3 Books That Made Me Google Things
Wait, that really happened? And other fun finds in the pages of a book.
Everyone knows that readers regularly stay up late to finish one more chapter and I like being led to an unexpected place as much as the next historical fiction freak, but you know what I really love? Falling down a deep deep rabbit hole (related: ask me about horse diving) I’m talking about the absolute depths of Google to find out how Tudor women washed their hair and how to get to Pamplona in Spain to live like Hemingway. I want to know if boarding schools like the one Elin Hilderbrand wrote about really do have chefs in the cafeteria. What happened to Peter Townsend after he split from Princess Margaret? And what can the internet tell me about the Newhouse family of Condé Nast fame?
If you’re like me and always want to know more of the background story and the facts that get dressed up in fiction, then let me tell you about the books that made me immediately stop and consult with Google.
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Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
An elderly woman, forever marked by the mysterious disappearance of her son years ago, takes a job as a cleaning woman at her local aquarium. She becomes friends with the Giant Pacific Octopus named Marcellus that is housed there, who knows more, and is more perceptive than anyone realizes. Marcellus is also an expert escape artist and just might be able to help the woman find answers she’s been looking for all these years.
Rabbit holes:
Why can octopuses fit through tight spaces?
How intelligent is an octopus?
What I learned:
The book is about relationships and motherhood and how we protect ourselves from hurt, but I zeroed in on the octopus and wound up learning that they’re master contortionists and recognized as the smartest invertebrates. The Giant Pacific Octopus can grown to be 16’ long! And these guys can solve puzzles and recognize human faces. Wild!
If you enjoy fiction that is a little weird but not extremely weird, this one is for you.
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Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner
Anne Glenconner grew up royal-adjacent as one does when they’re born into English nobility. She counted Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret as childhood friends and eventually became a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret. That job seems to be a mix of professional friend, servant, and sounding board. In the meantime, she had her own life with an unhinged husband, children, and the Island of Mustique.
Rabbit holes:
Who was Colin Glenconner? Did he really cut his entire family out of his will?
Princess Margaret’s vacation home on Mustique.
Did Anne Glenconner appear as a character on The Crown?
What I learned:
Anne, while incredibly privileged in basically all the ways, still had to practice so much patience in her marriage, motherhood, and friendship with PM. Her husband was prone to epic temper tantrums and betrayed her over and over again. His final emotional stab at her was to leave his entire estate to an employee, completely bypassing his wife, children, and a grandson. But he was so erratic that literally nobody was that surprised.
If you are interested in The Crown, British royal history, or memoirs of people who live extraordinary lives, this one is for you.
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The Paris Wife by Paula McClain
Historical fiction, based on the very real life of Hadley Richardson, the first wife of Ernest Hemingway, and their time together in Paris. Hadley is so likable in this book, I immediately became interested in the real woman that grew up in St. Louis, married a young Hemingway before he published his debut novel, The Sun Also Rises, and eventually became his first ex-wife. He left her for - what else? - a younger woman. Hadley was pragmatic, intelligent, and utterly fascinating.
Rabbit holes:
Why is The Sun Also Rises dedicated to Hadley?
Ernest Hemingway’s children.
Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and all the other writer expats in 1920’s Paris.
What I learned:
This is a bit meta, but in this book’s narrative, Hemingway is working on the novel that would eventually become The Sun Also Rises, which is based on a real trip to Pamplona that the couple took with a handful of their friends to watch the annual running of the bulls festival. Hem’s novel details the masculine bravado of the boys in their group becoming increasingly jealous of each other because they’re all infatuated with a woman in their group - Lady Duff Twysden aka Lady Brett in the novel. In the actual history, yes Hadley is there, yes it’s uncomfortable, and yes, Hemingway casts these characters in his novel…except Hadley. He leaves her out and writes himself as a single man.
Because he was a jerk.
If you like historical fiction, the Lost Generation or lavish descriptions of Europe between the great wars, this one is for you.
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What are you reading lately? Any good rabbit holes to fall down? Share with the group!
Pst - there’s more where that came from!
More fun facts for the perpetually curious.
A gratuitous reminder that I’m over on Instagram enjoying things too.