The Latecomer

 By Jean Hanff Korelitz

Celadon Books     2022

448 pages     Literary

What a fascinating book! I read The Plot about a year ago and watched the HBO series The Undoing, which is based on Korelitz’s novel, You Should Have Known. This is an author with great skill and talent. Among her many gifts is character development, which is on full display in her newest novel, The Latecomer.

I really like the summary provided in the Kirkus review, which begins “A fatal car crash sets the stage for a fraught marriage and family life.” In its essence, The Latecomer is the story of the relationship between triplets, who began their life as IVF embryos. It follows their lives as well as the lives of their mother Johanna and their father, Sal Oppenheimer, until the triplets are young adults. The third section of the book tells the story of their sister, Phoebe (the fourth IVF embryo) and how the conflict between the triplets becomes resolved. It’s a complicated story, and Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally play huge roles, both with each other and through the eyes of their much younger sister, Phoebe.

There is a lot of family drama, but there is also some illuminating knowledge. For instance I knew nothing about Outsider Art, of which Salo Oppenheimer became an expert collector. Outsider Art is art made by self-taught or naïve artists who had little or no connections with the conventional art world. The work of several outsider artists are mentioned as being part of Salo’s collection. I had to look it all up. Fascinating information.

The triplets are completely alienated from each other. It isn’t until Phoebe enters their lives when they are young adults that they begin to try to understand and relate to each other. I felt that Korelitz did an outstanding job of creating these characters and the dilemmas of their birth and upbringing. She described so well why they had so little relationship with each other, and why their family was so disheveled. However, she also tied it all together well, without any “goodie two-shoes” ending. As the Kirkus reviewer says, “The resolution, complete with a wedding, persuasively and touchingly affirms that even the most damaged people can grow and change.”

I thought the portrayal of each of the Oppenheimer triplets and the chapters dedicated to each of them was spot on and enlightening. The New York Times reviewer speaks of the old-fashioned plot points such as a tragic accident and an extramarital affair, but also contemporary like the test-tube creation of the triplets, and the birth of their frozen-embryo sister. The reviewer says, that “it’s testament to Korelitz’s achievement that her novel leaves us wanting more…The Latecomer is consistently surprising…It is a Gilded Age novel for the 21^st century.”

All in all, I loved The Latecomer. I think you will too. I just read that it will be a television series, just as You Should Have Known became The Undoing. The Plot is also being developed as a Hulu series. 

Murder at Minnesota Point

 By Jeffrey Sauve

North Star Editions     2022

208 pages     True Crime

Minnesota Point is one of the showcase spots in Duluth Minnesota, my home town. Sticking out in the harbor between Duluth and Superior Wisconsin, it is the best picnic and swimming spot on the few days that the weather is warm enough for such adventures. The Park Point neighborhood is connected to the main part of the city of Duluth by the famous Aerial Life Bridge (the only still-working bridge like it in the world.) When the murder on Minnesota Point occurred, however, people got to Park Point (its common name) by several different ferry systems.

Archivist Jeffrey Sauve became intrigued with the story of the murder of Lena Olson on the Minnesota Point beach, which happened in the summer of 1894, and decided to explore the story further. The murder was called the “crime of the century,” and it’s long, involved solution forms the basis of the book. Sauve’s research lasted ten years.

After she was found dead on the beach, the victim remained anonymous for a considerable time, and the coroner left her body for the community to see for several days before she was identified. When she finally was identified as Lena Olson, she was buried in a pauper’s grave. Slowly, the potential killer was identified, and two years later the crime was solved by skilled (for the day) detective work.

Sauve very carefully takes the case to its fitting, although unsatisfying, conclusion when the villain commits suicide in jail. He says in the introduction that “the following narrative is faithful to its unfolding, and quotations are verbatim as printed in various period newspapers. Discrepancies between sources are explained in chapter endnotes. She is remembered.”

I was very intrigued by the crime, of course, because I know the area so well from my childhood, when I was on that beach many times and had been on the beach just last summer with three grandchildren. However, I had never heard about the murder. I kept my phone close to my side as I was reading, so I could Google relevant information. For instance, I had never heard the term “O-at-ka” Beach, which was the name of the beach where the body was found. We just always called it Park Point.

The most exciting part of the narrative for me was the detailed exploration of detective work in the last years of the 19^th century. One would think that information would be extremely limited by distance and the ways in which information was shared. This particular case had detectives traveling from Duluth to Minneapolis to Chicago to Tacoma Washington. The detectives would hop on the train to travel to points all over the country, because the suspect was a very well-traveled scoundrel. Information was shared via telegraph, but of course, Sauve had modern day access to newspapers from all over the country and used these 21^st century technologies to follow the story. Those details were fascinating.

I will definitely explore the sites of the book when I return to Duluth this fall. True-crime aficionados and lovers of Minnesota history will celebrate Murder at Minnesota Point, which was published this week. Kudos to Jeffrey Sauve for his skilled detective work and page-turning writing.

Here is an excellent summary of the book.

A Sister's Story

 By Donatella Di Pietrantonio

Translated by Ann Goldstein

Europa Editions      2022

167 pages     Literary

It has been several days of beach living since I finished reading A Sister’s Story, but the emotional impact lingers. The narration is told in the first person by one sister ostensibly about the other sister, written years after the events being described. It is the story of memory but primarily the story of pain and sorrow with very little redemptive joy.

Here is the synopsis: "It’s the darkest time of night. Adriana, a baby in her arms, hammers on her sister's door. Who is she running from? What uncomfortable truth is she carrying with her? Like a whirlwind, Adriana upends her sister’s life bringing chaos and cataclysmic revelations.

Years later, the narrator gets an unexpected, urgent summons back to Pescara, her hometown. She embarks on a long journey through the night, and through the folds and twists of her memory, from her and her sister’s youth, their loves and losses, secrets and regrets. Back in Borgo Sud, the town’s fishermen’s quarter, in that impenetrable yet welcoming microcosm, she will discover what really happened, and attempt to make peace with the past.

Donatella Di Pietrantonio, expert chronicler of the bonds between mothers and daughters, revisits the places and characters of A Girl Returned with a moving novel focused on the ambivalent, ambiguous, wavering but steadfast relationship between sisters."

A quote early in the novel explains the sibling relationship: “ As children we were inseparable, then we had learned to lose each other. She could leave me without news of herself for months, but it had never been this long. She seemed to obey a nomadic instinct; when a place no longer suited her, she abandoned it. Every so often our mother said to her: ‘you’re a Gypsy.’ Later I was, too, in another way.” With few characters and minimal plot, the relationship is explained and exploited.

The novel was translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein, the translator of My Brilliant Friend and the other books in the series by Elena Ferrante. Although the style of writing is quite different, the themes bear some similarity. One reviewer said, “A Sister’s Story carries the same message of the greatest Italian literature of the 20^th century. . .a message at once tragic and hopeful—that while suffering may be an inevitable part of life, we can choose not to let it define us.”

One of DiPietrantonio’s unique gifts is the ability to sum up a situation with eloquent, meaningful narration. For example, at the mother’s funeral, the narrator muses: “We looked at each other; not even the bass drum of the band had ever produced the din that our mother drew down from the sky at her funeral.” I instantly understood the emotion.

Fortunately the novel is short. I would have been hard pressed to deal with all the negative situations and pressured emotions if it had been longer. I do believe that A Sister’s Story helps describe complex family relationships. Be prepared to be moved.

Acts of Atonement

 By S.W. Leicher

Twisted Road     2021

299 pages     Literary

A lesbian couple, who live in Prospect Park South in Brooklyn, have defied many odds to establish a life together. Paloma is a tremendously respected oncological nurse. Born the only daughter of Colombian immigrants, she is connected with her brother and his children, but primarily isolated from the rest of her family. Likewise, Serach, an accountant,  has been abandoned by her Orthodox Jewish family, and when her mother dies, she faces indescribable pain and suffering because of her life choices.

Even though they love each other deeply, Paloma and Serach struggle in the face of being outcasts in their families. Have they made the right choice to renounce their past and cling to each other rather than family? Each character has a narrative, and Leicher explores complex psychological, sexual and philosophical mazes as the story line deals with the dilemmas caused by the life the two women have chosen.

I especially was taken with the narrative that unfolded when Serach’s mother dies. She desperately wants to be part of the ceremony and burial, which is so much a part of Orthodox tradition. Even her brother, whom she adored growing up, has abandoned her, and the poignancy is intense as she stands at the edge of the cemetery attempting to discretely observe the burial.

I got thrown off as I began Acts of Atonement because of the long list of character names and how they were connected with Paloma and Serach before the book began.  I got worried that I might have to keep referring to the list as I delved into the book, but Leicher did a good job of introducing each character, and I hardly ever had to refer back. Additionally, at the end of the novel is a glossary of Spanish and Hebrew words, but again, I had little trouble navigating the terminology.

Additionally, this is the sequel to an earlier novel, Acts of Assumption. Apparently in the first novel, the couple meets and begins their life together. Leicher says that Acts of Atonement is “the ongoing story of the battle between roots and desires.” One reviewer interviewed Leicher, and you can find her story of the novel’s development here.

The novel is based in New York City, and it is obvious that the author is also a New Yorker. Additionally Leicher has a deep knowledge and understanding  of Orthodox Judaism, which I very much appreciated.

S.W. Leicher’s website. Many thanks to the publicist who sent me the book to read. Acts of Atonement will be published tomorrow, June 20, 2022.

The Last Chance Library

By Freya Sampson

Berkley     2021

329 pages     Fiction

The Last Chance Library is almost a polemic disguised as fiction. It tells the story of June, a young assistant librarian, who is faced with the closing of the community library where she has worked for the last ten years, taking her mother’s job following her mother’s death. Books and the library patrons have become her entire life, filling the void her mother’s death created. She knows books so well that she is able to help the patrons find exactly the right books at the right time.

And oh the patrons! So many of them spend their days with June and have come to be her best—albeit—only friends. There is Stanley, an elderly man who spends every day in the library; Jackson, a home-schooled 8-year-old that June helps learn to read; Mrs. B., who keeps reading books June recommends and decrying them as “trash”; and Chantel, a teenager who is needing a quiet place to do her schoolwork. June helps people log onto computers, and of course, helps patrons find books to read.

The Council, however, has decided that the small community of Chalcot doesn’t need a library, and the loyal patrons stage a coup in an attempt to try to save the library. Because of her job in the library and because of her reticent nature, June feels that she shouldn’t be part of the protests, but in the end, her desire to keep this community intact causes her to enter the protests and encourages nation-wide media coverage.

Although this is the basic plot, we are witnesses to June’s coming alive in the emergence of this cause, facing her own need to expand her life’s horizons. Of course, there is a bit of romance, some tragedy, some good fortune, and a whole lot of growth—for June and for the community.

What I mean by The Last Chance Library being a polemic is that the obvious goal of the author is to insist on the importance of public libraries for the good of the community. Those of us who grew  up in public libraries know this already, but it was very much fun to read about a community coming alive to save the library, which offers so much more than books.

Over the years, I have written frequently about the importance of the library, both for me personally and for the sake of the community. Here are a couple of entries from my blog—one about Andrew Carnegie and the libraries he created, and then another by Susan Orlean about the value of libraries with her narrative nonfiction, The Library Book.

Last summer I took two grandchildren weekly to a branch of the Kalamazoo Public Library, and what we witnessed was very much like June’s library—lots of books, lots of people, and tons of good feeling. The Kirkus review says that The Last Chance Library is “a delightful exploration of personal growth, inner strength and the importance of family, friends, and love.”

The Last Chance Library is Freya Sampson’s debut novel, although it appears she has a new book out, The Lost Ticket. Here is her website. 

May God Forgive

 By Alan Parks

Europa Editions     2022

371 pages     Noir

If you ever wanted to know what classic Noir is, this series of books by Alan Parks is the place to begin. May God Forgive is the fifth book in the series, which begins with Bloody January, published in 2017. Although this was the first of the series that I read, I didn’t have much trouble getting acquainted with Detective Harry McCoy. McCoy has returned to the Glasgow police force following a month off to recover from a bad ulcer attack. However, just as he returns, the city is racked by several unforgiveable crimes. Here is a brief synopsis of the book:

“Glasgow is a city in mourning. An arson attack on a hairdresser’s has left five dead. Tempers are frayed and sentiments running high. When three youths are charged, the city goes wild. A crowd gathers outside the courthouse, but as the police drive the young men to prison, the van is rammed by a truck, and the boys are grabbed and bundled into a car. The next day, the body of one of them is dumped in the city centre. A note has been sent to the newspaper: one down; two to go. Detective Harry McCoy has twenty-four hours to find the kidnapped boys before they all turn up dead, it is going to mean taking down some of Glasgow’s most powerful people to do it.”

May God Forgive takes place in Glasgow in the spring of 1974. The city is really gritty and crime filled, and McCoy knows the city and all its criminals really well, hence his need for Pepto Bismol night and day. We, the readers, try to keep up with his logic as he sets out to solve both the fire at the hairdresser’s and the young men’s murders. He has the additional crime of a young woman’s murder, and the knowledge that she appeared in a photograph with one of the young men. Oh, and I almost forgot, he has to solve the murder of a homeless man that he knows from his detective work. And this is to say nothing about the brief appearance of his estranged father, who haunts his memory night and day. There are many characters in the novel, some making very small appearances, and several others who seem to have long-term relationships with McCoy, who grew up in the city. A couple of times, I found myself at a bit of a loss to remember which character was which.

The city of Glasgow is very much a character in the novel, and I enjoyed reading about the city and its inhabitants, including the crooked Archbishop as well as all the shop and bar owners. Luckily, I had a British son-in-law visiting as I read the book, so if I ran across a word or a concept I didn’t understand, I could ask Stuart for an American definition. For instance, I was confused by the word “jumper” and Stuart said a jumper was a sweater. Aah!

Did I mention that it is raining nearly every day as McCoy checks in with all his sources, meeting many of them in neighborhood bars, drinking and smoking his way to a solution to the crime. It reminded me that if I ever get to Glasgow, I shouldn’t visit in May.

As my readers know, I am fascinated with noir and neo-noir. Here is an entry I made several years ago as I tried to describe what makes noir identifiable as a genre. May God Forgive is the epitome of the genre. The reviewer in the Times of London said, “McCoy is so noir he makes most other Scottish cops seem light gray.”

Alan Parks has had a career as a music producer, and readers can get a sense of his love of music with the background music that shows the atmosphere of 1970s music. Park’s Harry McCoy mysteries have been nominated twice for well-deserved Edgar Awards. Classic Noir indeed!

Denver Noir

 Cynthia Swanson, Editor

Akashic     2022

264 pages     Noir

Denver Noir is this spring’s offering from Akashic Books and their marvelous Noir series. There are over 100 books in this series, each one set in a major city in the world, each one featuring a local set of authors, and each one with a different take on the concept of noir. The Oprah Magazine says, “Each volume in the series reveals a city’s distinctive inner darkness.”

One of the fascinating aspects of Denver Noir is the diversity of the story authors and the diversity of the characters—as diverse as the city itself. The noir-ness (is that a word?) is also very diverse. There is a Native attorney and a female private investigator. There are crime-ridden streets and wealthy neighborhoods. There is beautiful scenery and scrubby apartments above taquerias. There is history and there is gentrification. My favorite story was “On Grasmere Lake” by Mathangi Subramanian, about a young woman college student and an unsolved murder.

The editor, Cynthia Swanson gives a remarkably good introduction, and says that working with these authors has been one of the highlights of her career. Although all of the story authors have all been published beyond Denver Noir, this book was my introduction to their talent.

 This is a great collection of stories, and Swanson has done an excellent job introducing Noir readers to the neighborhoods of Denver, a city I visited many years ago. It is a fun, diverse, and immersive read.