Strega, the recent novel from Swedish author Johanne Lykke Holm is an atmospheric narrative that feels more like a haunting dream you had once than a novel you sat down to read. Strega is named for the fictional town on the side of the Italian mountains, home to the Olympic Hotel, where a group of… Continue reading Strega by Johanne Lykke Holm
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If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
Jonathan Escoffery’s debut story collection, If I Survive You, is an exercise in reframing the mythos surrounding cultural identity. The interconnected stories revolve around Trelawny, the introspective and bookish son of Jamaican immigrants, who lives with his family in Miami. Trelawny’s father is a construction worker, and his older brother Delano follows in his footsteps,… Continue reading If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson
Chantal V. Johnson’s debut novel, Post-Traumatic, offers a unique version of of the very en vogue trauma plot. The trauma plot entered the literary vernacular recently with literary critic Parul Sehgal’s piece, The Case Against the Trauma Plot, which posits that writers have become overly dependent on using a traumatic backstory to prop up an… Continue reading Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
In her debut novel, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, Maddie Mortimer has spun a narrative both corporeal and metaphysical in nature, that exposes the complex nature of human relationships with both other humans and the world around us. The novel centers on Lia, a mother who’s been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, and her daughter… Continue reading Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Emily St. John Mandel’s sixth novel is a fascinating exploration of time and space, that takes place across three separate centuries. Sea of Tranquility begins like a traditional historical fiction: in the year 1812, the young British aristocrat Edwin St. John St. Andrew is banished to the wilds of Canada after upsetting his parents with… Continue reading Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Either/Or by Elif Batuman
In her new novel, Either/Or, Elif Batuman picks back up with Selin, the mesmerizing protagonist of her 2018 Pulitzer prize finalist novel, The Idiot (Read my review here for a refresher). Either/Or finds Selin returning to Harvard for her sophomore year after her disastrous summer spent in Hungary. At the onset of the novel, Ivan,… Continue reading Either/Or by Elif Batuman
Trust by Hernan Diaz
The “Great Man” biography is an element of the American literary landscape that has been around for decades: bookshelves are filled with accounts of captains of industry accumulating massive fortunes and using them to exert an outsized influence on culture and politics. Many of these biographies contain similar accounts of men who ‘pulled themselves up… Continue reading Trust by Hernan Diaz
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
In her debut novel, Disorientation, Taiwanese-American author Elaine Hsieh Chou has fashioned a propulsive literary thriller that smartly deconstructs anti-Asian racism in the U.S., and the parallel influence of fetishes both sexual and academic on Asian-Americans, especially Asian women. Disorientation is narrated by Ingrid Yang, a student in the eighth and final year of her… Continue reading Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
Douglas Stuart’s sophomore novel, Young Mungo, returns to the tenements of Glasgow that he so gorgeously rendered in his Booker-prize winning debut Shuggie Bain. This time, he traces the story of Mungo, a young boy who is basically being raised by his sixteen year old sister Jodie, while their alcoholic mother seeks adventure outside of… Continue reading Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
While there is certainly no dearth of literature surrounding the experience of motherhood and exploring the relationship between mothers and their children, Jessamine Chan has chosen to go in a unique direction with her debut novel, The School for Good Mothers, which tackles motherhood through a dystopian lens. The novel’s protagonist is Frida Liu, a… Continue reading The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan