My first copy of Oroonoko (1688) by Aphra Behn (1640-1689) was a skinny little volume bound like a play. It felt a little like a travelogue, and a little like epic poetry—harder to read than either—with a love story (if one calls Romeo-and-Juliet a love story). I knew Aphra
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
Welcome to Week Three, MARMers: the midpoint of the sixth iteration of this reading celebration. And, of course, there’s cake to come, because it’s the birthday week. But, in the meantime, back to the books. Coincidentally, I also discovered Margaret Atwood in the Giller-nominated Girlfriend on Mars (2023) by
In November, Naomi and Sarah are hosting a readalong for The Story Girl, so the last time I packed up my bookbag, I stuck in my copy of Elizabeth Waterston’s Magic Island (2008) to read her chapter on L.M. Montgomery’s 1911 novel. Story Girl reads like a collection of
Part of the appeal of MARM for me is a sense of having reserved the month. When I heard about Old Babes in the Wood, I thought, November! And that, simultaneously, seems to create an opportunity for other reading, in the remaining eleven months. (Next year, I think I
