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Summer Reading Newsletter

Fiction From Around the World

CELLOPHANE (Dial, $14), by Marie Arana, is a book that reminds you why reading is fun. Don Victor Sobrevilla is living his dream of running a successful paper factory in the heart of the Peruvian rainforest. With his wife, children, grandchildren, and small hacienda called Floralinda flourishing, it seems as though all is well. But just as Don Victor creates cellophane in his lab, his family is struck with a “plague of tongues.” For some reason, everyone is compelled to tell the truth. Night after night, the Sobrevillas reveal one shocking truth after another . . . they can’t seem to help themselves! Even the local Padre has a shocker. The result of all this clarity is a thoroughly original and entertaining story. The characters are fresh, funny, sensuous, and even a little crazy. Susan Skirboll

Michael Boone, aka Butcher Bones, is a well-known Australian artist whose wife kicks him out, presses charges for reasons that cannot be disclosed here, and takes custody of all his worldly possessions, including his paintings and the couple’s son. Butcher, who now considers himself an ex-famous artist, is left to care for his “damaged” younger brother in a tropical paradise. A beautiful stranger appears, and soon afterwards a masterpiece goes missing. Peter Carey’s newest novel, THEFT: A Love Story (Vintage, $13.95), is full of humor and humanity. Katherine Broadway

In the tradition of W. G. Sebald’s photo-documented fiction, Frederick Reuss’s richly textured fourth novel recreates the life of a distant relative the author never knew. MOHR (Unbridled Books, $16.95) takes place in the world of the 1920s and ’30s. Max Mohr is a Jewish playwright and doctor with a gentile wife and daughter he loves more than anything. Yet he leaves his pastoral life in Germany for exile in China, where he ministers to victims of the Japanese invasion. He sends letters and pictures to his family, but never returns to them. Love story, biography, meditation on photography’s ability to lift a moment out of time—even as history marches on, trampling so many—this is a moving and beautiful book. Laurie Greer

After ten years of self-exile in New York, Eva van Rensburg returns to SKINNER’S DRIFT (Scribner, $15), the farm by the Limpopo where she grew up. A microcosm of South Africa, the farm encompasses the tensions, inequities, and sheer physical challenges that make the country itself such a tough place to live in. The farm is also burdened with secrets, secrets that, like those coming to light in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, won’t stay buried. Eva, ambivalent about her homeland, must face her past when the dying father she came to bury instead recovers. Lisa Fugard ’s novel is a richly evocative portrait of South Africa; her prose deftly conveys its beauty as well as it brutality, and captures the distinctive voices of privileged whites and wary blacks. Laurie Greer

I knew I was going to love ABSURDISTAN (Random House, $13.95) from the very beginning, when the protagonist, Misha, states that, “this is…a book about too much love. It’s a book about being had. Let me say that right away: I’ve been had.” Misha (Snack Daddy) Vainberg is grossly overweight, extremely wealthy, well-intentioned, and yet always on the losing end of life. There is an amazing disconnect between his description of the reality around him in this fictional Baltic region and his explanation of it. I enjoyed reading this book out loud, because Gary Shteyngart’s prose is daring and dashing. Becca Connors

Charlie Asher has a perfect life, complete with wife and child, but when people start dropping dead in his wake, he is forced to re-evaluate his “beta-male” (read: sensitive) lifestyle. Charlie finds out that being Death is A DIRTY JOB (Harper Perennial, $13.95) in Christopher Moore’s hilarious novel. Katherine Broadway

Great British Writers

I am a huge William Boyd fan. He is a versatile writer who tries something new each time; Brazzaville Beach, for instance, featured a biologist reminiscent of Jane Goodall and her research on chimpanzees. His latest, RESTLESS (Bloomsbury, $14.95), is a literary thriller set in the ’70s and ’40s which begins when Sally Gilmartin slips a manuscript to her daughter Ruth that reveals that she, Sally, was a spy for Britain during World War II. Boyd’s fiction is based in fact: Britain did send a team into the United States to plant disinformation designed to lure the U.S. into the war to aid the flailing UK. Carla Cohen

In THE ACCIDENTAL (Anchor, $13.95) Ali Smith shows how members of one family can inhabit the same place and yet live in different worlds. In the case of the Smart family, an uninvited houseguest rips open the spaces that have widened between brassy Astrid, her ruminative brother Mangus, their brooding mother Eve, and philandering stepdad Michael. Smith’s language sparkles and crackles in her singular second novel. Shannon O’Neill

In May Helen Simpson visited Politics and Prose to read from her new collection of short stories, In the Driver’s Seat. Her earlier collection, GETTING A LIFE (Vintage, $12.95), provides the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with a strong young voice in British fiction. Michiko Kakutani, writing in The New York Times, describes these stories as having “wonderfully funny and disturbing…Waugh-like acerbity and wit.” Simpson’s fiction focuses on mothers in their child-rearing years, and on the painful re-education of unemployed stay-at-home moms. These characters were once determined, young, single women, fully intending to pursue successful careers; Simpson’s stories about the best laid plans hijacked by children will seem familiar to many. Barbara Meade

American Novels

THIS BOOK WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE (Penguin, $14), by A.M. Homes, is the laugh-aloud story of Richard Novak, who has died in several ways. He never leaves the house, talks to nobody, has no relationships. He lives at the top of a canyon in Los Angeles where he exercises and counts his money. One night he experiences terrible pain and is taken to the hospital, but there’s no diagnosis and he leaves by taxi. On the way home he meets the first of several friends-to-be who will bring him back to life, Anhil, who runs a small donut shop. Next, he meets Cynthia, who is weeping between the tomatoes and lettuce in the supermarket. Gradually, Richard is restored to a full life by his involvement with his new friends. Carla Cohen

Allegra Goodman’s INTUITION (Dial, $13), set in the insular, high-pressure environment of a cancer research lab, is immediately compelling. After years of struggling to get results, Cliff finally gets the miraculous breakthrough he’s been waiting for. Could this be a cure for cancer? Everyone in the lab seems to think so. Everyone, that is, except Robin, Cliff’s colleague and ex-girlfriend. Her intuition tells her something isn’t right with Cliff’s results. Is her suspicion just jealousy, or has Cliff falsified his research? Goodman’s story has all the suspense of a mystery, with the complex, fascinating characters of literary fiction. Susan Skirboll

Illustrated, and with rigorous textual citations, this is one of the most strikingly original first novels to appear in a long time. SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS (Penguin, $15) is the precocious Blue van Meer’s life story. She’s a Harvard freshman when she tells it, but it’s only partly an adolescent coming-of-age narrative. Instead, by being one of an exclusive coterie selected by the school’s film teacher, and faced with unanswered questions about her mother’s death, and her father’s dissembling, Blue unwittingly works through mysteries she hadn’t known were there. Marisha Pessl is a fiercely energetic, surprising writer; both her prose and her plot will knock you out. Laurie Greer

It’s the Great Depression, and what is a student veterinarian to do when he is suddenly orphaned and the bank takes his family home? Join the circus, of course! Sara Gruen’s WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (Algonquin, $13.95) is a wonderful tale of love in its myriad guises. Humor and compassion struggle against madness and cruelty in this mesmerizing coming-of-age story. Andrea Blackburn

FRESHWATER ROAD (Simon & Schuster, $14), by Denise Nicholas, a veteran actress and writer, is an impressive first novel about the Freedom Summer of 1964. Young Celeste Tyree, a University of Michigan sophomore, takes the long train ride to Jackson, Mississippi, to join other African American and white young people in running Freedom Schools and promoting voter registration. Nicholas does a stunning job of resurrecting the extraordinary atmosphere of intimidation and fear rampant in Mississippi at that time. She portrays Celeste, perfectly, as a somewhat naïve, privileged northerner who wants to participate in the movement for personal and political reasons. Carla Cohen

EVERYMAN (Vintage, $13) is a condensed shot of signature Philip Roth: you won’t find many of his meandering, half-page sentences here, but you will find a tale that resonates with meaning. This is a deceptively simple, reverse-chronology story that leaves you wondering: what is it that all the days we live add up to? Roth swiftly maps a universal landscape of pleasure, regret, and pathos. Shannon O’Neill

T.C. Boyle’s latest novel, TALK, TALK (Penguin, $14), is both a thrilling chase across America and a moving tale about love, language, and identity. Dana Halter, a teacher at a school for the deaf, has her identity stolen by career criminal William Peck Wilson, destroying her life. With the help of her boyfriend Bridger, Dana hunts down Peck to reclaim her good name. Boyle’s intricate characters are studies in how fluid identity can be and how perception shapes people’s lives. Bill Leggett

New York Fiction

Katharine Weber tells the story of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the novel TRIANGLE (Picador, $14). The story alternates between Esther Gottesfeld, the last survivor of the tragedy, recalling her experiences; and her granddaughter, Rebecca. This is a great book for fans of historical fiction. Katherine Broadway

The wit, sharp observation, and generous understanding of humanity that made Wendy Wasserstein such a successful playwright are also showcased in her only novel. ELEMENTS OF STYLE (Vintage, $14.95) is social satire at its finest. While the wealthiest echelon of Manhattan, with its gala benefits, ski trips, affairs, and relentless shopping, might seem an easy target, Wasserstein’s instrument is empathy, not scorn, and she views the scene through the eyes of Dr. Frankie Weissman, an unglamorous but highly sought-after pediatrician. With Frankie as the novel’s strong moral center, Wasserman creates genuine, fully-rounded characters, whose vulnerabilities and aspirations both amuse and draw sympathy. Laurie Greer

Meg Mullins ’s graceful first novel looks behind the magical thinking of romance to confront the real problems of loneliness. Ushman, THE RUG MERCHANT (Penguin, $14), came to New York City from Iran. He’s waited three years for his wife to join him, and his longing drives him to wait at the airport as if Farak were really about to arrive. Then he meets a beautiful, young, blonde American woman. Too good to be true? The plot will surprise you, and the characters will move you, especially Ushman, whose slightly formal, utterly sincere, voice is thoroughly captivating. Laurie Greer

Mysteries

While UNHOLY LOVES (McArthur, $19.95), by Lisa Appignanesi, is not a sequel to Paris Requiem, it features that book’s Marguerite, Comtesse de Landois. Smart and worldly, Marguerite resists her husband’s demands that she leave Paris and return to the family estate and domestic duties as adoptive mother to an abandoned child her husband has found. Instead, she sets out to discover the child’s true parentage, and in the process becomes embroiled in murder, kidnapping, and incest. Marguerite is a strong and intelligent woman with the instincts of a good detective—I hope Appignanesi will give us more of these adventures. Deb Morris

Philippe Claudel’s BY A SLOW RIVER (Anchor, $12.95) is a beautifully written book that’s hard to put down. The murder of a ten-year-old girl roils two neighboring French towns; though World War I is under-way, the area is virtually untouched by the fighting. The narrator, a former policeman, recounts the events surrounding the murder by recalling conversations and his own memories. The body is found outside the prosecutor’s home, but the prosecutor is never questioned. Both the narrator and the prosecutor are marked by the tragedies of their lives. Deb Morris

I couldn’t go to sleep without knowing how the latest Maisie Dobbs mystery, MESSENGER OF TRUTH (Picador, $14), ended. The artist Nick Bassington-Hope died from a fall while preparing for a major exhibition of his work—was it an accident or murder? And where is the major work he was installing? As in Jacqueline Winspear’s previous Maisie novels, World War I figures prominently; here, it’s the inspiration for the dead painter’s work. Through the drawings and paintings Maisie finds in his studio, she comes to know him, and by knowing him, she’s able to resolve some of her own demons. This is the best Maisie Dobbs so far! Deb Morris

When a woman is found strangled, hanging from a chandelier in a posh Manhattan apartment, the city is on edge. When an attempt is made on another woman’s life, psychoanalyst Stratham Younger is called upon by the mayor to assist police in unlocking the secrets of the second victim’s subconscious. Younger, though, is busy welcoming Dr. Sigmund Freud for his first and only visit to the U.S., and will soon be enlisting Freud’s help in discovering who is responsible for the violence. Jed Rubenfeld’s THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER (Picador, $14) is an intelligent thriller. Mark LaFramboise

THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (Random House, $13.95), by Alan Furst , tells the story of Carlo Weisz, an Italian journalist just a step ahead of Mussolini’s secret police in Paris, 1936. When the editor of the underground newspaper published by Italian exiles is murdered, Carlo takes over. Freelancing for a news service, he travels to Germany, renews the acquaintance of an old love, and is called on by the Sureté and British Intelligence to do a little spying. As Carlo and his band of antifascists continue their work, they discover a collaborator in their midst. In danger, and with the threat of war growing, Carlo nonetheless keeps up the struggle against Mussolini. Deb Morris

When a victim has been shot and had his throat cut, it seems like overkill—and the job of a professional. But who would want Ernesto Valdés dead? That’s the question facing Inspector Petra Delicado when she and her partner, Sgt. Fermin Garzón, take over the case of the murdered gossip columnist and TV personality in PRIME TIME SUSPECT (Europa, $14.95). In fact there’s no shortage of suspects, including an ex-wife, a daughter, a lover, and a host of celebrities Valdés skewered in his columns and on television. Alicia Giménez-Bartlett (author of Dog Day) makes it a treat to follow this pair around beautiful Barcelona in search of a killer. Deb Morris

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