Flesh by David Szalay—If I were going to describe this 2025 Booker prizewinning novel, I would start with “spare”. The writing is spare and the dialogue is spare. We follow Istvan, a Hungarian boy of few words, who was seduced by an older woman when he was 15 years old. and becomes obsessed with her. I won’t give that part away, but the novel continues. We follow his life as he grows, joins the army, moves to London, and on and on. The novel moves quickly from year to year. I cannot say I enjoyed it, but I looked forward to finding out what happens to him next. It is up to the reader to figure out what this antihero feels, or indeed if he feels. If any of you read it, I would love to hear your opinion.
A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda—Immigration is the watchword for this very readable novel. The Shah family emigrate from India to southern California to achieve the American dream, and after working hard have moved to a wealthy neighborhood. When their tall 12-year-old son, Ajay, decides to try out his handmade drone in the local airport, he is apprehended by the police because it is illegal to fly near a restricted zone. He is beaten up and booked as an adult. That is the premise. But there is much more. We learn about their family, including their two daughters, each with their own agenda and what propels them. Mayah is an upwardly mobile sixteen-year-old who will do almost anything to belong. Her older sister is quite different, rebelling at every turn and identifying with other immigrants and progressive causes. When the Shah family have to come together for Ajay, that is when they learn to become a family. I recommend this very intuitive novel for an interesting book discussion.
Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg—Flo Greene is dying and it will only be a matter of weeks. She’s not surprised. She is in her 90’s after all. But she has a letter to write, property to disperse and matters to settle. Somehow in this barely 200-page novel, Flo figures out some things. And so do we.
If you’ve never read anything by Elizabeth Berg, you really should. Although it’s not really my genre, everything I’ve read by her I enjoy. She is just on the edge of “a little too sweet” for my taste but never crosses it. Indulge. We can all use “a little too sweet” right now.
The View from Lake Como by Adriana Trigiana—Trigiana, another author that I have looked back with fondness, especially her earlier book series Big Stone Gap is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Somehow it included a bookmobile and that’s what first attracted me.
In this new book her characters live in Lake Como, New Jersey in a large loving Italian American family where Jess, our heroine is trying to live her own life while not being smothered by her family, or her husband. She makes some big life decisions and leaves her husband and while living in her parents’ basement, makes plans with her uncle to visit Italy, the center of their lives. But life doesn’t always follow plans, and she must make these arrangements by herself. And she does.
But it is not all about Jess. We meet her family, all of whom have something to say about her life, especially, her mother, who when she is annoyed tends to put people on an “island”. Staying off the island sometimes is a full-time job. But somehow Jess survives as does her family.
Apostle’s Cove by William Kent Krueger—Cork O’Connor, former sheriff of Tamarack County, Minnesota, has a 25-year murder case which he has never been comfortable with, sending Axel Boshey to prison. But when Cork’s son, Stephen, a lawyer working for a nonprofit dedicated to freeing unjustly imprisoned inmates tells him that Boshey is innocent and Cork is compelled to open the case. But Boshey has found a life in prison and has no interest in opening up this case to a life he has no interest in remembering, and there are many that agree with Axel. But if you’ve read any of the other 20 books in the O’Connor series, you know that Cork never turns his back on a case, new or old. Part Irish, part Anishinaabe Indian, Cork is caught between two cultures, and the series reflects that. Part crime series, and a big dive into Indian tribal life, this novel has something for everyone.
I hope you enjoy these very different books and soon you can put away that coat. This is my backyard this morning.
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