Guest Post: "The Antidote," by Karen Russell

Today's guest post is written by my friend Sally Mansfield Abbot, the author of "Miami in Virgo," a feminist coming-of-age novel. Set in rural Nebraska during the Dustbowl era, Karen Russell’s "The Antidote" (Knopf, 2025) commingles the lives of some highly original characters. There is Cleo Allfrey, a Black photographer for the New Deal, with a magical camera that photographs the past and the future; Asphodel Oletsky, a 16 year old, six feet tall basketball star; her uncle Harp, a farmer; and a sentient scarecrow with a brain. Then there is the Antidote herself, a prairie witch who absolves the community of its crimes with collective amnesia. First and foremost of these are their collective crimes against the Pawnee, the local Plains Indians. Then there is the malfeasance of a corrupt sheriff . . . But Black Sunday of 1935 reverses all of that. The Antidote can no longer absolve the community of Uz (the U.S.? Oz?), and Nebraska faces a reckoning with history that parallels the grievous damage to the land itself. No longer complicit with their absolution, the Antidote stands to lead them into a reckoning. "The Antidote" is magical realism at its best — revisiting history with a supernatural longhand that reveals the hard truths that traditional history has left out. Russell’s exquisite writing, a continual wonder, powers this masterpiece.

"Pronatalism: Discourses and Counter Discourses," by Sarah Benesch

Why and how are women pressured to have children? Sarah Benesch's brilliant book, "Pronatalism: Discourses and Counter Discourses," explores this important and timely topic. What are the forces in society that push women to become mothers, whether they want to or not, and what are the ways we talk about (in our "discourses and counter discourses") the choices women make in this regard? The author approaches the topic from various angles, including historical, social, cultural, and ideological aspects of pronatalism. Benesch, a well-known scholar of Applied Linguistics, accomplishes the difficult balance of writing a well-researched and revelatory scholarly book that is also very readable and accessible for a more general audience. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of pronatalism, and I learned from each one. One of my favorite chapters (regular readers of this blog will not be surprised to hear!) is the one on great women authors from the past and present, such as Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Rebecca Solnit, and Ann Patchett, all of whom chose to be childfree. Another favorite, since I am an academic myself, is the chapter on the struggles of academic women when choosing whether to have children. I also appreciate very much Benesch's generosity, in one of the last chapters, in being willing to make herself vulnerable by sharing her own experiences and feelings while she was making the choice about whether to have children. I highly recommend this thoughtful, beautifully written book.

"Long Bright River," by Liz Moore

Some months ago, I tried to read Liz Moore's bestselling mystery novel, "The God of the Woods" (2024). From the descriptions and reviews, I thought I would like it, but I didn't get very far into it before realizing I did not, and I stopped reading it. So when a colleague, CP, who teaches in Michigan, wrote on Facebook about how much she liked one of Moore's earlier mystery novels, "Long Bright River" (Riverhead, 2020), I thought I would check it out, especially since I was starting to read a few mysteries again. (Regular readers of this blog may remember that I have dipped into and out of mysteries over the years: I am not sure what brings on each phase -- which may last months or years -- or what ends it, but it happens over and over again.) I found that "Long Bright River" was a good balance of the mystery aspect and the context of the mystery: the setting, the characters, the relationships, and other literary matters. To me, a good mystery must have this balance; reading just to find out "whodunit" is not very satisfying, if that is basically all there is. In this novel, the main draw for me was the characters, especially the main character, Mickey, a police officer who is very concerned about her sister Kacey. The sisters grew up together in a less than ideal situation, and were very close. But since early adolescence, Kacey has gotten into various types of trouble, and Mickey wants to find and help her. Meanwhile, Mickey herself, a complex and mostly admirable character, is dealing with her fellow police officers, for better or for worse, and is also raising her young son as a single mom. For most of the novel, she is focusing on solving the murders of young women who are on the streets and doing drugs, and is fearful for her own sister. Themes of family, sisterhood, relationships, exploitation, drugs -- and yes, love -- run through the book.

"Care and Feeding," by Laurie Woolever -- a restaurant world memoir

I apologize for the long gap in posting. I just finished reading a fascinating if sometimes painful to read memoir, "Care and Feeding" (Ecco, 2025), by Laurie Woolever. The author has worked a long time in various aspects of the restaurant/fine dining industry, from cooking and serving to writing about the restaurant world in various publications. After some autobiography of her early years, the book focuses on her years as an assistant to, at different points, two of the most famous American chefs, Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. Some readers who are interested in the restaurant world will know that Batali was difficult to work with at times, and his restaurant days ended badly when he was exposed as a sexual harasser and abuser. Bourdain was a much more congenial person to work for/with (Woolever also wrote two books with Bourdain). He had his issues, and was sometimes demanding, but was kind and considerate and respectful as well. Sadly, after an extremely successful career as a chef, author, TV host, and more, he shocked the food world by committing suicide. Woolever has had her own issues throughout the years, related to insecurities, addictions and problems in her relationships, and she reveals these issues unsparingly. I applaud her for her candid writing. Her descriptions of her life are detailed and sometimes hard to read. There were times when I was reading this book that I wanted to urgently advise her to change some of her unhealthy habits (addictions, relationships, etc.). But she is clearly also extremely talented, competent, and thoughtful, and in recent years she has gained control over most of her less-than-healthy habits, has had a loving relationship with her son, has continued her career in the food world, and has reached a level of peace. For anyone who is interested in the world of fine dining and its characters and events, this book should be on the "must read" list.

"The Eights," by Joanna Miller

"The Eights" (Putnam, 2025), Joanna Miller's first novel, is the story of four young women who are members of Oxford University's first class of women who can actually earn degrees there. The year is 1920, and though women have been allowed to attend classes before, this right to earn degrees is an historic breakthrough. These four women, like all the citizens of the UK, have just been through World War I and its aftermath. Some of them volunteered in the war effort in various ways; some lost brothers and sweethearts during the war. The four women reside in the same section of the living quarters at St. Hugh's College, a women's college at Oxford, and they become an inseparable foursome, a sort of sisterhood. Despite their closeness, though, they each have secrets that they do not share until they have known each other for quite a while. The novel weaves together the various strands affecting these young women: the postwar memories and atmosphere, the academic life, the forwarding of women's rights, friendship, ambitions, romance, and the secrets that they carry. As a (now retired) woman academic myself, I have seen how even in the past few decades, women students and professors have struggled, and are still struggling, more than 100 years since the time period of this book, to gain true equality; although the discrimination may be less blatant, it is still there. This novel is both informative on historical matters and enjoyable to read.

"Three Days in June," by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler's novels always feel like old friends. I have been reading her work since the 1970s, and I don't remember ever not loving her work. It is so wise, so humane, so down-to-earth, and also so reliably beautifully written and entertaining. She is on the short list of writers who, the minute I hear that they have a new novel out, I put it on my to-read list and find it as soon as possible. Tyler is now 81 years old, and still writing wonderful novels, including her most recent: "Three Days in June" (Knopf, 2025). This novel is shorter than most of Tyler's. I mention this partly because I have been noticing that some older writers do write shorter novels; see, for example, Anita Desai's recent novels, which I wrote about on my 3/12/25 post. But, as always, as soon as I started reading this novel, I was drawn in, and struck once again by Tyler's knowledge of human nature, as well as by the unassuming, almost conversational tone of her writing. "Three Days in June" is about a family during the days surrounding a family wedding. The family members, like so many, are loving but also have some issues with each other. We recognize both the love and the tension that can and does arise among family members. There are secrets that emerge, misunderstandings, and decisions to be made. Although I am not sure that I was as totally caught up in this novel as I have been with some of Tyler's prior works, this is a high bar; I still loved it, and would not have missed reading it for anything. Tyler's novels are so realistic, so authentic, and they always make me feel that I know a little more about human nature than I did before I read them. And, to be clear, they are enjoyable to read. I would even call them page-turners if that label did not have the negative connotations, the implied lack of seriousness, that it does. What I mean is that once I start reading her work, I cannot stop, because it is wonderful. (Can you tell that I am a BIG fan?)

"Fasting, Feasting," and "Rosarita": Recent(ish) Novels by Anita Desai

Back in the 1980s, I was reading many novels by Indian writers, and/or with Indian settings. This was partly because I spent most of my childhood in India, and partly because during the early 1980s I published in my school's alumni magazine a regular column on such books. One writer's works that I thoroughly enjoyed were those of Anita Desai, who was born and raised in India and has spent most of her adult life in the United States. My favorite novels by Desai included "Clear Light of Day" (1980) and "In Custody" (1984). I somehow didn't read much of Desai's work after that time period. But recently - these decades later! -- I picked up and read two of her new(ish) novels: "Fasting, Feasting" (Houghton Mifflin, 1999) and "Rosarita" (Scribner, 2024). Both, especially "Rosarita" (96 pages), are slim. They are both engaging, and I am glad to have read them. "Fasting, Feasting" is a rather sad novel about what seems to be a dysfunctional family with cultural preferences for sons over daughters, complicated by some learning issues the daughter in this family experiences. The parents are not, I think, purposely cruel, but they have assigned certain stereotypes and roles to the main characters, their daughter Uma and their son Arun. They often mention Uma's limitations, yet don't recognize her strengths, except to assume that she should be almost a servant to the parents. Arun is the academic star who goes to America to study; all resources are given to support him. But he has his own struggles, especially in the United States. Both of them feel that no one understands them. The title has to do with food and feelings: Both Uma and Arun have ambivalent relationships with food, and sometimes see it as a sign of love, or lack thereof. The main characters, including the members of the family and some others whom Uma and Arun meet and are supported by, are brilliantly portrayed. Desai's writing in this book is, as it was in the past, beautiful. "Rosarita" is about a young Indian woman, Bonita, who goes to Mexico to learn Spanish, and soon encounters a woman who claims to have known and become close friends with her mother many years ago. Bonita has no idea that her mother ever took such a trip, although there were episodes when she disappeared from her family's life for stretches of time; no one in the family talks about these times. Bonita is in disbelief, but is gradually drawn in by the stories of the woman, whom she thinks of as the "Trickster." This very short novel is interesting and readable, but I did not like it as much as I liked "Fasting, Feasting" or any of Desai's earlier works.

"Miss Kim Knows: And Other Stories," by Cho Nam-Joo

"Miss Kim Knows: And Other Stories" (Liveright, 2024), by the Korean writer Cho Nam-Joo and translated into English by Jamie Chang, is an initially seemingly unassuming collection of stories that soon draw the reader in with their unexpected turns of events and revelations of character. I relished the (usually subtle) element of surprise, often slyly expressed. The stories focus on Korean women of various ages and stations in life. They are mostly written in the first person, often in a blunt voice, so we feel the character is speaking directly to us, but doesn't actually care about our opinions of her or of the stories she is telling us. Many of the stories at least indirectly allude to or illuminate ways in which women have less agency, less status, in society and in relationships. Yet the women mostly have a spark, a self-assurance, that works against what society attempts to impose on them. I like that there are some stories which show the strong bonds among women, such as a story about a woman and her mother-in-law who become very close after one's husband, who is the other's son, dies. This is a short book, just over 200 pages, but it is packed with revelatory moments as well as being subtly humorous at times.

The Best Books I Read in 2024

As I do almost every year, here I list the best books (in my opinion) out of the many that I read in 2024 (although in some cases they were published earlier). This year I have chosen 11 books for the list. After each title, I give in parentheses the genre, the year, and the date of the blogpost I wrote on that book, in case you want more information. The list is in order of those blogpost dates (NOT ranked). 1. "Onlookers" (stories, 2023), by Ann Beattie (2/6/24); 2. "Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love" (cultural history, 2012), by David Talbot (2/24/24); 3. "The Year of Magical Thinking" (memoir, 2005) (a re-read for me), by Joan Didion (3/2/24); 4. "Banyan Moon" (novel, 2023), by Thao Thai (3/14/24); 5. "Fourteen Days" (group-written novel of episodes, 2024), edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston (5/20/24); 6. "Ana Turns" (novel, 2023), by Lisa Gornick (6/5/24); 7. "Real Americans" (novel, 2024), by Rachel Khong (6/13/24); 8. "Long Island" (novel, 2024), by Colm Toibin (6/23/24); 9. "Old Lovegood Girls" (novel, 2020), by Gail Godwin (10/5/24); 10. "The Wren, the Wren" (novel, 2023), by Anne Enright (10/24/24); 11. "Tell Me Everything" (novel, 2024), by Elizabeth Strout (11/12/24). PS Although the above list is in order of postings, NOT ranked, I will mention here that my very favorite book on the list, and of the year 2024, is "Tell Me Everything," by Elizabeth Strout, with Colm Toibin's "Long Island" a close second.

"Family Reservations," by Liza Palmer

A mother and three competitive daughters. (Queen Lear rather than King Lear?) The elite world of fine dining, also ultra-competitive. A Marin County (where I live) setting. The combination sounds perfect to this fan of family stories, restaurant stories, and settings very familiar to me. Well, "Family Reservations" (get it?) (Lake Union, 2024), by Liza Palmer, is an absorbing novel, definitely, but with painfully sharp edges. The famous restaurant owner Maren Winter (the last name is perhaps too much on the nose) is ruthless, has always controlled everything in her restaurant/professional life and in her daughters' lives, and makes sure that anyone who crosses her will pay, even her own daughters. I found this novel fascinating, but at the same time I found myself wincing and cringing many times as I read it. The four women (mother and daughters) distrust and compete with each other, and are sometimes outright cruel to each other. Consequently, the novel is at times difficult to read. But throughout, there are faint, mostly-hidden signs that underneath everything, there is also love among them. I will leave you to guess how it all turns out. Despite my wincing and cringing, I somehow enjoyed the book, and if you like family stories and restaurant settings, you might too.

"Women in Sunlight," by Frances Mayes

Many of you know, or know of, the American writer Frances Mayes' memoirs about her time in Tuscany, Italy (most famously, "Under the Tuscan Sun," "Bella Tuscany," and "Every Day in Tuscany"). I did not know, however, that Mayes has also written fiction about expatriates in Tuscany; I have just read and thoroughly enjoyed her novel "Women in Sunlight" (Crown, 2018). It is a lovely portrayal of a sort of dreamlike yearlong stay in Tuscany by three late-middle-aged, talented North Carolina women who have only recently met, exchanged their stories -- which include, among them, those of recent widowhood, betrayal, divorce, and the pain of a daughter seemingly lost to drugs -- and within a very short time, decide to take a yearlong lease on a villa in a small town in Tuscany. They become very close friends, and enjoy the pleasures of their new lives: gorgeous scenery, friendly local people, a new writer friend living nearby, delicious food, travels around Italy, learning Italian, time to engage in art, writing, cooking, and gardening, and -- of course! -- some new men in their lives. There are intriguing plot elements, but the main pleasures of the book are the women's new and joyful, pleasurable lives in this beautiful place. So, although some of the plot points, and the timing, are not very realistic (how many people could and would in a very short period of time pick up their lives and decide to live for at least a year with brand-new friends in a country across the ocean? With no issues about money, on top of it?) but this reader at least, and I suspect most readers, will not dwell on this lack of realism. One slight obstacle I felt when reading this novel was that the book frequently toggled back and forth among its characters' viewpoints and thoughts, sometimes not making it clear whose voice we are hearing. But this is a small issue, and perhaps my issue rather than the author's. I have to add that one of the pleasures of the book for me was the way that the characters often casually referred to the books of famous women writers. Overall, this novel is so delightful that one can simply sink into it with a sigh of pleasure. I imagine most readers will, at least in passing, entertain the thought of following in the paths of these characters and experiencing a glorious stay in Tuscany as well.

"Shred Sisters," by Betsy Lerner

As I was reading "Shred Sisters" (Grove Press, 2024), by Betsy Lerner, I was thinking about how very often novels are about sisters. Although (or maybe because?) I have three terrific brothers but no sisters, I often wonder about what it would be like to have and be a sister. Of course (of course!) I get much of my information about sisters (as I do about life in general!) from books. Among novels about sisters that I have read and enjoyed are my beloved Jane Austen novels ("Pride and Prejudice," "Sense and Sensibility"), Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women"; "Atonement," by Ian McEwan; "They Were Sisters," by Dorothy Whipple; "The Story Sisters," by Alice Hoffman; "Atlas of Unknowns," by Tania James; and many, many more. Reading "Shred Sisters," I was reminded of how often sister-focused books follow certain tropes, subtly or not. One is that each sister has a distinctly different character and role. Another is that there is usually deep love among sisters, but also deep divisions and violent emotions. Often the novel focuses on the latter, but by the end of the novel, the sisters have gained a new appreciation of each other, and/or have reconciled or at least reached a place of resolution and even peace. Along these lines, the sisters in "Shred Sisters" are very different from each other. Olive (Ollie) is dramatic, glamorous, fearless, and utterly unpredictable. Amy is serious, careful, successful at her studies, and a little dorky. Amy feels a lot of worry and fear, but also anger, about the ways Ollie flits in and out of their family's lives, often flirting with danger along the way, and seeming not to care about the effects of her unpredictable and irresponsible behavior on her family. Amy is very conflicted about constantly having to pick up the pieces Ollie leaves behind. But the basic connection and love between them persists. This is all disturbing and difficult, yet the basic love in the family (including Ollie's and Amy's longsuffering parents) comes through. Of course not all fiction about sisters is like this, but authors often do make sure to clearly differentiate their sister characters from each other, assigning them different characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses, and describing conflicts between or among them.

"Tell Me Everything," by Elizabeth Strout

Last time (10/24/24) I wrote about how I (like most readers) watch out for new fiction by my favorite authors. One of the authors whose new writing I eagerly await is Elizabeth Strout. She has created a world of overlapping characters (e.g., Olive Kitteridge, Lucy Barton, Bob Burgess) in her various novels; very often a character from one book suddenly pops up in a subsequent book. The novels are set in Maine, and contain a fascinating variety of highly original, sometimes eccentric, and very recognizable characters (which, when you think about it, is a real feat). With each novel, the reader feels further and further drawn into the world of these characters in this geographical area. I was excited to read Strout's latest, "Tell Me Everything" (Random House, 2024), and it turned out to be, in my opinion, the best of her novels, and that is saying a lot. Strout's writing is always fresh, crisp, and often surprising. Even more than in the earlier novels, the portrayal of the characters in "Tell Me Everything," and of how they face the many facets of life, is utterly immersive and deeply humane. I highly recommend this absorbing, moving novel. -----------------

On New Books by Favorite Authors, such as "The Wren, The Wren," by Anne Enright

Like many readers, I am always excited when I see that one of my favorite authors has a new, or very recent, book out. I usually make a note, and as soon as possible, either put the title on my local library's waiting list, or buy the book. Of course I can't be absolutely sure that because the author is a favorite, I will like every book she or he has written. A quick glance at reviews generally gives me a good idea of whether I want to read the book or not; usually I do want to read it, and look forward to it with great anticipation. Lately I have been fortunate to note that a lovely outpouring of several books in this category have appeared: new books by authors I admire/enjoy, with whom I often have a long history. The most recent of these is "The Wren, The Wren," (Norton, 2023) by the wonderful Irish writer Anne Enright, whose novel "The Gathering" (2007) first drew me to her work. The current very woman-centered novel, "The Wren, The Wren," focuses on three generations of women, but the women, and the story, are always somewhat overshadowed by the family patriarch, a famous Irish poet who generally focuses on what is best for himself. The characters are vivid, their relationships perceptively portrayed; the author's psychological insights are sharp and clear; the writing is distinctive and compelling; and readers are reminded of the great gift this writer is to us.

"Old Lovegood Girls," by Gail Godwin

"Old Lovegood Girls" is the most recent novel by one of my favorite writers (see my posts of 6/7/13, 8/22/15, and, very recently, 9/15/24, although these represent only some of the Godwin books I have read). The title refers to the young women at a somewhat posh, traditional, and yet, in a low-key and "proper" way, feminist women's junior college in 1958, and follows the intertwined and complicated stories, over a period of decades, of two of these young women who become friends, as well as the related stories of other students of faculty members, of family members, and of lovers and spouses. The novel addresses questions of women's friendship, social class, family, romances, marriages and other life events. There are also some secrets and surprises, some of which are life-changing. I am drawn to stories of women's friendships, and Godwin, as always, shows her knowledge of human psychology, especially women's psychology. As with all her books, this novel is beautifully written, compelling, and revelatory.

"Four Squares," by Bobby Finger

After reading and enjoying Bobby Finger's first novel, "The Old Place," in 2022, I was interested to read his new one, "Four Squares" (Putnam, 2024), and I was not disappointed. The main character, Artie, a gay man in New York City during the time after the height of AIDS but still under its heavy shadow, is in some ways introverted and self-sufficient, but sometimes feels, and regrets, that he has few friends. But those few, and the regulars at a local bar, give him increased community, connection, and support. The story alternates between 1992 and 2022, thus tracing the arc of Artie's relationships with lovers, chosen family members, and friends. Of course there are some tangled relationships and some secrets and surprises. But the overall tone of the novel is positive, hopeful and life affirming.

"The Paris Novel," by Ruth Reichl

I have devoured (forgive food/book reference) food critic Ruth Reichl's several memoirs and other writings (See for example my post of 6/1/19 on her memoir "Save Me the Plums."). I have now just finished her absolutely enchanting new novel, "The Paris Novel" (Random House, 2024), and I loved its exquisite focus on the city of Paris, high fashion, and, especially, amazing and delicious French food. Stella lives in New York, leading a rather constrained life as a copy editor living on her own, but when her mother (with whom she has not been close) dies and leaves her money with instructions, surprisingly, for her to go to Paris, she does so. There she meets fascinating people and has magical adventures in the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company, in several art museums, in a high fashion dress shop, in explorations of various parts of Paris and nearby towns, including beautiful houses and hotels and markets, and most of all, in a series of restaurants. It turns out that Stella has a hitherto undiscovered profound understanding of and appreciation of fine cooking and food, and one of the best parts of the novel is the mouth-watering descriptions of her experiencing the sense-filled and at the same time ethereal pleasures of fine French food. The story is full of interesting characters, and Stella herself blossoms as her world opens up. She has two quests, and -- not exactly a spoiler -- she achieves both. So okay, the novel is a kind of romantic fantasy, even a modern fairy tale, but it also includes some (not too heavy-handed) allusions to issues of identity, family, and other serious concerns. So this delicious (I couldn't resist...) novel is light yet substantive and meaningful in some ways, and an absolute delight to read.

RIP Ellen Gilchrist

I recently ran across a mention of the author Ellen Gilchrist and, in particular, of her short story collection "In the Land of Dreamy Dreams" (Little, Brown, 1981), and I remembered how much I had liked this book and others of Gilchrist's in the past, but had not thought about her work for years, perhaps decades. I immediately requested the above book at my local library. Then I went online to remind myself about her life and her books, and to my surprise, I saw that she had died in January of this year at the age of 88. I was surprised not to have heard this news, although I soon found that she had received obituaries in the New York Times and elsewhere that I had somehow missed. She was well-known in the 1980s especially, but less so in recent years. She was a National Book Award winner with a distinctive voice, often from the viewpoint of upper-class Southern women, but in unpredictable ways. Gilchrist, who was a Mississippi native and later lived in Arkansas, with a familiarity with New Orleans, often drew on her own life experiences, and was known for her "wry and poignant prose," as the Washington Post put it after her death. Interestingly, in college she studied under Eudora Welty. Gilchrist's characters were sometimes eccentric, seemingly free from certain societal constrictions (allowed to be so, it must be said, because of class privilege), yet still a part of the world of those constrictions. Her 26 books -- novels, stories, and essays -- often included recurring characters. I did reread "In the Land of Dreamy Dreams," and was glad to have revisited the world portrayed by Ellen Gilchrist. Perhaps I will soon reread her other most well-known work, "Victory in Japan" (1984) as well.

"Long Island," by Colm Toibin

I am an ardent fan of Colm Toibin's fiction, and have read his novels with great admiration and pleasure, and not a little awe. I have also heard him speak, and he has an amazing, powerful yet warm voice and presence. So I was thrilled when his most recent novel, "Long Island" (Scribner, 2024) came out. This is a sequel to one of Toibin's best known and best loved novels, "Brooklyn" (2009). In "Brooklyn," a young woman -- Eilis -- emigrates from Ireland to the United States in the 1950s, then briefly returns to Ireland, during which time she has to choose between two men, Tony in the U.S. and Jim in Ireland. In "Long Island," we find that Eilis and her husband and children now, twenty years later, live in Long Island, and their lives have recently been roiled by an unexpected betrayal. Eilis, angry and confused, then returns to Ireland to visit her mother and to figure out how she feels and what she should do next. When she sees Jim again, the old conflict in her mind between her husband and her former Irish love gradually returns. The twists and turns of the plot are certainly part of the attraction of this novel, as they were with "Brooklyn." But the reader is even more caught up in the portrayals of the characters. Toibin is so psychologically astute, and writes so well about the nuances of the characters' feelings and behavior, that we feel we are inside the characters' minds and hearts, and yet we wonder about the inscrutable mysteries of those same minds and hearts. His writing is perceptive, insightful, and gorgeous. I will admit -- and this is hard for me to say -- that at times while reading "Long Island" I felt it was just a tiny bit repetitive of "Brooklyn." But of course all sequels need to have some overlap. And nothing could keep me from reading and deeply admiring every novel that Toibin writes. I highly recommend this novel. I suggest reading "Brooklyn" first, if you have not yet read it, but even if you have not and do not, "Long Island" is freestanding, and provides plenty of context about the earlier novel, so you can thoroughly savor and enjoy it even without having read "Brooklyn." (For more on Toibin and his novels, see my posts of 1/28/10, 12/4/12, 1/20/13, 11/9/14, 11/16/14, and 12/6/14).

"Real Americans," by Rachel Khong

Rachel Khong is an author I have heard about for a while, and her new novel -- "Real Americans" (Knopf, 2024) -- got good reviews, but I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. I requested it from the local library, still not sure if I would actually read it. (Side note: Thank goodness for libraries, and for the luxury of checking out a book one has heard about, taking it home, holding the book in one's hands, reading the flap descriptions, and leafing through it, all in service of deciding whether to actually read it. If the answer is no, then no harm done. If the answer is yes, and it turns out to be wonderful, hurray!) This longish (400-page) book is crammed with storylines, alternating timelines, swoops among countries, racial identity issues, complex family dynamics, some medical science, a little light science fiction, love affairs, alienation, many emotions, whiplash changes in the characters' lives, secrets, mysteries, and the answers -- eventually -- to those mysteries. The main characters are Lily, who is Chinese American, and her son Nico/Nick, but there are many other characters, including four generations of Lily's family, both in China and the United States. I hesitate to say much about the plot, first because it is somewhat tangled, and second, because I don't want to give away any plot points that the reader should discover on her/his own, and at the right time. So this is a long way of saying that although right up to when I started the book, I hesitated (partly because of the science-fictionish parts that had been mentioned in one review, and readers of this blog may remember that I am generally not very interested in science fiction, except for a few of the classics) to go forward with it, but I was soon drawn in, and then couldn't stop reading. So yes, I recommend this complicated, compelling novel.