The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas This is a big meaty book that allows you to inhabit a character’s mind as you would your own. Or at least that of a close friend with whom you are very intimate and familiar. This the story of a woman permitting the men in her life […]
This essay originally appeared on Medium.com. After reading my recent essay about “The Value of a Grown-up Gap Year” in Moms Don’t Have Time to Write, many people asked, “But, won’t you tell me where you actually went on this road trip?” And even as I nodded, “yes,” in my heart I knew where we went […]
Vera by Carol Edgarian This novel is an exciting, personal (fictional) account of the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906 from the point of view of a fabulous character—Vera Johnson is the illegitimate daughter of the city’s most prominent madame during an era of miners, con artists, loan sharks and hookers. The quest for […]
The Veins of the Ocean by Patricia Engel Loved the sparse concise writing style and the weaving in of spiritual Santero influences. This is the type of fiction I love, following terribly flawed humans through devastating experiences and watching them carry on nonetheless. Plus I learned something about Cuba and Santeria in the process. Scenes […]
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia This review was originally posted on the New York Journal of Books. Of Women and Salt is a tale of family legacy that juxtaposes the story of four generations of matrilineal descendants in a Cuban family spanning 150 years with the experiences of a lone Salvadoran mother and daughter […]
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee Casey Han is young woman trying to figure things out. She often gets herself in a bind and does what isn’t expected – a dagger to the heart for her hard-working, immigrant parents. There should be more books with female protagonists in their twenties trying to figure […]
Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins This review was originally published by the New York Journal of Books. Caul Baby is an ambitious and unique novel set in a Harlem neighborhood where a powerful Creole family, the Melancons, conduct a secretive trade from their bodega storefront. They are caul-bearers, born with the birth membrane still intact. A […]
This essay was originally published in the Travel section of Moms Don’t Have Time To as “The Value of a Grown-Up Gap Year.” I was skiing my way onto a chairlift at the Crested Butte ski resort in Colorado when a fellow masked and ‘single’ rider asked if he could join me. After unloading, we […]
Zero O’Clock by C.J. Farley In the first line of CJ Farley’s latest novel, Zero O’Clock, Geth Montego says she “would give anything to make old people remember what it’s like to be a teenager.” To that, I say “mission accomplished.” Not only did she take me back to that vulnerable time, Geth illuminated the […]
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel The Glass Hotel is the type of book that surprises you with where it ends up. The characters are terrific and the weaving of their experiences is deft. The main character, Vincent, is a whip-smart, beautiful, wounded soul. I especially enjoyed reading about her time living in […]
