In a book of historical fiction on the Civil War, the author told of the train stopping in Birmingham, Alabama, and soldiers getting aboard.
That’s when I tossed it away.
Birmingham, Alabama did not exist during the Civil War. The city was founded in 1870, five years after the end of that war, and chartered the next year.
A western novel I was reading told of some goings-on in the city of New Orleans. The author made reference to the point at which Bourbon Street intersects with the Mississippi River. This famous street runs parallel to the river and at no point intersects it.
Then, the writer described a scene taking place in a New Orleans mansion “built in the mid-nineteenth century.” Well, hello. The story was taking place in 1865, by any accounts the middle of the 19th century.
Where were the editors, one wonders? Does no one in the publishing business read a book with a critical eye any more?
I stopped reading Fannie Flagg’s new book “The Whole Town’s Talking” a third of the way in. My daughter-in-law did the same thing. The difference is I had bought the book, whereas Julie had only to return hers to the library.