There are few things I love more than an evocative writer. Someone who makes me feel what and where they’re writing about. Two that come to mind immediately: Pat Conroy in Prince of Tides, not only for the low country of South Carolina, but for New York when Tom goes there and Kent Haruf for Holt, Colorado, a small town that served as the setting for his Plainsong trilogy. I ... 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...
The Beauty of Your Face
All of her career Afaf has been a teacher. Now, she is the principal of a Muslim school for girls in a Chicago suburb. She’s also face-to-face with the man who has gone through her school shooting her students. As the minutes between life and possible death tick by in The Beauty of Your Face, her mind travels to her past and the event that tore her family apart—the ... Read More...
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Several weeks ago, I enthused about a novel that I thought was outstanding even though it was DARK (The Road, which I would not recommend reading anytime soon). Now I’m back to balance the scales by going full-on evangelical about a book so bright it glows. Untamed is Glennon Doyle’s journey, extracted and distilled into a nourishing and energizing blend of inspiration, wisdom, ... Read More...
A Good Neighborhood
I’ve enjoyed Therese Anne Fowler’s historical fiction for years, especially her novel Z, about Zelda Fitzgerald. So, I was interested to see what she would do with a novel about contemporary American life—a topic that provides more extravagant fodder every day as the social divisions in the country continue to expand. A Good Neighborhood hits at one of the bastions of the ... Read More...
A Different Viewpoint: Amnesty
Last week I reviewed a light, bright novel set in 1950s Sydney, Australia. Today I’m back with another novel set in Sydney, but in recent times and with a much darker tone. Amnesty by Aravind Adiga is about Danny, an illegal immigrant from Sri Lanka. His visa expired three years ago when he dropped out from a for-profit college. He’s been living in the shadows as a cash-only ... Read More...
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