This last week of September is a busy week for book lovers of all ages in Seward! Sunday, September 22, bestselling author Mary Doria Russell was at the Seward Memorial Library for a presentation on Doc, the All Seward Reads title for 2013. If you missed it, you missed an entertaining and informative hour.
We even found out that she had just decided the day before what her next book (after the upcoming sequel to Doc) will be about. . . . Edgar Allen Poe. There are not too many books about him out there that I'm aware of!
I've read three Mary Doria Russell books, including Doc, and was very excited that we were able to get her to come to Nebraska. Her books make readers see historical figures such as Doc Holliday or historical time periods such as World War II in ways that stretch our preconceived notions. My favorite of her books, Thread of Grace, for instance, is set in Italy during World War II and is about Italians hiding Jews from the Nazis. Almost unbelievably, 85% of Italy's Jews survived the war, and that's a story I'd never heard until Mary told it. Doc takes a figure known only for one violent incident and makes him into a complete person, someone's son, as Mary describes him.
Here's a brief video clip from her presentation, when she's talking about her first book, The Sparrow, a science fiction novel about "Jesuits in space." I haven't read it, but after hearing her talk about it, I may have to find a copy.
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