Hannah Rothschild

Of course Hannah Rothschild’s biography of her great aunt Kathleen Annie Pannonica (Rothschild) de Koenigswarter would be fascinating, given its subject. Nica (as she was known) grew up surrounded by tremendous wealth, married then joined her husband fighting with the Free French forces during WWII. In the mid-1950s she settled in New York City, apart from her husband and four of her five children, and established herself as a fixture of the 52nd Street jazz scene. She drove a Bentley, wore fur coats, smoked cigarettes in long holders, and sat at her favorite table in the Five Spot with a Bible in front of her, hollowed out to hide a whiskey flask. Thelonious Monk called her his best friend. Charlie Parker died in her apartment. She took a marijuana rap in Delaware to keep Monk and Charlie Rouse out of jail. She arranged funerals for Sonny Clark and Coleman Hawkins, counted Art Blakey and Barry Harris as lovers, and impressed Archie Shepp with her courage and sense of justice. Others dismissed her as a trollop and an ostentatious groupie. Hannah Rothschild teases out much of what we can know about Nica, without sensationalism or judgment, and presents an exceptional account of an extraordinary life.… (altro)

No one warned her that nightmares lurk in the shadows of dreams.
from High Time by Hannah Rothschild

Tomlinson Sleet is an appalling ‘vulgarian,’ motivated by narcissism, greed, and a need for attention—A combination of Scrooge, the Grinch, and a certain politician who will not be named. Sleet has married three wives, possessions who soon lost their luster after he obtained them.

Ayesha is his latest wife, beautiful and young and the mother of his child. But there is someone new on his radar–a gorgeous Albanian crypto-currency guru who lures with dreams of untold wealth. Sleet sees her as the perfect combination of trophy wife and financial gain. She has kept him at arm’s length, demanding he invest millions before she will allows him a few minutes in her presence.

Ayesha was the illegitimate daughter of Enyon Trelawney. She and Sleet are living in Trelawney Castle, her father’s estate. Ayesha has been restoring the castle while working for her art degree. She married Sleet for security, having grown up in the shadows. When Ayesha realizes that Sleet intends to replace her, and that her daughter’s security is threatened, she goes on a quest to guarantee her financial future, hoping to purchase Trelawney Castle and keep it in the family.

Her father’s legitimate heirs resent Ayesha, but as she discovers Sleet’s shady dealings she enlists them to help her bring Sleet down. It is high time that Sleet pays for his mistreatment of others. Her investigations takes us deep into the way money is manipulated and misused.

I do love social comedy, and the Trelawney family is filled with oddball characters from the upper crust. The Countess Clarissa, Enyon’s wife, still occupies the castle. She makes pronouncements about correctness. Imperious and rude, she has fallen in love for the first time. Princess Amelia remarks that in the good, old days, people were born into service, died in service; “now they have such highfalutin ideas.” Ayesha has hired her great-uncle Tony and his sidekick Barty to decorate the Castle; the loveable pair provide comic relief.

Ayesha learns hard lessons but has her gains in a realistic, but satisfying conclusion.

Thanks to A.A. Knopf for a free book.… (altro)