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Jo Hamya’s The Hypocrite, Yoko Ogawa’s Mina’s Matchbox, and Richard J. Evans’ Hitler’s People all feature among the best reviewed books of the week.
Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews.
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Fiction
1. The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya
(Pantheon)
6 Rave • 6 Positive
“Glides among time frames and points of view … Formal complexity is what elevates The Hypocrite from a straightforward novel of prosecution and rebuttal … Is instead invested in the phenomenon of subjectivity, portraying a world of mutual self-involvement in which people are not only driven but tragically blinded by their individual truths. As such, The Hypocriteelevates style above argument, and its pleasures are in the swift, agile way that Ms. Hamya flits between the characters’ thoughts and the past and present.”
–Sam Sacks (The Wall Street Journal)
2. Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa, trans. by Stephen B. Snyder
(Pantheon)
7 Rave
“Not only a compelling tale, but it is also beautifully written and constructed. The prose is clear, graceful, and engaging. Ogawa deftly weaves various motifs and themes throughout the novel.”
–Ariel Balter (The New York Journal of Books)
3. The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey
(Europa Editions)
4 Rave • 1 Positive • 1 Mixed
“Imaginative and well-executed … Despite this feelgood premise, Chidgey’s fable has tragedy at its core. Disappointment, anxiety and trauma colour most relationships in the novel, human and non-human … Chidgey elegantly weaves together social commentary, magic realism, folklore and myth, and her treatment of serious themes is deft. The language is poetic without feeling overwrought. The Axeman’s Carnival is a deeply engaging novel with an original and remarkably charming star.”
–Chris Cusack (The Irish Times)
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Nonfiction
1. A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson by Camille Peri
(Viking)
4 Rave • 2 Positive
Read an excerpt from A Wilder Shore here
“Engrossing … Her richly researched and vivid double portrait makes a convincing case that Fanny pulled off a rare feat, enabling Louis’s genius to mature while releasing his boyish energies … Peri does not often venture into extended discussion of Louis’s literary work, but when she does, it can be fascinating … I am grateful to Peri for telling the story of their marriage, in all its complexity, with sympathy and spirit.”
–Phyllis Rose (The Atlantic)
2. Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich by Richard J. Evans
(Penguin Press)
4 Rave • 1 Positive
“His previous books, which include a masterful trilogy on the rise, rule, and destruction of the Nazi movement, are models of historical writing … Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich is similar in its polish and power. But the motivation and purpose of this latest work, a sweeping examination of Adolf Hitler and his subalterns and subjects, is more utilitarian … He thus positions his hefty new work as a tool as much as a story and an analysis.”
–David M. Shribman (The Boston Globe)
3. In France Profound: The Long History of a House, a Mountain Town, and a People by T. D. Allman
(Atlantic Monthly Press)
2 Rave • 2 Positive
“His perspectives are grand, the history deep, the narrative conversational and enthusiastic … This rich but tangled origin story comes alive through Allman’s personal exploration of Lauzerte and its environs.”
–Dominic Green (The Wall Street Journal)
