Summer Reading: Part Two | A Small Book Blog

The People of Others by Leïla Slimani, Translated from French by Sam Taylor, is the first book in a planned trilogy of historical fiction. In a very different setting and genre from Sliman’s thriller Lullaby, ‘The Country of Others’ premieres after World War II, when a French Alsatian Mathilde falls in love with Aminez, a Moroccan soldier fighting for the French, and leaves. When she married Morocco in 1946. Mathild raises their daughter, Aïcha, and son, Selim, while Amine works on the farm, but she becomes increasingly disillusioned with her options. Inspired by the life of Slimani’s grandmother, who also left Alsace after marrying a Moroccan soldier, ‘The Land of Others’ is a very personal project for Slimani. It suffers from a slight lack of narrative thrust, often read as a series of vignettes, but perhaps a larger picture will appear as the trilogy progresses. I look forward to reading the next episode set in the 1960s.

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s seven husbands Evelyn Hugo It tells the story of an iconic Hollywood actress, the daughter of a Cuban immigrant living in Hell’s Kitchen, who becomes a rising star in the 1950s with a tumultuous love life. In addition to her many husbands, Hugo Celia St. The secret relationship with actor James is at the heart of the novel. Living outside the public in the late seventies and out of the 1980s, Hugo decides it’s time to publish his memoirs and contacts an unknown young journalist named Monique Grant to be his ghost writer. I really liked Reid’s 2019 novel Daisy Jones & The Six and his 2017 novel ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ is a fascinating escape from the price of fame and celebrity culture, which is said to be partly inspired by the lives of cinema. Stars like Elizabeth Taylor. Reid is very good at developing complex characters, and Evelyn Hugo’s ambition and charisma along with her weakness are presented in a realistic and emotionally true way.

Lottie Moggach in Brixton Hill It tells the story of Rob, who is nearing the end of his seven-year term in an open prison in Brixton, and who is working on a day’s release at a nearby charity shop. A chance encounter with a woman named Steph changes everything for Rob and he hopes to see her even if it violates the terms of his license terms. While it soon becomes clear that not all of Stephen’s motives seem to be the same as before, the story unfolds in a very gratifying way with many twists and turns and one of the best endings I’ve come across in a long time. Moggach’s ex-partner is Chris Atkins and his memoir is A Bit of a Stretch that he was serving a five-year prison sentence in the UK for tax fraud offenses, and his knowledge of the justice system ensures he fully feels the portrait of his inner life. real. Rob’s emotions are especially believable as he tries to stay straight and tight before his immediate release. I had mixed feelings for Moggach’s Kiss Me First in 2015, but his latest novel is an engaging and brilliant work.

This is the story of Ann Patchett’s Happy Wedding is a collection of non-fiction works by the author, first published in 2013. ‘The Getaway Car’ is a practical and inspiring story that explains how he practiced his profession as a writer. The chapter in the title is about her finally marrying her husband, after a brief unhappy first marriage in the early twenties. The long pieces in this collection are the most appealing to read in general, and usually the most amazing as well. In ‘The Wall’, Patchett is tried at the Los Angeles Police Academy as a result of the riots of Rodney King in Los Angeles as part of an investigation into a police book. I’m excited to read ‘Truth and Beauty’, Patchett’s 2004 book on his friendship with former writer Lucy Grealy, which became the subject of a censorship campaign in South Carolina, as described in The Right to Read. Overall, the collection of essays I had hoped for, ‘This is the story of a happy marriage’, is more eclectic and better.