Readingthepast

One expects some level of eccentricity from the ultra-wealthy, yet Marjorie Lennox’s family sits in a class by itself. In 1927, at their mansion in the Detroit suburbs, they rest secure in their fortune made from automotive windshields, but their luxurious life doesn’t bring contentment.

Charlotte (Chet), preoccupied by death, secretly pens newspaper obituaries under t...

Through their novels, authors can unearth obscure figures from the past and draw the public eye toward their interesting lives. They can also reveal the little-known backstories of the wildly famous and wildly rich.

In Run, Darling, Karen Essex illustrates the complicated family and romantic histories of the Gabors and the astonishing trials they endured before a...

Based on her grandparents, Edith and Milton Fieth, Terri Lewis’s When They Came Home is a moving portrait of a Midwestern couple's marriage in the aftermath of WWI. The story spans decades in its evocation of their lives in the first half of the 20th century. It intertwines multiple tales of survival and endurance: the psychological wounds that Milton suffers while fighti...