You Believe Paris is Always a Good Idea

Are caught up in the Ohtani saga or watched "Quiet on Set"

Hi friends,

I hope you all enjoyed Jolene Handy’s guest post last week about legendary cookbook editor Judith Jones as much as I did.

A few days ago, I discovered The New York Times’ weekly book quizzes. They range from title searches to trivia tests and combine my love of books with my love of puzzles. Check it out here.

And, now, what to read if …

You’d Love to Say Bonjour to the Eiffel Tower

 A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

The Eiffel Tower will celebrate its 135^th anniversary on Sunday. The iconic iron landmark was built to be the main attraction at the 1889 Paris World Exposition. You can transport yourself to the Belle Époque with Adriana Herrera’s A Caribbean Heiress in Paris.

Shortly after her father’s death, rum heiress Luz Alana Heith-Benzan sets sail from Santo Domingo to Paris for the Exposition Universelle with eyes towards expanding her family’s business — and a vow not to fall in love. Left without access to her inheritance unless she marries, Luz needs to grow her business so she can continue to provide for her sister.

But the heiress finds it harder than expected to stick to her plan when she finds buyers and shippers unwilling to work with a woman of color and meets the annoyingly charming James Evanston Sinclair, Earl of Darnick. After the Earl learns of Luz’s situation, he realizes a marriage of convenience could set her up to receive her inheritance and help him finally take down his shady father.

There’s so much to love about A Caribbean Heiress in Paris. It’s a swoon-worthy love story that, unlike so many historical romances, grapples with the realities of the 19^th century. It luxuriates in detail, with the fashion, food and even furniture all receiving careful attention. Herrera has spoken about the amount of research she did for this book (the initial idea came from reading about a historical snub of the Dominican Republic at the World’s Fair), and it shows on the page.

You Want to Know What Exactly Ohtani’s Translator Told Him

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

In a bizarre twist last week, the Los Angeles Dodgers fired all-star Shohei Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, amid questions about $4.5 million in wire transfers sent from Ohtani's bank account to a bookmaking operation. It’s unclear what Ohtani knew about the transfers, at least in part because, according to ESPN, “Ohtani's representatives had continued to rely on Mizuhara to communicate with Ohtani while they were dealing with the situation, and Mizuhara did not tell Ohtani what was happening.”  (You can read ESPN’s 2000-word timeline on the whole saga here.) 

There’s a lot to unpack in this situation — the growing entanglement between pro leagues and gambling operations and Ohtani’s outsized influence on the league — but I’ve become fixated on the translation aspect of it. Katie Kitamura explores issues of translation, language and power in Intimacies, a novel about an interpreter at the International Court.

Clocking in at less than 200 pages, Intimacies follows an unnamed woman recently assigned to serve as the interpreter to a former West African president accused of ethnic cleansing. Throughout the novel, the narrator reflects on the power she has in this role. Even if she depicts the tyrant’s words accurately, her tone or posture will reflect on him.

Intimacies is a literary novel, not filled with the juicy tidbits or high payouts of the Ohtani scandal, but still taut and tense with a sense that one poorly chosen word could have serious consequences.

You’re Worried About Child Stars

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I’ve seen a lot of headlines lately about lives of child stars — on TV and the internet. Investigation Discovery and HBO Max are airing “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” a four-part documentary about the toxic environment on ‘90s and early 2000s Nickelodeon show sets. Cosmo recently ran an in-depth examination of the “sharenting reckoning,” examining the effects of a childhood shared on Instagram. The New York Times published a devastating story about young female social media stars, their moms and the men who stalk them. On the brighter side, the LA Times shared a story about the “Abbott Elementary” team’s commitment to providing a high-quality education to its child stars, arguing it should be a model for other shows. All this has me thinking about former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy’s memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died.

McCurdy’s book is simultaneously a devastating depiction of her relationship with her abusive mother and a takedown of the child star system. Her mother, eager for her daughter to achieve the stardom she never had, began to push Jennette into professional acting at age six. Jennette eventually became the family’s primary breadwinner, an intense amount of pressure for a teen, and her mom pushed her towards an eating disorder, with the two bonding over their restrictive diets. As she starred in “iCarly” and then “Sam & Cat” with Ariana Grande, Jennette worked in a toxic, unsafe environment where adults pressured children into drinking. Fearing her mom’s wrath and knowing her family needed the money, Jennette continued to act.

I feel a little silly highlighting I’m Glad My Mom Died, since it’s a bona fide megahit that’s sold more than 2 million copies, but it really is an exceptional book. It’s raw and honest with a surprising number of genuinely funny moments. Even if you didn’t grow up watching McCurdy on TV (I didn’t), it’s still well worth a read.

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