Category Archives: literary fiction

Elisabeth De Waal, “The Exiles Return”

Posted on January 7, 2014 by carolwallace

Edmund De Waal’s 2010 family memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes is one of my all-time favorite books, and it’s been a huge publishing success. De Waal is primarily a ceramicist (whose work is really lovely), but The Hare is … Continue reading →

Posted in literary fiction | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Rose Macaulay, “The Towers of Trebizond”

Posted on November 7, 2013 by carolwallace

Some books are just really insistent. I’ve owned three copies of The Towers of Trebizond. The first was my mother’s; she was much given to quoting the famous opening line: “Take my camel, dear,” said my aunt Dot, as she … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, classic, funny, literary fiction | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Colum McCann, “TransAtlantic”

Posted on July 3, 2013 by carolwallace

Once again I’m struck by how I’m reading as well as what I’m reading. Game of Thrones fans won’t be surprised to know that I’m well into the second book of that series — but I interrupted the Westeros action with … Continue reading →

Posted in contemporary fiction, literary fiction | Leave a comment

Penelope Lively, “Moon Tiger”

Posted on December 2, 2012 by carolwallace

Yes. Yes, I agree with all of you who have recommended Moon Tiger. Wonderful as Penelope Lively always is, this is probably her best book to date. (It won the Booker Prize in 1987.) I actually considered going right back … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, literary fiction | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Jane Gardam, “Crusoe’s Daughter”

Posted on November 15, 2012 by carolwallace

There are a lot of books on the market that are more or less interchangeable,  and I read ’em and like ’em. But then there’s Jane Gardam, whose work sounds so conventional. Crusoe’s Daughter, for instance, is about a woman … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, contemporary fiction, literary fiction | Tagged , | 10 Comments

John Galsworthy, “The Man of Property”

Posted on August 30, 2012 by carolwallace

I spent almost as much time with The Man of Property as I did with Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants, which is three times as long, and the reading experience was strangely inverse in nature. Follett’s book spans over 20 years … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, classic, literary fiction | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Edith Wharton, “Old New York”

Posted on January 20, 2012 by carolwallace

When I was talking to Pat Ryan of the New York Times about this wonderful piece in that newspaper (commemorating Mrs. Wharton’s 150th birthday on January 24), I remembered Wharton’s marvelous series of novellas called Old New York, and realized I … Continue reading →

Posted in classic, literary fiction, Victoriana | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Elizabeth Bowen, “The Last September”

Posted on November 26, 2011 by carolwallace

With books as with people, sometimes it’s hard to assess incompatibility: is it me, or is it him? I had respectful (if not exactly fond) memories of Elizabeth Bowen’s The Last September. I know her work is highly prized in … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, classic, literary fiction | Tagged | 1 Comment

Carol Wallace, “Leaving Van Gogh”

Posted on January 12, 2011 by carolwallace

No, I’m not actually going to review my own book! But I’ve made a page for it — see the tab above, far right. It doesn’t come out until April but we are starting to build an online profile for … Continue reading →

Posted in art history, contemporary fiction, literary fiction | Tagged | 12 Comments

Joseph Roth, “The Radetzky March”

Posted on January 11, 2011 by carolwallace

In a scene about three-quarters of the way through The Radetzky March , Joseph Roth shows us the old Emperor Franz Joseph reviewing troops in an eastern portion of the empire. The Emperor loves his troops, loves the noise, the pageantry, … Continue reading →

Posted in German, literary fiction | Tagged , | 2 Comments