Life has not been easy for Kit Biddle, which is evident from the opening pages of The Essence of Nathan Biddle. Six years prior, Kit's beloved and special cousin, Nathan Biddle, had been sacrificed by his father in a modern-day rendition of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac.
Read MoreThe Speed of Mercy immediately introduces a number of strong female characters that range in age from youth to elderly and are spaced across the two time periods through which the novel moves. The book is about friendships among women and their protection for each other - in a physical sense as well as in an emotional, a psychological, and even a magical way.
Read MoreSalem, Massachusetts, is home to year-round witchery, a phenomena that shows up in most cities only around Halloween. The historic city is a mecca for those who are fascinated by the idea of witches, interested in the 330 year old history of the witch trials, and of course represents ongoing debate about the role of women throughout history and how the claim of witchcraft was used to subjugate and control the ‘weaker sex’, as it were.
Read MoreMarguerite Duras is the nom de plume of Marguerite Donnadieu (and later Marguerite Antelme when she married), who lived from 1914 to 1996. The Impudent Ones was her first novel and, until now, is the only one that has not been translated into English.
Read MoreLerner draws a generational line from those coming-of-age in the late 1990s, an era of creature comforts and when youth could be disaffected by meaninglessness, pre-smart phone distractions, to the present. What happened to ‘lost boys’ exemplified by the character of Darren Eberheart? Or, in reverse: What is the matter with (some) adult - predominantly white - men? Where in the recesses of their past did they take a wrong turn?
Read MoreThat On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous was writen by an author who is primarily a poet will not surprise anyone who turns its pages. The love of language, the descriptions, the musings are all tell-tale signs of a poet at heart.
Beautiful and stunning are two words that come to mind after finishing this novel in less than 24-hours. The world it portrays is all-encompassing and fully absorbed me. But this novel is not about sunny beauty but the beauty that can be found in life's darkest recesses, in its losses, in its pain, and and it's determination to keep moving forward in spite of it all.
Read MoreFlip through the annals of history (or, heck, today’s newspaper), and you’ll be confronted with atrocities of varying degrees. There are the known names of history that are at the tip of the tongue (e.g., Hitler) and there are the unknowns dotting the multi-planed timeline of history. Most of us imagine ourselves on the side of the just and fair, standing up for others even at personal risk. Most of us are fooling ourselves, which is of course the only logical explanation for how said atrocities occur and repeat again.
Read MoreThe prologue of the novel, which is about nine pages in length, hits the reader from the very start with a different history of the start of the now-United States, the evolution of the native experience, and the unique modern day urban Indians, who struggle to self-identify in a world that often does not see them.
Read MoreAt the age of 22, main character Arnljótur Thórir, finds himself confronted by several unexpected accidents: the death of his mother after an auto accident on a slick Icelandic road and parenthood after a chance entanglement in his and his mother’s beloved greenhouse. Lobbi (one of Arnljótur’s various nicknames bestowed by his father) has a lifelong love of cultivating plants - no easy task in the harsh Icelandic climate.
Read MoreAt its core, this novel explores the experiences and lives of twelve female characters, most of whom are Black and British. The varied voices bring to life women across the chronology of womanhood - from teens to the elderly - who are often contending with intergenerational ideas and experiences.
Read MoreIceland in the 1960s was not exactly like my home country of America in the 1960s. A better comparison of Iceland in the ‘60s would be America in the ‘50s: a place where the role each person played was tantamount; women were to be wives falling in step behind their husband’s successes, and to be gay was to struggle to find a place in an unfriendly world, best managed through a loveless marriage to the opposite sex. Miss Iceland’s main character, Hekla, and her best friend, Jon John, each represent one half of those populations.
Read MoreHotel Silence takes place in Iceland for the novel's beginning and ending and sandwiched in the middle it takes place in an unnamed country that is emerging from a recent war. While it isn't possible to pinpoint a country for the largest segment of the book, in some ways it can represent anywhere that finds itself seeking to recover post-conflict. A place name is meaningless in a place struggling to redefine itself. What attracted me to this and other books by Ólafsdóttir is that is she an Icelandic writer.
Read MoreThe Nickel Boys primarily takes place in Florida with portions set in New York City. As with any book that sheds light on iniquities or abuse of the powerless by the powerful, it doesn't really whet the appetite for a visit. For a place called The Sunshine State, this novel shines a blinding light on a dark part of Florida's past.
Read MoreButterflies in November takes place in Iceland, initially in the capital city of Reykjavík and then along the southern to eastern leg of Iceland’s Ring Road. Having driven the entirety of Ring Road ourselves in Summer 2018, this novel did a great job evoking that journey and so is a must-read for anyone planning on taking that trip or wanting to reminisce!
Read MoreThe simplicity and humanity of Olive and her small Maine town are at the heart of this novel, which first introduces Olive’s husband, the local pharmacist, as his eyes wander in the direction of his helpless new employee. Olive is secondary, trying to draw her husband’s attention back her way through a series of overt and covert actions and a healthy dose of passive aggressive behavior.
Read MoreThere is a beautiful, haunting sadness that permeates this novel beginning with the early introduction to National Suicide Day, a solution dreamed up by Shadrack, a World War I veteran returning to town with visible and non-visible scars. Without giving away too much of the plot, there are a series of unfortunate accidents - slight slips of hand or errant strands of hair - that create life-altering and life-hardening ripples in the lives of the characters living in the area of town known as The Bottom.
Read MoreThis novel is a tale of Uganda, written by an expat and with a primarily Ugandan audience in mind. This novel pushes the narrative of Uganda’s colonizers aside and focuses on the history, culture, and society of the Kingdom of Buganda as modern people seek to understand their own valuable story.
Read MoreIreland has a long-standing literary tradition and is a country that values its writers and poets. Over the years, I have read many inspiring novels by the likes of Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, and others. But recently, I have found myself on a kick of reading contemporary Irish novelists without even realizing it! These newer-on-the-scene Irish female writers are making their mark in the literary world.
Read MoreIn Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Unsheltered, she tells the stories of two families living in the same spot but separated by about 150 years. Add to the mix: winds of societal changes, family obligations, a fascinating female scientist, an eccentric town founder, and many characters trying to figure out if they have shelter over their heads - literally and figuratively.
Read MoreEver since coming across a review of Normal People back in January, I had been interested in reading this second novel by Irish writer Sally Rooney. Longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize and winner of the ‘Best Novel’ at the 2018 Costa Book Awards, clearly 28 year old Rooney is immensely talented. When I found myself book-less before an 8-hour flight back from Scotland, I was happy to come across it in an airport bookstore and tore through it in a single sitting.
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