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The Housemaid's Daughter

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BookBrowse's 2013 Award Winners

by Louise Penny

Published by St Martin's Minotaur 

 

Winner of the BookBrowse 2013 

Best Nonfiction Book Award:

Five Days in Memorial
by Sheri Fink

Published by Crown

 

 

 

 

     

 

Winner of the BookBrowse 2013
Best Book for Young Adults

Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell

 
Published by St Martin's Press 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Winner of the BookBrowse 2013 

Best Debut

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
by Anthony Marra

Published by Hogarth Books

 

   

Best 2013 Interviews    

Below you'll find a dozen of the most interesting author interviews posted on BookBrowse in 2013- a collection of compelling conversations that go deeper than just asking the authors about their writing schedules or what advice they'd give to budding writers. These interviews look at issues and events from around the globe and provide readers with plenty of food for thought.  

Qais Akbar Omar   Qais Akbar Omar writes a letter to readers about his first book, A Fort of Nine Towers, explaining what led him to weave the story of his life, his family, and Afghanistan into his book.   Interview Books by this author

Elizabeth Becker   Elizabeth Becker discusses her recent book Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism and the research she did for five years about the alarming explosion of tourism around the world.   Interview Books by this author

Erica Brown   Erica Brown talks about finding humor in writing Happier Endings, a book about death.   Interview Books by this author

Megan Chance   Megan Chance discusses her latest book, Bone River, set in the mid-19th century in Shoalwater Bay in the Pacific Northwest.   Interview Books by this author

Charlie Lovett   Charlie Lovett discusses his debut novel, The Bookman's Tale, and its roots in Shakespeare and the sometimes exclusive world of antiquarian booksellers.   Interview Books by this author

Virginia Morell   Virginia Morell discusses how an interview with Jane Goodall morphed into the book, Animal Wise, if there is an ethical component to animals' feelings, and which authors have influenced her science writing the most.   Interview Books by this author

Michael Moss   Michael Moss discusses his book Salt Sugar Fat, an investigation into the rise of the processed food industry and how the public can get informed about what it eats and how to fight back.   Interview Books by this author

Kevin Powers   Shortlisted for the 2012 National Book Award, The Yellow Birds has been compared to classics in the war genre like All Quiet on the Western Front and Catch-22. Author Kevin Powers tells us if this comparison is justified and describes the role of fiction in driving home the injustices of war.   Interview Books by this author

Suzanne Rindell   A Conversation with Suzanne Rindell, author of The Other Typist which explores her inspirations for the book, her research into the 1920s and the ways women's roles changed at this time, and the power of literature and the written word.   Interview Books by this author

Kent Wascom   Kent Wascom discussed his debut book, The Blood of Heaven, an epic novel about the American frontier in the early days of the nineteenth century, and reflects on the sources which provided the historical context to the story.   Interview Books by thi

Top 2014 Book Club Recommendations     

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Publication Date: Oct 2013
 

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From the Jacket

Critically acclaimed author Robert Klara leads readers through an unmatched tale of political ambition and technical skill: the Truman administration's controversial rebuilding of the White House.

In 1948, President Harry Truman, enjoying a bath on the White House's second floor, almost plunged through the ceiling of the Blue Room into a tea party for the Daughters of the American Revolution. A handpicked team of the country's top architects conducted a secret inspection of the troubled mansion and, after discovering it was in imminent danger of collapse, insisted that the First Family be evicted immediately. What followed would be the most historically significant and politically complex home-improvement job in American history. While the Trumans camped across the street at Blair House, Congress debated whether to bulldoze the White House completely, and the Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb, starting the Cold War.

Indefatigable researcher Robert Klara reveals what has, until now, been little understood about this episode: America's most famous historic home was basically demolished, giving birth to today's White House. Leaving only the mansion's facade untouched, workmen gutted everything within, replacing it with a steel frame and a complex labyrinth deep below ground that soon came to include a top-secret nuclear fallout shelter.

The story of Truman's rebuilding of the White House is a snapshot of postwar America and its first Cold War leader, undertaking a job that changed the centerpiece of the country's national heritage. The job was by no means perfect, but it was remarkable-and, until now, all but forgotten.

Reviews

"Characters, famous and relatively obscure, flit in and out of the narrative, creating frequently humorous situations. Klara writes with a strong sense of the ironic, and he is careful to point out that more substantive world events were going on under Truman's watch. This is a light, generally enjoyable look at a historical sideshow." - Booklist

"Starred Review. Klara really shines as he relates the back and forth among the White House and Congress and the architects, federal building inspectors and building crews as they diagnosed the problems. An enjoyable read and a useful guide for visitors to the nation's capital." - Kirkus

"This book is popular history at its best: a little-known but compelling story told by an excellent writer. One hopes it gets widespread attention because it teaches much about the history of this priceless landmark and serves as a reminder of how close we came to losing it. It also provides a valuable reminder of how the decisions we make about historic treasures today will affect the way that generations yet unborn experience them in the future." - Christian Science Monitor     

5 people will each win a hardcover copy of The Hidden White House.  

This giveaway is open to residents of the USA only, unless you are a BookBrowse member, in which case you are eligible to win wherever you might live.

 

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