Books Published by NWU Boston Members in 2018

Larry Constantine, Distant Sons (Gesher Press). A saga of immigrants, identity, and interfaith love. From tiny Frauenkirchen in nineteenth-century Austria-Hungary to tight-knit German-speaking neighborhoods of urban America, this historical fiction tells the dramatic story of two women from different worlds in different times, facing questions of love, commitment, fulfillment, and survival

Alison Downs, Ladybird Adrift – a Novel(Flitterbow Productions & RhetAskew Publishing). When Claudia fell in love with Victor, she knew their 30 year age difference would present some challenges. Is their unlikely love powerful enough to withstand Alzheimer’s? 

Claire Czotter, Ayda (published by the author) A young tailor and her grandfather run to the border of their known world to escape the violent inception of war. When the soldiers finally reach their tiny village, there’s only one place left to run: an undeveloped area of the world filled with dangerous magic. Armed with a mysterious needle and thread, Ayda escapes into the territory dubbed “Nowhere”. She swears to find magic that will save her grandfather, but for a tailor, heroic promises are not so easily kept.

Sue Schopp, The Private Side of the Canton Trade,1700-1840 (Hong Kong University Press) 18th century China produced goods that wowed international consumers: silk, tea, porcelain, and more. The “Canton trade” was initially conducted by nationally chartered East India companies;  by the mid-1700s, on-the-rise private traders would have as much influence, if not more, in shaping China’s place in international trade—with ramifications for us today.  

Bill Fleming, Troubled Waters (Eire Associates). As flood waters threaten the century-old subway tunnels and the homeless who live in them, Morris Fitzgerald must push aside the loss of his cousin and come to the rescue of a fellow T cop. Part history lesson, part whodunit, Troubled Waters provides a glimpse of the underworld of Boston.  

Patrycja Podrazik (writing under the name P.K. Adams) The Greenest Branch(Iron Knight Press). Historical novel (12^thcentury) about Hildegard von Bingen, the abbess who was  Germany’s first recognized female physician. Semi-finalist for 2015 Chaucer Awards for pre-1750 historical fiction. 

J. Kates, translator, I Have Invented Nothing,Jean-Pierre Rosnay(Black Widow Press) 

A comprehensive bilingual edition of poems by Jean-Pierre Rosnay (1926-2009) who fought with the Resistance, became a central figure in the Parisian intellectual community of the 1950s, and founded the famed and still existing Club des Poètes in Paris. 

Martha Collins, Night Unto Night(Milkweed Editions). Poetry – six sequences, each written in one month a year, over the course of six years, bring together the natural and the all-too-human. Red-winged blackbirds and the death of a friend. The green leaves of a maple tree and drones overseas. A February spent in Italy and the persistence of anti-immigrant rhetoric. 

Jim Kaplan, Abraham Lincoln:The History of the Man Who Transformed America(audiobook and kindle). From Lincoln’s early years to his law career, marriage, one term in Congress, leadership of the Republican anti-slavery movement, famous debates with Stephen A. Douglas, emergence as a candidate, election to the presidency, his masterful role as commander in chief during the Civil War, the writing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and his assassination by John Wilkes Booth. 

George Longenecker,Star Route(Main Street Rag Publishing). Poems from Vermont and around the world. The author’s poetry, fiction and book reviews have been published or are forthcoming in Evening Street Review, Main Street Rag, Rain Taxi, Saranac Review, and Whale Road Review.

Randy Susan Meyers, The Widow of Wall Street,paperback edition (Washington Square Press). “Full of deceit, scandal, and guilt, her novel expertly explores how rising to the top only to hit rock bottom affects a family. The consequences will leave readers reeling” – Library Journal.