Customer Reviews

Yankee from Olympus: Justice Holmes and His Family

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As straight history or biography, this might not rate 5 stars, but as interesting history that captures time and place perfectly and flesh-and-blood biography that demands we observe actual people in the real world, this is a superb work. It basically relates three generations of the Holmes family of Boston, beginning with The Reverend Abiel Holmes, who lost his parrish for being too old-fashioned and hell-fire Calvinist for his congregation; his son, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, author of AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST TABLE and other works and a Harvard professor of medicine; and his son, Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr, wounded three times in the Civil War, lawyer, and eventual Justice of the Supreme Court, where he became known as "The Great Dissenter" for disagreeing with majority opinions of the Court, usually arguing for less government control and more personal freedoms. Bowen does write with the point of view of a novelist, inventing dialogue and getting into her characters' heads in a way only a novelist could do. But she embellishes rather than distorts, I think. And the book is a joy to read and has the feel of authority and deep knowledge. I actually found it hard to put down, especially in the first half of the book. Highly recommended.