WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 71Review_NONFICTION
vanishing Jewish histories, meeting
holdouts like peanut magnate Sara
Hamm in rural Alabama. Her travels take
her to abandoned or dying synagogues
and endangered graveyards, and her
ruminations highlight both Jewish history
and lack of current resources to maintain
sites and records. Jewish assimilation
both surprises her, with mentions of shell-
fish eating and Yom Kippur luncheons,
and disappoints her, particularly with
some Jews’ failure to grapple with slavery.
Though the focus can wander when, for
instance, Eisenfeld writes about African-
American experiences, she does highlight
how the civil rights movement and
subsequent backlash made many Jews
fear for their own safety in the South. In
the strongest chapter, Eisenfeld details
how Michael Kogan, a genteel retired
Jewish professor, faced off in public
debates about a Confederate monument
with Robert Rosen, a Jewish lawyer on
the committee trying to contextualize
the monument in 2017 Charleston, S.C.
While Eisenfeld’s meandering style
might not appeal to hardcore history
buffs, her stories provide many revealing
tidbits for those who enjoy self-reflective
historical writing. (Apr.)self. Comstock-Gay’s wide-ranging intro-
duction will please fans of her horoscopes,
as well as any amateur astrologist. (Apr.)Natural: How Faith in Nature’s
Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads,
Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science
Alan Levinovitz. Beacon, $28.95 (256p)
ISBN 978-0-8070-1087-7
Levinovitz, professor of religion at James
Madison University, makes a nuanced plea
for a more informed relationship with the
natural world in this evocative, convincing
work. Arguing that “natural goodness”
often serves as “a mercenary ethic that
anyone can hire to fight for their cause,”
he asks readers to stop idolizing what’s
“natural,” so as to take better care of
nature and society’s neediest. Levinovitz
believes a balance needs to be struck
between awe of the natural world and its
preservation, and is critical of appeals that
defend socioeconomic disparity (such as
the virtue of “natural” products with
exorbitant price tags), eschew modern
medicine (as with vaccine refusal), or
reduce wildness to human terms (hunters
“giving animals ‘a sporting chance’ ”).
Rich with interviews, anecdotes, and
citations, Levinovitz’s work makes a
strong case for the wisdom of compromise
and humility. While Levinovitz is more
articulate about what he’s against than
what he’s for, he argues that “passionate
activism is completely compatible with
acknowledging complexity and ambi-
guity.” It may seem paradoxical indeed,
but this argument for removing “natural”
from the altar of absolute good will cer-
tainly start conversations, particularly
among naturalists and environmentalists.
(Apr.)Wandering Dixie: Dispatches
from the Lost Jewish South
Sue Eisenfeld. Mad Creek, $19.95 trade
paper (292p) ISBN 978-0-8142-5581-0
Eisenfeld (Shenandoah), who teaches
science writing at Johns Hopkins, blends
history and travelogue in this adequate
exploration of race and religion in the
South. Surprised to discover that some
Jews fought for the Confederacy in the
Civil War, Eisenfeld set out to understand
Southern Jewish identity. She grounds her
historical analysis in personal reflection as
she travels to small towns with lost orof Exodus, asking what their lives can
teach about the spiritual mandate to
work for justice. Each chapter focuses on
a particular woman or women, such as
Shiphrah and Puah, the midwives ordered
by a pharaoh to kill male babies born into
Hebrew families; Bithiah, daughter of the
pharaoh; or Miriam, sister of Moses, all of
whom the author describes as “liberation
practitioners.” Nikondeha places biblical
narrative in historical context and inter-
weaves stories from her own life and other
examples of present-day women working
for justice. For example, the chapter on
Moses’s mother, Jochebed, situates
Jochebed’s pregnancy and decision to
relinquish her son against the backdrop
of Egyptian politics during biblical times
and the racial politics of reproduction
under apartheid in South Africa. This
empowering work will do well in a
Sunday school or book group setting. (Apr.)
Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide
to the Stars: Astrology, Our
Icons, and Our Selves
Claire Comstock-Gay. Harper, $26.99 (256p)
ISBN 978-0-06-291333-3
Comstock-Gay, who writes as Madame
Clairevoyant for New York magazine’s
The Cut website, draws on her personal
life and pop culture in this delightful
exploration of ways to use astrology in
day-to-day life. Once an astrology disbe-
liever, Comstock-Gay embraced it after
learning that her rising sign of Cancer
belied what she thought was her set
Sagittarius personality—and described
her startlingly well. After stating her
book is not “a reference...or study guide,”
she delves into the 12 zodiac signs,
listing common traits and predilections,
and offering advice. Using the sun signs
of writers (Virgos such as David
Wojnarowicz and Leslie Feinberg), film
directors (among them Leos Sandi Tan
and Richard Linklater), singers (Nicki
Minaj and Miley Cyrus, both Sagittarius),
politicians (Gemini Rob Ford), and actors
(including a touching section on Pisces
Fred Rogers), Comstock-Gay demon-
strates how each person’s life can be read
through the prism of their sun signs. She
also touches on how other zodiac signs
play a part in natal astrology, emphasizing
that celestial placements at birth and in
life can help one think about one’s sense of
FICTION
A Heart of Blood and Ashes Milla Vane. Jove,
ISBN 978-0-425-25507-0, Feb.
Breaking Silence: A Novel of the Serrated
Edge Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin. Baen,
ISBN 978-1-9821-2434-2, Feb.
Cast in Wisdom Michelle Sagara. Mira,
ISBN 978-0-7783-0938-3, Feb.
★ Hearts on Hold Charish Reid. Carina Carina,
ISBN 978-1-4880-5515-7, Feb.
Straight Outta Dodge City, edited by David
Boop. Baen, ISBN 978-1-9821-2436-6, Feb.
The Weekend Wedding Assistant Rachel
Gladstone. Turner, ISBN 978-1-68442-377-4, Feb.
NONFICTION
American Oligarchs: The Kushners, the
Trumps, and the Marriage of Money and
Power Andrea Bernstein. Norton, ISBN 978-1-
324-00187-4, Jan.
Edward Hopper and the American Hotel
Leo Mazow, with Sarah G. Powers. Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts, ISBN 978-0-300-24688-9. Dec.http://www.publishersweekly.comONLINE ONLY