The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America by Christopher C. Gorham is extraordinary not because of the clarity of his writing or the obviously deep and meticulously footnoted research but simply because of the significance and impact of a woman unfairly forgotten today. Anna Rosenberg was …
Continue reading Anna Rosenberg: giving credit where credit is overdue
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood is a 2025 long-listed Booker novel (really more of a novella) suffused with the gray and misty atmosphere of a British seaside village in the early 1960s, animated by fascinating characters, and enriched by the interiority of the protagonist. Thomas Flett, barely 20 years, lives with his 36-year-old mother, Lillian, in …
Continue reading A short novel, long on atmosphere, characters and narrative
Whistler by Ann Patchett is another confirmation of the author’s elegant writing style, her adroitness at weaving narrative threads into a compelling tapestry, and acuity in probing the complexity of human character and emotion. Her stunning use of metaphors and incisive imagery lasts long after the last chapter has ended. It is a gentle story. …
Continue reading Patchett’s newest book: love, loss and identity
Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin, is a totally captivating novel starting in 1950’s Pakistan, colored by the caste system that frames the past, present and even future for its people. The backdrop is the turbulence following Partition, the 1947 separation of Pakistan from India. The story continues through 2013. In a gripping beginning, …
King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson is a spellbinding journalistic revelation of the innermost thinking and maneuvering of key players in Iran and the United States leading up to the 1979 American Embassy seizure of hostages that would change the course of world events. …
Continue reading Iran: a tale of arrogance, self-delusion and unforced blunders
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann is a challenging but intriguing work of fiction. Its surreal and expressionistic style focuses on its characters’ dreamlike experiences and emotional journeys. These stylistic elements mix with realism as the narrative develops, prompting this reader to appreciate the author’s stunning talent and creativity. This historical novel is based mostly on …
Version 1.0.0 The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout is the ninth book I have read by Strout. She raises many classic Strout themes: the lives of seemingly ordinary people, how people deal with each other and with their own feelings, the unmet need for intimacy. Many of her stories – think Olive Kitteridge …
Continue reading Inability to communicate: the worst kind of loneliness?
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe, published in April, displays once again the author’s investigative skills and journalistic talents manifest in his books Say Nothing (about “the troubles” in Northern Ireland) and Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty …
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland by Michelle Young is a richly researched account of an apparently nondescript art historian who rose from a low-level volunteer job just prior to the Second World War to a preeminent curatorial position at the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris. There, …
Continue reading The invisible woman who took on the Third Reich and saved art for the ages
The Names by Florence Knapp offers a rich exploration of identity beginning with our names – how much of our name defines how we see ourselves, how our name influences others’ perceptions of who we are – and expanding her characters’ lifelong searches for their authentic selves. The structure of this interesting debut novel is …
Continue reading What’s in a name? Does it reveal our character or destiny?
