I was interested in Jasmin Darznik’s new novel The Bohemians for its premise about a woman in history I knew nothing about. Dorothea ‘Dorrie’ Lange is an American photographer. If, like me, you don’t recognize the name, this should help: Migrant Mother was taken at the height of the Depression and is considered an iconic depiction of Dust Bowl reality. The ... Read More...
We Run the Tides
I'm not sure it's an actual publishing trend for 2021, but it's fairly unusual for me to read three novels on the same subject in one year. In this case, it's private girls' schools—always fascinating to me, but to the general public? I guess so. In January, there was The Divines and this month, All Girls. The final novel in this trifecta is today’s review: We Run the Tides by ... Read More...
Sourdough: A Novel by Robin Sloan
September has already been a month of heavy (literally) reading. Namely, Ken Follett’s latest, which clocked in at a daunting 928 pages. It is one of those times when I have loved having an e-book because I have a tendency to fall asleep in bed while reading and a book like that could have broken my nose. It’s not just literal, though, it’s been a month of heavy reading ... Read More...
Lucky Boy: A Novel
Despite its upbeat sounding title Lucky Boy is a novel saturated in desperation. Desperation for a better life, desperation for a child, for success…for happiness. Solimar is eighteen, lives in a dying town in Mexico and with money her parents procure she leaves with a man who is supposed to get her to California where she will meet up with a cousin who has already ... Read More...
How to Party with an Infant
At twenty-eight Mele Bart finds herself as a single mother, because after giving birth to daughter Ellie her boyfriend Bobby tells her he was "kind of engaged" to someone else. What?! Not one to wallow and with a infant to care for, Mele moves on. In an effort to have some kind of life outside her apartment she tries to find support in one of the neighborhood groups of ... Read More...
Frog Music: A Novel
In 1876 San Francisco was engrossed in the story of Jenny Bonnet, a young woman found murdered in a small town outside the city. She preferred wearing men’s clothes and made her living catching frogs to sell to restaurants. Author Emma Donoghue found her equally compelling and made her murder the subject of her new novel, Frog Music. Donoghue enlivens the story by connecting ... Read More...
