Tag: fiction

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (Literary Historical Fiction)

Writing: 5/5 Characters: 5/5 Pure story: 5+/5

I loved this book — the exquisite and content rich writing, the elaborate storytelling with deep and resonant themes, the faint whisper of otherworldliness. I probably won’t do it justice in this review, but I will try.

It’s just after Pearl Harbor and the world is falling apart — recklessly, rapidly, relentlessly. The Avallon Hotel — known for Extreme Luxury — has been offered to the State Department as a holding area for hundreds of foreign Axis diplomats until they can be exchanged for similarly trapped Americans in Axis countries. The hotel is held together through sheer force of will by the new manager — June Hudson — a local mountain girl with an untamed native twang, who possesses an innate talent for “listening” to the mountain sweetwater — the mineral springs that give the Avallon its luxury reputation. But the new residents bring with them foul sentiment, angry expressions, and bitter fear and stimulate the same in others. And it threatens to turn the sweetwater into something much darker. You can read it as metaphor or as a hint of fantasy. I chose both.

The many and varied characters — from diplomats to families to hotel staff to FBI and State Department agents — were deep, real, unusual, and individual. Despite a large cast of characters, I never mixed anyone up — they were each unique. And each struggled with their own challenges — the complexities of justice, deeply held principles challenged by the realities of a world at war, threatened loyalties, the definition of bravery, the scale of protection, and the pull of love. The story wound itself into knots while the broader plot moved inexorably forward. There was no filler. I never had a moment to contemplate whether or not I might be bored. I really loved the “character” of the sweetwater, a powerful metaphor but also reified in a compelling and illuminating way. The resolution was complex, perfect, and satisfying. The (short) authors note at the end brought out some of the more dramatic events that were based on reality. The diplomat housing and eventual swap was real, as were some of the (ridiculous) tantrums, pressures, and demands of individuals.

Highly, highly, recommended.

Love by the Book by Jessica George (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 5+/5 Characters: 5+/5 Story: 5

Remy is a writer struggling to produce a second book at the same time as her ten-year, very close, friendship circle is dispersing leaving her jonesing for a new friend. For her, the love she has for her close female friends is far more important than the promise of sexual relationships with men. Simone is an introvert who loves her job as a Year 1 teacher, but also loves the lifestyle provided by her second, and rather secret, job. When the two meet in a kind of platonic “meet cute,” it’s not at all clear that a friendship could be the result, but it does in fact pave the way for an incredibly rich book about female friendship. The best descriptions come straight from the book itself: “Great food, the complexities of female friendship, and the romantic nature of platonic love” and “adult friendship, and the beauty, intimacy, and unappreciated joy of platonic love are explored through the lens of the moral ethics of storytelling.”

I love that the book fully delves into so many issues of importance to women. Real issues such as whether or not have to children; how to tease apart your own moral compass from the judgment of your community; how to define selfishness and is it necessarily a bad thing; and how to manage (which is actually required) a tight friendship group. The idea of platonic love applied to friendship without attraction was a real eye-opener for me. Something I think I’ve always longer for, but honestly could never have even described. These characters are beyond rich — they are so much more interesting and complicated than the typical stereotypes and behavior groupings we get daily from fiction and the beastly news. I found the discussions of life philosophies to be penetratingly insightful (as did the characters themselves). I was able to dive into so many topics that I simply hadn’t spent much time exploring. One of my favorite lines is when one character is exposed to another’s viewpoint and says: “I’ve never really seen life that way. The idea of taking from it as opposed to merely accepting what you receive.” Think about that from the perspective of typical expectations of women!

Jessica George is a startlingly beautiful writer. A large vocabulary precisely placed into perfectly crafted phrases depicting the intricacies of human interaction and self-reflection. I enjoyed the meta-fiction circularity detailing the intricacies of Remy’s writing process while struggling to write the very book that I believe we end up reading. Masterfully done, engaging, and surprisingly unconfusing! I loved her first book — Maame — just as much (see my review here).

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 7th, 2026.

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Literary Fiction)

Phoebe Manigault is called home to the South Carolina Low Country when her none-too-stable sister says she can’t handle their aging mother on her own. Phoebe has moved as far away as she can (Bend, Oregon) and is none too thrilled to be drawn back to a place that holds quite a few bad memories for her, including the fact that she barely survived being struck by lightning 20 years earlier, and has “enjoyed” strange premonitions ever since. What follows is a story of finding love, dealing with your demons, charting the narrows of dementia, and the Power of Place. And discovering the dark secret that underlies most of the pain of the last decades.

What could have been a simple (and pleasant) piece of women’s fiction quickly reveals itself to be a wonderfully insightful piece of literary fiction. The characters are deeply drawn with realistic confusions, longings, protections and vulnerabilities. They make mistakes, lose their way (and sometimes their cool), and general act like people, but they also push through bad habits, fears, and habitual suspicions and make their way forward — which is critical for me. The story was dramatic without going overboard into melodrama — I was gripped from page one yet never felt manipulated, never cringed from ridiculous coincidences, and could find myself relating to situations that were alien to me. The writing was so good that I even enjoyed the descriptions of the place (which I usually skip over, not being a great visualizer). She brought it to life for me by describing the place through the narrator’s eyes (and other senses and emotions). I should add that while the book dives deep into topics that can be very painful, I found it uplifting overall as intentional resolution led to closure. Lastly, lots of fascinating bits about birds — I’m no twitcher (love the word!), but I loved the bird facts peppered about and the ornithological epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter that often related bird behavior to aspects of people — all spot on.

I’m a big fan of Karen White’s Charleston-based Tradd Street series (and her newer New Orleans-based Royal Street series), but for me this book is in a class of its own.

Thank you to Park Row and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book was published on July 22nd, 2025.

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (speculative fiction)

An Academic, a Hero, and a Wicked, Wicked, Queen who must be overcome — tumbled about via a magical book and a unique and somewhat poetic instantiation of time travel. Nobody can write like Alix E. Harrow and (most of) her characters are compellingly relatable as they come to terms with the barrenness and often hopelessness of their lives when closely examined. There is an insistent love story, which is both sweet and determined in the face of some pretty intense road blocks, and there is a very satisfying conclusion (thank goodness). The characters have real depth, and there is plenty of the reflection that I like. There is also plenty of action (the Hero is a fighter par excellence — demonstrated frequently lest we forget it!) and some nice twisty gender bending as your unconscious biases are challenged by the fact that the Academic is a man and the Hero a very strong and very believable woman. The story was well-paced with twists and explanations doled out to a curious and hungry reader brain.

I’m a long time fan of Harrow and have read (and mostly loved) everything she has written. This book is just as well-written as my favorites but I do have a few issues which make it not one of my favorites. It starts quite slowly — I almost gave up but read a few reviews which insisted that I get to the 35% mark before stopping and they were right — things got much more interesting at that point. My real complaint, however, is how bad the “bad guy” was — no complexity, just complete selfish evil — and how depressing and dystopic lives were across all of time. It’s a familiar and somewhat comforting (assuming a good ending) trope about the High Stakes, good vs evil, outcome, but I didn’t enjoy all the sadness, weariness, and hopelessness that comprised most of the pages. It may be that my tastes and needs are changing, but I prefer to read about people having the agency to improve their own lives, rather than the no-other-option need for rescue from the larger-than-life oppressor. Still — masterfully done by Ms. Harrow, as always.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on October 28th, 2025.

Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer (Literary Fiction)

I can’t say this is a happy or uplifting book, but it is a strong, powerful, complex, and very, very real book about a strong marriage and the intricacies of how it weathers the derailers of life. On page two, Eliot and Claire say goodbye to the oncologist who has treated her breast cancer for nine years. The end is near and there is nothing more that he can do. The book takes us from this point until the end, actually, has been reached. But while I think we all feel as though we’ve read this “story” a million times, I found this version quite different.

This story is told from Eliot’s perspective. After a surprising, and somewhat heartbreaking, last request, we see Eliot’s struggle with isolation, communication, understanding, and retrospective introspection. While it is easy to read and make judgements about what people think, say, and do, I don’t think that is really the point. This is life and a marriage and a family and a circle of friends, and there is no “correct” behavior, no hard and fast guidelines to what is right. But it is all exquisitely detailed — the conflicting thoughts, the desires, the dears, the selfishness and simultaneous generosity. I’m not surprised by the quality of the writing (this book could not have been an easy thing to pull off) because it is Ann Packer — I’m pretty sure I’ve read and loved all of her books. Hard to read such a story without having a heavy heart, but it relates to a part of life that we will all experience in one way or another. The depth of insight was worth the trip.

Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on January 13th, 2026.

Absolution by Alice McDermott

Officer wives stationed in Vietnam at the beginning of the War. I expected garden parties, sucking up to the wives of the senior officers, etc, but instead was thrown into the tumultuous era with confusion, secrecy, courage and multiple complex and interwoven ethical issues — all within the expectations and social mores of the time and place. Tricia is a young wife, married to an up and coming lawyer on loan to Navy intelligence; Charlene is a practiced corporate wife who takes charge with abandon and scoops Tricia up in her personal whirlwind. But the whirlwind is focused on “doing good” in the middle of an environment in which any good is extremely hard to find, and the ethical and socio-political questions that triggers are worth the price of admission to me.

I was so impressed by the descriptions of not only the (exotic) setting, but the interactions between wives and their husbands, other wives, native staff, and the local population. Each character was introduced with real depth, not to mention plenty of opinions. Mc Dermott did a great job of articulating the many different views of the war (at the time) through different mouths — all as perceived by Tricia, the young and naive wife who had never been encouraged to have opinions of her own.

The story was told through the unusual format of three long, saga-length letters between Trish and Charlene’s daughter Rainey (who was quite young when they met in Vietnam). The epistolary format was interesting because Tricia is recalling events from decades before, so there is introspection and retrospection layered on top of the memories. It is full of events, regrets, analysis, and the perspective that comes with time — all masterfully done.

To be honest, the start was quite slow, and I probably would have given up if I hadn’t been reading it for a book club. The topics, while intellectually interesting, were relatively depressing — after all, there is nothing about the Vietnam War that could be considered uplifting or even instructive. Still — beautifully written with an attention to the kind of detail that tells an entire (mini) story with just a sentence or two, and a different perspective and insight into a period of history that added much to my understanding.

The Eights by Joanna Miller (Historical Fiction)

Historical fiction at its best! Four women are part of the historic 1920 matriculation of women to Oxford — the first in over 1,000 years. Roomed together in “corridor eight,” this is the story of their first year, with several flashbacks to flesh out their personal context. Beatrice Sparks — almost 6 feet tall, daughter of a famous (and vigorous!) suffragette, with an appetite for politics; Marianne Gray — the motherless daughter of an English vicar; Dora Greenwood — beautiful and still grieving for the brother and fiancee who died in the war; and Ottoline Wallace-Kerr — wealthy and at odds with her family’s expectations, who keeps herself calm with mathematics. There are some secrets and some surprises — all quite realistic and perfectly embedded in the well-drawn context of the time. And for the girls, a discovery of unexpected, but deeply felt, friendship.

I say this is historical fiction at its best because it finds the right balance between the extremes of dull, historic, facts and overly sensationalized (and manipulatively emotional) story telling with a minimum of historic accuracy. There are no modern sensibilities sneaking in — but plenty of individual reactions and experiences nestled in the very real context of the day. The country had just emerged from WWI, (some) women had just gotten the vote, and now — Oxford was open to women who wanted to pursue a more intellectual path through life. I loved the many small details that peppered the prose: a new mystery author — Agatha Christie — who was set the challenge to write a novel where it was impossible to guess who did it — and succeeded; the introduction of ouija boards; stories of the Bodlein library and how the rare books were protected during the war; the second wave of influenza; the origin of Chequers (home to Britain’s prime ministers); practice trenches in the countryside; suffragette pennies, etc. A pretty interesting Oxford-style debate on whether or not women should be at Oxford at all. I loved the bits of discussions on various studied subjects. The secondary impact of the war on various people after the war was over was equally interesting — more personal, individualized, and detailed. Philosophical and ethical issues pervaded the experiences because how could they not?

I like historical fiction because, when done well, you learn about what history might have meant to the people who lived through it. The author’s note delineates fact from fiction as well as describes inspirations — with a nice bibliography on relevant sources. Also — there is a glossary at the end that I really wish I had known about before I finished! Plenty of period specific slang was used that I had to constantly look up or guess at. Now you know!

Thank you to G. P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 15th, 2025.

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (Literary / spectulative fiction)

A captivating book about Zelu — a disabled Nigerian American author (unpublished) and teacher who gets cancelled (and fired) due to her insensitivity (really deeply provoked impatience!) with her more irritating students. It’s also about the new book she writes — Rusted Robots — which becomes an overnight sensation. A post-apocalyptic story where robots and AI are at war over the tattered remains of human civilization, Rusted Robots brings her fame, fortune, some wild, tech-based opportunities, and a whole lot of people who suddenly feel entitled to tell her exactly what to do.

There are so many intellectually interesting and intersecting threads in this story — AI and automation, family, gender roles, African culture, authorial creativity and control, fame, freedom vs safety, disabilities, and the balance between individual and society — but the overarching theme is one of my favorites: the place of narrative and story in human culture. After all, I read fiction because I seek understanding, not just information.

Okorafor manages to blend multiple genres brilliantly, and since I am a fan of both literary and speculative fiction, I was riveted from start to finish. The characters were drawn so deeply — like all of my favorite people, they seemed to be compelling, annoying, loud, supportive, controlling, and caring all at once. I appreciated the fact that while most of the characters were Black (with the exception of the “wealthy white dudes” who keep finding her), there was no antipathy towards white people, just more of a lack of interest.

The big twist at the end absolutely blew me away. And a last little make-me-happy tidbit? She included a call out to one of my favorite (and fairly obscure for the U.S.) books — So Long A Letter by Mariamba Ba.

In my Top Reads of the Year list.

Quotes:
“The rusted robots in the story were a metaphor for wisdom, patina, acceptance, embracing that which was you, scars, pain, malfunctions, needed replacements, mistakes. What you were given. The finite. Rusted robots did not die in the way that humans did, but they celebrated mortality. Oh, she loved this story and how true it felt.”

“The capitalism machine had used her book, her attempt at shouting into the void, to make visual comfort food for drowsy minds.”

“She thought about Rusted Robots and the main character, who understood deep in her circuits that true power was in the harnessing of it, not the possessing of it. And when you were aware of the moment you harnessed power, that was when it was most difficult to navigate.“

“Narrative is one of the key ways automation defines the world. We Humes have always been clear about this fact. Stories are what holds all things together. They make things matter, they make all things be, exist. Our codes are written in a linear fashion. Our protocols are meant to be carried out with beginnings, middles, ends. Look at how I have been built. My operating system is Ankara themed, my body etched with geometric Ankara designs. I’m the embodiment of a human story. But true storytelling has always been one of the few great things humanity could produce that no automation could. Stories were prizes to be collected, shared, protected, and experienced”

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on January 14th, 2025.

The Perfect Passion Company by Alexander McCall Smith

A new offering from Alexander McCall Smith — possibly the beginning of a new series. Katie has taken on management of the Perfect Passion Company — a matchmaking service with the personal touch. She is aided by the knitwear-designing, gorgeous but unavailable, William next door. Together they face a number of difficult-to-place candidates and manage to find matches for all in a typical McCall Smith simplistic, but effective and empathetic, approach to every day human problems (very reminiscent of Mma Ramtoswe’s style in the Number One Ladies Detective series).

I completely enjoyed reading this book with its emphasis on kindness and making a positive difference in people’s lives, though I admit to being slightly more annoyed than usual by some of the principles that inform his characters. Some are kind and empathic but also (IMO) weak, allowing themselves to be taken advantage of and turning the other cheek (they happen to be rich which I guess helps). There is also some not-too-subtle demonizing of the Right with, for example, some (very negative) descriptions of “libertarians” that don’t map to any of the libertarians I’ve ever met. However, as always I loved his ability to see people from different viewpoints and (except for the libertarian) accept people for who they are and acknowledge that they can still find happiness and love despite some very annoying (and pretty humorous) characteristics.

Thank you to Vintage and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 13th, 2024.

Chemistry by Weike Wang

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 4/5 background: 5/5

A belated (she’s in her 20s) coming-of-age story about a young, Chinese-American woman in the midst of capsizing both her Chemistry PhD and long-term relationship. We view the process of life dismantling and reconstruction from within her own mind through her unique, first-person voice.

The writing style is spare and humorous, comprised of short 1-3 page segments bundled into two large “parts.” Tidbits of chemistry, science, Chinese history, culture, and parenting are brought in as elements of the crucible which forged her personality. We never learn her name — the narrative is all 1st person — and only one character — the man she lives with — is given a name (Eric). Everyone else is referred to by label: the best friend, the lab mate, the dog, her mother, her father, the math student, the husband (of the best friend), and the Chinese roommate.

While some of the characters (her emotionless, overbearing, push to succeed parents for example) might appear to be stereotypes, they are completely personalized in backstories told through her memories. They appear quite real. One day our narrator sees a flyer in the park written by someone named “Peggy” that says: “The way you talk to your human children becomes their inner voice.” She rails at this: “Who is Peggy? I ask the other dog owners. And does she have a PhD to back up such claims?” I love this short scene because clearly her upbringing has been condensed into the inner voice that constantly plagues her.

I had a hard time reading this at first — I found the narrator to be self-absorbed and that is not a characteristic I favor in my book-friends. I felt sorry for the boyfriend who had no flaws, was very good to her, and who proposed marriage in chapter one. However, as I continued reading, it became clear that she was literally unable to cope with the life she was living and was going through the necessary steps to create a life that she could live — and voila — the story!

Very well-written, entertaining, and insightful.