The Rabbit's Paw Book Reviews

Here is a novel with a very interesting premise: what if it were suddenly impossible, the world over, to commit physical violence against another person? For instance, bullets from guns just hang in the air, bombs might damage property, but do no one , and people are unable to strike others.  What would people do?  We know enough about human behavior, especially through social media, to expect that some folks would start performing some dangerous experiments. Those who are filled with hate would surely try to find other ways to affect pain and hardship on others.  In The Damage Done, author Michael Landweber presents this interesting premise, along with well drawn characters I found to be either likable or intriguing. This is well-written,  with good pacing, and I enjoyed it.  My one reservation about this slim novel is that it just skims the surface of its topic. This may be as intended, however, since this does create food for thought. Would there be a period ...

  This is one  woman’s story, written to her grandson. Violeta Del Valle has lived one hundred years, from the year of the Spanish Flu pandemic, to the current age of the Coronavirus. This is not just her history, but also a hundred years of her country’s history, as it impacted her and her family. Her home is a country in South America, but not otherwise specified.  As a little girl, Violeta is raised in an affluent family, but soon, the convergence of The Great Depression and her father’s business practices equal disaster for her family. This is the first upheaval in her eventful life. She will learn to live and survive in multiple ways and face many challenges. Some of these challenges will be strictly personal, while the most dangerous will involve the political landscape in her country.  This narrative made me very thankful to have grown up in a country where attention to politics seems to be optional. That is, we in The United States have never woken up to find...

  This is not only a fascinating biography of Polly Adler, but also an insightful history of the Jazz Age. Polly Adler was once one of many young immigrants to come from Eastern Europe, but the path her life took was anything but expected. Born in Yanow, Russia, in 1900, Pearl Adler's early life was very circumspect due to her gender and the anti-Semitic restrictions of the Russian Empire. Nevertheless, throughout her childhood, Pearl exhibited intelligence and was determined to get an education, even though that was unheard of for a girl. At just thirteen years of age, she landed at Ellis Island, all alone, to meet relations who were strangers. When this arrangement turned out to be less than desirable, she was forced to live on her own at a very young age. Her intelligence and determination would be put to many a test in the coming years. How Pearl became Polly Adler, the most well-known madam and a legend in New York City, is a long story, and very much worth reading. Boxers, ga...