Literary fiction

Review of Vigil by George Saunders

I love a book that explores issues around mortality. Vigil , by the author of the strange, wonderful novel Lincoln in the Bardo , introduces fascinating elements such as fate, responsibility, and forgiveness, yet Saunders doesn't dig into them, which left me feeling unsatisfied with this slim book. Vigil has been one of my most-anticipated reads of 2026. In Lincoln in the Bardo , Saunders explored the worlds of characters existing in limbo between life and death. His novel V

Feb 10

Review of Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

Charlotte Wood's literary fiction is quiet and meditative but packs a punch. Stone Yard Devotional concerns a woman who leaves her Sydney life behind to live among nuns as an unbeliever committed to the community. The past crops up in significant ways, and external judgment seems to be cast upon them all. The main protagonist (who is not named) in Charlotte Wood's literary fiction Stone Yard Devotional is a middle-aged woman who leaves Sydney for some respite in her rural Au

Jan 27

Review of Playground by Richard Powers

Powers's novel is an exploration of the wonders of the ocean and also of the capacity of the human mind and imagination. The marching toward destruction of both of these makes for a nerve-racking, heartbreaking story. Playground 's final section held surprises I did not anticipate, and their exposure colors the entirety of the story that precedes them. We make things that we hope will be bigger than us, and then we’re desolate when that’s what they become. Four people are con

Jan 22

Review of This Is Happiness by Niall Williams

This is gorgeous Niall Williams literary fiction, centering around an Irish country village, a young man searching for his path, and his unofficial mentor, zigzagging his way through life, embracing adventure, and bridging the gap between the old ways and modernity. Quiet connections and reflections make the story, with understated poignancy, humor, and heartbreaking moments that bring the book's world to life. We’re all, all the time, striving, and though that means there’s

Jan 20

Review of Endling by Maria Reva

Set in 2022 Ukraine as war begins to break out, this oddball, zigzagging story explores broad themes of interconnectedness as well as revenge fantasies made real and renegade ecology preservation. With dark humor and sobering truths, Reva presents it all through the lens of the scruffy Ukrainian marriage industry. It's 2022, and roving, passionate scientist Yeva is only dating in the Ukrainian marriage industry to earn money to rescue and preserve her precious snails. After a

Jan 7

Review of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Saunders's strange, fascinating novel involves griping, sniping characters in limbo between life and death near the start of the Civil War, often in denial about their circumstances, with Abraham Lincoln's young son Willie at the center of a struggle for control of his soul. “Only then (nearly out the door, so to speak) did I realize how unspeakably beautiful all of this was, how precisely engineered for our pleasure, and saw that I was on the brink of squandering a wondrous

Nov 20, 2025

Review of The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Desai's first novel in decades is a 688-page tale that meanders through India, New York, family and romantic relationships, and career false starts, with missteps, mysterious, powerful magical realism elements, and an undercurrent of darkness and despair. The messy resolutions felt appropriately hard-fought after the characters' extended struggles. Sonia is living away from her Indian family while she studies writing in Vermont, and after growing up used to having multiple fa

Nov 13, 2025

Review of A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

I can't stop thinking about this fascinating near-future climate-change story of desperation, loyalty, and determination in Kolkata, India, and how a tiny bit of empathy might have unraveled the increasingly devastating whirlwind of conflict between the two main protagonists, who are each both hero and villain. It was her duty, as a guardian, to put into action the beautiful ideal of hope. Ma thought harshly: This was what it looked like. Hope for the future was no shy bloom

Nov 12, 2025