AT THE LIBRARY
The following new items are available at Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road. For more information on the library’s collection or to reserve a title, visit hcplibrary.org.
{span style=”text-decoration: underline;”}Adult Fiction{/span}
“Fruit of the Drunken Tree” by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
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Seven-year-old Chula and her older sister Cassandra enjoy carefree lives thanks to their gated community in Bogotá, Colombia. But the threat of kidnappings, car bombs and assassinations hovers just outside the neighborhood walls, where the powerful drug lord Pablo Escobar continues to elude authorities and capture the attention of the nation.
When their mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city’s guerrilla-occupied slum, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona’s mysterious ways. But Petrona’s unusual behavior belies more than shyness. She is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as her first love pulls her in the opposite direction.
As both girls’ families scramble to maintain stability amid the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy that will force them both to choose between sacrifice and betrayal.
“Fruit of the Drunken Tree” is inspired by the author’s own life and told through the alternating perspectives of Chula and Petrona in two contrasting coming-of-age stories.
{span style=”text-decoration: underline;”}Adult Non-fiction{/span}
“Playing to the Gods: Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, and the Rivalry that Changed Acting Forever” by Peter Rader
“Playing to the Gods” tells of the rivalry between the most renowned actresses of the 19th century: Sarah Bernhardt, whose eccentricity on and off the stage made her the original diva; and Eleonora Duse, who broke all the rules to popularize the natural style of acting we celebrate today.
Audiences across Europe and the Americas clamored to see Sarah Bernhardt swoon — and she gave them their money’s worth. The world’s first superstar traveled with a chimpanzee named Darwin and a pet alligator that drank champagne. She shamelessly supplemented her income by endorsing everything from alcoholic beverages to beef bouillon. She spread rumors that she slept in a coffin to better understand the macabre heroines she played.
Eleanora Duse, born into a family of itinerant troubadours, shied away from the spotlight. She disappeared into the characters she portrayed — channeling their spirits, she claimed. Her new, empathetic style of acting revolutionized the theater and earned the ire of Bernhardt in what would become a theatrical showdown. Bernhardt and Duse seduced each other’s lovers, stole one another’s favorite playwrights and took to the world’s stages to outperform their rival in her most iconic roles.
