I just discovered Goldie Goldbloom's 2019 novel, On Division, about a Chassidic woman who discovers she is pregnant at age 57, when she already isa grandmother. It takes the reader into the…
What I'm Reading
Book discussions with a focus on the writer's craft
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Oct 31, 2022In this powerful, many-layered novel, Bennett explores the role of identity in six connected lives, considering race and gender as her characters wrestle with truth. Some are looking for the truth about…
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Sep 10, 2022This novella by the Irish writer, Claire Keegan, is a small masterpiece. The story centers around Bill Furlong, a coal merchant, as he makes deliveries during the Christmas season in Northern Ireland…
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Jun 10, 2022Do not miss Mrs. Palfrey at The Claremont, by Elizabeth Taylor, originally published in 1971, but recently re-issued by New York Review Books. This stunning novel takes us into the world of…
The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang
May 20, 2022Until I read The Family Chao, my favorite novel by Lan Samantha Chang was All Is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost (2010), a story about two poets who meet in grad school and maintain their…
The Tenderest of Strings by Steven Schwartz
Apr 04, 2022Steven Schwartz brings a fresh vision to issues of marriage and family in his recent fiction, developing characters that claimed my allegiance because I empathized with their problems and admired their…
Ghosts of New York by Jim Lewis
Feb 28, 2022Ghosts of New Yorkby Jim Lewis is an unusual novel because it lacks a central character and a plot. Some might argue that New York City is the protagonist, but what engaged me more consistently…
The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John
Jan 23, 2022The Women in Black is a favorite of Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures, the novel I discussed in my last post. Published in 1993, it was Madeleine St. John's first novel and…
Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
Jan 01, 2022As I work on my next novel, I have been thinking about the many ways a writer can keep a mystery alive through hundreds of pages. Clare Chambers' extraordinary new novel, Small Pleasures is…
Improvement by Joan Silber
Nov 19, 2021I've been rereading the novels I've loved in these last few weeks as I've moved from a rural location in western New York State back to Brooklyn, and in this post I want to discuss Joan Silber's Improvement.…