The Gilberts and Thornwalk are fictional, but the equivalents in our own homes and families and lives aren’t. These bits and bobbles, these trinkets and signs of wear that mean nothing to anyone else and might not even mean a thing to ourselves but nevertheless bear aching witness to, well, life.
Tag Archives: Lovely prose
‘Magician’ A Pleasant, Low-Stakes Romp
Magician isn’t exactly a “cozy” fantasy, per se, but it didn’t seek to keep me on the edge of my seat in a way that was really nice, given the current geopolitical climate.
‘Fever’ a Layered Gothic Novel
The growing closeness between Soraya and Mrs. Hattingh seems at first harmless, though this wouldn’t be a very good gothic novel if it stayed that way.
‘Before I Forget’ A Pleasantly Gentle Story of Forgetting
Before I Forget is a sweet, swift read that focuses on the emotions surrounding memory and self, though it shies away from some of the gnarlier aspects of end-of-life caregiving.
‘Bug Hollow’ Gives Its Characters Nuance
It’s easy to draw heroes and villains from the members of this family, but nuance is more interesting than caricatures, and Huneven gives each character plenty of shades of gray with little narrative judgement.
‘Ghost Fish’ a Slim Novel with a Punch
Opening up this slim novel gives the feeling of unknowingly sinking into cool, deep water; closing brings you back to the surface, gasping for air.
‘Alchemy’ Is As Sweet As Its Flowers
Resau’s descriptions are lush, making the scent of jasmine or lavender, the feel of a refreshing stream, or the taste of a character’s cooking almost come off the page (or the phone screen).
Moreno-Garcia’s Latest a ‘Bewitching’ Tale
The Bewitching expertly weaves the supernatural and the pedestrian together across generations into something rich and haunting in all the best ways.
‘Fortune’ Pits Truth Against Reputation in Murder Mystery
Rather than being simply a vehicle for plot, Chern’s writing sings with artful composition and delightful turns of phrase that not only make reading easy but pleasant, too.
‘Bat Eater’ Brings New Fears to Pandemic Lockdown
Bat Eater is a marvelous friendship bracelet of plot threads that sometimes take turns and sometimes work in tandem but are always engrossing, and all feel like facets of a terrifying and claustrophobic world.