June 22, 2024
These prose artists share a stylistic elegance that lends a quiet power to their writing. We encounter a tale about siblings and the power of nature; a nonfiction book on the mystery and influence of gardens throughout history; a novel about the romantic awakening of disparate souls; and the story of a shameful family legacy. Those four tranquil books are offset by one writer’s turbulent novel of sex, debauchery, and danger in New Lagos.
Happy reading,
Melanie Fleishman
Buyer, The Center for Fiction Bookstore
Featured Books
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Bear
By JULIA PHILLIPS
Published by HOGARTH
This novel is guaranteed to keep you up at night. Phillips (Disappearing Earth) has imagined a story of quiet suspense that is a profound meditation on the inexorable forces of nature and nurture. Set on the San Juan Islands in the Pacific NW, a single mother and her two daughters struggle to stay financially afloat. Then an enormous bear arrives in their small, insulated community. A story of the beasts within us all, a revelation of the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood, and a warning that it is almost impossible to halt the natural impulses of survival, this is a stunning follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut.
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Devil is Fine
By JOHN VERCHER
Published by CELADON BOOKS
In an NPR interview for his latest novel, Vercher says, “When you’re questioning your identity or your identity is questioned by outsiders, you eventually . . . start to wonder who you are.” His unnamed protagonist is a grief-stricken biracial professor who confronts a shocking legacy. He has inherited an old plantation from his estranged white grandfather which he plans to sell. But soon ghosts from the past arise—enslaved people buried on the grounds he now owns? Ancestors? Addressing his dead son, he wrestles with his heritage, his faith, and his future. This powerful story of a family struck by tragedy is laced with magic and humor. No small feat.
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The Garden Against Time
By OLIVIA LAING
Published by W.W. NORTON
The Center launched Laing’s 2020 essay collection Funny Weather at one of our first virtual events of the pandemic, and the attendance worldwide was astonishing. Whatever subject Laing tackles (art, philosophy, history) is made instantly appealing through her unique voice. As usual, her premise or theme is bolstered by personal musings. You always feel like you learn something, almost by accident. Her fascination with historical gardens as versions of paradise leads her to investigate antecedents in literature (as in John Milton) and to restore her own walled garden in Suffolk, England. Laing proves how satisfying it can be to make or visit these places of beauty—settings for pleasure, respite, insulation, creativity, and discovery.
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Little Rot
By AKWAEKE EMEZI
Published by RIVERHEAD BOOKS
Emezi’s (You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty) electrifying new novel takes a hard look at love, sex, God, and class in Nigeria. Aima has lived a privileged life with Kalu for four years and, despite their mutual love, wants more of a commitment from him. She calls off a first attempt to leave him, but events have been set in motion. Kalu finds himself in a perilous situation at a sex party which results in his being a target for murder. Emezi is always taking on new challenges in their work—they’ve gone from YA to romance and now erotic thriller. They know how to build and maintain momentum while exploring the high and low society of New Lagos.
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Ask Me Again
By CLARE SESTANOVICH
Published by KNOPF
Brooklyn writer Sestanovich (Objects of Desire) fulfills the promise of her debut story collection as she explores a quietly passionate friendship between two very different souls. Eva, more conservative and careful, lives in Brooklyn. Jamie is on the affluent Upper West Side with dreams of reinvention. “He knocked on his head, and the hollow sound of his knuckles on skull, bone on bone, seemed ominous. ‘Hear that?’ he said. ‘That’s the sound of being stuck in your ways.’” They strive for different things; their temperaments are poles part. But somehow, they forge a singular attachment over time, tackling the big questions of life, which the author captures with profound grace and authenticity.
