For me this was one of the most surprising books I’ve read in years. Let’s see if I can capture it or at least give a hint of its unique qualities. Though her career involves writing, this is the author’s first book. She had always been drawn to the city (London), “into the world of politics and foreign policy, working as a political adviser,” as she describes...
I was uncertain whether to try this book until I read Tony’s take on Carys Davies. It turns out that I had forgotten the book I read by her in 2021, also based on Tony’s recommendation. Clear is set in Scotland at the time of two upheavals there and this book introduces both of them to us. In 1843 there was a major disruption of the Church of Scotland, resulting in...
When Ron Charles begins a review this way, I pay attention: “Me again, banging on about Sunjeev Sahota. I won’t stop until you read him.” And now that I read this one, I will put his previous works on my list of books to read. At the center of this novel set in a former coal mining area in the Midlands of the UK is Nayan Olak, a working class Anglo-Indian man as he is running to be...
I am a long-time fan of the Irish writer Bernard MacLaverty, probably for 20 years, given that I have such a strong favorable feeling about Grace Notes which I read sometime before 2006 (in the pre-blog days). I decided to try his short stories, thinking that his book Cal, set during The Troubles might be too disturbing for me at the moment. It turns out that almost all the stories involve a...
I heard about this book from Jennifer and found it to be a great listen. It recounts the experiences of women in the CIA and is subtitled, The Secret History of Women at the CIA. Jennifer mentioned it in connection with the women analysts who had been gathering data about Osama bin Laden for years before 9/11. It was a source of frustration that despite what they knew, the attack was not thwarted...
Having appreciated Intimacies by this author, I was eager to read this new one, published in April. And I loved it. First, because it threw me off balance and then with a closer look, it was the artistry that pleased me. It’s appropriately set in the world of theatre as it examines how we live our lives as the roles we inhabit, sometimes for our whole lives, sometimes for shorter periods...
This novel by Louis Bayard focuses on some aspects of the life of Oscar Wilde, the playwright and novelist who spent two years in prison for sodomy and gross indecency. His libel suit against the father of one of the objects of his affection resulted in his criminal conviction, as the accusation made by the Marquess of Queensberry was factual. This book focuses on his family members, chiefly his...
It was Tony’s enthusiasm for it that encouraged me to read this book by an author I haven’t read in decades. And I’m so glad I did as it grew on me as I read. I kept wondering why I found such a low key book so engaging. We learn at the outset the narrator is a prep school administrator with limited skill in social interactions, according to the headmistress. Gail works hard to...
After watching a four-part series made in 2016 called Mary Beard’s Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit, I looked for an audiobook by her. She was on the screen every minute, along with views of the Roman Empire beginning with Rome and going to the far reaches of empire from the north of Britain to North Africa. It was an engaging series and I am now a fan of Mary Beard, a classics scholar...
Fifteen years ago I read a book about this same period and, as in this one, Manet was a central figure. Judgment of Paris juxtaposed Manet and Messonier and how the hardly-known Messonier was rich and revered at that time while Manet was reviled then and is much respected now. The Second Empire and the terrible year of the war with Prussia, the siege of Paris, and the Commune were also a focus...