Where to begin with Brit Bennett’s new novel The Vanishing Half? Ostensibly it’s the story of identical twins Stella and Desiree who grow up in Mallard, a small, poor community in the Deep South, comprised solely of light-skinned black people. But given what’s happening in America right now reviewing a book about race feels fraught, even when it’s fiction. As a white woman I ... Read More...
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
At 22 Ava decides the best way to have a happy life is to move as far from Dublin as possible. She chooses Hong Kong where she is hired by a private elementary school to teach English grammar. She makes one friend, Julian, who is an investment banker, but what begins as friendship segues into something else. What that is is hard to define in Naoise Dolan’s subtle, but sharp ... Read More...
Pretty Things: A Novel
Nina is the kind of pretty that stands out, but not enough to be a problem if you’re a grifter stealing from rich people in L.A. She’s got a keen eye, both for fine art and antiques (thanks to an MFA), and for drunk spoiled men who aren’t likely to miss valuable items from their homes. Vanessa is an heiress who fits Nina’s profile, but as an Instagram influencer she’s too aware ... Read More...
The First Actress: A novel
Born the illegitimate daughter of a French courtesan, Sarah Bernhardt didn’t even live with her mother until she was eight years old. When she did move in with her, Sarah caught the eye of one of her mother’s patrons and was shipped off to convent boarding school. Not for her safety, but because her mother didn’t want the competition. When she returned to Paris at 15 her ... Read More...
Master Class by Christina Dalcher
Christina Dalcher’s debut novel, Vox, established her as one of those writers who can layer present events onto the future and make it grim, but plausible. In the novel, separation of church and state disappear and one of the first acts of the new government is to restrict the number of words a woman can speak each day. Yeah. Now, she’s back and she sets Master Class in a ... Read More...
Rodham: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld
Seldom has there been a public figure more scrutinized, disparaged, and talked about than Hillary Rodham Clinton. You might think it’s the price to be paid for entering politics, but the level of personal attacks against her often seem largely based on the fact that she is a she. Add to this her marriage to a man not known for his fidelity and her defeat in the 2016 ... Read More...
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