Fiction

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't." — Mark Twain

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  Grief Is Never Finished: A Conversation with María José Ferrada

  The award-winning children’s author discusses her first adult novel about the legacy of the disappeared in Chile.

  David MartinezJun 8, 2021

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  The Knotty Problem of Race in Three New German Novels

  Debut novels by Sharon Dodua Otoo, Mithu Sanyal, and Hengameh Yaghoobifarah explore the problematic terrain of race in German literary culture.

  Marcel InhoffJun 6, 2021

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  How to Be a Medieval Woman: On Mary Sharratt’s “Revelations”

  Mary Sharratt’s historical novel about Margery Kempe is engaging but marred by anachronism.

  Lucia TangJun 5, 2021

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  Prisoners of the Page: On Myron Brinig’s “The Flutter of an Eyelid”

  Woody Haut wanders into the apocalyptic world of “The Flutter of an Eyelid,” a satirical novel by Myron Brinig from 1933, republished last year.

  Woody HautJun 5, 2021

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  The So-Called Greatest Country in the World

  A hilarious satire about a mail-order-bride service, a stolen Egon Schiele painting, and an epic collision between the worlds of Santa Barbara and Moldova.

  Kate TsurkanJun 3, 2021

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  The Ongoing Nakba and the Grammar of History

  Shir Alon considers what Adania Shibli's "Minor Detail" and the work of Saidiya Hartman share.

  Shir AlonJun 3, 2021

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  Before “Migrant Mother”

  A novel of Dorothea Lange’s formative years in San Francisco, before she went on the road.

  Elaine ElinsonJun 2, 2021

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• Gardens in a War Zone: A Conversation with Gian Sardar

  Gian Sardar discusses her new novel about Kurdish American immigrants, “Take What You Can Carry.”

  Yoojin Grace WuertzMay 31, 2021

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  The Wealth of an Intimate History: On Wendell Berry’s “Stand By Me”

  Wendell Berry’s lifelong ruminations on the theme of human community culminate in his story collection, “Stand By Me.”

  John-Paul HeilMay 30, 2021

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  Homemaking: On Olivia Sudjic’s “Asylum Road”

  Ariel Saramandi reviews “Asylum Road” by Olivia Sudjic.

  Ariel SaramandiMay 29, 2021

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  Secondhand Desire: On Sanjena Sathian’s “Gold Diggers”

  Sanjena Sathian’s new novel is a sharp satire of second-generation Indian American strivers.

  Anita FelicelliMay 28, 2021

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  Building Lives on Sand: On Natalia Ginzburg’s “Family” and “Borghesia”

  Lynne Sharon Schwartz reflects on meeting Natalia Ginzburg, maintaining a life-long relationship to her work, and reading “Family” and “Borghesia” in translation.

  Lynne Sharon SchwartzMay 27, 2021

  • Fiction