By Rowan Hisayo BuchananShortlisted for the 2019 Costa Novel AwardPublished 2019 Image by Emel Yasar Photography. This is Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s second novel, and when I saw it advertised I thought it sounded excellent. Mina and Oscar are newlyweds, but have been together for about ten years, since college. They live in New York, andContinue reading “Starling Days”
Author Archives: MC
Consent
Consent by Annabel Lyon, published in 2020 There is so much packed into this very short novel, but it didn’t feel overwhelming. In fact, I sped through it, desperate to find out what would happen next. I don’t think it’s common to classify a literary novel as a page-turner, but Consent definitely hit the mark.Continue reading “Consent”
A Town Called Solace
A Town Called Solace, by Mary Lawson, was published in 2021 I knew nothing about this book when I bought it, other than it was recommended by Anne Tyler, one of my top five favorite writers of all time. And I can see why Lawson’s writing appeals to Tyler. It is similar in many waysContinue reading “A Town Called Solace”
Ordinary People
Ordinary People, by Diana Evans This novel takes us through a year of two relationships that appear to be approaching the end. The consistent question throughout the book is which one, if any, can survive all that life demands. While the description implied that there would be equal focus on Damian and Stephanie, in factContinue reading “Ordinary People”
Empty Houses
Empty Houses, by Brenda Navarro, translated by Sophie Hughes “The men held forth, listening to the sound of their own voices while we women looked on confused but unfazed, because that is what we women must do: be empty houses ready to accommodate life or death, but, when it comes down to it, empty.” AsContinue reading “Empty Houses”
A Spool of Blue Thread
Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread was published in 2015. I was beginning to worry that this would be the first Anne Tyler novel that I didn’t love. The first hundred pages felt a little disorienting, and I wasn’t sure where the story was headed. And suddenly I was entirely engrossed, then devastated by theContinue reading “A Spool of Blue Thread”
My Dark Vanessa
My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russell, was published in 2020 This was not an easy read. While the timing is perfect for the #MeToo movement, Russell worked on this novel for several years before anyone was talking about Jeffrey Epstein or Harvey Weinstein, to name just two. Vanessa is fifteen years old, away at boarding school,Continue reading “My Dark Vanessa”
Mothers
Mothers, an Essay on Love and Cruelty, by Jacqueline Rose For such a slim book (210 pages without the notes), it is amazing how much Jacqueline Rose covers in Mothers. While my research focuses on establishing the rights of women to choose motherhood or not, she reveals the profoundly unfair system that sets mothers upContinue reading “Mothers”
American Daughter
American Daughter is a memoir by Stephanie Thornton Plymale. I have a strange fascination with books about ‘bad’ mothers. I’m not sure if the author would agree, but I would undoubtedly place her mother in the ‘bad’ category. Plymale became a surprisingly normal, even successful woman, considering she grew up homeless, was in and out ofContinue reading “American Daughter”
Back When We Were Grownups
A 2001 novel from Anne Tyler This book was full of surprises! As a step-daughter in a big family of all girls, I really connected with this story. In her fifties and widowed with four daughters and a bevy of other relatives reliant on her, Rebecca works up the courage to test out the pathContinue reading “Back When We Were Grownups”
Monica Cardenas 