Publishers Weekly
10/12/2015
For his latest, Hauser (The Final Recollections of Charles Dickens) expands a Dickensian anecdote into the sweet, simple tale of Ruby Spriggs, an orphan who finds refuge and then love in mid-19th-century London. Though Dickens himself only appears in the copy of Oliver Twist that Ruby reads with her beloved, Edwin Chatfield, his influence is felt in this novel’s lofty, moralizing championship of the poor and downtrodden, and the unsparing description of the now-infamous working conditions in the English coal mines. While the caricatured villainy of Edwin’s employer Alexander Murd, who sends Ruby alone and broken-hearted to America, is as unlikely as the coincidence that eventually reunites the grieving lovers, the story endears through the generosity of the several benefactors who aid and support the central pair. These include the euphoniously named Octavius Joy, the American bookseller Abraham Hart, and the humble baker Antonio, who tells their story. Hauser’s spare prose, unadorned but for the scattered details that anchor the reader in a bygone age, delivers a tale true to its source of inspiration in the generous way it insists the good and pure-hearted will triumph over the wicked. (Dec.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Baker's Tale
"For his latest, Hauser (The Final Recollections of Charles Dickens) expands a Dickensian anecdote into the sweet, simple tale of Ruby Spriggs, an orphan who finds refuge and then love in mid-19th-century London. . . Hauser's spare prose, unadorned but for the scattered details that anchor the reader in a bygone age, delivers a tale true to its source of inspiration in the generous way it insists the good and pure-hearted will triumph over the wicked."--Publishers Weekly Praise for The Final Recollections of Charles Dickens A Publisher's Weekly Choice for Book of the Week: "This beautifully crafted historical novel by the prolific Hauser...delivers a crisp, colorful narrative with vivid pictures of London's rich and poor, as well as a suspenseful, perilous drama in the style of Dickens." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Charles Dickens still has one more story to tell. And what a story it is--fit for the plot of a classic Dickens composition...Hauser's mastery of Dickensian language and dramatic flair creates engaging historical fiction, and his depiction of Dickens's social philosophy of championing the poor will resonate with contemporary readers who are concerned about income inequality. Fans of the 19th-century author or of well-researched historical fiction will savor this work." --Library Journal "In many ways, the story is illuminating (especially about Dickens' early career, before he married Catherine Hogarth, in 1836.).... Hauser is right to speculate about one of the world's greatest novelists and suggest that an early event in his life subsequently shaped the rest of his years as well as his brilliant writing career... Thomas Hauser should be given credit for assimilating and then processing so much of Charles Dickens' life--an enormous task by any standards." --Counterpunch "Hauser has taken some liberties with Dickens's timeline, but has also included key biographical details--such as his unhappy marriage to Catherine Hogarth--that will delight devoted students of the writer. What is even more delightful is how truly Dickensian Hauser's novel proves to be, exploring not only this imagined incident but also the real man's favorite themes of London life and class inequalities." --Shelf Awareness "Hauser brings the culture and vibrant personalities of Dickens's world back to life" --The New Criterion Praise for Thomas Hauser "For the last few years Booklist has heaped praise on Hauser's annual look back at the previous year in boxing. This year is no different. Why is Hauser one of the best sports journalists working today? He is an unashamed lover of boxing but never hesitates in exposing its flaws... Wonderful writing from a world-class journalist." --Booklist, Starred Review Praise for Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times "Hauser compiles opinions from a wide-ranging roster of interviewees to create a portrait of the controversial boxing champ that bristles with insights, jabs and tributes." --Publishers Weekly "A detailed, if hagiographic, account of Ali's public career and private life. Hauser (author of one of the best books ever on the fight game, 1985's Black Lights) is an obvious and uncritical fan of Ali's, whom he apotheosizes early on as the most recognizable person on earth.' ...Hauser does a good job of marshaling a wealth of facts into a cohesive whole and providing behind-the-scenes glimpses of a ring lion in the autumn, if not winter, of his years." --Kirkus "The first definitive biography of...the boxer who transcended sports as no other athlete ever has." --The New York Times Book Review "How many Muhammad Ali's have we seen during his tempestuous ride through 30 years of roller-coaster American history? Ali rode that roller coaster with zest and pride and humor and class." --Chicago Tribune "Compelling...I doubt that we shall ever see a more comprehensive portrait of this extraordinary athlete." --The Sporting News "A new generation is about to rediscover this exemplar of the Zeitgeist of the 1960s....The awesome pressures mortals can't imagine...were somehow converted into motivation by Ali. And this comprehensive, poignant, and knowing book is sure to be a catalyst of his coming renaissance....Ali was bigger than boxing, and so is this book." -- The Nation "A measuring stick for at least three decades of America -- who we were, how we changed and what we became." --New York Post "Extensive and fascinating detail; first-rate....The triumph of the "witness" technique in biography may be judged complete." --New York Daily News "A magnificent book [about] a life that needs to be understood whether you care a whit about boxing or not." --The Boston Globe "You're liable to find Muhammad Ali in the sports section of your bookstore, and that's certainly one place it belongs. Ali was a massive presence in sports for decades. But this book should be in the biography section as well, because like all good biography, it teaches us something about what it means to try to make a meaningful life in this slippery world. And it should be in the history section, because Ali has been a force in contemporary events second to no American." --National Public Radio Missing "Devastating." --The New York Times Book Review
Kirkus Reviews
2015-10-06
Extrapolating from a Charles Dickens quote and "comingling" his own words with those of Dickens again, Hauser (The Final Recollections of Charles Dickens, 2014, etc.) delivers a preachy vision of Victorian England where idyllic romance and rapacious capitalism collide. Hauser's latest pastiche shares an era with Charles Dickens, as well as a linguistic style, some sentimentality, and a swathe of social concerns. But Hauser's politics are more bluntly stated—"Crafty avarice grows rich. Honest labour remains poor"—and neither his storytelling nor his characters offer the inventive magic of the original. Hauser's heroine is lovely, blameless, orphaned Ruby Spriggs, who is snatched from poverty to grow up in the motherly care of a baker and then, with the aid of kindly benefactor Octavius Joy, becomes a teacher. It's also through Joy that Ruby meets saintly, handsome pillar of integrity Edwin Chatfield, who's employed by dastardly coal manufacturer Alexander Murd. Murd's scheming, snobby daughter Isabella's infatuation with Edwin leads to the crushing of an innocent heart as Murd bullies Ruby into leaving the country without explaining her actions to anyone, supposedly for the sake of Edwin's good name and future prospects. As heartbroken Ruby sails to Boston and settles there, Edwin, mystified by her disappearance, visits one of Murd's coal mines in Lancashire, an opportunity for some moral tub-thumping on the truly appalling working conditions of the miners, later underlined by a pit accident that kills 120 workers. Ruby's eventual letter of explanation is the key to the story's swift resolution, which features a shipwreck and miraculous rescue, retribution for the wicked, salvation for the good, and a homily on love and marriage. A smudgy parable of industrialization wrapped in a sappy love story, Hauser's new novel once again piggybacks off the achievements of a genius.
