Despite its self-fascination, a novel of undoubtable prowess.
A struggling Senegalese novelist falls deeper and deeper into a shadowy maze of literature and history.
At the heart of this tale of literary identity is the mysterious (and fictional) Senegalese author T.C. Elimane and his 1938 novel, The Labyrinth of Inhumanity, a book that narrator and struggling 21st-century novelist Diégane Latyr Faye believes to be so brilliant, so profound that, upon reading it, “violent, pure life would come coursing back through your veins.” In the midst of trying to write his own masterpiece, Faye, also Senegalese and Paris-based, encourages his clique of writers to help him raise the banner for Labyrinth as a lost, liberating work of African literature. Upon researching the novel’s murky history, Faye discovers that it had incited polarizing debate in francophone Africa’s literary coteries. From what he can tell, the work pierced Parisian society like a bullet, made a harrowing mark, then disappeared along with its author. Faye decides he must find out what happened to Elimane while searching for the truth of his own murky identity. In time, he questions whether literature for him is a sort of windowpane, or even a shield, behind which he shelters in avoidance of life’s “battering ram to the gut.” Sarr investigates with keen psychological detail Faye’s and Elimane’s "foreign”-ness, their oft-patronized “exoticism,” their battles with the realities of homeland and the non-being of expatriate life in France. Faye’s and his peers’ tipsiness before the lure of lasting fame, or at least Instagram notoriety, the constant hum of gossip by which they are encircled, the bitter critical dismissals—all the elements of the writer’s consciousness are set out painstakingly. In the end, to whom who can Faye be faithful? How will he define himself, particularly on those nights when the sky, like Elimane’s chef-d’oeuvre, is “a labyrinth too, and it's no less inhuman than the labyrinth of the earth”? Translated by Vergnaud, Sarr’s novel, though self-conscious and on occasion self-indulgent, nevertheless justifies itself as the winner of the 2021 Prix Goncourt, one of France's most prestigious literary prizes.
Despite its self-fascination, a novel of undoubtable prowess.Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781635423273
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Other Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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