Books that captivate with their exquisite prose and unforgettable storytelling. Perfect for readers who appreciate the art of language.
The Stone Diaries
Carol Shields, 1994
400 pp.
May 2009
Canada has produced a number of fine prize-winning writers (Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje), and one of the finest was Carol Shields. I say "was" because Shields died of cancer in 2003. She was only 68.
The Stone Diaries—what Margaret Atwood called her "glory book"— brought Shields acclaim: it won the Canadian Governor General's Award and was short-listed for Britain's Booker Prize, both in 1994. In 1995 Diaries won the U.S. Pulitizer Prize.
The Ten-Year Nap
Meg Wolitzer, 2008
400 pp.
April 2009
Meg Wolitzer is a terrific writer. She's funny, wise and trenchant—a fine portraitist of the small gesture, the moments that make up our lives.
Here she considers women, a generation after the onset of feminism, who opted out of the Career-With-Kids-I-Can-Do-It-All path. But now their children are 10, in school till mid-afternoon, which leads moms wondering how to fill up their time?
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
David Wroblewski, 2008
566 pp.
March 2009
Enough has been written and said about this book to...um, fill a book—and a book at least as long as this one is.
Sawtelle is an Oprah pick, and many were distressed that she chose a book ending on such a tragic note. But Edgar is a 20th-century retelling of Hamlet, and as you know Shakespeare's tragedies are...tragic.
Complaints have also been leveled about the overly detailed passages on the genetics of dog breeding. That's probably a fair criticism, but those sections needn't be overly burdensome. Just blow through them.
Charming Billy
Alice McDermott, 1998
243pp.
February 2009
There was something about Billy. Just an alchololic, a typical one, who stretched his friendships thin, strained his marriage, and died in the street. But, still, there was something special.
The daughter of Billy's best friend narrates this intimate portrait, not just of Billy Lynch, but of the large family of Irish-American cousins who surrounded him and loved him, especially her father, Dennis. Starting with the funeral luncheon after Billy's burial, family members recall what they know.
Netherland
Joseph O'Neill, 2008
272 pp.
January 2009
Many tout this as the top book of 2008—and it's easy to see why. Netherland is a stunning read, a 21st-century send-up of The Great Gatsby—the Gatsby figure, in this case, a charming, enigmatic immigrant from Trinidad, Chuck Ramkissoon.
The Nick Caraway narrator for the book is Hans van den Broek, a Dutch banker living in Manhattan, whose wife, in the aftermath of 9/11, leaves him for their home in Britain.