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Hunting and Gathering

March 28, 2014

hunting and gathering

For every one of us there is a point when we know we are in love with a book and for each of us it is different. For me, it was page 17 in Hunting and Gathering when the anorexic Camille crumpled up a note from a well-meaning young doctor asking her to call him so he could take her to dinner. One sentence, no special words and yet, to me, it so perfectly encapsulated this ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary fiction, France, literary, Riverhead Books

Fever: A Novel

March 21, 2014

fever

When Mary Mallon leaves Ireland for the United States in the late 1800s she has already seen too much of death—both of her parents, her sister, and her sister’s young children. Death holds little mystery for her but life in Manhattan is full of opportunity when her aunt teaches her to cook. Rather than live as a laundress, with her arms up the elbows in scalding hot water or ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 20th century, book clubs, historical fiction, New York City, social issues

Visible City: A Novel

March 17, 2014

visible city

  In Visible City author Tova Mirvis takes on two of the most socially polarizing groups in America today—mommies and not-mommies. Both groups feel themselves to be ignored and misunderstood and both groups can count on staunch supporters. In the children-need-discipline group is Claudia, an architectural historian who is being auditorially assaulted on all sides. Immediately ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York City

The Anatomy Lesson

March 12, 2014

anatomy lesson

Aris Kindt was not necessarily a bad man but he was a thief. For every town where he was caught he was whipped and branded so his torso and neck told the painful history of his life. It isn’t until he returns to Amsterdam and is caught stealing a burgher’s fine coat that he is not only whipped but then has his hand amputated. Shortly after this, he is condemned to hang—an ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1600s, art, book clubs, debut, Europe, historical fiction, Nan A. Talese

The Blazing World

March 10, 2014

blazing world

Sometimes all it takes is a name and the die is cast. For Harriet Burden, the fact that her father called her Harry from a young age felt like a challenge; one that she grabs onto with all the tenacity of a pit bull, even when it causes her nothing but pain. Harriet is the protagonist in Siri Hustvedt’s new novel, The Blazing World, a tour-de-force of one woman’s determination ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: art, book clubs, contemporary life, women

Kinder Than Solitude

March 7, 2014

kinder than solitude

  A trio of friends haunted by a mysterious accident are the key characters in Yiyun Li’s new novel, Kinder Than Solitude. They all live within the same housing compound in Beijing, where life moves along without much disturbance, until an older girl living in one of their houses is overcome by a mysterious illness that later turns out to be chemical poisoning. She is not ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: China, contemporary fiction, cultural, debut, Random House

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