My hand is a human hand. My heart a human heart. My feet walk the earth to which our bones return. Directed by His voice, His hand, by the prompting and guidance of His spirit, what else was I to do? ~ Father Damien in a letter to the Pope The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2001. I’ve reviewed two of Erdrich’s other novels — The Plague of Doves, which won a […]
Why should a woman be more like a man?
The Greeks knew that the mask in the theater was not a disguise but a means of revelation. This is a mind blowing novel about a woman who decides to have three men exhibit her art as their own creations as part of a larger art project she calls “Maskings.” Our protagonist Harriet “Harry” Burden wants to expose how perceptions influence the way the public views art. She believes that, had she shown her works as herself, as artist Harriet Burden, she would have been […]
Cold in Iceland
Burial Rites is Hannah Kent’s first novel and an auspicious start to her career. Set in 1828-1830, the plot is based on real people and factual events surrounding the last execution of a criminal in Iceland. For those who prefer their fiction historical and who have enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s Alias, Grace or the novels of Geraldine Brooks (who is thanked in the author’s note), this is a book you will want to read. In 1828, a well known herbalist and healer (some said sorcerer) named […]
A Feminist Post-Colonial Coming of Age Story
Set in the US in 1969, Lucy is the story of a 19-year-old who has just moved from the British West Indies for work and school. She becomes an au pere for an affluent family with 4 daughters and attends school briefly for nursing. This novel is her reflection on that year and on herself. One could read it as a sort of coming of age story, about growing up. Lucy is trying to break from her old life and especially from her mother with […]
Hope Against All Hope in Haiti
Set in a small village in Haiti, Claire of the Sea Light is a novel about loss and hope. Ville Rose has a long history of poverty and hardship. A few prominent families run the town, the school and local businesses, but the vast majority of its inhabitants are poor. The novel begins and ends with a poor widowed fisherman named Nozias and his seven-year-old daughter Claire Limye Lanme — Claire of the Sea Light. Nozias’ wife Claire died giving birth, and Nozias has struggled […]
Fractured Fairy Tales: The Robber Bridegroom
This short novel is a delightful mix of fairy tale and tall tale, with a healthy sprinkling of both humor and the macabre in it. The cast of characters includes a doting father, a wicked stepmother, a lovely daughter, a dashing but deceitful suitor, Mike Fink, a band of thieves and a hick named Goat. If you enjoyed Helen Oyeyemi’s Boy, Snow, Bird or Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, The Robber Bridegroom should be on your reading list. The tale begins in antebellum Louisiana with […]