This week, we bring you our First Impressions readers' thoughts on Michael Crummey's The Adversary, a dark, captivating tale of sibling rivalry in 1800s Newfoundland.
We also focus on debuts by and about women, both historical and modern.
In Editor's Choice, Louise Kennedy's story collection The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac follows the everyday lives of Irish women against a rugged but contemporary backdrop.
Meanwhile, our "beyond the book" article relating to Selby Wynn Schwartz's novel After Sappho (recently released in paperback) recounts how early 20th century lesbian writers and artists were inspired by the Greek poet Sappho.
Plus, discover read-alikes for Schwartz's debut, explore more than a thousand additional first-time books in our Debuts category, and check out our expanding lineup of current and upcoming discussions.
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With best wishes,
The BookBrowse Team
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Each month, we share books with BookBrowse members to read and review. Here are their opinions on one recently released title. | |
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The Adversary
by Michael Crummey
"If you've ever read Michael Crummey's novels, you know you can expect a few things: a dark, ambiance-rich Newfoundland setting, quirky and superbly crafted characters, and stunningly written prose. In The Adversary, he outdoes himself. This is his best book yet. ... Think of the old evening soap opera Dallas. You get this: villainous characters who fascinate and repel the reader. It is also a cautionary tale on power dynamics, relevant for today." —Jill S.
"Michael Crummey's novel is set in the isolated port town of Mockbeggar, Newfoundland, sometime in the late nineteenth century. Two sworn enemies, siblings Abe Strapp and the Widow Caines, are pitted against each other in a ruthless battle over commerce and resources, and innocent lives are ultimately drawn into the battle. ... This is one of his best books. In spite of the dark themes and shocking finale, The Adversary is amazing." —Patricia G.
"I love Michael Crummey... The writing is, as always, poetic and evocative. Crummey manages to make the reader feel as if they are truly in this small village, experiencing the cold, the sea, the hunger and the fear... It all sounds very grim, but it is a most impressive, unforgettable novel." —Ruthie A.
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The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac
by Louise Kennedy
Most of the stories in Louise Kennedy's debut collection follow women through the trials and tribulations of everyday life.
"Silhouette" stands out for being the only to make specific reference to the realities of life in the wake of the Troubles. In it, we see a young woman coming of age, wrestling with her love for her brother and the knowledge that he killed a man during the conflict that ruled the streets. Though the other stories rarely deal with subject matter this overtly political, several explore the theme of women attempting to live in a society that seethes with latent anger and a simmering threat of violence. Take "Hunter-Gatherers," for example, where a man is determined yet misguided in his attempts to live off the land. In a display of power and performative violence, he needlessly kills a wild hare, despite knowing his partner adores watching it: "There was a treacly hole at the front of his head, his eyes were hazel and still."
The rugged beauty of the Irish landscape forms a solid backdrop for the vast majority of the stories. This sense of place is so well drawn that the instances in which the action strays outside of Ireland can feel slightly jarring. ... continued
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The Legacy of Sappho
Selby Wynn Schwartz's debut novel After Sappho reimagines the lives of early 20th century lesbian authors and artists. The novel tells the story of how these women ignited a radical feminist movement inspired by the ancient Greek poet Sappho, broke free from conventions to pursue their own desires and creativity, and flourished within their own women-only communities.
A central figure of this new movement and a key character in After Sappho is the American writer Natalie Barney, whose work and life was inspired by Sappho. As one of the first modern women to write openly lesbian poetry, in 1901 Barney (under the pseudonym Tryphé) published Cinq Petits Dialogues Grecs (Five Short Greek Dialogues) about her lover Renée Vivien, herself the first lesbian translator of Sappho's poetry. Vivien wrote the poem The Death of Sappho shortly before her own untimely death in 1909. The French writer Colette, another of Barney's lovers, recounted Vivien's story in her acclaimed 1932 novel The Pure and the Impure.
Many other figures in After Sappho are connected through their association with Barney. ... continued
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If you've enjoyed any of the books below, we think there's a good chance you'll also like reading After Sappho. Conversely, if you enjoy After Sappho, we suggest the following titles for you as well.
BookBrowse offers handpicked read-alike recommendations for more than 4,500 titles and 3,000 authors. Members have access to full results, while non-members can explore a limited number of results. | |
The New Life by Tom Crewe
The protagonists of The New Life are based on two real-life figures — John Addington Symond and Havelock Ellis — who co-wrote a historical-scientific text called Sexual Inversion, just like in the novel. However, as Crewe mentions in his afterword, he fictionalized these figures through his characterization of their interactions. The characters of The New Life are all painfully real — they make selfish, rash choices, regardless of how their decisions may hurt those who love them. Despite those more negative qualities, many of them are fiercely lovable, and both their unrealized blunders and conscious actions may make readers grip the pages with fear and frustration.
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A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Recent years have seen a trend in reinventions of Greek myths and legends, some from the perspectives of women. Now, classicist Natalie Haynes makes a dynamic and important addition to this library with her novel A Thousand Ships. There is no central protagonist, nor one established narrator. A Thousand Ships takes us through different locations in time and space, covering established moments and events in Greek history and mythology, even seamlessly incorporating deities such as Gaia and Artemis. In jumping back and forth — gently yet unpredictably — it is as though Haynes is casting a length of string between various points and stitching them together through the experiences of the novel's featured women.
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Delayed Rays of a Star by Amanda Lee Koe
Amanda Lee Koe's Delayed Rays of a Star begins with a late-1920s photo of three women at a party in Berlin who would go on to make names for themselves in the world of cinema: the German-born movie star Marlene Dietrich, the Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, and Leni Riefenstahl — director of Nazi propaganda films. Using this photo as an anchoring device, the novel spins off into elaborate fictionalized accounts of the three women's lives through World War II and beyond. Delayed Rays of a Star explores the facades people adopt for the survival of their private and public selves. Like the cinematic professionals she features, Koe seeks to create an immersive tone and style that speaks for itself, and she succeeds.
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Louise Kennedy's The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac and Selby Wynn Schwartz's After Sappho, both featured above and appearing in the latest BookBrowse e-zine, are just two of more than 1,100 books in our Debuts category, where you'll find a variety of recommended first-time offerings, both fiction and non-fiction.
This is one of 100+ themed categories you can explore on BookBrowse to find the perfect read for your book club or yourself. Members can access all categories and filter to narrow their browsing, while non-members have limited access.
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Discussions are open to all, so do join us!
Currently, we're discussing Lauren Grodstein's We Must Not Think of Ourselves and Evie Woods' The Lost Bookshop. Lynda Rutledge's Mockingbird Summer is scheduled for February 8.
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