I’ve read and enjoyed both of R.F. Kuang’s adult novels (Babel, Yellowface) so was looking forward to her latest, Katabasis. A Greek word meaning “going down or descending” this chunky novel is about Alice Law, an American student getting her graduate degree in Magick from Cambridge. The title refers to Alice’s descent into Hell to retrieve the soul of her academic advisor, the ... Read More...
The Bestseller: A Novel
The Bestseller had two things going for it when I saw it in my library online catalog. One, it was Available Now so not hold list to wait through and two, the author’s name, Olivia Goldsmith, sounded vaguely familiar. Sure enough, she was a popular writer in the 80s and 90s and I’d read several of her books. It’s wild to go back an author I thoroughly enjoyed 25 years ago and ... Read More...
The Summer Guest
Zinaida, Katya, and Ana have nothing in common, especially given that Zinaida lived in the small town of Sumy in the Ukraine in the 1800s and Katya and Ana are modern women. But in Alison Anderson’s debut novel, The Summer Guest, their lives intersect as Katya discovers Zinaida’s diary and hires Ana to translate it into English. For all three women this is their chance ... Read More...
Mademoiselle Chanel: A Novel
When you think of Chanel it is likely as a luxury brand of clothes, accessories, and perfume. I know for me it is because owning a vintage Chanel suit is on my bucket list. Forget seeing the pyramids, I want that boucle jacket with the gold chain sewn into the lining to make sure it hangs straight. It is fascinating, then, to read C.W. Gortner’s novel, Mademoiselle ... Read More...
