[ad_1]
“Between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business.”
So says Madame Parks to young Eliza Ripple, now working as a prostitute in Gold Rush-era California after her savage husband is killed in a barroom brawl. Eliza knew this truth well. But rather than let that truth paralyze her, she plunges into the danger that freedom brings.
When some of her co-workers’ daughters go missing, Eliza and her friend Jean take it upon themselves to investigate the murders – a mystery that the male authorities in Monterey ignore.
Jane Smiley’s new novel, “Dangerous Business,” is a simple murder mystery, filled with intense feminist energy. Both Smiley and her heroine are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” but unlike Poe, Smiley gives the characters an interesting sense of possibility.
Today, Friday, on Big Books and Bold Ideas, MPR News host Keri Miller talks about her book with a smile, California’s landscape provides the basis for her book, How to Be Fascinated by Covenanters and Religion, About Women in the Age of the Gold Rush, People Came and Crowded the Infrastructure, The Movement Became Written How to solve problems in life.
Guest:
-
Jane Smiley is the author of several novels, including “A Thousand Acres.”“ Pulitzer Prize Winner. Her new book is “Dangerous Business”.
Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerry Miller podcast Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts Or RSS.
Sign up for the Thread newsletter News and must-read recommendations for the latest book and author news.
Before you continue reading, take a moment to donate to MPR News. Your funding ensures that real and trusted news and context remain accessible to all.
[ad_2]
Source link
