At 101, Author Babette Hughes Publishes ‘Lessons in Evil’

Babette Hughes: “…None of us have excuses for not chasing our dreams down and accomplishing them, especially if those dreams are important enough to us. Centenarians are supposed to be finished, according to our culture. All of my work over the past decade or so says otherwise. That should be encouraging to people out there who have naysayers around them telling them what they cannot or should not be able to do.”

As long-time readers know, it’s rare for me to review a book. So why now? And why a book that has nothing to do with elder care or other caregiving?

Two reasons:

1. Babette Hughes is 101. This makes a point, in my estimation, that age vs. ability is a construct. Each of us is unique. Different strengths. Different shortcomings. Different talents. So to Ms. Hughes, I say, thank you for continuing your work in such a brilliant way. We need good news about aging and ability.
2. “Lessons In Evil” is a well-written, suspenseful book that serves as a reminder of how marginalizing any group enables evil to flourish.

About Babette Hughes

From her Amazon biography: Babette Hughes is the author of the Kate Brady series consisting of three novels: first prize winner in historical fiction from the Texas Authors Association, The Hat; followed by The Red Scarf and concluded with The Necklace. She has also published a memoir, Lost and Found, the novel, Searching for Vivian, and as co-author of Why College Students Fail.

She is a Huff Post columnist; published in the Saturday Review; been Contributing Editor of Cleveland Magazine; a twice-weekly columnist for the Cleveland Press; and has published articles and book reviews in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Sunday Magazine. She has also written, produced and appeared in television documentaries and news and feature stories for Cleveland television stations WKYC-NBC and WNBK-UHF.

In addition to her writing career, she has been National Director of Women’s Political Action for Hubert Humphrey in his 1972 Presidential campaign, as well as founder and President of Discover Yourself, Inc., a motivation and self-realization program for women. She has also been Director of Public Relations for Revco D.S., Inc. in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Account Executive with Frazier Associates, in Washington, DC. She and her husband live in Austin, Texas, and are the parents and step-parents of eight children.

Her latest work is a compilation of her Huff Post essays and is titled The Secret of Happiness: And Other Essays From The Huffington Post.

Premise for “Lessons In Evil”:

“Fiction author Annie Burg is tasked with writing an unauthorized biography on literary luminary, Helga Hoffman. At first, she is hesitant to take the assignment but realizes it could bolster her sagging career. This would turn out to be a writing assignment unlike any other.

“With little to go on, Annie becomes a detective, snooping around the archives at the New York Public Library. Her work takes a stunning turn when she uncovers a heartless and heinous crime carried out against Jews in a hospital in Nazi Germany.”

From “Lessons In Evil“

Germany, 1937:

“…Skilled with a needle, she murdered eleven women. It was supposed to be twelve, but unbeknownst to her, one survived. Her method was brilliant in its simplicity and efficiency. She dressed in a nurse’s uniform and walked brazenly into the Berlin Jewish Hospital. At exactly 3:10 p.m., she took the elevator to the sixth-floor ward where twelve women in their beds were lined up. She had researched the ward’s schedule…The murders of eleven women took forty-three minutes door to door…Adolf was pleased.”

“Lessons In Evil” is available on Amazon and from other sources. I recommend it for all the reasons mentioned above, plus it’s simply a very good book.