Whatever got us through the dark of winter, we’ve made it now! I hope that having a book in hand helped. I read many novels these past months and am eager to share some with you. But first, I have my own book news to share...
The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann
I’m delighted to reveal the cover of my forthcoming novel, The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann, that will launch on October 3 at Harvard Bookstore, followed by other events in New England and beyond. Later in the summer, I’ll send out my events schedule and will hope to see you at one of them!
If you’re a book reviewer or bookstagrammer, I’d love to send you a link to my ARC on NetGalley or a hard copy.
Advance sales are always helpful, so if you’d like to support me before publication, please visit this link at Regal House Publishing.
Storytelling at its Best: Recent Entertaining and Enlightening Novels
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai: An immersive who-done-it at a New England prep school with an array of well-drawn characters and a protagonist who doesn’t hold back about our country’s pandemic of violence against women. Super smart and unputdownable.
The Blue Window by Suzanne Berne: Suzy’s a dear friend, but that's not why I’m recommending her latest novel. Her writing, which is always refined, enters a new realm of detail and vividness in this mysterious family drama about an estranged grandmother, her daughter, and college-age son as they withhold and reveal secrets in a small cabin in Northern Vermont.
Terra Nova by Henriette Lazaridis: Another good friend, and another terrific novel. This one set partly in Antartica in the early 1900s where two British explorers race to the pole, while the woman they both love is back in London, documenting with her camera the suffragette battle. I’m partial to this type of tale as my first novel, River of Dust, also takes place in 1910 and is an adventure story set against a harsh climate, in that case rural Northern China.
Speaking of...a River of Dust Book Giveaway!
I can't believe it’s been ten years since my debut novel, River of Dust, was published. Here’s what was said about it then:
“Terrific, tremendous, wonderful...a strong, beautiful, deep book.”
—Annie Dillard
“A gemstone of a novel...River of Dust is a masterpiece.”
—Caroline Leavitt
“This is a major work by a splendid writer.”
—Robert Olin Butler
At this ten year anniversary, if you haven’t read it, I hope you’ll consider ordering a copy from Bookshop (where, incidentally, you should make all your online book purchases, if you can’t stop by an indie bookstore).
Or here’s another option: I’m giving away six copies of the beautiful hard cover to the first folks who respond to this newsletter, in part as a thank you for reading this far!
More Reading Recs Because...
We can never have enough great stories:
Hello Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano, a masterfully told saga of a family of four daughters over the the span of their lifetimes; and Bonnie Camus’s Lessons In Chemistry, told by one of the quirkiest and funniest voices in recent memory.
Two novels that take place closer to home: Laura Zigman’s most recent Cambridge novel, Small World, and Stuart O’Nan’s Ocean State, set in Westerly Rhode Island.
Two novels that take us far from home: Salman Rushdie’s Victory City and Kerri Maher’s The Paris Bookseller, each set in distant, mythical worlds—one in ancient India, the other Joyce and Hemingway’s Paris.
Any and all of these would be fun to take on summer vacation, as would Mad Honey, by the brilliant and big-hearted Jennifer Finney Boylan and her co-author, Jodi Picoult.
Let’s Stay in Touch
Writers: Please submit your short stories to Pangyrus, where I’m co-Fiction Editor with the indomitable Anne Bernays.
I’ll be back in touch soon with updates for The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann and look forward to seeing you at one of my events.
Meanwhile, happy springtime and happy reading!