Book Review: ‘Old Enough,’ by Haley Jakobson
In Haley Jakobson’s compassionate debut novel, “Old Enough,” a college sophomore must navigate her first steps into young adulthood while unpacking the trauma of past abuse.
Book Review: ‘The Quiet Tenant,’ by Clémence Michallon
“The Quiet Tenant” offers multiple perspectives on a monster who keeps his victim and his young daughter under the same roof.
Book Review: ‘The Translations of Seamus Heaney,’ edited by Marco Sonzogni
As seen in a new collection, “The Translations of Seamus Heaney,” the Nobel laureate was a prolific and skilled interpreter of other poets’ work.
The Covenant of Water
UnCovered Review by Collette Jones, ACLS Egg Harbor City Branch
In 1900, a 12-year-old
girl in Travancore, South India, is married off to a 40-year-old widower. She
is scared and uncertain, but she knows that she must obey her parents. She sets
sail on a boat, leaving her childhood home behind. The girl, who will come to
be known as Big Ammachi, grows to love her husband, and they build a life
together on their estate, Parambil. Over the next 77 years, Big Ammachi
witnesses the birth and death of many family members, as well as the political
upheaval of India’s independence. She also sees the effects of a family curse
that seems to be connected to water: they are haunted, devastated in every
generation someone drowns. This book looks into mortality, death and making
good decisions. The author reminds us that the beautiful thing about living is
the life lived because we and everything else will eventually die. A rose isn’t
beautiful because it is a rose it is beautiful because it blooms before it
dies.
Dr. Digby Kilgour, a
lonely Scottish doctor, flees to India in search of a new life. He soon finds
himself caught up in a web of love, betrayal, and scandal. As he struggles to
come to terms with his own past, Digby also witnesses the challenges of living
in a colonized and segregated society. Through it all, Big Ammachi and Dr.
Kilgour are united by their shared humanity. They are both vulnerable and
flawed, but they are also capable of great love and compassion. In the end,
they find that they are not alone in their struggles. They are all connected by
the covenant of water, a bond that transcends time, place, and even death
through tears, rivers, and streams they are surrounded.
THE COVENANT OF WATER is a sweeping epic that explores the themes of family, community, and belonging. It is a story of love, loss, and redemption, and it is a reminder that we are all connected, no matter how different we may seem. Through it all, Big Ammachi remains a constant presence. She is a strong and resilient woman who witnesses the best and worst of humanity. She is a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope. Indian culture, the caste system, British colonialism, illness, poverty intersect in this novel. A lot is going on that needs more attention and explanation. Author Abraham Verghese is a physician. His best writing is when he describes medical conditions, anatomy, surgical procedures, and medical interventions. I would prefer to read a book about the caste system or a book about medical interventions but not in the same novel. The unsuccessful part is that the reader can feel trapped going through over 700 pages. The topics are lively and humorous, but I am left wanting more.
Reframing the West: New Fiction Makes Room for Voices Long Denied
A wave of novels is drawing from wellsprings of race, class and gender to expand the genre.
A Walk Through the History of New York City
Ahead of next year’s 400th anniversary of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, the historian and author of “The Island at the Center of the World” offers a walking tour of often-overlooked Native American and Black sites.
In NYC, an Immersive ‘Great Gatsby’ Takes You Back in Time
The theatrical performance of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, opening this month at the Park Central Hotel, is the latest in a very long, heavily sequined line of “Gatsby” adaptations.
Book Review: ‘Beyond the Shores,’ by Tamara J. Walker.
In “Beyond the Shores,” the historian Tamara J. Walker explores the lives of African Americans drawn to other countries by pleasure, employment and war.
Saskia Hamilton, Poet Who Edited Another Poet’s Letters, Dies at 56
In addition to her prizewinning writing, she was known for editing the correspondence between the poet Robert Lowell and the writer Elizabeth Hardwick.
Book Review: ‘The Sullivanians,’ by Alexander Stille
In “The Sullivanians,” Alexander Stille recalls the heyday of an experiment in communal living that blurred the boundaries between therapists, patients and lovers.
'The Dos and Donuts of Love' is a delectably delightful, reality TV tale
Bangladeshi-Irish author Adiba Jaigirdar's latest YA romance promises a spoonful of drama and a dash of deception, leading to a well-baked resolution.
(Image credit: Feiwel & Friends )
Book Review: ‘Fat Time and Other Stories,’ by Jeffery Renard Allen
In his new story collection, “Fat Time and Other Stories,” Jeffery Renard Allen distorts reality to explore the lives of Black people.
Book Review: ‘By All Means Available,’ by Michael G. Vickers
In “By All Means Available,” the veteran strategist Michael G. Vickers tallies achievements and missteps across the Cold War and the war on terror.
Jezebels, Jazz and Rijsttafel
An editor recommends old and new books.
Lorrie Moore’s Intimate Secrets
In a literary culture obsessed with confessionals, her brilliant short stories — and, now, a new novel — have always been about art, not autobiography.
Loorie Moore’s Intimate Secrets
In a literary culture obsessed with confessionals, her brilliant short stories — and, now, a new novel — have always been about art, not autobiography.
Book Review: ‘The Devil’s Playground,’ by Craig Russell
The Golden Age of Hollywood — its patina darkened by evil — comes alive in Craig Russell’s new novel, “The Devil’s Playground.”
Book Review: ‘Through the Groves,’ by Anne Hull
Before Disney arrived, Central Florida was the hub of the citrus industry. Anne Hull takes us there in her memoir, “Through the Groves.”
Richard Severo, Times Reporter in Internal Clash Over Book, Dies at 90
He challenged a company’s prerogative to transfer an employee and a news organization’s ability to assert publishing rights when a reporter’s articles are used for a book.
What It’s Like to Write an MLK Jr. Biography
Jonathan Eig discusses his new book about the life and times of Martin Luther King.
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