Adventures on the East Coast: The Roebling Museum

John A. Roebling is responsible for creating wire rope which is the very thing used to hold up most suspension bridges. He formed his company and had two locations: Trenton and Roebling. Both located in New Jersey, the Roebling factory was the source of everything for the town. Roebling built the factory and then built the town up around it, creating houses for his workers, managers and foremen.

The town was a private town up until the 1950's when Roebling sold the factory to Colorado Fuel and Iron who then kept it running until it closed in the 1970's. Today, much of the factory is gone, but the main gate building is still there and within it is the Roebling Museum.

It was pretty interesting to learn about all of the bridges that the company built, the Slovak influences within the town and of course, (you all know me) the love story between John's son Washington and his wife Emily.

They pretty much met and Washington just knew. They wrote letters to each other everyday and married quickly. They went on to form an amazing partnership with Emily being a real, strong woman of her time. Washington got the bends while constructing the Brooklyn Bridge and thought he was going to die. Emily picked up the slack and was responsible for getting the job done.

Carving Set made from Roebling wire rope.

Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

Emily Warren Roebling

Locker.

Traditional Slovak dress. 

Book Review: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Kostova's story is rich, layered and in so many ways its own literary painting. Plunged deep into the mystery of way famous painter, Robert Oliver, would attack a painting in the National Gallery, psychiatrist Robert Marlow quickly becomes obsessed with finding out why and unlocking the emotional and psychological torment that plagues his latest patient.

Fans of Kostova's first book, The Historian, will enjoy the long, languid way that she wrote her second book, filling it with detail and mystery taking the reader from the 20th century back to the 19th, from the United States to the coasts of Normandy through budding first love to last love while carefully and intricately weaving a web that interlaces past and present.

Overall, Kostova's second book is a heavy read with a lot of detail that at times can be too much to take in, but it is worth the read in the end.

Score: 4 out of 5
Book Information: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova was originally published in April 2010 through Little, Brown and Company. It is available for purchase with ISBN 1847442404.