Carol Berkin

Carol Berkin, Presidential Professor of History, Emerita at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, is the author of A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution, First Generations, and Jonathan Sewall.

Her new book is Wondrous Beauty: The Life and Adventures of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Berkin's reply:

So… when I put my work aside, or take a break from it, I indulge in mystery and spy novels. I have high standards: the book has to be well written and the hero or heroine has to be fascinating. My favorites? The remarkable Agent Pendergast, the creation of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, and Daniel Silva’s intense and intellectual hero, Gabriel Allon. Pendergast and I share a Gulf Coast background, as he is from New Orleans and I am from Mobile, Alabama, but there, I assure you, the similarity ends. And Allon—all his assignments have rich historical contexts that appeal deeply to me. Alas, I have now read all of the novels with these two characters, and I have had to branch out. Currently, I am curling up with the Scotland Yard mysteries of Alex Grecian. They are eerie and beautifully written. Lest I sound too lowbrow, I guess I should add that I eagerly await any new book by Penelope Lively who I think is the premier novelist of our era. She writes with a grace and subtlety that anyone who picks up a pen [or taps a computer key] must surely envy—I know I do. I urge everyone to read Moon Tiger and According to Mark—and you will understand my devotion to her.

Read more about Wondrous Beauty at the publisher's website.

My Book, The Movie: Wondrous Beauty.

--Marshal Zeringue