My New American Life – Francine Prose
Francine Prose’s latest novel of near-realism, My New American Life, chronicles its heroine Lula’s attempts to find her niche as an Albanian immigrant in a land of dreams: New Jersey.
Caleb’s Crossing – Geraldine Brooks
Long, long ago in a rough-hewn version of what is now known as Martha’s Vineyard, a headstrong young Puritan girl met the first Native American man to graduate from Harvard College.
A Widow’s Story – Joyce Carol Oates
One emotion interrupts another in a series of convoluted, dash-ridden sentences that create a tangle of Dickensonian brambles, occasionally dotted with the softly familiar sight of a numbered poem amidst Oates’s prose. Unlike a reader of Dickenson, however, Oates’ reader must push her way up a mountain of words, slippery with confused thoughts and sharp with grief.
Beneath the Lion’s Gaze – Maaza Mengiste
In a time when revolutions rattle and reinvigorate much of our world, Mengiste’s novel makes a frighteningly real case of the risk inherent in ditching one idol for another.