Before I close the back page on My Way (which I actually already did) I have to make note of a quote on page 179. When talking about someone named Ben, Anka wrote, "He was always crazed to get laid, but we'd always blow him off." Boners (he he) such as that are why I finished the book.

Now, on to Tracy Chevalier. What an amazing writer. I don't care for Renaissance fiction but Ms. Chevalier made me care. The first book of her's I read was The Runaway. Quaker heroine Honor Bright ( I had to get past the deriative name) helps runaway slaves in mid-19th century Ohio. That book let me to  Remarkable Creatures. A woman named Elizabeth Philpot meets as girl named Mary Anning on a Lyme, England beach and becomes hooked on fossils. From there I went on to Burning Bright, the Kellaway family, newly arrived in London meets revolutionary poet William Blake. I don't know about Honor Bright but Ms. Philpot, Ms. Anning and, of course, Mr. Blake were real people and the author wove fictional narratives around true events. Really great reads.

I have also been reading late 19th century local newspapers and came across a door-to-door jewelry repair lady. How hard it was to be a single female one hundred years or more ago.