#6Degrees 6 Degrees of Separation: From Fleishman Is In Trouble to The American Agent

It’s the first Saturday of the month so it’s time for 6 Degrees of Separation!

Here’s how it works: a book is chosen as a starting point by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

Kate says: Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may choose to link them in more personal or esoteric ways: books you read on the same holiday, books given to you by a particular friend, books that remind you of a particular time in your life, or books you read for an online challenge. Join in by posting your own six degrees chain on your blog and adding the link in the comments section of each month’s post.   You can also check out links to posts on Twitter using the hashtag #6Degrees

This month’s starting book is Fleishman Is In Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, a book I’d never heard of let alone read before seeing it mentioned here. From the description, I’d say it’s not a book that particularly appeals to me either as it’s about a man having some sort of mid-life crisis.

The Ice House by Laura Lee Smith is another book in which a man is facing all sorts of problems including the potential demise of his business (an ice factory), family estrangement and the possibility of serious illness.

The Ice House is the title of a book by Minette Walters but it’s her historical fiction novel, The Last Hours I’m focusing on here. It tells the story of a small Dorset community attempting to protect themselves from the ravages of the Black Death.

Fortune’s Wheel by Carolyn Hughes also concerns the Black Death but, in this case, its aftermath is the focus. In the year 1489, the villagers of Meonbridge struggle to recover from the impact of the epidemic.

Katherine by Anya Seton tells the story of Katherine Swynford who was thought to have been born around 1489. The book recounts her long love affair with the married John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.

An illicit affair is also the subject of Ike and Kay by James MacManus, namely the relationship between General Eisenhower and his female driver. They first meet in a bomb-ravaged London which is also the setting for the final book in my chain.

In the historical mystery The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear, the book’s heroine, Maisie Dobbs, has to work with an American counterpart to solve a murder while bombs rain down on London.

Where did your chain take you this month?