I stayed up late and spent the
weekend reading what I think is the most accomplished of James McBride’s
books.
The son of a Jewish mother and an
African American minister, his lived experience gives him an authentic
understanding of the Jewish immigrants and poor African Americans of Chicken
Hill in Pottstown, PA, in the 1930s.
Humor and warmth bubble up on almost every page. The human heart
prevails. I challenge the reader to finish the epilogue without shivers up
their spine and tears in their eyes.
Even in these dark times of racial injustice and misunderstanding,
McBride shows how one good act leads to another, creating a lattice of
possibility and hope. The book is back on top of my to-read pile.
“A murder mystery locked inside a Great American Novel . . . Charming, smart, heart-blistering, and heart-healing.” —Danez Smith, The New York Times Book Review
“We all need—we all deserve—this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post
From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah’s Book Club pick Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, a novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for…
I believe in personal
change and redemption. I love stories
where ordinary people, faced with a moral dilemma, listen to the better angels
of their nature. The fine novelist James Salter writes that “at a certain point, one stands on the
isthmus and sees clearly the Atlantic and the Pacific of life. There is the destiny of going one way or the
other, and you must choose.”
In Keegan’s novella, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant
and family man in a small Irish town in 1985, stands on that isthmus and must
make a choice that will have a financial and social effect on him and his
family.
Anyone who loves sparse but lyrical language as I do will treasure this
book.
"A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time." —Lily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers
Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him…
I am intrigued by books that move outward from a focus on one object to a
larger examination of other subjects. Jeannie Marshall, a Canadian journalist who has lived for over two
decades in Rome, starts with Michelangelo’s masterpiece and moves outward to
the city, to the nature of art’s power, and inward to her life and family.
I
love the intimacy of her voice and her willingness to take herself as the
object of intense examination. As a lover of Rome and all things Italian, I
picked up this book from the staff recommendation shelf at my favorite local
bookstore.
The pleasure of surprise at finding a new author who is a companionable guide to a work and a city I love.
A deeply personal search for meaning in Michelangelo's frescoes-and an impassioned defence of the role of art in a fractured age.
What do we hope to get out of seeing a famous piece of art? Jeannie Marshall asked that question of herself when she started visiting the Sistine Chapel frescoes. She wanted to understand their meaning and context-but in the process, she also found what she didn't know she was looking for.
All Things Move: Learning to Look in the Sistine Chapel tells the story of Marshall's relationship with one of our most cherished artworks. Interwoven with the history of…
England, 1591. Eager
to see the world, English lord William Bateman sets out for adventure. He
leaves behind a young woman, Elizabeth Hilliard, who secretly pledged her heart
to him. He is falsely imprisoned and tortured as a spy by the Ottoman governor
of Rhodes.
Safiye, the governor’s young daughter, helps him escape. She
and William pledge to be faithful for seven years. On his return William
must save the family’s estate. Elizabeth has grown into a beautiful,
spirited woman whom William comes to love. As the seventh year approaches,
Safiye abandons her life to find Lord Bateman.
William torn between love
and a gentleman’s code of honor must decide where the true path of honor
lies.
