physical labor and going without food or anything to drink.

Eyewitness account given by Gertrude Deak detailing her imprisonment in Auschwitz-Birkenau, a death march and liberation

(Wiener Holocaust Library Collections)

At one point, she recalled how two women escaped from the camp but were recaptured by the SS.

“We had to stand and watch, while the two girls dug their own graves, then were shot,” Deak said, “and we had to bury them.”

On another occasion, Deak was one of 200 workers selected for the gas chambers. Upon recounting the group’s numbers, camp guards realized they’d accidentally included 201 individuals. Because she looked healthy, they took Deak out of the group and let her live.

Toward the end of the war, Deak was forced to walk barefoot through the snow on a death march. When she was unable to keep going, her captors left her lying in the road. She received help from several German women, who fed her and let her hide in a barn, where she was eventually found by Russian soldiers.

Other accounts tell of resistance to the Nazis, both inside and outside the camps. In one, Austrian police officer Heinz Mayer describes joining the illegal organization Free Austria after Germany annexed his country. Mayer’s father was killed at Auschwitz, and Mayer himself was arrested, tortured and eventually sent to Buchenwald. There, he was assigned to work in the post room, which was the center of resistance at the camp.

“It was the easiest place for smuggling post to the outside world and for exchanging news,” Mayer explained in his account.

When American troops arrived to liberate the camp on April 11, 1945, prisoners armed with smuggled weapons stormed the watchtowers.

“As the Americans were approaching, the SS thought that it was them who were firing the shots,” Mayer said. “The SS fled, and the prisoners armed themselves with the abandoned weapons. We occupied all the watchtowers and blocked the forest in the direction of Weimar in order to intercept any returning SS.”

The accounts relay experiences of those imprisoned in concentration camps, including Buchenwald (pictured here) and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

(Wiener Holocaust Library Collections)

When Mayer gave his account in 1958, he reported that many of his companions from Buchenwald had already succumbed to the consequences of their time at the camp. He’d been deemed “unfit to work” due to a lung disease he contracted there.

The London library is named after Alfred Wiener, who campaigned against Nazism and gathered evidence documenting the persecution of Jews in 1920s and ’30s Germany. In 1933, Wiener fled the country with his family, settling first in the Netherlands and later in the United Kingdom. He continued his work while abroad, gathering materials that ultimately formed the basis for the library, according to the Telegraph’s Michael Berkowitz.

As Brigit Katz reported for Smithsonian magazine in 2019, Eva Reichmann, the library’s head of research, put out a call to Holocaust survivors in 1954, asking for help documenting their experiences.

“Under no circumstances must this material, written or unwritten, get lost,” she wrote. “[I]t has to be preserved for the future historian.”

Over the next seven years, trained interviewers—many of whom were Holocaust survivors themselves—spoke with eyewitnesses, taking notes and summarizing their stories in the documents that have now been digitized.

The library has previously used its collection of testimonies in exhibitions, like one last year that told the stories of resistance work by European Jews. As Claire Bugos wrote for Smithsonian in August 2020, the show helped fight the persistent myth that those targeted by Nazis were passive victims. Another exhibition at the library documented the impact of the Holocaust on Roma and Sinti people.

In addition to the testimonies, the online archive includes letters, scholarly reports and other materials. Visitors can search through the documents by subject, date range and name.

#History