Dreamers Of The Day

I consider Russell's "The Sparrow" to be the finest SF novel, and perhaps the best first novel in any genre, of the last 15 years. Her next two books were also excellent.

"Dreamers" is very different from any of the three, and defies easy categorization. But it has the same thought-provoking quality of content and consistently fine writing.

This book also helps to grasp how the Middle East came to be such a mess in the 20th Century.

I love everything Mary Doria Russell writes. "Dreamers of the Day" is no exception. Written with a clear understanding of the setting and the times and like all my favorite books, I was deep in it as I read and in another world.

I am amazed at the negative comments of some reviewers. The story and language in Dreamers are examples of the ART of writing, of which there are too few today. This book is a must for discriminating readers.

DREAMERS OF THE DAY is the second Mary Doria Russell book I've read and it was a most enjoyable read. (The first was Doc: A Novel - an emphatic 5 stars.) Russell has a way of inventing characters you can easily identify with, or at least I can. And Agnes Shanklin is no exception. A forty-ish spinster schoolteacher from Cleveland whose whole family was wiped out by the Influenza epidemic of 1918, Agnes had lived under her mother's thumb for her whole life. Finally free of all family constraints and left with a sizeable inheritance, she slips her shackles of conventionality and books a vacation cruise to Cairo, an experience which changes her whole life. Her stay there is set against the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, where Winston Churchill and his international contemporaries were reapportioning the Mideast following the cataclysm of WWI. In fact, Agnes's story gives you a bird's eye view of how Iraq became a country.

Because Churchill, Gertrude Bell and T.E. Lawrence (i.e. "Lawrence of Arabia") were just a few of those titular 'dreamers' of their day. And all three, as well as a few other historical figures, become characters in Russell's tale. Lawrence in particular is a prominent figure, as a friend of Agnes's younger sister (now deceased) from before the war. Russell's descriptions of Lawrence brought back Peter O'Toole's magnificent film portrayal of the man. But the most interesting figure here is one wholly fictional, in the person of Karl Weilbacher, who, we learn almost immediately, is an intelligence agent for the German government. Agnes is immediately smitten by Karl, but also finds Lawrence fascinating. Since Karl and Lawrence have an adversarial relationship going back to before the war, a certain dramatic tension prevails throughout Agnes's Egypt adventure.

There are layers of story here: Agnes's emergence from her old self to a new life (and she has an endearing little dachshund who's always there, for dog lover readers); the politics and intrigue of the Peace Conference with a multitude of historical figures; and an anti-war theme emerges, as Russell examines the history of intertribal and religious wars in the Mideast which continue right up to the current troubles in Iraq, a country which was created as a political compromise by Churchill, Lawrence, Bell and others. An implicit message here is that, despite the best efforts of many, there will always be war. Or, as Agnes remarks to Lawrence -

"And who knows what comes next? ... One thing about the Middle East seems certain: another army is always waiting, just around the bend."

Russell also informs us that foreigners and unbelievers will never succeed in these Muslim countries because the natives are masters of 'ketman' - the art of fakery - and then there is the Shi'a concept of 'takkiya' - religious permission to lie when dealing with infidels.

DREAMERS OF THE DAY is a curiously topical book for today, given recent U.S. and British involvement in Iraq and the Mideast. I found it to be not only an absorbing story, but also an informative and even educational reading experience. Learning new things can often be tedious and boring. Not so here. Great story, wonderful, colorful characters and terrific writing. Highly recommended. (four and a half stars)

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

I gave this two stars because the writing is middling aside from some slow digressions. I must say I positively loved her book Doc, in fact, I own two copies, one to lend out. But this book had nothing of that depth, none of the "truths of life" I found so well stated in Doc. As an American who just finished the life of Winston Churchill, I found his treatment by Russell to be wildly inaccurate, disrespectful and positively a disgrace. I felt similar to how I might feel if I heard someone had spit on George Washington. As for the books political message, by now, that angle has become decidedly pedestrian. Best skip this one.

In her prior books, Russell has clearly shown that she knows how to delineate very real characters. With this book of historical fiction, centered around the events of 1918-1921, this attribute shows just as clearly, with a fine portrait of Agnes Shanklin, her protagonist, but perhaps even more significantly, her pictures of historical luminaries such as T. E. Lawrence and Winston Churchill.

Agnes has quite an inferiority complex engendered by her mother's constant criticism, a lack of self confidence about her looks and her abilities. The first section of this book details her upbringing and shows just who she is, a living, breathing person. Almost as a sidelight to this exemplary characterization, this section informs the reader of effects of the Great Influenza pandemic of 1918-9 and is a great depiction of the mores, customs, and daily life of that time, making some great commentary on just why that way of life disappeared so suddenly, to be replaced by the `roaring twenties'. But this first section of the book is merely an introduction, for when the flu kills off everyone else in her family, leaving Agnes the sole inheritor of various estates, she decides to take a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land, inspired by her late sister's forays in this area of the world.

The second section is the heart of this novel, as Agnes arrives in Egypt and through some fortuitous circumstances becomes a distant part of the group of people present at time in Cairo, from Churchill and Lawrence to Lady Gertrude Bell, who would eventually determine the political landscape of the middle east for many years to come, and the effects of which are still being felt today. It is a little bit unbelievable that such a relatively `minor' person such as Agnes would become part of this group (such things are always a problem when trying to insert a fictional character into a historical setting), but Russell does a good and somewhat humorous job of setting this up, and it must be remembered that the European `community' in Cairo at this time was quite small and insular. Once you accept that Agnes has been `adopted' by these luminaries, the rest follows quite logically, and this is where this book shines. Russell's depiction of the sights, sounds, smells, climate, and history of this region are remarkable, even if some of the history takes the form of essays - these blocks of expository material fit very well with the rest of the story, and give the reader a lot of context for current events.

Right alongside this travelogue is her depiction of the people surrounding her. T. E. Lawrence comes across as a far more complicated man than the character shown in the Lawrence of Arabia movie (although Peter O'Toole's finely nuanced depiction did much to hint at the depths of the man), and the Churchill shown here is not the famous Prime Minister of WWII fame, but rather the fairly lowly government functionary still trying to live down the debacle of Gallipoli. At the same time as this Cairo peace conference was making its way to becoming history, Agnes herself blossoms, becoming romantically involved with a local German, and finding that her thoughts, opinions, and actions are important, that she can be more than just a mouse.

The final section, which details some of Agnes' life after returning to America, is not as strong as the rest of the book, as it is told from a metaphysical viewpoint that doesn't quite jibe with the tone or feeling of the rest of the book, with a strong `message' component that is probably not necessary - Russell has already gotten this message across in the earlier sections, and much more effectively by `showing' rather than `telling'.

This book was clearly well and heavily researched, bringing to life a period of history that few Americans have any knowledge of, even though the events depicted here have a strong influence on our current involvement in the region. Russell provides a decent bibliography of her sources, a great aid for anyone wishing to find out more about this time and place.

An excellent book in many ways, perhaps not quite as strong as her The Sparrow, but definitely worth reading.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

“All men dream,” Colonel Lawrence wrote, “but not equally. Those who dream by night wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
--Mary Doria Russell in Dreamers of the Day, quoting from T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom

On of the great delights in browsing library shelves or bookstores is to encounter a totally unfamiliar book which seems to promise, from the first touch of the fingertips on the cover, unexpected pleasures. Among women there is the old saying “You have to kiss a thousand frogs to find a prince.” Among bibliophiles the same statistic seems to apply: You have to pull a thousand dogs from the shelf to find one that barks, wags its tail, and runs to meet you.
Mary Doria Russell’s Dreamers of the Day (Random House, 2008, $25, ISBN 978-1-4000-6471-7) is just such a dog of a book.
Such a description may sound insulting, but we can be sure that Russell would appreciate this comparison, for one of the characters in her novel--a main character, I might add--is Rosie, an intrepid dachshund who accompanies her mistress, Agnes Skanklin, on a series of grand adventures in the Middle East nearly a century ago.
Agnes is a forty-year-old unmarried schoolteacher from Ohio whose family has been wiped out by the Great War and the influenza epidemic of 1918 (Smoky Mountain News Readers may be interested to know that on a hill above the campground in Sunburst is a small cemetery with the graves of children who apparently died during this epidemic). Tired of her life, filled with ennui, Agnes decides to set out on some adventures. In one of the books more humorous scenes, she allows herself to be refashioned by Mildred, a shop girl at Halle’s Department Store in Cleveland. With her new wardrobe and flapper haircut, Agnes then sets out to tour the Middle East, where her deceased sister and brother-in-law had worked before the Great War as missionaries and teachers.
Agnes arrives in Cairo just as the Peace Conference of 1918 has commenced. Here she meets such luminaries as Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), and Lady Gertrude Bell. Russell paints these characters with vivid colors, doing particular justice to Lawrence and Bell. She also shows us how the twentieth century evolved from decisions made at the various conferences held after World War I. In the Middle East, for example, the importance of oil brought great political pressures to bear on the region, pressures which Russell delineates for us through the conversations of Agnes with British luminaries and the fictitious German Jewish spy, Karl Weilbacher, with whom Agnes falls in love.
In addition to setting painlessly a background to today’s Middle East conflicts, Dreamers of the Day also explores other areas of our history. Russell accurately describes Woodrow Wilson’s wartime presidency as a sort of fascistic dictatorship. Later, the author writes accurately and well about the influenza epidemic of 1918, when more people around the world died of the flu than died on the battlefields of World War I. Through Agnes’s eyes, we realize the devastation of such an epidemic.
In addition to its historical depictions, Dreamers of the Day also gives us a woman with whom some twenty-first century women might identify. Agnes works first as a teacher, then inherits some money after the deaths of her relatives. She lives through the twenties on this sum, but then loses her small fortune to speculation and poor investments during the early years of the Depression. In mid-life she experiences a catharsis allowing her to find within herself a sense of adventure, even a sense of her own worth. She remodels herself from hairstyle to dresses, from outlook on the world to her lust for personal freedom, and makes of that renovation a nice job. She has spiritual battles with her deceased mother; she finds pain in love; she must learn to live great stretches of her life alone. She is vulnerable to pain--she grieves the passing of her family, for example, though without falling into bathos over that passing--and yet she is possessed of that Mid-Western spine which has carried many another Agnes through the tilt and whirl of life.
At the end of Dreamers of the Day, Agnes speaks to her readers from beyond the grave. Deceased, her soul has taken up residence again in Egypt, the land where she had so many adventures. Here she speaks with the likes of Ptolemy, Saint Francis, George McClellan (who intensely studied the Middle East, including Egypt, after the Civil War), and Napoleon. History and warfare, and the nature of humanity, are topics for their discussions. Most people, the dead Agnes concludes, “welcome war. Rare and precious as it is, peace seems boring and banal by comparison…As war approaches, Mr. James wrote, nations experience a vague, religious exultation.”
Regarding many of the commitments made by the United States to the Middle East in the twenty-first century, Agnes tells us that “Naturally, people are resentful of ham-handed efforts to run their affairs for them, especially when they can plainly see a benefactor’s ulterior motives. And even when you mean well? Sometimes things are just none of your business.”
Dreamers of the Day is not a book for every reader. It’s not an action or suspense novel, though both occur. It’s not a novel about dogs and their owners, though Rosie the dachshund often takes center stage. Even the romance at the heart of the novel takes a passenger seat next to the book’s depiction of its driver, Agnes. In Dreamers of the Day Mary Doria Russell creates a delightful character, Agnes Shanklin, who is able to tell us something about ourselves and the world in which we live.

I liked this novel. Lovely prose. Unlike some reviewers, I thought the story believable. Yes, ordinary people sometimes do actually meet famous people through happenstance, and live to tell an interesting story. I thought using a cute little dog as the introduction to the elite group of real people was quite plausible. The love story was also believable and realistic. Her transformation from educated spinster (just because her mother said she was a loser didn't make it so), to moneyed, experienced, Roaring Twenties traveler was convincing.

Also having visited Egypt and Jordan in 2010, I loved the descriptions of the landscape, pyramids, and the romantic float on the Nile. It was like traveling there again.

I can recommend it!

"...the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible." -- T. E. Lawrence

The Cairo Conference, the one in 1921, is one of the most pivotal points in modern history in that it set the stage for much of the world's current problems in the Middle East. Possibly all of them. The best thing that can be said it about it is that, thankfully, the United States wasn't involved in what happened. It's difficult for me to understand how it is that any man or group of men can think it's okay to determine the destiny and place in the world of people who have not agreed to that. That would be rather like me coming into your house, organizing it to meet my own needs, telling you which parts of your own house you were allowed to be in, and which possessions were still yours. Let me give you a hint: it's not the oil.

This is the backdrop against which Mary Doria Russel sets her historical fiction novel, Dreamers of the Day. And what a great title. Have I mentioned how much I like a good title? Not today? Well, I do, and that's a great title. Fortunately, it's from a quote by T. E. Lawrence, so, you know, if I ever decide I want to use it, I can, and I won't even have to feel bad about it. Lawrence, of course, is a central figure in the book.

I've been fascinated with Lawrence for a couple of decades at least. Probably longer. He's such an interesting person in history, and, I think, Russel did a more than admirable job of portraying him in the book. He certainly "felt" right based upon what I know of him. Not that it's easy to know what a person was like from reading about him in history, but, still...

One of the things I like most about Russel is that her books are not all cookie cutters of each other as is the case with many authors. Each of her books has a unique feel and perspective, often unsettling at first when you go in expecting something resembling a previous work of hers.

In The Sparrow we have third person past from one character in two different time settings. There's the story of what's happening now and the story of what happened in the past, and the thing that makes it so captivating is that you can't figure out how what happened lead to what's happening.

Children of God (sequel to Sparrow) is also third person past but has multiple perspectives and is, kind of, what's happening now and what's happening in the future. It's an interesting shift.

A Thread of Grace is third person present with multiple perspectives, and it really through me off when I started it. After her other two books, it just felt sort of wrong. Until I got into it.

Dreamers of the Day is first person past but also break occasionally for the narrator to speak to the audience. The beginning is very much a "let me tell you how this all started" and was kind of weird, and, again, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. But I did. If you have any interest in history, the book is especially fascinating.

At any rate, she has not satisfied herself with having any particular style that is recognizably hers other than having superb writing. She tries new things every time, and I like that.

Dreamers also has an interesting ending. There are hints all through the book, but, for me, I kept thinking, "Nah, she wouldn't do that," but she did, and it managed to add extra weight to the book. I'd tell you about it, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone.

The Sparrow is still my favorite book by Russel, but each of her books has been excellent, and I'm looking forward to working Doc into my reading schedule.

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible."

I just recently discovered Mary Doria Russell when I reviewed DOC for the Vine program. This is the third Russell title I've read, but I'm "saving" a few books so I can have something to look forward to!

True to form, with "Dreamers," she proves herself a whip-smart writer who can be very witty; her historical research is extensive, her dialogue sings, and the characters (real or fictitious) leap off the page and engage the reader. I loved this book!

I happen to really enjoy biographies of some of the larger-than-life figures who populate this novel: TE Lawrence, Winston Churchill, and Gertrude Bell. The cultural climate of post-WW I Egypt/Middle East is fascinating, but no less so than the narrator's personal life.

The main character, Agnes, is an American spinster schoolmarm who experiences a rebirth after she loses her family to the 1918 influenza epidemic and the resurgance of the disease after it was believed to have run its course. [The book is worth reading for that background alone. I don't know if contemporary Americans can really grasp what the Flu did to our society, but cemeteries that ring my neighborhood have many, many family plots where the entire household (parents and several children) died in short order. Date of death: 1918, over and over. The flu affected those least likely to normally succumb to disease: the elderly weren't hit as hard as the young and healthy. Soldiers shipping out to Europe dropped dead as they waited to board troop transports. On a personal note, one of those doughboys was my maternal grandfather, who would never see action on the battlefield but who would survive the flu. My paternal grandmother, meanwhile, the mother of a toddler, also sickened and narrowly escaped death.]

Agnes also nearly dies, but lives through and emerges like a phoenix. The "new" Agnes, no longer encumbered by her mother's negative and controlling influence, ditches her old uptight and safe lifestyle for a travel adventure, togged out in flattering clothes and with a new hairstyle. She books a cruise to Cairo, and before long she is partying with the big dogs--Churchill and Lawrence, etc.--and in the thick of international intrigue.

Speaking of dogs, Agnes shares her life with her devoted companion Rosie, a dachshund. And I have to say:this is possibly the most spot-on portrayal of a dachshund EVER. I know because I,like the author, am a long-haired dachshund "owner." (Although I must say that Rosie is a lot more civilized than my Napoleon, but Russell probably takes artistic license here and there.)

Although I really enjoyed this book, I demoted it from five stars for two reasons. One, again, as with her other novels, Russell can't help but promote the party line, and that party is definitely not the GOP. Which is fine that it isn't, only I don't like to be subjected to political propagandizing while I'm reading a novel. Two, some parts of the book lag--not much and not often, but there it is.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a good, interesting and thought-provoking read.

And the BEST way to enjoy it is, of course, with a dachshund on your lap.

(If you don't have one, there are THOUSANDS available on Petfinder.)

Miss Agnes Shanklin never thought she would have an adventure. The oldest, and plainest of three children, she expected to teach school and take care of her judgmental mother for the rest of her life. World War I and the Great Influenza Pandemic change the course of her life, and she finds herself in Egypt in 1921. Agnes finds herself dining, drinking, and seeing the sights with Winston Churchill, Gertrude Bell, and T.E. Laurence (also known as Laurence of Arabia). She also strikes up a friendship with a German man, who may have ulterior motives.

Mary Doria Russell uses Agnes to tell us about The Cairo conference of 1921, where Winston Churchill and his "Forty Thieves" carve up the Middle East. The result of this conference is nearly a century's worth of war and bloodshed. Agnes's story suffers some as the historical and political situations get complicated. Mary makes some interesting choices in the last third of the book that work to a point, but not completely.

What is the mark of good historical fiction? I think when it is faithful to the facts and can still tell a good story, it is good historical fiction. When it gets people interested in learning about a time and place they didn't know, it is good historical fiction. Mary Doria Russell is one of the best historical fiction authors out there, because she cares about the facts and does her research, as well as writing an enchanting story. She is always worth your time.

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell follows the events in the life of Agnes Shanklin a 40 year old schoolteacher spinster living near Cleveland Ohio. The major events in the novel take place following WWI and the influenza outbreak, during the roaring 20s. Agnes loses her mother, uncle, sister, brother-in-law and nephews to influenza leaving her alone with a bit of money and her faithful, loving Dachshund Rosie. Agnes finds herself lost without her family and not sure what to do with the rest of her life. On impulse she books a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land mostly because she knew how much her mother would have hated her going. Agnes finds herself staying in Cairo during the Cairo Peace Conference of 1921 and befriends such important figures in history as T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), Winston Churchill and Lady Gertrude Bell. Through Agnes's eyes readers get to witness some of the major events during this time period and we gain an excellent impression of the major historical figures involved.

I really enjoy Mary Doria Russell's novels The Sparrow and Children of God. This series still remains today to be one of my favorite and I still find myself thinking about these books even though I read those years ago. I was looking forward to reading Dreamers of the Day for some time now even though I knew that it was going to be a bit different and on a different subject matter than The Sparrow and Children of God. For the most part I really enjoyed this book even though it was completely different than I had expected. I think the strongest aspect of this book is the amount of history and details the author provides to readers. I'm not very familiar with all of the details of the Cairo Peace Conference and found the information in this book to be very interesting and to show to readers how events in history tend to repeat over and over. Also, the descriptions of Cairo during the time Agnes is there are very detailed and I found I was able to picture myself alongside her as she was traveling Cairo and the Middle East.

Similarly, I have heard mention of Lawrence of Arabia but I don't know a lot about him and I found the information in this book about his life and how he acted through the observations of Agnes to be very interesting and have me looking into other books and biographies about him. On the other hand, the weakest aspect of the book is probably Agnes story, the novel is told through her eyes as she looks back on her life but at times I wasn't very interested in her story, and the ending is rather strange and doesn't really flow well with the rest of the book.

This offering is a 2008 publication which is essentially about the Cairo Conference which I will explain eventually. The author is one of those rare individuals who cannot be pinned down genre-wise. I love her books, especially Doc (Holliday) which are impeccably researched and as close to true as can be without actually writing a history. Technically this is a love (of life) story. The author, who is sadly a Michigan grad, creates an individual, Agnes Shanklin, to tell the story. Agnes, who may not have existed, is placed in a time in history and given a "plausible" cover so that she can be at the heart of one of the most significant episodes in history. Virtually everyone else is a real to life recognizable human being and those who are not are composites of real people. In order to tell the story from today's perspective she speaks from the afterlife since she would be 120 years old otherwise. This is a questionable if not shameful convention but arguably necessary to offer a view consistent with today's Middle East.

After WWI and the great Influenza epidemic of 1918/19 several individuals from the occupying countries met in Egypt to draw a map and set up stooge governments in what are now Iraq, Iran, Syria, Trans Jordan, Israel/Palestine, Turkey and "Saud Arabia". These individuals include Lawrence of Arabia, Winston Churchill, Gertrude Bell and others. Various individuals are there as well to monitor, photograph, report on and observe for whatever reasons something which might not, in the overall scheme of things, have seemed particularly earthshaking. Sadly the voices of reason were over ruled by the get'er done crowd and lines were drawn without regard to incurable ethnic differences which persist to thwart any hope of long term peace even to this day.

Into this unlikely hoard comes spinster/heiress Agnes Shanklin an erstwhile fifth grade teacher from Cleveland who after the loss of her entire family to the flu takes the trip of a lifetime to a rather unsettled but remarkably intriguing area of the world replete with antiquities and signs of early civilization as well as the Holy Land. She learns all to soon what Mark Twain discovered and the culture shock nearly short circuits the trip before it is even nicely underway. She is traveling with her beloved pooch, a rescue dog from a mill run disastrously by her own mother. To the rescue comes Gertrude Bell and T.E. Lawrence and eventually Winnie himself. While insinuating herself into the travels and travails of these more famous actors she finds herself under the constant escortship of a not well understood gentleman from Germany. Is he a spy, a businessman, an interloper? We'll soon find out but not before the relationship blossoms.

Not to put too fine a point on this but you could care less about the technical underpinning and still love the writing and the story of Agnes Shanklin and her adventures and loves. 2.75* GIBO

Ah, what might have been. Russell knows the time period, the historical figures, and the political issues. The protagonist/narrator is appealing, and the writing itself is impressive. Therefore I was shocked when Russell bailed out with a cheap ending that wouldn't pass muster in a freshman composition class. It reminded me of a prominent football player who, in his self-deprecatory autobiography, recounts the English class in which he didn't know how to finish the short story he was writing, so he simply had an earthquake destroy the whole world. This book is almost that maladroit in its conclusion. After everything that came before, I was stunned.

While reading this book, one is forced to wonder how much it is meant to be a commentary on the current situation in the Middle East. And indeed, the political and historical expositions can be a little heavy-handed. And yet I found these easy to forgive, due mainly to the engaging voice of Agnes, our narrator. She has a very fresh and conversational tone that allows the reader to take in the information without feeling bashed over the head with it. And, I have to say, a lot of the description of how the Middle East was divvied up after WWI was very interesting in light of what's happened since in that region.

Most of the book is just good narrative. Agnes tells us her story as though we were sitting down over a cup of tea, and her conversational tone draws the reader in right away. Her tales of meeting Winston Churchill, T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia), and the others at the Cairo Peace Conference are wonderfully told, and her descriptions of Egypt, Jerusalem, and the other places she visits make them come alive. And of course, the way she tells us about her beloved dachshund Rosie are simply delightful!

I've been a big fan of Mary Doria Russell's books since I discovered them, and this one did not let me down.

Having enjoyed Maria Doria Russell's Thread of Grace, I was looking forward to her latest offering and wasn't disappointed. In "Dreamers of the Day", we are introduced to Agnes Shanklin, a 40 year old spinster schoolteacher living in Ohio at the end of the first World War. A tragedy in the form of the flu epidemic robs Agnes of all her family members and also brings her into an inheritance that sets the stage for her to realise her dream of visiting Egypt.

Agnes finds herself playing more than the role of a simple tourist as she gets a peek into the machinations behind the Cairo Peace Conference of 1921 with its interesting cast of historical figures [who happen to be staying at the same hotel as Agnes, the Semiramis]. Agnes finds herself hobnobbing with illustrious figures such as T.E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill etc, and also experiences romance as she is pursued by Karl Weilbacher, a German spy.

I loved how Ms Russell vividly captures the essence of the period with wonderful descriptions of the time and place, and of course characters. It is an absorbing read that will appeal to those who love historical fiction.

I listened to the audio CD version of this novel. The reader, Ann Marie Lee did an excellent job creating her character - the book is written in the first person from the point of view of protagonist Agnes Shanklin.

The reader gets a history lesson along with the story of Agnes S., who loses her entire living family to the influenza epidemic in 1919 and travels to Egypt in 1921. It's clear that the author is illustrating for the reader how some of the critical decisions and actions made by the West at that time set the stage for current conditions in the Middle East.

I enjoyed the story of Agnes Shanklin as well as the trip through history (and a tour of Egypt). My only reservation is that, for some reason the author decided to tell the story "from the grave." Agnes is narrating from the afterlife - in the present time. I'm assuming this device makes it easier to have Agnes comment on the quagmire that is the Middle East today. I think there might've been a simpler and smoother way to accomplish that - because the ending doesn't fit very well with the rest of the book and just seems bizarre.

Mary Doria Russell brings us a historical novel that takes place during the momentous Cairo Peace Conference of 1920, a three-day event that will change the world as we know it today. Three individuals --- the young Winston Churchill, then a mid-level cabinet officer; world traveler Lady Gertrude Bell; and Colonel T. E. Lawrence --- will carve Mesopotamia into Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Israel following the defeat of Germany during the Great War, ironically called the "war to end all wars."

The world was still staggering from the ravages of World War I and the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 that had cost millions of human lives. Agnes Shanklin, a single Ohio schoolteacher, had nursed her extended family through two waves of the deadly Spanish flu, only to lose them one by one. Still recovering from the effects of her own illness, Agnes settles her family affairs and with a modest inheritance decides to follow through on a suggestion by her late sister to visit Egypt and the Holy Land. Her sister, a missionary in Palestine, had written glowingly of good friend Neddy Lawrence and had urged Agnes to look him up if she ever got to the Middle East. Agnes signs on to a Cook's Tour and embarks on the long voyage with her faithful companion, a long-haired dachshund named Rosie, to trace the steps her late sister and family had followed.

Upon her arrival in Cairo, Agnes is swept up in street rioting by waves of protestors against Churchill. She was booked into the same hotel as the convening dignitaries but is unceremoniously and noisily ejected because of Rosie. Colonel Lawrence, who recognizes her from her sister's description, comes to her rescue and escorts her to a suitable hotel across the Nile River. There she meets Karl Weilbacher, a charming German spy, also in Cairo for the conference. Observing that Lawrence has taken Agnes under his wing, Weilbacher attaches himself to her through the affections of her dog.

Mary Doria Russell began her career as a paleontologist with a firm grasp of human relationships and theology, themes that run through her works of fiction. Her fans will remember the hauntingly beautiful story of THE SPARROW, her award-winning bestselling futuristic first novel. She wrote a sequel, CHILDREN OF GOD, and a third novel, A THREAD OF GRACE.

Here, Russell weaves a story of world-altering politics and history as seen through the eyes of the naïve, sheltered 40-year-old spinster. DREAMERS OF THE DAY is at once a fascinating and romantic travelogue and a spiritually challenging journey of self-discovery, especially in Jerusalem where Agnes experiences the clash of cultures in the ancient city.

--- Reviewed by Roz Shea

I liked Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. Agnes Shanklin is as real as any living, breathing person I've met.

The plot of the story is simple. Agnes, an "old maid" (this is about 1921) schoolteacher, takes a trip to Egypt after recovering from the war and the influenza epidemic of 1919. While there, she meets some of the famous statesmen and military men who were "solving" the middle east problem. She also falls in love while there.

The plot is not what held my interest. As Agnes tells her story, you know that she lived through what she is telling. Reading it, I sensed that some of the gaps in my knowledge of the period were being filled without the drudgery of history lectures. I found myself fascinated by a topic that had not particularly interested me before.

I was delighted to read in the acknowledgments at the end, that Ms. Russell had done her homework and invented only Agnes's story. Where it crossed the well known individuals, she kept them true to reality.

While I didn't hate it, I felt the final chapter was added on to express some opinions of the author that didn't naturally fit into the story. The naturalness, and reality, that I loved about the rest of the book fell away here. Though Russell gave hints early on, it just didn't work for me. Nonetheless, the book was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in love stories and/or the early twentieth century.

Agnes Shanklin has led a life dictated by her mother, that of a spinster teacher who has always lived in a small midwestern town. Even after her mother's death, Agnes hears her words dictating what course of action she should take. When her family dies of influenza, Agnes decides to take a trip to Egypt, where her beloved sister lived. While she is there, her life changes dramatically as the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference is taking place, and she finds herself among powerful and famous people such as Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchill. Mary Doria Russell steeps us in the history of the time and describes the far-reaching events which occurred when the conference participants re-arranged the map of the Middle East and created the country of Iraq, among others. She also shows us the growth and development of her delightful heroine, Agnes Shanklin, and the philosophy she developed while being close to the current events of her day. This book encourages me to read others by this author.

Dreamers borrows from The Lovely Bones in its perspective, but without the cause or skill: the last section undermines any serious intentions of the earlier ones and oddly truncates the heroine's story.

Historical fiction, especially when real and fictional characters intersect, often sacrifices narrative for cleverness; in this case, the narrator even claims to be an unnamed women in a photo with Churchill's party in Egypt. Still, Russell writes well even while she strains credulity and has done her research. It's a fascinating, if slightly biased look at the Cairo Conference, and I want to go back and reread A Peace to End All Peace and find Howell's biography of Gertrude Bell that has been lingering unread somewhere on my bookshelves since I bought two copies of it years ago with good intentions. (Two copies because I forgot I bought the first.)

Russell tries too many things in Dreamers, including a thinly disguised take on the current Middle East crisis, so that readers end up straddling three time periods and know they are being led. Russell should have stuck to developing her character and telling the story. Try Russell's A Thread of Grace for a better read.

This is a novel regarding the division of the Middle East after Turkey lost her empire to England and France as spoils to World War I. The novel is narrated by a school teacher from Ohio who happens to stumble into Lawrence of Arabia, Miss Gertrude Bell, and Winston Churchill while on vacation in Cairo, Egypt. They and a German-Jewish spy named Karl Weilbacher confide in her, using her as a sounding board. In fact, Karl Weilbacher uses her to get information to send on to Berlin. She falls in love with Karl and he repays her for the information she supplies by taking her on a romantic cruise up the Nile River. This is the third book by Mary Doria Russell that I have read and I believe this to be the best of the three. Hopefully this is a sign of maturing skill.

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell

3 stars
Ms Russell clearly set out to accomplish many things with this book. She had a history lesson to teach and some philosophical and political opinions to put across. It's not surprising that she would select an elementary teacher as her narrator and protagonist. (We do tend to be pedantic.) Agnes is a 40 year-old spinster fifth grade teacher at the time of the 1918 flu epidemic. The epidemic wipes out her entire family and leaves her with enough money to quit her job and seek personal liberation in Egypt and Palestine. Up to this point the book is probable historical fiction. The description of the great flu epidemic gives a clear picture of the devastation.
Once she arrives in Egypt, the story veers into the range of historical fantasy. How likely is it that a fifth grade teacher from Ohio would not only meet but socialize with T.E. Lawrence, Gertrude Bell and Winston Churchill? However, given that the author's goal is to insure that we are all smarter than a 5th grader regarding the history of our current mess in the middle east, the story is at least an entertaining lesson. I think Doria Russell chose the perfect narrator for her book. She wanted to teach and preach. Who better than a school teacher to tell the story?
This story did not measure up to Ms Russell's previous books, but taken on its own, it was an enjoyable read.

Oh, did I mention that the school teacher had a dog? A dachshund, called Rosie. I really enjoyed the dog.

Mary Doria Russell bring us great historical characters, Winston Churchill, Gertrude Bell, Lawrence of Arabia and the Cairo Conference that established the lay out of the present day Middle East. She weaves them into a delightful work of fiction, featuring the memorable Agnes Shanklin, an heiress and former teacher who witnesses all these great events unfold in a once in a lifetime trip to Egypt. Agnes, accompanied by her dachshund Rosie, shares with us those years from the early 1900's to, well, to present day, with a highly imaginative story and an honest attention to truth and detail in her reporting of world events. She even manages to incorporate Bob Hope, Napoleon Bonaparte, and St. Francis. A fun filled romp through history.

Having begun her fiction career with two novels of science fiction, Mary Doria Russell now offers her second volume of historical fiction, Dreamers of the Day. The protagonist of our story, Agnes Shanklin, has lived through the Great War and the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918, although her family did not. Finding herself an unmarried heiress at 38 and unable to continue teaching because "There were so many demobilized soldiers needing work that we ladies were often simmarily dismissed from employment," she remakes herself (with the help of Bob Hope's future wife, Millie) and takes a long dreamed of trip to Egypt and the Holy Lands. There she finds herself frequently in the company of Winston Churchill, Gertrude Bell and the infamous T.E. Lawrence, not to mention romantically involved with a German spy, all gathered for the Cairo Conference of 1921 at which decisions with far-reaching impact will be made regarding the post-World War I division of the Middle East.

Taking her tale from the days of peace, progress and prosperity before the Great War through the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, Agnes Shanklin remains a likable heroine you will want to stick with to the very end. Russell's usual strong characterizations, straight-forward writing and gift for telling a story are again strongly in evidence in Dreamers of the Day, a book I highly recommend.

Thoroughly delightful. Ms Russell has made good use of her many excellent sources to write quite a wonderful novel which takes us back a hundred years, through the flu epidemic, into the years after WW I. Real people - Churchill, Lawrence of Arabia - help propel our fictitious heroine through her journey of discovery, about herself, the countries of the Middle East, and the interplay of world leaders. Well worth reading.

This is a different type of novel for Ms. Russell. It was an historical novel that describes the early 1900's and the situation in the middle east at the time. Having Churchill and Lawrence (of Arabia) as characters really clarified the times and the setting of the story
I loved the main character, Agnes ... and of course, Rosie

The story begins when Agnes is a child in Ohio - Ms. Russell clearly describes the pandemic of 1918-9 and how it impacted everyone. She also does a wonderful job of explaining the mores, customs, and daily life of that time, - my grandmother lived during that time at hold me many of the same type of information. My grandmother came alive to me. Ms. Russell also told of how that lifestyle and thought process disappeared so suddenly, to be replaced by the `roaring twenties.

Part travelogue, part coming-into-your-own story, part historical fiction: this book suffers from a bit of a personality disorder. And it's not helped by the truly bizarre ending. However, Mary Doria Russell's writing style still managed to pull me into the story (such as it was) and felt like an enjoyable trip (pun intended). I kept trying to figure out where it was all heading while reading this, but apparently that's another point the writer is trying to make.... Where is it all heading? We'll never know. I still love you, Mary.

P.S. Best supporting dog character of the decade.

Interesting for the first third, then bogs down in history and political preaching. Another reviewer suggested that the history would have been more palatable with deeper development of the fictional characters and more plot. Agreed. I skipped many paragraphs because I already know a lot about this time period and location. I'm not familiar with any other of this author's works, but after reading this one, I wouldn't bother.

This book unfortunately wasn't as emotionally involving for me as was Thread of Grace and The Sparrow. That said, it was a good read. I really loved the acknowledgment at the end to Doria Russell's English teacher. Diagramming sentences is a key to unlock the mysteries of your own language, to writing (as Doria Russell states) and to learning foreign languages. It gives you a basis for everything language-related. Too bad it isn't pursued any more. Doria Russell lovingly honors this mentor which I found very touching. Tribute also to my own Lillian Pindyck who did the same for thousands of students also in the 60s but in Queens, NY.

This work of historical fiction starts out strong, balancing history told with a more unconventional spin and a family drama. The second part in Egypt is also informative and interesting, but has a few inaccuracies (Gibraltar is east of Spain, not west, and sunglasses weren't invented until 1929). I agree with another reviewer who said the last third doesn't really work. I loved the first half and was disappointed with the ending. Russell's editor could have done a better job helping her with this.

The only member of her family to survive the influenza pandemic of 1918, former fifth grade schoolteacher Agnes Shanklin and her dachshund Rosie set off from Cleveland, Ohio on a cruse to Egypt "...to escape from the sadness." She arrives in 1921 to find the local population in a state of agitated turmoil over the impending meeting of their new British governors. They are torn between a desire to kill the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Churchill and admiration and awe for the war hero who did so much to liberate the Arabs them from the rule of the Turks, Colonel Lawrence. She also arrives to find that dogs are not welcome in first-class hotels in Cairo.

Fortunately, she is rescued from her predicament by members of the very same English that are causing such a stir, Gertrude Bell and T.E. Lawrence. She soon makes the acquaintance of Winston Churchill and a very charming German gentleman who proves to be a very attentive friend and sympathetic listener. Thus the author skillfully sets the stage to portray the men and women who literally shaped the modern Middle East. As the fictional Miss Shanklin puts it, "my little story has become your history." She might have added, "and your current struggles."

Dreamers of the day is a fascinating work of historical fiction and an extremely satisfying read.

This is the type of book that starts out gently, leading one to think they know the protagonist fairly early. But what a delight when we see how our heroine grows and blossoms, I wish I had read the acknowledgements first after learning that the words spoken by the historical characters were accurate,

Having enjoyed Russell's novel A Thread of Grace, I snapped up this new one because I am interested in fiction about the great flu epidemic (my family lived in Boston, where it entered the U.S.in 1918 according to one theory). The beginning of this new novel was just what I wanted, but after Agnes inherited all the money, the story turned into a fashion makeover or What Not to Wear show. It was amazing to see Agnes completely under the spell of a very young saleswoman, who, admittedly, did have a good sense of style. That began what seemed to be a string of people who are leading Agnes---all substitutes for her overcritical, mean mother. Just as she had tried to please her mother, Agnes tries to please Karl and Lawrence. This is where the travelogue/ guidebooks take over the story. Then Agnes chooses to sacrifice her "honor" in more than one way to receive Karl's attention and loving. To see her return home and join the group of rich, spoiled women---until the stock market crash---seemed a waste of her experience. Only when she returned to teaching did she refind some purpose in life. The final episode which tells what became of Karl felt like a bad ending.

1921. Cleveland woman loses all members of her family to flu, and decides to leave town with her dachshund. She ends up in Cairo, with a quick introduction to some Arab quirks, and falls with with Lawrence (of Arabia) and Winston Churchill.

The story drags a bit and is lacking in character development. Agnes (the woman) falls for a German spy, they have a brief affair, and after a few weeks in Cairo, she goes home. Not pregnant, as she had thought, she dabbles in the stock market, loses everything after Black Thursday, and eventually dies. Not a great ending. The beginning of book is much better.

Once again Mary Doria Russell beautifully blends unlike things to create a fascinating experience for the reader. Those of us who have read Mary's other books knew she could do it. An author who moves our minds, hearts and souls by sending a Jesuit to outer space has a lively mind.

Dreamers of the Day blends historical fiction with travelogue with the love of dashchunds. No common author could do this. Other reviewers here have commented that the metaphysical ending did not end well. I disagree. The ending of the book is what it needs to be and, as such, delighted me. How can one "drink of the Nile" and not include the metaphysical?

The relevance of the creation of the middle east as we know it today is both timely and important. Mary is an astounding researcher. Even while lavishing in her gorgous prose and human sensitivity, even while understanding that I am reading a lush novel, I can trust that Mary has her facts straight.

A marvelous read. And I suspect a spot on portrait of the enigmatic Thomas Edward Lawrence.

I love historical novels because you actually can learn historical facts while in the dreamlike state of reading fiction. This book was wonderful in the beginning. Very interesting, good story. Then it became a history book. I felt like 10th grade high school. On and on and on. I skipped to the back to see the ending Very disappointing. I will try author's other titles because this was well written, even for a history book.

Well written historical novel. Interesting incites on Churchill, Lawrence of Arabia, Saint Frances... quite an eclectic group!
Excellent mixture of story line, history, humor. Probably more a woman's happy read than a man's.

I had never heard of this author prior to picking up this book. I noticed this book only because of the attractive cover. I am so thankful I read it. I thought it was masterful. Russell's prose is lovely, her story-telling capability superb, and her descriptions so real you feel as if you're walking right alongside each character. This is a book that will stay with me long after I've read it, and I don't say that about too many books. I highly recommend you give this story a try.

I studied The Sparrow in college and focused a good number of papers on her first historical fiction work but this time Russell has disappointed me. I found the story to be a bit predictable and terribly slow. I waited with eager anticipation the arrival of this book counting down the days and yet it took me nearly a week to finish this rather short tale. The majority of the work is dedicated to provided an almost history text summary of the events in what is now Iraq before W.W.II. I was hoping for characters that I could become attached to and a story I could linger in. I was altogether disappointed with this work and hope that forthcoming works will have a more developed story line.

Another unbelievable reading experience! Mary Doria Russell continues to astound the reader with incredibly personal experiences with her characters and settings. Dreamers of the Day permits the reader a fictional view into a time and place little discussed--1921 in Egypt--with a very current theme--the Middle East and Arab peoples. With every one of her novels, she leaves me breathless for more...more of the characters, more of the story, more of the culture. And yet, rather than succomb to the series, she thrills us with variety in her stories. Futuristic or historical, I know that when I open to the first page, I will be enthralled until the last word.