Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing, and Longing by Elissa Altman Motherland is the type of memoir I absolutely love, not constrained by chronology, it works the way memory works when we try to make meaning of the past and the to understand the most fundamental relationships. Altman’s language and imagery is pristine and carried […]
Normal People by Sally Rooney A reminder of how tiresome young relationships are. It wore me out. I stuck with the book and enjoyed some of the turns of phrase, but in real life I would have walked away from the mess a lot earlier. I was anxious to love this book given the hype, […]
All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg A tale of a dysfunctional family that I gobbled up. In Attenberg’s latest novel we witness the fall out of a terrible father and an equally terrible, albeit not criminal, mother. What ensues is a weird kind of pseudo vigil while waiting for a bad man to […]
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson What beautiful language and innovative structure. Red At The Bone and specifically the character of Iris was illuminating and thought provoking. This was a short read chock full of poetic language. A huge fan of books about the cycles of motherhood and sacrifice, I truly enjoyed this fresh […]
This essay was originally posted on Medium.com. John and I flew down to the Dominican Republic to spend New Year’s with friends at Casa de Campo. It was the afternoon of our arrival and we were enjoying cold drinks and their view of the sun lowering over the sea when I reached for my phone […]
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo This family saga is all encompassing – the trials of marriage, bearing children, and sisterhood with a special twist added in for good measure. As I listened to the pages of this book, I became completely wrapped up in the dynamic of the Sorensen family. The […]
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid I really liked the voice and pace of this novel. I enjoyed the premise as well. Reid writes Hollywood well – I was curious about this novel after having enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six! It is a great portrayal of the price of fame, […]
This essay was originally published on Medium.com. Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, I may make a small commission (at no additional cost to you), which I will donate to literary organizations in Boston. Thanks! In Jonathan Safran Foer’s recent book, […]
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout Olive Again is a wonderful collection of independent chapters continuing in the vein of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kittredge. As Olive ages, remarries, and navigates grand-motherhood, her cutting and wry observations are portrayed in her own voice as well as through the point of view of others. Her aging seems to […]
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur Wild Game is a memoir that dissects an especially complicated bond between a mother and daughter. Adrienne Brodeur’s mother violated acceptable boundaries when she made 14 year old Adrienne her confidante and accomplice to her illicit affair. Desperate for her mother’s love and approval, […]
