This book is sort of like a combination of Cold Mountain and Gilead. And I mean that as a good thing because I really like both of those novels. The premise is that this novel tells the lost story of Mr. March, the father figure of Little Women while he is off to war. It’s told as a personal narrative from Mr. March’s perspective, with a small section near the end in the voice of Ms. March. March doesn’t go to fight in the war but to be […]
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
I liked this book, but I’m slightly annoyed because I feel like I should have liked it more than I did, and that makes me like it less. That makes no sense, I’m sure, but there it is. People of the Book is a mostly fictional story about the Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain. The book existed, and so did some of the events the author includes, but it’s mostly fiction. In the novel, a rare book expert named Hannah […]
Cold in Iceland
Burial Rites is Hannah Kent’s first novel and an auspicious start to her career. Set in 1828-1830, the plot is based on real people and factual events surrounding the last execution of a criminal in Iceland. For those who prefer their fiction historical and who have enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s Alias, Grace or the novels of Geraldine Brooks (who is thanked in the author’s note), this is a book you will want to read. In 1828, a well known herbalist and healer (some said sorcerer) named […]