In the past few years there have been a spate of powerful novels that barely reach two hundred pages. I've discussed three of them here: Clear,…

In my last entry, I discussed Clear, the latest novel by the Welsh writer, Carys Davies. I was interested in how the author…

Clear, by the Welsh writer, Carys Davies is magnificent. Published in 2024, it is a short novel that brings together two middle aged Scottish men of different backgrounds and purpose and…

I always look forward to a new novel by Adam Haslett. I've been reading his fiction for years, and his latest novel, Mothers and Sons, like Imagine Me Gone (2016), and You…

A few years ago, I read my first Colum McCann novel, which I loved, and now, having finished his latest, Twist, I see similarities between the two that help clarify what I find compelling…

There are many things one could praise in this impressive and powerful collection: how the stories describe the many shapes love can take in our lives as well as the pressures it exerts, how the stories…

I was rereading one of my favorite novels, News of the World by Paulette Jiles, when I learned that she had just died. Her death is a great loss not only to me, but to all of her readers,…

This is a short, deceptively simple novel that delivers an expansive reading experience because it ends with the interesting question, what just happened? Narrated in the first person by a deeply introspective…

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor is a short novel that has the tense, compressed energy of a short story as it builds to an unexpected conclusion. Set on a small island off the coast of…

Lily Tuck's new novel, The Rest Is Memory is a spare and heartbreaking story about a young Polish girl who perishes at Auschwitz. A victim of Hitler's plan to eradicate the Polish population,…