Connie will be signing books from noon to 2:00 on Saturday, December 5 at Morrisson-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana. There will be a host of events going on for the whole family. Stop in and say hello! >> Details and Directions Other Events Meet Other Local Authors 12-3pm Meet local authors and have an opportunity… [Read More]
A Message for My Books – Inspired By a Passage in Alberto Manguel’s Book Curiosity
November 16, 2015 By
There are certain books I gaze at from afar, knowing I would love to read them but knowing, too, that I probably won’t because my list is overly long and I’m becoming more and more aware of how little time there seems to be in a day. One book I know I won’t get to… [Read More]
Gilded Age Baby Rattle of Edith Wharton Being Sold for $16,500
November 4, 2015 By
An Edith Wharton item has created a huge stir. Unfortunately, it’s not a newly discovered manuscript or a stash of hidden letters that has captured the world’s attention but the sale of Wharton’s very own baby rattle….for $16,500! Before you get too excited, you should know that the rattle, made of coral and sterling silver,… [Read More]
Edith Wharton Safe at Home – The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts is a Place Worth Visiting!
October 20, 2015 By
When I visit the home of a historical figure, the thing I’m looking for is sense of that long ago human being. I want to feel the very presence of the person, imagine him moving through the rooms, see her puttering in the garden or taking a book off the shelf to read. Edith Wharton… [Read More]
Check Out the Books On My Reading List Through 2016 and See Why I Choose Them. My Reviews Will Follow!
October 12, 2015 By
Each year I have the agony and the ecstasy of choosing nine books to read with my Indianapolis book discussion group. I don’t read the books before I select them. I choose them on the basis of reviews (New York Review of Books, the magazine Bookmarks, NPR) and recommendations from friends, librarians, writers, and bookstore staff…. [Read More]
The Zhivago Affair by Peter Finn and Petra Couvée Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
October 5, 2015 By
The Zhivago Affair; The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book by Peter Finn and Petra Couvée; Pantheon Books/Random House, 2014. 352 pages; $26.95 (hardcover); reading level: adult. When the celebrated poet Boris Pasternak began the novel Doctor Zhivago in 1945, he and his fellow Russian writers were living under the terrifying,… [Read More]
Work in Progress #21: How My Emily Post Biography Is a Bit Like… Edith Wharton: The Sequel!
September 15, 2015 By
Sequels are very popular these days, which is not good news for historical biographers. Our subjects tend to die at the end of the story. When I set out to do a biography of Emily Post three years ago, I certainly wasn’t thinking of the book as a sequel to Edith Wharton. No one was… [Read More]
Jump Back Paul; The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Sally Derby Reviewed by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge
September 3, 2015 By
Jump Back, Paul; The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Sally Derby; illustrated by Sean Qualls; Candlewick Press, 2015. 128 pages; $16.99 (hardcover); reading level: grades 5-9. From the first sentence of this concise, lyrical biography a grandmotherly narrator takes the reader firmly by the hand: “You never heard of the poet Paul… [Read More]
The Haunting Quality of Edith Wharton
August 25, 2015 By
In her insightful article “Why Edith Wharton Haunts Us Still,” Anne Kingston speculates about why so many novelists these days are being compared to Edith Wharton. As Kingston observes, we’ve never stopped being obsessed by the very wealthy or by people trying to claw their way up the social ladder and Wharton is the master… [Read More]
Great Literary Quotes! See How Many You Remember…
August 7, 2015 By
I learned to write as most writers have: by reading great books – children’s books, adult books, fiction, nonfiction…great writing is everywhere. Hearing moving, poignant, humorous, striking language in your mind as you read is like having a personal writing tutor. When I was young, I used to copy my favorite fairy tales, word by… [Read More]