The Lights of PragueNicole JarvisPenguin Random House, 2021 Review by Nikki H. The Lights of Prague is a standalone historical fantasy written by Nicole Jarvis. This debut novel tells the story of Domek, a monster hunter known as a...
The Pine IslandsMarion PoschmannTranslation by Jen CallejaCoach House Books, 2020 Review by Kris Rothstein It is with a nod to Kafka that something absurd and unforeseen happens to Gilbert Silvester in the opening scene of The Pine Islands: a...
The Hour of the StarClarice LispectorNew Directions Publishing, 2020 Review by Rachel Gerry Brazilian journalist José Castello tells a bizarre anecdote about a run-in with Clarice Lispector on the streets of Rio, shortly before her death: Clarice is standing...
Stoop CityKristyn DunnionBiblioasis, 2020 Review by Chantelle Cho “It’s like last winter when she took that girl Lena on a road trip and left me to finish my thesis in the sub-zero gloom.” This is how the first story...
Eat A PeachDavid ChangClarkson Potter/Publishers 2020 Review by Caileigh Broatch David Chang wears a lot of hats, the first of which is a chef’s hat. He is, after all, the founder of the Momofuku Restaurant Group (with a new...
SevenFarzana DoctorDundurn Toronto, 2020 Review by Kiran Bhat The number seven is a number of great meaning in many religions, particularly the Abrahamic ones. The day of rest after creation was the seventh; the number of heavens, or afterworlds,...
Death in her HandsOttessa MoshfeghPenguin Press, 2020 Review by Alexandra Trnka Ottessa Moshfegh’s fictions are an exercise in relating to obscenity. Her oeuvre is united by her intentionally unlikeable characters, leading to the popular classification of her work as...
Throw Down Your ShadowsDeborah HemmingNimbus Publishing, 2020 Aubrey McKeeAlex PusgleyBiblioasis, 2020 Review by Marcie McCauley The marketing copy for Deborah Hemming’s Throw Down Your Shadows compares it to Emma Cline’s The Girls and Stephanie Danler’s Sweetbitter, whereas Alex Pugsley’s...
Grand Union: StoriesZadie SmithHamish Hamilton, 2019 Review by B. H. Lake Zadie Smith, the author of such masterworks of contemporary literature as White Teeth, Feel Free, and Swing Time, published a new collection of short stories in the fall...