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Posts tagged with ‘Novels’

THE GOOD HOUSE, by Ann Leary

March 10, 2013

VIVID MASSACHUSETTS ATMOSPHERE, “townie”/”incomer” tensions, deftly captured in a tale of gossip and scandal.

Grade: B PLUS

THE GOOD HOUSE
St. Martin's Press
2013

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BREED, by Chase Novak

March 8, 2013

PERFECTLY POISED BETWEEN nightmare and satire, this horror tale rips into the upscale parenting Zeitgeist.

Grade: SOLID B

BREED
Little, Brown/Mulholland Books
2012

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MY LAST EMPRESS, by Da Chen

March 5, 2013

DREAMLIKE TALE OF an 1890s New Yorker in China, haunted by the ghost of his first love in a time of strife.

Grade: SOLID B

MY LAST EMPRESS
Crown
2012

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WILD GIRLS, by Mary Stewart Atwell

March 4, 2013

RAZOR-SHARP THRILLER TAKES on the supernatural, mean girls, and class divisions in the small-town South.

Grade: B PLUS

WILD GIRLS
Scribner
2012

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THE SUITORS, by Cécile David-Weill, translated by Linda Coverdale

March 3, 2013

GRACEFUL COMEDY OF manners set in the insular world of the French old-money elite; crisply translated fun!

Grade: SOLID B

THE SUITORS
Other Press
2013

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PERCIVAL EVERETT BY VIRGIL RUSSELL, by Percival Everett

February 28, 2013

COMPLEX, ALLUSIVE META-NOVEL plays with structure, yet captures the poignancy of a father/son relationship.

Grade: A MINUS

PERCIVAL EVERETT BY VIRGIL RUSSELL
Graywolf Press
2013

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IGNORANCE, by Michèle Roberts

February 27, 2013

TWO FRENCH WOMEN from very different backgrounds do what they must to survive World War II. Haunting, incisive.

Grade: A MINUS

IGNORANCE: A NOVEL
Bloomsbury
2013

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THE ANTAGONIST, by Lynn Coady

February 26, 2013

MARVELOUSLY CLEVER EPISTOLARY novel: a rant from a man angry that a writer friend has hijacked his life story.

Grade: B PLUS

THE ANTAGONIST
Knopf
2013

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THE PIGEON PIE MYSTERY, by Julia Stuart

February 25, 2013

SWEET LATE-VICTORIAN COZY stars an Indian princess living at Hampton Court with seedy gentry for neighbors.

Grade: SOLID B

THE PIGEON PIE MYSTERY
Doubleday/Anchor
2012

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THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CANE, by Courttia Newland

February 24, 2013

AN INNER-CITY LONDON teacher’s life is thrown into chaos by a man who may be her long-missing son.  Devastating.

Grade: B PLUS

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CANE
Akashic Books
2013

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