The Blackbirds of St. Giles by Lila Cain (two authors writing under one name) takes the reader from an 18th century Jamaican plantation, the English colonies during the American Revolution, to the diverse and grimy streets of London. Blackbirds started off strong with a visually striking and emotionally wrought scene of an uprising of enslaved… Continue reading Review: The Blackbirds of St. Giles by Lila Cain
In The House Is On Fire, Rachel Beanland recounts the chaotic true story of the 1811 theater fire in Richmond, VA as told from four perspectives. There is Jack, a stage hand who witnesses the inciting event and grapples with doing the right thing. Cecily, an enslaved woman who takes her freedom into her own… Continue reading Review: The House Is on Fire by Rachel Beanland
Battle Scars by Sam Maggs takes place a few years after the Fallen Order game (I suspect this book might take place around the same time as the Obi-Wan series?) I'm also not sure if this book happens right before the sequel game coming out in April, Jedi Survivor, or a year or two beforehand.… Continue reading Review: battle Scars by Sam Maggs
Medieval Woman by Ann Baer is not your typical plot-driven narrative, but rather an intimate portrait of ordinary life among farmers and tradesmen in medieval England. The reader follows Marion, wife of Peter the town carpenter and mother of pre-teen Peterkin and infant Alice. From the start, Medieval Woman is vivid and raw in its… Continue reading Review: Medieval Woman by Ann Baer
I first want to mention that I picked this book to read while on vacation in Italy, just to make it more atmospheric. It's possible being in the place where the novel takes place influenced my reading of it. Mistress of Rome follows Thea, a slave of Jewish heritage, Arius, a gladiator from Britannia, and… Continue reading Review: Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
Black Cloud Rising follows Sergeant Richard Etheridge of the African Brigade on their mission liberating Plantations in coastal North Carolina, as well as flushing out remaining Confederates and partisan guerillas. The story takes place in 1863, in a time and place where many enslaved men had fled their masters to join up with the Union… Continue reading Review: Black Cloud Rising by David Wright Faladé
Set in 1689 New England, Out Front the Following Sea by Leah Angstman follows Ruth Miner, a young woman accused of Witchcraft after the death of her family. After being ostracized from her community, Ruth sets out on her own to reconnect with childhood friend Owen Townsend for help. Serving as the first mate of… Continue reading Out Front the Following Sea by Leah Angstman
I worked with a close friend of mine to produce a short documentary about her #MeToo story. While I didn't have the best equipment or resources to make this, it was still very important to us to get her story out there. This documentary discusses the intersection of sexual assault, domestic abuse, opioid addiction, PTSD, and… Continue reading One Story, Many Stories
At the beginning of 2016, I found out that every year, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh makes a list of everything he watched, read, and listened to that year. So, I decided to do the same...partly as an experiment to see if I could keep up with updating a list every day. Turns out I could! Mine… Continue reading 2016 Media Consumption
Ridley Creek State Park is only 15 minutes from my apartment, and holds within it the Colonial Plantation featured in a previous post. With miles of trails to hike, Ridley Creek has many still-occupied 18th century farmhouses (oh how I want one,) as well as ruins of ones that did not survive the ages. The ruins… Continue reading Ridley Creek State Park: 18th Century Charm
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