Press Room

Listen to the NPR interview with Molly Caldwell Crosby (February 26, 2008)
> Website link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19241319
> Download Audio in mp3 format
> Read the Transcript

REVIEWS:

"A ripping yarn...Crosby has stepped into the breach, assembling her narrative from an impressive array of sources and then lavishly saucing it with period detail...It ranges from the glittering, palm-treed lobbies of the city's best hotels and cafes to the narrow streets of Hatton Garden..." Salon.com review of THE GREAT PEARL HEIST

"...one of the most engrossing true crime stories of all time." Barnes & Noble review of THE GREAT PEARL HEIST

"It's a gem...Crosby's story is rich in the lore of London's famed underworld; this is a tale of fences, putter-ups and receivers who trafficked in stolen jewels and other valuables. She takes us deep into the worlds of criminals and the lawmen who pursued them." Newsday review of THE GREAT PEARL HEIST

"Crosby's thriller-style account is backed up by her intensive research of Metropolitan Police records in the National Archives in London, along with contemporary accounts...she has crafted another compelling popular history." Booklist (starred review) for THE GREAT PEARL HEIST

"Crosby turns back the clock to a winning true crime tale involving two superior minds...the author highlights the case's major influence on British crime detection and the legal system, adding a dash of color and realism to a largely forgotten chapter of Edwardian London.  Justice is served with the usual Brit low-key smarts and cheeky moves." Publishers Weekly review of THE GREAT PEARL HEIST

"...the book lays out the cat-and-mouse game between Grizzard and Ward in great detail, reading like an episode of 'Law & Order: Special Edwardian Unit,' the most fascinating aspects for modern readers are the antiquated standards and primitive police science of the time." New York Post review of THE GREAT PEARL HEIST

"Molly Caldwell Crosby has a lovely talent for imagining history." The Dallas Morning News

"Crosby brings a clinical eye to her subject, creating a narrative that manages to remain both exciting and informative. While there is plenty of nefarious action in this book, there is also carefully researched detail and well reasoned sociological analysis...a memorable portrayal of character and crime." Memphis Commercial Appeal and Chapter16 

"...an entertaining step-by-step study of life in London before World War I and a skillful reconstruction of a, for its time, hugely publicized crime that sent the media and the public into a frenzy." Memphis Flyer review of THE GREAT PEARL HEIST

"Rich and evocative, The Great Pearl Heist...immerses readers in the pre-war world of 1913 London and the extraordinary life of one of history's most skilled and clever thieves.  Crosby has written a book that is as enchanting and irresistible as its subject." Candice Millard, author of RIVER OF DOUBT and DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC

"Fast-paced, full of twists and turns, and rich in detail, The Great Pearl Heist takes us deep inside the criminal underworld of turn-of-the-century London jewel thieves...a fascinating story rooted in such deep historical research that we can practically watch the drama unfold in real time." Jeffrey Jackson, author of PARIS UNDER WATER

"Molly Crosby has provided a brilliant and deeply moving account of the fearful years between 1915 and 1927, when this mysterious, worldwide pandemic struck, giving us vivid, intensely human portraits of seven individuals caught up in this epidemic, and the physicians who did their best to understand and help them." Oliver Sacks, author of AWAKENINGS

"Here's medical curiosity combining history, mystery, and riveting storytelling....The remarkable human connection Crosby brings to this scientific oddity helps enlighten readers about a pandemic forgotten in the shadow of the contemporaneous Spanish flu and till now memorialized only in Oliver Sacks's Awakenings."  Publishers Weekly review of ASLEEP

"The engaging story of the outbreak of a bizarre disease....Crosby is a fine storyteller, peppering her case studies with facts about the history of neurology and details about 1910s New York.  She also provides fully realized portraits of not only her case studies' patients, but also the brilliant doctors who treated them...." Kirkus Reviews, ASLEEP

"Asleep is not just a profile of an epidemic.  It offers a vibrant slice of the history of New York, where there were so many victims and so much of the research had taken place....There is something extravagant about a good book; it is an indulgent treat....Asleep was, indeed, just such a pleasure."       Read the entire review on Blogcritics.org.

"Harrowing...." Discover magazine, May 2010

"Crosby has a knack for making medical verbiage accessible to the general reader.  She provides vivid descriptions of the personalities involved...." Neurology Today, March 2011

"Molly Caldwell Crosby in Asleep expands on Sacks and gives readers a fuller history of this forgotten malady.  In the case of the patients she describes, it's a painful, shocking history; in the case of the doctors who tried to treat it, understand it, cure it, it's a noble, self-sacrificing history too."  Memphis Magazine
        
Crosby "chronicles the outbreak through a series of horrific and heartbreaking case studies in Asleep...." Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Dallas Morning News called Asleep "a moving nonfiction account of a complicated disease" and included a lengthy author interview.

"Crosby follows American Plague, her highly regarded history of yellow fever, published in 2006, with the equally terrifying and still unresolved story behind encephalitis lethargica." Commercial Appeal

"Asleep may be the most frightening medical read since Richard Preston's The Hot Zone....With history, especially scientific history, it takes a writer with a deft touch to balance the exposition of facts with an artistic evolution of character and story....Crosby manages this feat."  Chapter16.org Read an interview with the author about Asleep and her new book on Chapter 16.

“…A first-rate medical detective drama….I closed this book feeling oddly buoyant. It is good to be reminded of the occasional nobility of the human spirit.”
—New York Times Book Review of The American Plague

“Today we’ve largely forgotten yellow fever, but a gripping new book, The American Plague…could help remedy that.”
—Newsweek

“Well written and absorbing…the book should be of interest to anyone concerned with the history of medicine or of the Americas.”
—Pharohs, of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Society for The American Plague

“A fascinating book about yellow fever, its unspeakable horrors and the uncommon valor that four doctors displayed in their quest to solve a devastating medical mystery.”
—The Tennessean for The American Plague

“…painstaking investigation is important not just for the sweep of detail but for getting things impeccably right. Whether Crosby is writing about Carnival preparations in Memphis, the death of a family in a plantation house in Mississippi or the itinerary of Walter Reed in Havana, she provides meticulous documentation to back up the narrative.”
— The Commercial Appeal for The American Plague

“As a native of Memphis—a river town nearly obliterated by this terrifying disease—I've always felt yellow fever's long shadow. Not until I read Crosby's THE AMERICAN PLAGUE, however, did I realize its curious, integral place in our national experience. Through vivid prose and classic storytelling, Crosby seamlessly blends history and science to tell us how yellow fever haunted the nation—and why, if we're not extremely vigilant, it will haunt us again.”
—— Hampton Sides, Author of GHOST SOLDIERS and BLOOD AND THUNDER

“In her masterful debut, Molly Caldwell Crosby uses rich detail and a stunning cast of characters to bring to vivid life the devastating yellow fever epidemic of 1878. THE AMERICAN PLAGUE tells the story of this period, one of the most wrenching in our nation's history, with powerful intimacy and immediacy. From unimaginable heartbreak to staggering heroism, this book captivated me from the first line--and haunted me long after I'd turned the final page.”
—– Candice Millard, Author of THE RIVER OF DOUBT

“Molly Crosby's meticulous research and adroit story-telling place the reader in Memphis as the yellow fever epidemic devastates a city of promise, and a heroic team of doctors, nuns, and citizens sacrifice all to care for the sick and to contain the disaster. The tragedy of that sickly season, in turn, sets a succession of medical detectives on the trail of the perpetrators, a mystery that takes almost 30 years to unravel…After a few chapters of THE AMERICAN PLAGUE, I had to take an aspirin and lie down--and that is a tribute to the power of Molly Crosby's memorable evocation of a terrible time.”
—– Robert M. Poole, Author of EXPLORERS HOUSE

Memphis Magazine rated The American Plague as one of the top literary works about Memphis history and included an in-depth review.

Read a Q & A with the author about landing a first book deal.