What a cozy little volume to read in December. Based around the series of annual letters written by the women of one family, this is not a plot-driven chronicle. It's a meditative, quiet collection of updates on everyday family life. You know, the Christmas Letter. As the author indicates in
David Bezmozgis' The Free World HarperCollins, 2011 The Krasnansky family is making their way out of Soviet Russia, travelling to Rome. Samuil, the patriarch, is annoyed by the tour guide's suggestion that the history of Western civilization could be plotted along the road that the bus is travelling. "Their history:
Genni Gunn's Solitaria Signature Editions, 2011 It's debatable, who is at the heart of Genni Gunn's novel, and that is partly why it is so satisfying. It ironic, given its title that it is not the story of a single person, although much of it is told from a single
James Fitzgerald's What Disturbs Our Blood Random House, 2010 At first glance, James' Fitzgerald's might seem like a charmed life. But What Disturbs Our Blood would not have come into being if that had been true. It takes some digging (in the archives) and some prying (from the mouths of
Jane Urquhart's Sanctuary Line McClelland & Stewart, 2010 Liz Crane is an entomologist; she studies insects. Specifically butterflies – monarchs. But, more generally, she takes time to examine what others frequently overlook. As a narrator, therefore, her perspective will not be to every reader’s taste. She has also suffered a
