November 30, 2024
Four novels and one essay collection take different approaches to family dynamics. One is written by the son of John Le Carré, who carries on the legacy of his father’s essential spy thrillers; a Chinese American writer’s new fiction belies her light touch with profound family portraits; a futuristic story about the end of life as we know it has Shakespearean overtones; a slightly deranged conceptual artist can’t communicate with her sensible husband; and a classic NYC essay collection, edited by the author’s granddaughter, is a must for locals (or anyone!).
Happy reading,
Melanie Fleishman
Buyer, The Center for Fiction Bookstore
Featured Books
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Rental House
By WEIKE WANG
Published by RIVERHEAD BOOKS
Weike’s characters are marked by their unapologetic candor. Keru, born to Chinese immigrants, is the perfect example (see also Joan in Joan is Okay). Her marriage is one of opposites: Keru’s family is traditional and demands perfection; Nate’s are rural Americans who do not understand his wife. The couple feels compelled to invite the opinionated in-laws in separate visits to their vacation rental, as well as Nate’s estranged brother and his fitness-obsessed girlfriend. Some very recognizable hilarious conflicts ensue. From navigating food choices to arranging entertaining side trips, Nate and Keru and their lovable dog Mantou will win your heart as they struggle to please everyone and keep their marriage together.
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Karla's Choice
By NICK HARKAWAY
Published by VIKING
Harkaway is the pen name of Nicholas Cornwell, son of David, otherwise known as John Le Carré, who died in 2020. The decision to bring George Smiley back was a brave one. “A lot of people are saying this is extraordinary ventriloquism.” And it is. Here, George Smiley of the Circus (M16) is coaxed out of a contented retirement with his wife Lady Ann for a last case. Featuring the Russian spy, Karla, Harkaway sets this one in 1963 after The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and before Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy where the character first appeared. Lucky for us, we haven’t heard the end of Smiley.
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Private Rites
By JULIA ARMFIELD
Published by FLATIRON BOOKS
Armfield (Our Wives Under the Sea) revisits her favored theme of water in her third book of fiction. She introduces us to a near future where it has been raining incessantly for over a decade. Three sisters (Isla, Irene, and Agnes) inhabit the waterlogged British city where the world is “in its final stages.” Their famous architect father, a cruel but renowned designer of climate-proof buildings, has suddenly died, which brings the women back into contact at the childhood glass home he designed. Armfield calls her book “King Lear at the end of the world with lesbians.” The apocalyptic story has moments of both comedy and tragedy in this startlingly visual novel of family dynamics.
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Woo Woo
By ELLA BAXTER
Published by CATAPULT
You’ll fall for the unreliable narrator of Australian writer Baxter’s latest highly entertaining novel. Sabine is an eccentric, less than confident, married photographer about to have an exhibition titled Help Me, Fuck You. Among other components of this fast-paced exploration of art, mind, and body, she conjures the ghost of a famous woman performance artist and is being stalked by a mysterious stranger. Or is she? Her shenanigans blur the lines between what is real and what is imagined in a story about the nature of creativity, a woman’s place in art, and the importance of being seen.
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New York Sketches
By E. B. WHITE
Published by McNALLY EDITIONS
Edited by Martha White
E.B. White (of Charlotte’s Web fame) was a brilliant essayist known for his many pieces for the New Yorker, where he was a longtime staffer. He was an astute observer of daily urban life and in this collection, he proves to be an appealing tour guide of New York, his beloved city. These good-natured pieces introduce us to a Manhattan of a bygone era, full of nostalgia and a dry humor to rival Twain’s. White passed away in 1985, but luckily, his granddaughter is keeping the flame burning. Published in a lovely McNally Editions package this is a sure thing for city dwellers and expats alike.
