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Sunday September 1, 2019

In 'The Ventriloquists,' The True Story Of A Fake Newspaper

Park Row

Review

Book Reviews

In 'The Ventriloquists,' The True Story Of A Fake Newspaper

September 1, 2019 • E.R. Ramzipoor's novel tells the story a group of resisters in Belgium during World War II who lampooned the Nazis by putting out a satirical edition of the newspaper Le Soir, then a Nazi mouthpiece.

Wednesday July 3, 2019

'We Went To The Woods' Warns: You Can Know History And Still Repeat It

Beth Novey/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

'We Went To The Woods' Warns: You Can Know History And Still Repeat It

July 3, 2019 • Caite Dolan-Leach's new novel follows a young woman who gets kicked off a reality TV show and ends up on a 1960s-style commune, where utopian ideals soon fall prey to some very human foibles.

Sunday June 23, 2019

Simple, Sassy 'Summer Of '69' Is The Perfect Beach Read

Little, Brown & Co.

Review

Book Reviews

Simple, Sassy 'Summer Of '69' Is The Perfect Beach Read

June 23, 2019 • Elin Hilderbrand — known as the "Queen of Summer" — is back with another beachy tale of family secrets and intrigue (and tasty period details), set on Nantucket during the turbulent summer of 1969.

Friday June 14, 2019

'Call Your Daughter Home' Has Deep Roots In Real Life

Park Row

Review

Book Reviews

'Call Your Daughter Home' Has Deep Roots In Real Life

June 14, 2019 • Television producer Deb Spera draws on her childhood in rural Branchville, S.C. in her first novel, painting a bleak, atmospheric portrait of three women's lives in the South during the 1920s.

Wednesday June 5, 2019

In 'City Of Girls,' The Breezy, Bold Best Days Of Our Lives

Beth Novey/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

In 'City Of Girls,' The Breezy, Bold Best Days Of Our Lives

June 5, 2019 • Elizabeth Gilbert's new novel is set in the New York theater community of the 1940s — an effervescent golden age for the women who congregate at the offbeat Lily Playhouse.

Sunday May 12, 2019

Plutocracy, Not Theocracy Compels The Handmaids Of 'The Farm'

Beth Novey/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

Plutocracy, Not Theocracy Compels The Handmaids Of 'The Farm'

May 12, 2019 • Joanne Ramos builds her own experience into this story of a young Filipino woman who ends up on a seemingly cushy "gestational retreat" where women — called "hosts" — carry babies for rich families.

Thursday October 11, 2018

'Bitter Orange' Keeps The Tension Simmering

Review

Book Reviews

'Bitter Orange' Keeps The Tension Simmering

October 11, 2018 • Claire Fuller's finely crafted psychological thriller follows a seemingly mousy, buttoned-up woman who becomes embroiled in a strange, voyeuristic triangle over the course of a country house summer.

Saturday August 11, 2018

Graceful 'Court Dancer' Can't Escape Her Sorrows

Samantha Clark/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

Graceful 'Court Dancer' Can't Escape Her Sorrows

August 11, 2018 • Kyung-Sook Shin's atmospheric, tragic novel follows a beautiful orphan whose dancing skills secure her a place at the Korean court, and later a life in Belle Époque France — but not happiness.

Thursday August 2, 2018

'The Incendiaries' Is A Poignant And Powerful Look At Campus Life

Samantha Clark/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

'The Incendiaries' Is A Poignant And Powerful Look At Campus Life

August 2, 2018 • R.O. Kwon's new novel explores the attractions — and dangers — of faith, against the overheated, over-the-top backdrop of an upper-crust college somewhere in the Northeastern United States.

Tuesday June 12, 2018

'Vera Kelly' Finds The Connections Between Deep Cover And The Closet

"Who is Vera Kelly" by Rosalie Knecht Tin House Books hide caption

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Tin House Books

Review

Book Reviews

'Vera Kelly' Finds The Connections Between Deep Cover And The Closet

June 12, 2018 • The personal is most definitely political in Rosalie Knecht's crisp, lively and subversive novel about a queer woman who discovers her early life in the closet makes her well-suited for espionage.

Saturday June 9, 2018

In 'Death Notice,' The Thrills Don't Quite Translate

"Death Notice" by Zhou Haohui Samantha Clark/NPR hide caption

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Samantha Clark/NPR

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Book Reviews

In 'Death Notice,' The Thrills Don't Quite Translate

June 9, 2018 • Zhou Haohui's high-octane cop drama Death Notice aims for Dragon Tattoo-type thrills, but gets dragged down by flat characterizations and odd romantic flourishes.

Tuesday May 8, 2018

'Barracoon' Brings A Lost Slave Story To Light

"Barracoon" by Zora Neale Hurston Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

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Book Reviews

'Barracoon' Brings A Lost Slave Story To Light

May 8, 2018 • Both terrifying and wonderful, Barracoon is Zora Neale Hurston's long-unpublished account of her conversations with Cudjo Lewis, who was brought to America on the last trans-Atlantic slave ship.

Tuesday April 24, 2018

'Beneath A Ruthless Sun,' Cruelty And Injustice Burn Hot

"Beneath A Ruthless Sun" by Gilbert King Eslah Attar/NPR hide caption

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Eslah Attar/NPR

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'Beneath A Ruthless Sun,' Cruelty And Injustice Burn Hot

April 24, 2018 • Gilbert King returns to Lake County, Fla., in his new book, which tells the tangled story of a rape accusation, a racist sheriff, and a mentally disabled white man railroaded and stuck in an asylum.

Saturday March 24, 2018

You Don't Have To Be A Dog Person To Enjoy 'Tomorrow'

Hanover Square Press

Review

Book Reviews

You Don't Have To Be A Dog Person To Enjoy 'Tomorrow'

March 24, 2018 • Damian Dibben's novel follows a 217-year-old dog (yes, you read that right) as he searches for his wizardly master, who's disappeared somewhere in Europe in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars.

Tuesday March 6, 2018

Stirring, Engrossing 'Woman's Hour' Recounts The Battle For Suffrage

"The Woman's Hour" by Elaine Weiss Eslah Attar/NPR hide caption

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Eslah Attar/NPR

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Books

Stirring, Engrossing 'Woman's Hour' Recounts The Battle For Suffrage

March 6, 2018 • Elaine Weiss's new book reminds us how near a thing women's suffrage was — it all rode on one yes vote in the Tennessee legislature, cast by a man who changed his mind after pressure from his mother.

Sunday February 18, 2018

For These Unhappy Campers, Trauma Blights Their Lives 'Forevermore'

"The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore" by Kim Fu Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hide caption

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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Book Reviews

For These Unhappy Campers, Trauma Blights Their Lives 'Forevermore'

February 18, 2018 • Kim Fu's new novel about a sleepaway camp sojourn that turns shattering for five young girls. But though the troubles seem tame — thirst and a lack of gummi bears — the horror comes later.

Wednesday January 17, 2018

'Girls In The Picture' Traces A Friendship In The Flickers

Review

Book Reviews

'Girls In The Picture' Traces A Friendship In The Flickers

January 17, 2018 • A century ago, Hollywood had no stars. Movies were silent and the actors were anonymous. Melanie Benjamin's new novel outlines how actress Mary Pickford and writer Frances Marion changed that.

Tuesday January 9, 2018

For 'The Immortalists' Knowledge Of Death Changes Lives

Claire Harbage/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

For 'The Immortalists' Knowledge Of Death Changes Lives

January 9, 2018 • In Chloe Benjamin's new book, four siblings growing up on the Lower East Side amid the upheavals of the 1960s gain forbidden, life-changing knowledge: The exact year and date of their deaths.

Sunday December 3, 2017

Girl Meets Frog Monster In 'Mrs. Caliban'

'Mrs. Caliban' by Rachel Ingalls New Directions hide caption

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New Directions

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Book Reviews

Girl Meets Frog Monster In 'Mrs. Caliban'

December 3, 2017 • This season's secret weapon in literary banter will be Mrs. Caliban, a peculiar, wonderful, overlooked 1983 novella by Rachel Ingalls, about a housewife whose life is upended by a suave frog monster.

Wednesday November 8, 2017

'Mrs. Osmond' Presents A Portrait Of A Lady As Mopey Schemer

'Mrs. Osmond' by John Banville Knopf hide caption

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Knopf

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Book Reviews

'Mrs. Osmond' Presents A Portrait Of A Lady As Mopey Schemer

November 8, 2017 • Author John Banville makes a valiant imaginative leap with Mrs. Osmond, his attempt to craft a new ending for the heroine of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady, but he doesn't quite land it.

Saturday October 14, 2017

'Lady Killers:' Cherchez La Femme Fatale

'Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History' By Tori Telfer Harper Perennial hide caption

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Harper Perennial

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'Lady Killers:' Cherchez La Femme Fatale

October 14, 2017 • An FBI investigator once famously said "There are no female serial killers," but Tori Telfer sets out to prove him wrong with this gruesome new account of multiply-murderous women throughout history.

Wednesday October 4, 2017

'Greater Gotham' Is A Great Big Book For A Great Big City

'Greater Gotham: A History Of New York City From 1898 To 1919' by Mike Wallace Oxford University Press hide caption

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Oxford University Press

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'Greater Gotham' Is A Great Big Book For A Great Big City

October 4, 2017 • The second volume in Mike Wallace's Pulitzer-winning history of New York City weighs in at over six pounds — and every ounce is packed with fascinating detail about the city that never sleeps.

Thursday June 8, 2017

'The Alice Network' Is A Crackling Tale Of Spies And Suspense

Review

Book Reviews

'The Alice Network' Is A Crackling Tale Of Spies And Suspense

June 8, 2017 • Set in 1947, Kate Quinn's novel follows two indomitable women, a math whiz and a retired spy, in a truly fabulous car as they pursue a quest through war-torn Europe in search of a missing relative.

Sunday May 21, 2017

In 'A King's Obsession,' Anne Boleyn's True Love Is Power

Raquel Zaldivar/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

In 'A King's Obsession,' Anne Boleyn's True Love Is Power

May 21, 2017 • Alison Weir takes a fresh look at familiar territory in this retelling of the story of Anne Boleyn. Weir's version of Anne is fiercely smart and guilty only of craving power that was hers by right.