The Wide Wide Sea

Author: Hampton Sides
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2025
Pages: 432
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: The Wide Wide Sea details the life and voyages of Captain James Cook, killed by native Hawaiians in an uncharacteristic final act. This is the mystery of Cook's final days, laid bare in riveting narrative fashion.

Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the first chapter. The new world explorers, Cook, Magellan, Hudson, de Leon, and others captured my imagination in school. I would be inclined to read all of Hampton Sides books. I know a lot more about Captain Cook than I had ever expected I would, but the best authors can capture your interest regardless of topic.

The Paris Wife

Author: Paula McLain
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2012
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness - until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group - the fabled "Lost Generation" that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage - a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they've fought so hard for.

Review: I am very late to the party with this one. I'm not a fan of Hemingway's writing style so I put off reading this as a new release in 2012. However, last month my family and I traveled to Key West for the first time and toured Hemingway's home. While the tour focused on his second wife, Pauline, who lived in Key West with Hemingway, his first wife (the Paris wife) was mentioned during the tour. I took it as a sign to read this novel.

I ended up frustrated with Hadley and totally detesting Ernest. What a time those Paris years were, for all of them - Ezra Pound, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and others. 

The Paris Wife is well-written and for that reason I will recommend this novel, but I was happy to leave the "characters" behind.

Corey

Author: Jane Claypool Minor
Genre: Historical Fiction / Sunfire Romance (#22)
Publisher: Scholastic, 1987
Pages: 184
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Freedom gave her the right to live, the chance to love. She escaped from the South to the North, where a boy captured her heart.

In 1846, 16-year-old Corey has known only slavery. But she is courageous and spirited, and though Ned, a handsome slave from the same South Carolina plantation, hopes to marry her some day, Corey longs for a better life. Then the Civil War tears Corey's family apart, but Corey escapes from slavery.

Freedom isn't easy, however. Corey can't find her family, and Ned tells her is running off to fight. Corey has no one left she can trust, so she heads north to Philadelphia. Here she finds a new home and new friends. And she meets Penn Wilson, a dashing young man who captures her heart and introduces her to a new, free world. But when Ned asks Corey to go West with him, the choices of freedom brings seem harder than ever. Will Corey join Ned? Or will she return to the South to help her people - alongside Penn.

Review: This series was a favorite of mine in middle and early high school. I aged out and my tastes changed before I could buy all of the books for myself. However, when I read Paperback Crush, it renewed my interest. 

While this is a simplistic story, appropriate for middle school, I can say I honestly enjoyed this as a 48 year old women. I felt sympathy and empathy for the heroine and I love historical fiction in general. You may see more books from this series as I revisit these stories here and there, if only for the purposes of nostalgia.