Tag Archives: World War II

Janice Y.K. Lee, “The Piano Teacher”

Posted on January 22, 2010 by

Not the novel by Austrian Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek that was the basis for a movie starring Isabel Huppert. That one was about an Austrian pianist/teacher who embarks on a masochistic relationship with a student. This one, perhaps more conventional … Continue reading →

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Mollie Panter-Downes, “Good Evening, Mrs. Craven”

Posted on July 26, 2009 by

Another nifty revival from those folks at Persephone Books in London. Mollie Panter-Downes wrote the “Letter from London” in the New Yorker for 45 years. In addition, she wrote short stories, 21 of which are collected here. They all date … Continue reading →

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David Benioff, “City of Thieves”

Posted on June 30, 2009 by

David Benioff frames City of Thieves as his grandfather’s story of survival during the Siege of Leningrad, and it may be that. But he also tips us off very early that his book is also about story-telling. The narrator is … Continue reading →

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Marina Lewycka, “A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian”

Posted on March 31, 2009 by

I am not a huge fan of the “triumph-of-the-human-spirit” genre.  I am a pretty soft touch and I deeply resent being manipulated, but from time to time, I’m caught unawares and charmed. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian did … Continue reading →

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Alan Furst, “The Spies of Warsaw”

Posted on January 30, 2009 by

So maybe it’s not a formula. Maybe it’s a recipe, which implies, to me at least (cook rather than chemist), more latitude. Ingredients include likable melancholy hero, redoubtable Nazi villain(s), a modest dose of spycraft, several discreet but circumstantial sex … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, thriller | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Peter Ho Davies, “The Welsh Girl”

Posted on December 7, 2008 by

What does Rudolf Hess have to do with Wales?  Turns out he was interned in that wild country during World War II after having escaped from Germany.  The Welsh Girl opens with an anglo-German soldier attempting to discern whether or … Continue reading →

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