You might know Russell Banks from his books that were made into movies—“Affliction” (1989) and “The Sweet Hereafter” (1991)—or you might be familiar with his award-winning novel “Continental Drift” (1985). I’d like to introduce you to the new Banks I’ve…
Reader’s Choice
“Life After Life” Written by Kate Atkinson
by Betty Hafner • • Comments Off
When you pick up British writer Kate Atkinson’s popular 2013 novel “Life After Life,” you have to be willing to enter a new world of storytelling. As Atkinson casually says in interviews, it has a “high-concept” structure. One look at…
“The Goldfinch” Written by Donna Tartt
by Betty Hafner • • Comments Off
Mississippi-born writer Donna Tartt told an interviewer that she writes to create a work like the ones she loved as a child—“galloping, gleeful, you-don’t-know-what’s-going-to-happen-next.” Her stunning, almost 800-page novel “The Goldfinch” is overflowing with that spirit. With her elaborately constructed…
‘The Aviator’s Wife’ Written by Melanie Benjamin
by Betty Hafner • • Comments Off
Melanie Benjamin tells readers she was compelled to write “The Aviator’s Wife” (2013) to help people become familiar with “the truly operatic scale of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s life and marriage.” Yet readers will have to accept a blurred line between…
“The Rosie Project” Written by Graeme Simsion
by Betty Hafner • • Comments Off
When a friend recommended “The Rosie Project” (2013) to me, it sounded like a perfect read for this busy season: fast moving and hilarious. She was so right. Australian IT consultant-turned-writer Graeme Simsion struck gold with his breakout novel. Narrator…
“The Good House” Written by Ann Leary
by Betty Hafner • • Comments Off
Hildy Good is someone you will want to know. The outspoken narrator of Ann Leary’s 2012 novel “The Good House” takes you into her confidence right away, or so it seems. Leary’s 60-something character is a top-notch realtor in the…
“The Chaperone”
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By Laura Moriarty I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to get a social history lesson on the 1920s than reading Laura Moriarty’s 2012 novel, “The Chaperone.” Moriarty brings alive that decade while telling a story that is impossible to…
‘The Burgess Boys’
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Written by Elizabeth Strout Athought crept into my mind as I read Elizabeth Strout’s newest novel, “The Burgess Boys” (2013) — “Do they ever award a Pulitzer Prize to someone twice?” This is Strout’s first novel since winning the esteemed…
‘Flora’ Written by Gail Godwin
by Betty Hafner • • Comments Off
Prize-winning author Gail Godwin has returned to her southern roots to weave a tight little tale in her newest novel, “Flora” (2013). Her narrator, writer Helen Anstruther, recounts a story set in the summer of 1945 when she is 10…
‘The Interestings’ Written by Meg Wolitzer
by Betty Hafner • • Comments Off
“The Interestings” (2013) is a big book in every sense of the word. The dense, almost 500-page novel follows a group of six teenagers who label themselves “The Interestings,” from their meeting in 1974 at Spirit-in-the-Woods camp for artistic teens…