Our Wives Under the Sea – Julia Armfield

A much anticipated new novel. So anticipated I didn’t register the creeping horror of it. Or maybe it wasn’t on the book jacket. It’s really a story of loss: loss of the relationships we want or need, the people we thought would be there forever, and all the things they left behind that make us …

The Lost Estate (Le Grand Meaulnes) – Alain-Fournier

Published in 1912, two years before the author fell in battle during WWI, this novel is a fairytale-like look into teen longing and belonging. Our main character narrates the adventure of his boyhood best friend who, after getting lost in rural France, attends a magical party that will forever determine the direction of his life. …

The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters – Julie Klam

Think of all the family stories you know: the aunt that had an affair with a famous guy, the inventor who was robbed by someone more famous, the secret millions of grumpy sisters. It’s all here and not a lot of it is true, just like your own family tales, and mine. Klam starts out …

The Dark Flood Rises – Margaret Drabble

Aging has been on my mind. I think I’ve always thought I was old (or wished I was old) and so it makes sense, but I’ve also been thinking about how I want to age. Drabble’s characters almost all live alone and are connected by tenuous threads of friendship, family, and the webs that weave …