In the first week of rereading, I mentioned that what I remembered of my first reading was that it was fast and seemingly steady; I had forgotten all the different types of narratives (the newspaper articles and the excerpts from Laura’s novel) and remembered only Iris. One reason for
I can’t tell whether I enjoyed “Airborne” for its own sake—hanging out with these older women who’ve been friends for so long—or because it resonated so strongly for me with the new memoir by her longtime friend, Canadian writer Susan Swan, which I read this summer, Big Girls Don’t
Before we move into the final week, do enjoy these recent MARMers’ posts: Bill’s of The Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970), Bron’s of “Freeforall” from Old Babes in the Wood (2022), and MmeBibi’s of Dearly (2020). I’ve started to reread Lady Oracle, so I enjoyed reading in Book of
We have spent three-quarters of this hefty novel in the company of Iris, inhabiting her orbit as she navigates her memories. Even the disruptive excerpts from Laura’s novel feel familiar now. We’ve grown comfortable with those two unnamed lovers, and the ceaseless shift of settings (always a new rented
“Cat’s Eye was risky business in a way—wouldn’t I be trashed for writing about little girls, how trivial?” MA wonders aloud in a 1990 interview. “Or wouldn’t I be trashed for saying they weren’t all sugar and spice?” But this risk is compelling, too. “I sometimes get interested in
