Witness: Carol Shields’ Happenstance and The Stone Diaries

2020-12-27T14:27:37-05:00

The call for witnesses in The Stone Diaries resonates throughout Shields’ work: “Life is an endless recruiting of witnesses. It seems we need to be observed in our postures of extravagance or shame, we need attention paid to us. Our own memory is altogether too cherishing, which is the

Witness: Carol Shields’ Happenstance and The Stone Diaries2020-12-27T14:27:37-05:00

Leona Theis’ If Sylvie Had Nine Lives (2020)

2020-11-27T16:02:55-05:00

If you’re the kind of reader who particularly enjoys the idea of stories intersecting and connecting, this one’s for you. If you would have enjoyed Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge just as much if the stories had appeared all jumbled. And, if you loved the film Sliding Doors and the

Leona Theis’ If Sylvie Had Nine Lives (2020)2020-11-27T16:02:55-05:00

How Awful Is It? Liz Nugent’s Little Cruelties (2020)

2020-11-12T12:47:19-05:00

Betty Smith gave simple advice to writers: “First: Be understanding always. Keep the understanding you have and add on to it.” As the author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943)—a best-selling novel that challenged the myth of poverty as a choice, and allowed low/no-wage characters to demonstrate courage

How Awful Is It? Liz Nugent’s Little Cruelties (2020)2020-11-12T12:47:19-05:00

Francesca Ekwuyasi’s Butter Honey Pig Bread (2020)

2020-11-08T16:41:26-05:00

Taiye and Kahinde are twin sisters, daughters of Kambirinachi: Butter Honey Pig Bread alternates between their perspectives, each woman narrating their contemporary experiences through the lens of key events in their pasts. The sister’s mother is Yoruba and their father is Igbo, something they often have to explain when

Francesca Ekwuyasi’s Butter Honey Pig Bread (2020)2020-11-08T16:41:26-05:00

Anne Simpson’s Speechless (2020)

2020-10-19T11:04:37-04:00

Best known as a poet, Anne Simpson has also published two novels prior to Speechless: her debut, Canterbury Beach (2001), and her follow-up, Falling (2008). This new book shifts to an overtly global focus and beckons to a broader readership. “A Hausa girl in Paiko, Niger State – Thomas

Anne Simpson’s Speechless (2020)2020-10-19T11:04:37-04:00
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