Harper Reviewed by Walter Cummins Although the Covid-19 outbreak of 2020 didn’t turn out to be nearly as bad as the 14th century European Black Death, in the midst of…
Category: Fiction
The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore
Scribner Review by George Yatchisin How unreasonable, the Age of Reason, especially for an illiterate—if wildly, imaginatively thoughtful—peasant. A.K. Blakemore’s new novel The Glutton might be based on a wisp…
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
Riverhead Review by David Starkey In some respects, Lauren Groff’s latest novel is an old-fashioned adventure tale. It begins with a teen girl, “bony and childish small” but quick, smart…
This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs
Little, Brown Review by George Yatchisin If you have ever wondered what life’s like for a one-hit wonder, Susanna Hoffs’ debut novel This Bird Has Flown is for you. The…
My Friends by Hisham Matar
Random House Review by Walter Cummins My Friends is a haunted novel. Haunted by loss of places and people, by distressing memories, by the scars of a physical wound, by…
Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan
Random House Review by Brian Tanguay “I recently sent a letter to a terrorist I used to know.” When considered in the context of everything that befalls its author and…
An Ordinary Youth by Walter Kempowski, Translated by Michael Lipton
New York Review of Books Review by Brian Tanguay In November 1944 Walter Kempowski was called up for mandatory service by the German government, and detailed to go from house…
The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
Pantheon Review by David Starkey Helen Garner is having a well-deserved moment. The eighty-one-year-old author, renowned in her native Australia, but until recently barely known in the U.S., has benefited…
Tremor: A Novel by Teju Cole
Random House Review by Walter Cummins I read Tremor as the story of all that is taking place in the activities and in the mind of Tunde, Teju Cole’s protagonist,…
The Boy with the Star Tattoo by Talia Carner
William Morrow Review by Walter Cummins Talia Carner personifies the turmoil of mid twentieth-century history in The Boy with the Star Tattoo by interweaving three narratives featuring individuals who struggle…