Bloomsbury Review by Brian Tanguay The Leveret came my way with some buzz about the high quality of the writing and I was keen to see if the buzz was…
Category: Fiction
The Radiance by Ayad Akhtar
Summit Review by Walter Cummins The Radiance is one of the most challenging novels I’ve encountered for quite a while. It delves into the complex inner mind of a character…
Switzy by Emma Kline
Random House Review by Walter Cummins I’m very late for the long list of people eager to review Emma Kline’s Switzy, so much so that initially I decided to drop…
Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson
Doubleday Review by Walter Cummins Like the characters and happenings in Kate Atkinson’s latest novel, its title—Our Noble Selves, a phrase of stoicism used by British soldiers—is ironic. It serves…
Mothsblood by Lynn D. Jung
Bloomsbury Review by Brian Tanguay An ancient discipline. A secret society. Precocious students. A complicated protagonist. These are some of the ingredients that create the world of Mothsblood, a bold…
Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
Knopf Review by David Starkey Emily St. John Mandel is one of those increasingly uncommon writers whose work appeals both to a popular and a literary audience. She’s a dab…
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Random House Review by Walter Cummins The title captures the central concern of Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel, which addresses with depth and complexity what a community of individuals is willing…
Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti, trans. by Clémence Aubert
Espresso French Classics Review by Linda Lappin In 1890, the American writer Lafcadio Hearn stepped off a ship in Yokohama, ready to begin a new life in Japan as a…
The Kindness of Terrible People and Other Stories by Stephanie Dupal
Swan Abbey Review by Walter Cummins This is a collection of original and unusual stories, the characters richly developed as they face essential dilemmas. Some of these people exemplify the…
Sunrise by Téa Obreht
Random House Review by Walter Cummins Téa Obreht’s latest work, Sunrise, while offering seemingly self-contained narratives about events from several different time periods, can also be regarded as a novel…