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Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

November 7, 2018

killing

Where to begin about Killing Commendatore? This chunkster of a book is about a portrait artist who breaks with his current life after his wife leaves him. He moves into a remote home that allows him a quiet life away from his work. Until, he discovers a hidden painting in the attic and a man offers him an astronomical sum to paint his portrait. He agrees and a tenuous ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: art, contemporary life, Knopf, literary, Southeast Asia

The Collector’s Apprentice: A Novel

October 24, 2018

collector

Before I share my thoughts on The Collector's Apprentice, B.A. Shapiro's new art world novel, I need to fess up that this books contains two big pieces of literary kryptonite for me. One is kind of obvious—the cover. I love the era of well-dressed, elegant women in pearls, even if I spend 95% of my days in what can only kindly be called athleisure wear (read: really old ... Read More...

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Algonquin Books, art, historical fiction, mystery, Paris

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

October 22, 2018

unsheltered

  Willa and her husband Iano are stuck in a situation that strikes fear in the heart of anyone in midlife—she’s newly unemployed and the college where he had tenure closed and he’s been forced to take an entry-level at a small school in Philadelphia. His father is a morbidly obese, deaf, virulent racist who lives with them because his wife died. Their 26-year-old ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, family, Harper, historical fiction, literary, social issues

A Well-Behaved Woman

October 17, 2018

behaved

The Vanderbilt family is one of the great success stories in American history. Author Therese Fowler picks up the line with the third generation in her novel, A Well-Behaved Woman. The woman in question is Alva Smith—a 21-year-old with a perfect pedigree, but no money. Teetering, in fact, on the edge of outright poverty, until her dear friend Consuelo (a Cuban sugar heiress), ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 19th century, historical fiction, Manhattan, St. Martin's Press, wealth, women

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

October 15, 2018

clockmaker

Time passes differently when I'm alone in the house; I have no way of marking the years. I am aware that the sun continues to rise and set and the moon to take its place, bu I no longer feel its passage. Past, present, future are meaningless; I am outside time. Here and there, there and here, at once.  In present day London, Elodie is an archivist who comes across a leather ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 19th century, Atria Books, historical fiction, mystery

Virgil Wander: A Novel by Leif Enger

October 10, 2018

virgil

Greenstone, Minnesota is a hard luck little town. Once known for its taconite mines it has settled into a slow decline when Virgil Wander’s car goes over a cliff and into the lake one night in the midst of an unexpected snowstorm. He’s only alive because the local junkman was on the shore, dove in and saved him, but he suffers brain trauma that leaves him with vertigo, an ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Grove Press, literary, magical realism

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