Erin O'Riordan writes smart, whimsical erotica. Her erotic romance novel trilogy, Pagan Spirits, is now available. With her husband, she also writes crime novels. Visit her home page at ko-fi.com.
Podcast host Robert Evans - not the Robert Evans you're thinking of - is an author whose novel is called After the Revolution. It's a dystopian fantasy about cybernetically-enhanced North Americans living after a civil war that splits the United States into very different countries. I haven't read it, but if you want to hear excerpts, Evans reads them on the show.
Disastrous History: A Disasters of History Podcast
Disastrous History's host, Anthony Finchum, is a firefighter by profession, which gives him an interesting perspective on how disasters happen and what kinds of safety measures could have prevented them.
Footnoting History
Ghost Town: Strange History, True Crime, & The Paranormal
Today's Observance: New Year's Day Author Julie S. Howlin post of the day: J. Edgar Hoover
And Now: The collection is complete! Now you can go back and read the entire updated, revised, and consolidated "Bummer" collection of history posts for each month of the year.
Happy new year! I hope your 2026 isn't a bummer. And now, because I still haven't published this in book form and you won't find these anywhere else online, here are my sources.
Physical Books
1959: The Year Everything Changed by Fred Kaplan. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009.
Our Dreaming Mind: A Sweeping Exploration of the Role That Dreams Have Played in Politics, Art, Religion, and Psychology, from Ancient Civilizations to the Present Day by Robert L. Van de Castle, Ph.D., Ballantine Books, 1994.
Happy Friday! This week went really fast (time flies when you're learning how to work your husband's hemodialysis machine), and now it's time for Book Club Friday once again.
Disney princesses, these women are not. But if you've ever wanted to know what a princess's life is REALLY like, without the singing crustaceans, this may be the book for you.
Does anyone else remember Uppity Women of Medieval Times and some of the other titles that Vicki León and some others* used to write for Conari Press (now part of Red Wheel/Weiser)? There was a whole series in the 1990s that sought to fight the erasure of herstory by bringing to light some of the lesser-known, but fascinating, women in history. This book is like a mini-course in that.
Like the Uppity Women series (its foremother), this book divides the women into categories, such as Warriors, Partiers, and Madwomen, rather than proceeding in strict chronological order. It focuses mainly on European history - the Germano-British House of Hanover seems to be a favorite subject - but is just multicultural enough to pass the sniff test.
Some of the women you'll find between the pages include:
- Pingyang (7th century China)
- Boudicca (1st century Britain)
- Durgavati (16th century India)
- Hatshepsut (ca. 1500 BCE Egypt)
- Njinga of Ndongo (17th century West Africa - what is now Angola)
- Roxolana (16th century Ottoman Empire)
- La Malinche (16th century Mexico)
- Sarah Winnemucca (Paiute people, 1844-1891)
- Margaret Windsor (1930-2002, sister of Elizabeth II of England)
The writing style is very informal, which some reviewers have disliked (one compared it to the tone of a gossip magazine), and I have to say, I see their point. I think what bothered me the most was that some of the passages about allegedly promiscuous princesses took on what I felt was too judgmental a tone. (To be fair, Napoleon and some of the Hanover kings get a little slut-shamed, too, so it isn't a particularly gender-biased strain of judgment.)
If you can forgive a narrative whose voice can, at times, be a bit intrusive, and you're a young person considering a history or women's studies major, or you're fascinated with history as a hobby, or you're a not-necessarily-younger person who's fascinated with royalty in general or who wants to brush up on some of the lesser-known women in political history, I recommend this book to you as a good jumping-on point. If you find a favorite, I'm sure you'll go on to research her in more depth.
Another complaint I noticed in briefly skimming over some previous reviews was that not all the women in the book are, strictly speaking, princesses. Some of them are impostors, or from cultures without a formalized system of royal titles, and some of them (especially in the early chapters) are legendary figures who may not have basis in historical fact. This part didn't particularly bother me; if Rodriguez McRobbie had stuck to a very formal definition of princesshood, the book would almost certainly have been more Eurocentric and less interesting.
I'm fairly happy with her selections, and with the depth of information she got into with most of them. I do think we need (frequent) reminders that history was never a male-only affair, so I appreciate the efforts of books such as these. I would buy it for my nieces, but I'd also try to get them to retain it as just one part of a larger women's history bookshelf.
I received an advance reading copy of this book through the Amazon Vine Program at no charge in exchange for this review. I was not otherwise compensated for this review, which is my own honest opinion.
Happy Women's History Month 2014! In March 2011, I wrote "Great Books For Women's History Month" for David Weisman's book blog Breaking in Before Breaking Down. It's still a great list, so please don't be out off by the fact that it's labeled 2011.
Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come by Richard Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Have I read anything else from this author? Yes, I read The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus. I remember that I listened to part of the audiobook of The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring several years ago, but I can't remember if I ever finished it or not.
Was this book better than this author's other book(s)? It was as good as his previous book about the Ebola virus.
Was this book enjoyable? It was educational. It's never enjoyable to hear about other people getting a serious illness.
Did I learn anything new from this book? Yes, I learned a lot about virology.
Where did I get this book? I checked out this audiobook from my local library using the Libby app.
Do I recommend this book to other readers? Yes, as long as they won't be too horrified by graphic medical descriptions.
Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If your favorite podcast is Sawbones, this book is for you.
This is the first book I've read by Wright, but I really enjoyed her writing style and authorial voice. She belongs to the Roxane Gay school of feminist scholarship that has a sense of humor but puts up with no bullshit. Beginning with the Antonine Plague (probably of smallpox) that killed between 10 and 18 million ancient Romans during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Wright examines how societies reacted each time a mass illness raged through them.
In a predictable historical pattern, individuals have two reactions to plagues: To take advantage (often by selling bogus cures) and to genuinely try to ease suffering. There's a bit of good news in there: Namely, that there's never been a mass illness without individuals reacting with compassion and trying their best to help, even if the cause of the illness was not yet understood. For every bad reaction (like some of the crap that happened to Typhoid Mary), there were people like Father Damien (of Molokai fame) who risked their own lives in the service of others.
Some of humanity's previous plagues were caused by diseases that are curable now. Tuberculosis was the bane of the 18th and 19th centuries, for example, but can now be eliminated with antibiotics. So, too, can syphilis, although knowing this doesn't do much to help the victims of the infamous Tuskegee experiments whose lives were lost or irreparably altered by their unethical doctors withholding the cure from them. (Shame, America. Shame.)
Other plagues could still kill us today. The bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages is still with us. About a dozen Americans get it every year. We could drive ourselves to anxiety thinking about the "Spanish" (actually American) flu spread by service members quartered close together to wage the Great War. Influenza is still one of our deadliest infections and still has no cure.
But worrying us about plagues that will happen in the future isn't Wright's purpose. She's more interested in documenting the ways we've always reacted when our friends, family members, neighbors, and ourselves fall ill in large numbers. Are children cared for or abandoned? Do we spread deadly misinformation, focus on what facts we can glean, or expend our energy on compassion? This book combines sociology, psychology, and medical history.
The most recent plague examined is that of polio*, which terrified Americans through the middle of the 20th century when it could be cured. Wright chose to focus on those epidemics in which the key players are historical ones. In her epilogue, she mentions the AIDS epidemic of the late 1970s and 1980s. She chose not to write about it because it's still within living memory to a much greater extent than polio. I can appreciate that decision. Having lived through the 1980s, I can understand why it's tough to be objective about the lack of government response to the deaths of so many innocent people. (And all victims of disease are innocent - microbes are not a moral judgment).
If you read this book, you'll learn some interesting historical facts. You'll be impressed by the heroes of history who did their best to respond with compassionate care. You'll be saddened by a few less-than-desirable aspects of human behavior. And hopefully, if you ever find yourself caught in a plague, you'll be a little bit wiser. I'll do my best to try to err on the side of compassion. While also remembering that personal protective gear exists.
I borrowed this audiobook from my local library using the Libby app and was not obligated in any way to review it.
*Upon reflection, the encephalitis lethargica epidemic may come after the polio chapter.
Sometimes I like to get lost on Wikipedia. I got lost the other day in the "pseudohistory" category, and it was fascinating.
It started with the Ourang Medan. Well, it started on YouTube. I wasn't signed into my Google Account, so I was browsing the home page. A channel with a series of "top 5" lists came up - in fact, the channel is called Top5s.
This is the video I saw.
[If you want to read more about the strange death of Canadian student Elisa Lam in Los Angeles, you may do so at The Vigilant Citizen.]
The evening after I watched the video, I went to bed thinking about the Ourang Medan, the "ghost ship" whose crew was supposedly found dead, with expressions of abject terror on their faces, shortly before the ship exploded and sank. I wondered if the story was true.
I looked it up the next day. According to Wikipedia, there's no evidence that a ship called the Ourang Medan even existed. If it did, it should be listed in Lloyd's Shipping Register, but it isn't.
The categories at the bottom of the entry caught my eye; this is where I noticed the word "pseudohistory." What a fascinating word, I thought: not history that actually happened, but "history" that circulates in human consciousness without apparent basis in fact. I had to know what else belonged to this category.
For the record, I should mention that Wikipedia, as a peer-edited source, doesn't have the same standards for reliability and accuracy that a source with a "gatekeeper"/editor has. Although it has guidelines, it has so many users that it would be virtually impossible to ensure that all the articles adhere to its guidelines at all times. We have to take Wikipedia entries with a grain of salt, but that doesn't mean the categorization itself isn't of interest.
Pseudohistory, it turns out, contains a great many fascinating topics. Some of it has to do with "ancient astronaut theory," as exemplified by Erich von Däniken's 1968 nonfiction book Chariots of the Gods?. (The question mark is part of the title.)
Another large subcategory of pseudohistory is labelled as Priory of Sion Hoax. This has to do with much of the background story that went into Dan Brown's writing of The Da Vinci Code. Another subcategory is the "Shakespeare authorship question." (There's also a Molière authorship question, but hey, I care much less about French literature than English. Cultural bias - sorry.)
Much of the pseudohistory category has to do with religion, much of it to do specifically with Christianity. Take, for example, the brief Babylon Mystery Religion article. Babylon Mystery Religion is a book, now out of print, by Ralph Woodrow published in 1966. Referring to an earlier (1853) book called The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, Woodrow's book linked the Roman Catholic Church to ancient Babylonian rituals. Woodrow later recanted his anti-Catholic views in a second book.
Apparently there are quite a few factual errors in Hislop's book, stemming from misunderstandings about the historical Babylonian culture. Although scholars have subsequently pointed out these errors, the Catholicism=Whore of Babylon theme is still alive and well among some Evangelical Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses.
One of the modern-day adherents to some version of Hislop's ideas is Michael Hoggard, an American (Missouri) pastor with a relatively large following for his radio/YouTube show. The show has more than 20,000 fans on Facebook. He also curates the website http://666alert.net/, which collects uses of images linked to the number 666 as they appear in popular culture.
Hoggard is a Southern Baptist. A related pseudohistorical concept is Baptist successionism, which argues that the Baptist denomination is most direct line between the Christianity of Jesus and the Apostles and modern churches. The work most often associated with this view is The Trail of Blood (1931) by J.M. Carroll. It is not historically accurate, but it remained influential among Southern Baptists well into the late 20th century.
But for me, maybe the most interesting article in all of pseudohistory is the Witch-Cult Hypothesis. Remember when I got my ass handed to me for over-relying on Barbara J. Walker as a source? (If not, you can always read about it here.) Well, Walker is probably an adherent of this theory. It states, essentially, that through the Middle Ages and into the Modern Era, ancient Pagan religions survived in such a way that worshipers of The Horned God of Paganism were mistaken by Christians for worshipers of the Christian devil and subsequently persecuted as witches. This theory came about in the 19th century and was perpetuated into the 20th century, even including the entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica for many years.
(Encyclopedias are them things we used to read before we had Google.)
According to the Wikipedia entry, the Witch-Cult Hypothesis found a champion in British historian/Egyptologist Margaret Murray*, who wrote The Witch-Cult in Western Europe. It is not historically accurate.
Despite its unreliability as history, Murray's book is said, in the Wikipedia entry, to have been influential in the development of the Wiccan religion. Murray's subsequent book, The God of the Witches, introduced the term The Horned God for the male deity worshiped by the alleged witch cult on Western Europe. (She acknowledged that the witch cult also worshiped a goddess, but in her opinion the witches regarded their male deity as the more important of the two.) Gerald Gardner, who was also English and is now considered the founder of modern Wicca (referred to as Gardnerian Wicca), claimed to have found a surviving coven of the kind of witches Murray described, and he started his own coven based on them, in the interest of keeping the religion alive.
But mind you, Wicca, modern witchcraft, and NeoPaganism are 20th century religions. While they revive certain aspects of ancient belief and worship, the rituals and beliefs of modern witches were created in the 20th century. And there's nothing wrong with that. People take what they need from their religions, and a religion doesn't have to be old to meet the needs of its practitioners.
The Wikipedia article on The Horned God states that Gardner, consciously influenced by Murray, borrowed his conception of Wiccan practice from Freemasonry, from the Theosophy movement, from other unnamed occult sources, and from Aleister Crowley's Gnostic Mass. (In 1913, Crowley wrote a mass for the Gnostic church, borrowing from the rituals of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, but replacing Christian concepts with his own Thelema, his "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.")
By the way, Margaret Murray is also in part responsible for the association of Glastonbury, England, with King Arthur and the Holy Grail. I used this legend in Midsummer Night.
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Andersen, one of the two co-founders of Spy magazine, spent several years researching this meandering but compelling history. The 500 years in question begin with Martin Luther and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, leading to the Puritans, leading eventually to the "alternate facts" that America runs on today. This isn't an indictment of only the contemporary Republican party - we're all guilty of some of these strange, irrational beliefs - but it pulls no punches in calling BS on climate change deniers, flat earthers, and anyone who thinks the Earth is 5,779 years old and/or takes the Bible literally. I'm not sure if I enjoyed this book or if it just made me want to smack all my fellow Americans on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper like naughty puppies.
I borrowed this e-book from my local library using the Libby app and was not obligated in any way to review it.
Goodreads book description: Supposedly given in 1712, the "Willie Lynch Speech" is widely believed to be authentic. Actually, as revealed in this book, it is an amateurish and malicious hoax. Unfortunately, many people taken in by this hoax have spread and championed it. An extreme example of this championing occurred in 1995 at the Million Man March. There, the "Willie Lynch Speech" was dramatically repeated. Marchers and millions around the world who witnessed the March through television and radio were presented with this hoax as fact and history.
In the Death of Willie Lynch Speech, Professor Manu Ampim exposes the myth of Willie Lynch. Ampim does this by documenting the 20th century origin and fraudulent history of the "Willie Lynch Speech" and speculating, correctly, about the author's identity--forcing the admitted hoaxer to confess.
This volume contains the fake "Willie Lynch Speech," correspondence between Ampim and the admitted hoaxer, and the hoaxer's confession.
Death of the Willie Lynch Speech: Exposing the Myth by Manu Ampim
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Professor Manu Ampim, an African-American historian who specializes in Africana, uses his extensive knowledge of American history to thoroughly debunk a stubborn urban myth with new legs in the Internet era. This is a brief collection of letters and essays that can be read fairly quickly, making it ideal for group study, including in high school and college classrooms. In addition to the historical debunking itself, the book also provides readers a number of suggestions with which to research historically accurate (and thus more useful) firsthand sources on the African-American experience.
This was an ebook I checked out from the library through HooplaDigital.com. I was not obligated in any way to review it. This review represents my own honest opinion.
Stopping by from Reading-Romances.com's Romancing the Valentine Giveaway Hop? Please find the giveaway post HERE.
Eliot Hastings you’re not an easy person to find online. What would you like readers to know about you?
I live in Warwickshire, my interests include Architecture and History and I am lucky that I live in a country steeped in history so that I am able to follow a favourite hobby which is visiting historic buildings and Cathedrals.
What made you decide to write Forbidden Pleasures, Forgiven Desires?
I started writing short stories as a hobby years ago and never thought I would be published. But when I read some of Ken Follett's work it inspired me to expand my ideas and develop my characters. It is also a lot easier for writers to get published these days and that was a big factor in bringing the books to fruition.
If there was a movie version who would you imagine playing Peter, Lisa and Suzy?
Not sure about the male lead but perhaps Catherine Zeta Jones as Lisa, and I think Angie Everhart would be ideal for Suzy.
Why did you choose to set your stories in the '70s?
The two central characters of the first book Amanda and Kathryn meet in 1972 when they are at school, they remain close friends and they appear in most of the series bringing them up to the current time. The 70s and 80s were exciting decades in many ways and in the first book of the series, which will be published later this year, I wanted to try and capture some of those experiences and feelings. In the remaining books (including this one) the stories are mostly set in the present time.
Do you listen to music while you write? If so, do you have a favourite artist or style of music that inspires you?
Yes I do, I have a very broad taste in music, I listen mainly to Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical and Folk. I get inspiration from artists like Arcade Fire, Leon Russell, Bob Dylan, and for mood music I like to listen to Led Zeppelin, Genesis, MJQ, Bach, and Kate Rusby. A favourite I first heard (and sang) as a child is Allegri’s Miserere.
Who are your favourite writers? Do you have a favourite erotica writer or book?
My favourite writers are Ian Mortimer, Ken Follett and Robert Ludlum. My favourite erotica writer is Anne Rice, and The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy.
What can readers expect from you in the future?
The conclusion of this story will be published in February, the original story has nineteen characters and there are currently eight books planned for the series.
*****
Peter was an assertive man, in complete control of his life and work. But in his closest relationships he was a natural submissive, and he had been searching for a dominant partner for as long as he could remember. Dissatisfied with his relationships, he had sought the services of a professional Mistress. Lisa enjoyed her work as a sadistic Dominatrix, exploiting his masochism and they soon became good friends. It seemed as if he had everything he needed, and his search was over. Then he met Suzy and fell in love with her, they were brought together by a quirk of fate. She had her own agenda, but there was something unspoken, something below the surface that drew them together, but would she love him? And if she did, would he be able to live a life denying his need to be dominated?
Eliot Hastings is a technical author and began writing short stories as a hobby some years ago. He is an engineering graduate and lives in Warwickshire, his interests include Architecture and History and he considers himself lucky to live in a country steeped in history. It allows him to follow two of his favourite hobbies which are photography and visiting historic buildings and Cathedrals. Eliot is into motor sports and music and he is a regular at race meetings and gigs up and down the country.
Catherine Zeta-Jones photo by Georges Biard, Creative Commons license
The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible History of the Electronic Gaming Revolution by Jonathan Hennessey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was born in the late '70s and grew up in the '80s, so I have many vivid memories of the Atari game console, video arcades, the Nintendo revolution, the change over from Nintendo to Sega, et al. For me, this was a fascinating history of the technology that had to happen in order for the human race to have massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) and other gaming technology at our fingertips.
I noticed some reviewers thought that it took the graphic novel too long to explain the background technology, but for me, the background technology and some of the names and faces behind it were some of the charm and fascination of this book.
If you're a fan of Ready Player One, this is an absolute must-read for you. Like Parzival, you need to know your gaming history if you want to navigate the Oasis.
I received a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for my review through BloggingForBooks.com.
"Enheduanna, who lived 4,300 years ago, is the world's oldest known author. Yes, before the ancient Greek poet Sappho, before Confucius, even before The Epic of Gilgamesh, there was Enheduanna: a priestess, princess, poet, and teacher who lived, wrote, and ruled as part of the world's most ancient society. Her story is also the story of the beginning of the written word -- and of civilization as we know it!"
So begins Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History, written by Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl. How awesome is it for me, a writer, that the first known author in history was also a woman?! She's also a Middle Eastern woman, from ancient Mesopotamia, the ancestor-culture of the Jews and Arabs. We already have so much in common!
The women in this illustrated guide come from all over the world, and from a wide variety of time periods, but they're all extraordinary human beings. From the second young woman in the book, Malala Yousafzai, to the last few pages with Emma Goldman and "The Stateless" (refugee women), these women are all inspiring.
This book would make an excellent gift for a young person in middle school or high school, whether they have an interest in reading about history or need to brush up on their history. The short biographies with large, engaging, and colorful illustrations make this book easy to read through.
But you don't have to be a middle-grader to appreciate this book. It would make a wonderful addition to anyone's nonfiction shelf. It would be a nice gift for a teacher, for them to add to their classroom library.
PRODUCT DETAILS
Hardcover
Published by Ten Speed Press
Sep 27, 2016 | 112 Pages | 7 x 9 | Middle Grade (10 and up) | ISBN 9780399578861
The post then deviated from a discussion of fiction, as one might guess from its title, "5 Jewish Dudes I'd Most Like to See Lewd." ("Lewd" was the buzzword of last year's Congressman Anthony Weiner scandal.) At the moment, it's my #7 all-time most viewed post.
Imagine my surprise when Nomi Eve sent me an e-mail saying she'd read the post and thanking me for mentioning her book. It was a bit of an awkward way to start a literary dialogue, but Nomi Eve agreed to answer a few questions for me and my readers.
Erin O'Riordan: Some of the reviewers of The Family Orchard criticized the book for its emphasis on the erotic. How did you respond to this criticism? Nomi Eve: My characters break many taboos. They steal, lie, and have lots of interesting sex. Personally I don't like to read about boring people doing ordinary things. And so I don't write about people doing ordinary things. I responded to those reviewers by not responding at all. If someone was offended, I assume they stopped reading after the third or fourth page. And if they kept reading, well, then they couldn't have been all that offended in the first place.
Erin O'Riordan: To create your novel, you used your father's research into your family history, but fictionalized that history. Other authors have been caught at passing fictionalized memoirs off as their true stories. In your mind, is there a clear line between a carefully-shaped historical account and fiction?
Nomi Eve: Absolutely. I very consciously blended fact and fiction in The Family Orchard. I was blatant and upfront about my use of my father's narrative. But my whole point was to show that the line between fact and fiction is naturally blurry. We tend to think that memoir is devoid of fiction and fiction is devoid of truth. I have always found otherwise. Each contains elements of the other. Now, historians are different. Historians need to build their narratives out of sturdy fact-based materials, whereas fiction is made of soul, memory and imagination. That doesn't mean that good fiction can't rely upon research and historical veracity. Only that readers need to be aware that the fiction writer can take them anywhere, and that adhering to a character's truth isn't the same thing as being factually accurate.
Erin O'Riordan: Did you create the family tree and the glossary of orchard terms before or after completing the novel? I wonder if you used it as a reference as you were writing, or added it afterward for the benefit of readers.
Nomi Eve: I created both of these things afterwards. The whole time I was writing I had all the characters floating around in my head, and the same goes for the glossary of orchard terms. They were two of the last things I did before the book was sold.
Erin O'Riordan: In an interview for The Jewish Federations of North America, Jodi Werner compared your writing style in The Family Orchard to Latina fiction. Was the work of the Spanish-language magical realists something you had in mind as you were writing the novel?
Nomi Eve: I have always loved Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende, but I also love Isaac Bashevis Singer, Cynthia Ozick and Meir Shalev. Jewish writers have always been magical realists. The Talmud, and the mystical Jewish texts are nothing if not magically real. There is tremendous cultural and spiritual overlap between the great Spanish language writers and the great Jewish writers.
Author: שחר דרורי Creative Commons license
Erin O'Riordan: Why do you think it is that Israelis seem so infatuated with trees? Is it just a consequence of living in a desert area, or is there something more to it?
Nomi Eve: My Israeli grandfather was of the generation who planted the orchards in the early twentieth century, and then made a livelihood by harvesting the fruit. That way of life is mostly gone now. But the history of Israel can certainly be told as a story of the grafting of disparate people, the planting of hearty trees, and the harvesting of the fruit of ancient days on modern soil. Orchards provide endless metaphors, and for a writer, and the granddaughter of an orchard man, well, they proved irresistible.
Erin O'Riordan: If I were to visit Brookline, Massachusetts, what would be the one cultural attraction - whether part of the Jewish community or otherwise - I would not want to miss?
Nomi Eve: I no longer live there. Now I live with my family in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. And the one thing I would recommend not to miss is a construction site. Our community has come together to build a food co-op on the site of an old abandoned empty grocery store -- which also happens to be located in the heart of our tiny town center. It is just glorious to see what can happen when people come together to build something out of nothing. Every day we watch more beams go up. Our entire community is thrilled by the progress and promise of this one communal undertaking.
