Six new books to check out in February
Tammany Hall, Lana Turner, Beverly Hills espionage, and more
From colonial Massachusetts to mid-Century Hollywood, we’ve got a killer lineup this month, including one from my publisher (William Morrow) one from a former colleague (Terry Golway), and multiple starred reviews (PW, Kirkus). Do you enjoy tales of murder? Spycraft? 19th Century divorce scandal? Yes, yes, and yes? Read on!
THE BISHOP AND THE BUTTERFLY: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age, by Michael Wolraich (Union Square, February 6)
From the publisher: “The riveting story of how the murder of femme fatale Vivian Gordon in 1931 brought about the downfall of the mayor of New York City and led to the end of Tammany Hall’s dominance.” PW’s starred review raves: “Wolraich does a sterling job spinning the investigation into a portrait of wider New York society, all while keeping the pages turning as quickly as in any top-shelf mystery novel.”
A MURDER IN HOLLYWOOD: The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime, by Casey Sherman (SourceBooks, February 13)
From the publisher: “New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman pulls back Tinseltown's velvet curtain to reveal the dark underbelly of celebrity, rife with toxic masculinity and casual violence against women, and tells the story of Lana Turner and her daughter, who finally stood up to the abuse that plagued their family for years.” Sherman tells People: “I pored over documents, a lot of FBI files, a lot of the newspaper reporting of the day. And I took a 30,000-foot view of the case.”
BEVERLY HILLS SPY: The Double-Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor, by Ronald Drabkin (William Morrow, February 13)
From the publisher: “The untold story of the World War I hero who became a fixture of high society in Golden Age Hollywood—all while acting as a double agent for the Japanese Empire as it prepared to attack Pearl Harbor.” Kirkus Reviews’ starred review calls it: “A beguiling tale of espionage and double-dealing in the years leading up to World War II. … [A] narrative that demands a suspension of disbelief—and richly rewards it.”
STRONG PASSIONS: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York, by Barbara Weisberg (February 20, Norton)
From the publisher: “Shocking revelations of a wife’s adultery explode in an incendiary nineteenth-century trial, exposing upper-crust New York society and its secrets.” Yet another starred review: “Weisberg digs through newspaper archives and legal libraries to deliver this captivating chronicle of a high-society scandal that riveted the nation during the final years of the Civil War. … It’s a page-turning glimpse into the lives of 19th-century New York’s upper crust.”
I NEVER DID LIKE POLITICS: How Fiorello La Guardia Became America's Mayor, and Why He Still Matters, by Terry Golway (St. Martin’s Press, February 20)
From the publisher: “There was nobody quite like Fiorello LaGuardia. In this immensely readable book, as entertaining as the man himself, Terry Golway captures the enduring appeal of one of America’s greatest leaders.” Booklist says: “The book's organization around the admirable qualities that distinguished La Guardia’s character and leadership works brilliantly, making this a first-rate biography of a unique and transfixing figure.”
THE DEERFIELD MASSACRE: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early, by James L. Swanson (Scribner, February 27)
From the publisher: “In the tradition of the New York Times bestseller Empire of the Summer Moon comes a spellbinding account of a forgotten chapter in American history: the deadly confrontation between Indians and colonists in Massachusetts in 1704 and the tragic saga that unfolded.” Jon Meacham says: “James Swanson has given us a compelling account of an unjustly forgotten episode in American history. This is an immersive and memorable book.”