(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Contemporary Fiction Views: A good book is a respite and remembering Alice Munro with gratitude [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-05-14 No new review this week, as people seem to be interested in other things. But there are many novels coming out this week that could provide respite and reflection away from our existential crises (including new work from Claire Messud and Miranda July! Spitting Gold also looks good because it is billed as for fans of Sarah Waters, who is a fantastic storyteller.). We’ve seen the studies that show reading fiction improves empathy. But it does more than that. How many of us have been able to experience life in other times and other places, as other people, because of a novel? How many of us have been able to see ourselves in a novel and know that we may not be alone? How many of us want to explore as much of the human condition as possible? That’s what fiction can do. Which brings us to today’s lit news. We’ve lost Alice Munro. In a way, we lost her years ago when she became ill with dementia. Being grateful to have been enriched by her work for many years is how I’m remembering her, and knowing she will continue to enrich me. Today, I read Runaway again. It’s the story of a married couple, or, especially, the wife of a sadly married couple. They are trying to keep a horse training/boarding place, but it’s ramshackle. They had a pet goat, Flora, that was obtained to keep the horses calm but she has disappeared. The wife, Carla, still loves the animals while the husband, Clark, spends hours on the computer and flares up when at local establishments. The rich widow next door has returned and asked for Carla to come help clean and freshen up her house. The past and present are about to collide. All links are to our Tuesday Readers and Book Lovers colleague DebtorsPrison online bookstore, The Literate Lizard. Descriptions are from the publishers. Whatever kinds of stories, fiction or nonfiction, that you enjoy, my wish is that you find at least one book that brings you a good reading experience. The Silence of the Choir by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr Seventy-two men arrive in the middle of the Sicilian countryside. They are "immigrants," "refugees" or "migrants." But in Altino, they're called the ragazzi, the "guys" that the Santa Marta Association have taken responsibility for. In this small Sicilian town, their arrival changes life for everybody. While they wait to know their fate, the ragazzi encounter all kinds of people: a strange vicar who rewrites their pasts, a woman committed to ensuring them asylum, a man determined to fight against it, an older ragazzo who has become an interpreter, and a reclusive poet who no longer writes. This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history, from one of our finest contemporary novelists. Over seven decades, from 1940 to 2010, the pieds-noirs Cassars live in an itinerant state—separated in the chaos of World War II, running from a complicated colonial homeland, and, after Algerian independence, without a homeland at all. This Strange Eventful History, told with historical sweep, is above all a family story: of patriarch Gaston and his wife Lucienne, whose myth of perfect love sustains them and stifles their children; of François and Denise, devoted siblings connected by their family’s strangeness; of François’s union with Barbara, a woman so culturally different they can barely comprehend one another; of Chloe, the result of that union, who believes that telling these buried stories will bring them all peace. Inspired in part by long-ago stories from her own family’s history, Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis A deliciously haunting debut for fans of Sarah Waters and Sarah Penner set in 19th-century Paris, blending gothic mystery with a captivating sapphic romance as two estranged sisters—celebrated (and fraudulent) spirit mediums—come back together for one last con. Paris, 1866. When Baroness Sylvie Devereux receives a house call from Charlotte Mothe, the sister she disowned, she fears her shady past as a spirit medium has caught up with her. But with their father ill and Charlotte unable to pay his bills, Sylvie is persuaded into one last con. My First Book by Honor Levy Never far from a digital interface, her characters grapple with formative political, existential, and romantic experiences in a web-drenched society on the brink of collapse. The Banana Wars by Alan Grostephan Urab , Colombia, 1990: A violent strike at plantations across the banana zone leads to crops in flames, managers murdered, and the local economy teetering on the brink. In retaliation, the banana producers financeright-wing paramilitaries to cleanse the zone of guerrillas and their supposed collaborators. Winner of the Dzanc Prize for Fiction Swimming in Paris: A Life in Three Stories by Colombe Schneck At fifty years old, while taking swimming lessons, I finally realized that my body was not actually as incompetent as I’d thought. My physical gestures had been, until then, small, worried, tense. In swimming I learned to extend them. I saw male bodies swimming beside me, and I swam past them, I was delighted, my breasts got smaller, my uterus stopped working. My body, by showing me who I was, allowed me to become fully myself. (A work of biographical fiction.) The Red Grove by Tessa Fontaine When her mother goes missing, a young woman uncovers the secrets beneath her protected community. What kind of world might we have, who might we become, if everyone were truly safe? What price would we pay for that kind of freedom? We Were the Universe by Kimberly King Parsons The trip was supposed to be fun. When Kit’s best friend gets dumped by his boyfriend, he begs her to ditch her family responsibilities for an idyllic weekend in the Montana mountains. They’ll soak in hot springs, then sneak a vape into a dive bar and drink too much, like old times. Instead, their getaway only reminds Kit of everything she’s lost lately: her wildness, her independence, and—most heartbreaking of all—her sister, Julie, who died a few years ago. When she returns home to the Dallas suburbs, Kit tries to settle in to her routine—long afternoons spent caring for her irrepressible daughter, going on therapist-advised dates with her concerned husband, and reluctantly taking her mother’s phone calls. But in the secret recesses of Kit’s mind, she’s reminiscing about the band she used to be in—and how they’d go out to the desert after shows and drop acid. The Blue Maiden by Anna Noyes It's 1825, four generations after Berggrund Island's women stood accused of witchcraft under the eye of their priest, now long dead. In his place is Pastor Silas, a widower with two wild young daughters, Beata and Ulrika. The sisters are outcasts: imaginative, oppositional, increasingly obsessed with the lore and legend of the island's dark past and their absent mother, whom their father refuses to speak of. (Described as nordic gothic.) Rednecks by Taylor Brown A historical drama based on the Battle of Blair Mountain, pitting a multi-ethnic army of 10,000 coal miners against mine owners, state militia, and the United States government in the largest labor uprising in American history. Blue Ruin by Hari Kunzru Once, Jay was an artist. After graduating from art school in London, he was tipped for greatness, a promising career taking shape before him. That was not to happen. Now, undocumented in the United States, having survived Covid, he lives out of his car and barely makes a living as an essential worker, delivering groceries in a wealthy area of upstate New York. One day, as Jay attempts to make a delivery at a house surrounded by acres of woods, he is confronted by his destructive past. All Fours by Miranda July A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey. Oye by Melissa Mogollon Structured as a series of one-sided phone calls from spunky, sarcastic narrator, Luciana, to her older sister, Mari ... As the baby of her large Colombian American family, Luciana is usually relegated to the sidelines. But now she finds herself as the only voice of reason in the face of an unexpected crisis. Man's Best Friend by Alana B. Lytle A failed actress must decide how much she will give up — and what lies she will overlook — in order to live a life of luxury, in this … slightly surreal debut that is The Talented Mr. Ripley meets Nightbitch. And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode August is a God-fearing track star who leaves Enugu City to attend university and escape his overbearing sisters. He carries the weight of their lofty expectations, the shame of facing himself, and the haunting memory of a mother he never knew. It's his first semester and pressures aside, August is making friends and doing well in his classes. He even almost has a girlfriend. There's only one problem: he can't stop thinking about Segun, an openly gay student who works at a local cybercafe. (From Roxane Gay’s new imprint.) Paper Names by Susie Luo Set in New York and China over three decades, Paper Names explores what it means to be American from three different perspectives. There's Tony, a Chinese-born engineer turned Manhattan doorman, who immigrated to the United States to give his family a better life. His daughter, Tammy, who we meet at age nine and follow through adulthood, and who grapples with the expectations of a first generation American and her own personal desires. Finally, there's Oliver, a handsome white lawyer with a dark family secret and who lives in the building where Tony works. A sudden attack causes their lives to intertwine in ways that will change them forever. The Marriage Act by John Marrs Britain. The near-future. A right-wing government believes it has the answer to society's ills--the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage as the norm, punishing those who choose to remain single. But four couples are about to discover just how impossible relationships can be when the government is monitoring every aspect of our personal lives--monitoring every word, every minor disagreement...and will use every tool in its arsenal to ensure everyone will love, honor and obey. The Lover by Bee Sacks Unfolding during an invasion of Gaza, The Lover tells the story of an affair between a young Israeli soldier and a Canadian woman. The emotional realities of ideology and war begin to change the lovers, who undergo a parallel radicalization and deradicalization. This book is for anyone seeking a deeply embodied and empathetic accounts of the politics of love in Israel-Palestine. READERS & BOOK LOVERS SERIES SCHEDULE [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/14/2240484/-Contemporary-Fiction-Views-A-good-book-is-a-respite-and-remembering-Alice-Munro-with-gratitude?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/