Unmentionables

In this double debut—Loewenstein’s first novel, and the first selection from Akashic’s Kaylie Jones Books imprint—history, in the form of women’s suffrage, WWI, and American race relations, is writ small, traced in the fortunes of a few residents of Caledonia, Ill. Marian Elliot Adams arrives in the town in August 1917 to take part in a weeklong Chautauqua assembly, a popular adult education event of the period. Her intent—to discuss “the restrictive nature of women’s undergarments”—proves equal parts shocking and titillating to her audience. When she falls and sprains her ankle following the speech, Marian is forced to spend a week in Caledonia, which leads her to reconsider her prejudices against smalltown life, while also pushing some of the townspeople she meets to examine their own deeply-held beliefs. Among the most affected are Deuce Garland, publisher of the local newspaper, and his stepdaughter, Helen. Marian’s path subsequently takes her to France during the waning days of WWI, where she does medical relief work, while at home Deuce becomes a muckraking journalist after losing control of his newspaper. Loewenstein traces a less adventurous path with her storytelling, wrapping up everything in a neatly happy ending, but along the way her tale is contagiously enthusiastic, if predictable. (Jan.)