The Gibson Girl Review

Welcome back to the all new Gibson Girl Review! After an unexpected (and unexpectedly long) hiatus, Amy, Jacinta, and Monique are back—and on camera! After catching up on each other's hectic lives over this past year, the Gibson Girls dive into the famous Lucy Maud Montgomery novel, THE BLUE CASTLE, first published in 1926. But will they all love it? Tune in to find out!

Merry Christmas, old book lovers! Season Four of The Gibson Girl Review comes to a close with this charming holiday novel, THIS WAY TO CHRISTMAS by Ruth Sawyer (1916), which brings a surprising amount of international zest to the festive season. Plus Amy and Jacinta have a big announcement about an exciting new venture for the podcast, and the season-long history segment celebrating the Golden Age of Illustration concludes with a look at the most famous American illustrator of all time, Norman Rockwell. GET YOUR COPY of our brand new book, A GIBSON GIRL CHRISTMAS, right here! CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download today's public domain book for FREE!

Did you know that John Phillip Sousa, the legendary composer and band leader, wrote novels? Neither did we! Which is exactly why Amy and guest reviewer Monique Hurtado just had to read his 1902 debut story, THE FIFTH STRING. It's a Faustian allegory that definitely left us thinking about our upcoming New Year's resolutions. Tune in and tell us what you think! CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download this episode's public domain story for FREE!

Boy, do we know the feeling of THIS episode title after the past few weeks! Technical glitches and daily-life dramas have tied us up the past few weeks, but now we're back... and Amy and Jacinta firmly believe this book is worth the wait! They uncover and unpack Mary Roberts Rinehart's 1915 emotional ensemble drama, "K"—primarily because who can resist a book title that's only one letter?? Plus the all-new history segment profiles a little-known master from the Golden Age of Illustration, Charles E. Chambers. CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download today's public domain book for FREE! Other books and authors mentioned in this episode include: Poor Dear Theodora! Jan of the Windmill The Notting Hill Mystery Hearts and Masks P.G. Wodehouse Agatha Christie Anna Katherine Green The Circular Staircase Little Women Cranford Little Dorrit Pearl S. Buck W. Somerset Maugham Other topics and shout-outs in this episode include: the Golden Age of Illustration, WWI, Castle, Murdoch Mysteries, Bob Newhart, Jeeves & Wooster, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, The Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy, Gilligan's Island, Steinway & Sons, Chesterfield Cigarettes, Fannie Munsell, Pauline True, Winston Churchill, King Albert & Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, Queen Mary and King George V of England, The Saturday Evening Post, Melrose Place, Coronation Street, Ballykissangel, Forrest Gump, Lark Rise to Candleford, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Richard Munsell Chambers, Pearl Harbor, Norman Rockwell, the Art Institute of Chicago, soap operas, the friend zone, nursing school, Pittsburgh, breast cancer, and rental cars.

It's a Gibson Girl first—TWO guest reviewers! Gwendolyn Gage makes her third appearance on the podcast (is it time to start calling her a co-host?), along with longtime show fan Anne Skelly, a docent at the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, NY. They join Amy in the studio for a deep dive into the first novel written by the legendary Western artist Frederic Remington, JOHN ERMINE OF THE YELLOWSTONE (1902). Plus Anne, with her expertise on all things Fred, is the show's first-ever guest historian for the history segment! CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download today's public domain book for FREE! Other books and authors mentioned in this episode include: The Way of an Indian by Frederic Remington Richard Harding Davis True Grit by Charles Portis The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper Other topics and shout-outs in this episode include: Charles Dana Gibson, the Gibson Girl, the Gibson Man, the Golden Age of Illustration, the Crow (Absaroke) tribe, Dances with Wolves, Tombstone, John Wayne, John Ford, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, the U.S. Cavalry, the Apache Wars, the Civil War, tuberculosis, fish-out-of-water tropes, anti-heroes, and scalping.