The Swineys are seven Irish sisters of unknown paternity growing up in a falling-down shack in a small town in Ireland in the late 1800s. They have no electricity, no indoor toilets, and so little food that a piece of bread may suffice for the day. What they do have is hair of extraordinary length in hues from white blond to deepest black. They also have a range of singing ... Read More...
The Miniaturist: A Novel
Set in 1686 The Miniaturist by debut author Jessie Burton is the spellbinding story of an eighteen-year-old girl married off to an older merchant who lives in Amsterdam. She arrives on his doorstep with no idea of what marriage entails or the fact that she has been procured to enhance his reputation, for her family is poor but with a pedigree. Little does she know that her ... Read More...
Ruby: A Novel
Ephram Jennings has been in love with Ruby Bell since they met as children fishing in a lake near their hometown of Liberty, in east Texas. When Ruby returns to Liberty after escaping as a young woman to the high life in New York City, she has lost all the shine that made her a beauty and seems to have no control over her own body, spending nights howling and screaming, ... Read More...
Bark: Stories
I’m going to start with a little confession: I’ve never read Lorrie Moore before (say that three times fast). Why not? Who knows? But now after finishing her latest collection of short stories, called Bark, I can say I’m fan. And if you’re one of those people who wants to buy free-range poultry, brine it, and slow roast it in the oven but accidentally sets the oven to Clean ... Read More...
The Museum of Extraordinary Things
The Museum of Extraordinary Things is both the name of Alice Hoffman’s new historical novel and the name of the museum Coralie’s father owns. She lives alone with him in the house next to the museum on Coney Island. Her mother died when she was an infant and her father is highly protective so the only company she has is their housekeeper, Maureen. He is also adamant she not go ... Read More...
The Color Master
Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is one of my favorite books. Her combination of magical and realism makes for poetic, moving reading. Last month her newest book of short stories, The Color Master, came out, and it shimmers with its ability to be both fantastical and utterly human. In “The Doctor and the Rabbi” Bender takes what sounds like the opening ... Read More...
