A Fierce Feminist Take on the Troubles in Factory Girls
Michelle Gallen’s novel enriches the Troubles narrative with a fierce cast of young women determined to reject the violence of their youth.
Fiction
The Reflections in Li Zi Shu’s The Age of Goodbyes
As Li Zi Shu’s new novel rotates through three storylines in every chapter, it is soon clear that the objective is to glimpse how the truth of each is reflected, refracted, and twisted in the other two.
Motherhood and the Myth of Closure in Vigdis Hjorth’s Is Mother Dead
Hjorth has masterfully written a family drama where no reunion takes place and a thriller where no blood is shed. Her prose keeps us on edge, puncturing breathless sentences that stretch to half a page with four-word questions that undercut everything she previously said.
Disappearing Bodies in Elizabeth McCracken’s The Hero of This Book
To be visible or invisible in the public eye, the novel implies, is not a choice one makes. Readers who delight in forthright and fearless stories of complicated women, told through the eyes of other complicated women, are sure to find joy in McCracken’s new novel.
Literature and its Manipulations in The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
Yiyun Li’s new book is a taut landscape built of all literature’s attachments, manipulations, displacements, anxieties, and escapes. It is the labored breadth of an economy that is resplendently libidinal and compelling.
Myths and Mundanity in Jill Bialosky’s The Deceptions
Perhaps the greatest achievement of Jill Bialosky’s novel is its captivating depiction of mundane reality.
The Suburban Microcosms of The Hundred Waters
Lauren Acampora’s novel is a fast read that moves ever faster the deeper Louisa and Sylvie head down their suburban rabbit hole.
Young Love and Frenzied Obsession in Andrea Abreu’s Dogs of Summer
In her debut novel, translated by Julia Sanches, Andrea Abreu writes a rapturous story about obsessive friendship, in the process providing an authentically complex portrayal of the desire of girls.
Sex and Satire in Wang Xiaobo’s Golden Age
By using the language of the state to highlight the absurdity of their laws, Xiaobo made a satire that is both amusing and effective.