Robert E. Lee, by Emory M. Thomas (Norton, $14.95).
In this balanced portrait of a complex individual, Thomas looks behind “the marble man of the South,” the icon of the Civil War. Lee early on developed a strong sense of duty and an exemplary character, both of which stood him in good stead as he first coped with family and financial problems, and then with the dark hours of war. “Lee was both more and less than his legend,” Thomas writes, revealing how Lee struggled throughout his life to control his emotions and suppress his needs in favor of what he perceived to be the common good.
American Tragedy: The Uncensored Story of the Simpson Defense, by Lawrence Schiller and James Willwerth (Avon, $6.99).
Considered the definitive account of the O.J. Simpson case from the perspective of the defense, this paperback edition has been updated to include chapters on the custody case and the civil trial. Certainly, Schiller, who had access to Simpson’s “dream team” of defense lawyers through his friendship with Robert Kardashian, offers some of the more fascinating revelations about the investigation and trial, including how Simpson’s home was “redecorated” for the jury visit, and the shifting allegiances of Simpson’s lawyers and friends, some of whom came to doubt his innocence. Simpson himself comes across as a calculating architect of overall defense strategy.
Reflected Glory: The Life of Pamela Churchill Harriman, by Sally Bedell Smith (Touchstone, $16).
When Pamela Harriman died in February at age 76, she was the U.S. ambassador to France, having finally achieved respectability. As Smith’s gossipy biography shows, Harriman attained her other goals–wealth, power and status–by using her skills as a courtesan. The English debutante was married three times–to Randolph Churchill, Winston’s dissolute son; to Broadway producer Leland Hayward; and to diplomat Averill Harriman–but she also was the lover of some of the world’s richest men, including banker Elie Rothschild, shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos and playboy Aly Khan. Smith’s engrossing narrative portrays a woman with an amazing ability to reinvent herself. At 60, she became a force as a political power broker. But she still knew where her best interests lay. “When she entered a room, Pamela gravitated instinctively toward the men–to the point of rudeness.”
Maiden Voyage, by Cynthia Bass (Bantam, $12.95).
In Bass’ absorbing novel, 12-year-old Bostonian Sumner Jordan’s journey on the Titanic becomes a voyage of self-discovery. The precocious son of a leading suffragist, Sumner is a boy longing to be a man. On board alone, he becomes friends with nonconformist Pierce Andrews, who treats him as an equal, and develops a crush on Ivy Earnshaw, an ardent young suffragist. But when the Titanic strikes an iceberg, and the call goes up for “women and children first,” Sumner discovers that equality and manhood are not easily definable terms. Nor is heroism.
Honky Tonk Kat, by Karen Kijewski (Berkley, $6.99).
Sassy P.I. Kat Colorado comes to the rescue of her childhood friend, country music star Dakota Jones, who is receiving nasty threats. Kat becomes convinced that the stalker is somehow tied to Dakota’s past, and among those she has to check out are Dakota’s bitter ex-husband, her long-lost charming dad and a cousin with stars in her eyes and steel in her heart. Much of the book takes place in Nashville, and there are knowing references to the Bluebird Cafe and Music Row. All in all, it’s a lively, tuneful tale.
