The Cheffe, by Marie NDiaye

Marie NDiaye’s The Cheffe (translated beautifully by Jordan Stump) is billed as “a chef’s novel” but it is not a … More

Our Lady of Everything, by Susan Finlay

I…am not sure what to say about Susan Finlay’s novel, Our Lady of Everything. On the one hand, it has … More

Is it possible to have a relationship with one’s parents that isn’t loaded with emotional baggage? Those of us who … More

Having a loved one diagnosed with stage three esophageal cancer means a lot of things, not least of which is … More

We don’t think a lot about feudalism or fealty much these days. We just don’t organize our societies that way … More

Every now and then, I’ll pick up a book and it feels like I’ve gone to the movies instead of … More

Trigger warnings for discussion of rape and suicide. When she was eight years old, Dina Nayeri’s mother began to be … More

Shaun Bythell continues to recount his adventures as the proprietor of the Bookshop, in Wigtown, Scotland, in Confessions of a … More

All fiction is lies. I’m comfortable with this. But when I read Amy Waldman’s brillian novel, A Door in the … More

Growing up as a Lutheran, my religious education was very no frills. No saints. No transubstantiation. No relics. No pilgrimages … More