Author: Hanna
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“Open Throat” by Henry Hoke
“Open Throat” by Henry Hoke is a slim but perhaps the most beautiful novel I read this year. It’s told from the perspective of a mountain lion who lives in the desert hills below the Hollywood sign. The mountain lion is queer: his lover, “the kill sharer,” was another male mountain lion. The hunt becomes…
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“How to Be” by Adam Nicolson
The question “how to be” is perhaps the most essential question humans have been trying to answer since our conscious existence on Earth began. Adam Nicolson’s book with the same title takes us into the world of ancient Greeks and shines a new light on the famous philosophers, thinkers, and ordinary citizens of those distant…
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“Such Good Friends” by Stephen Greco
In one of his interviews, Truman Capote said, “I like cities, and New York is the only real city-city.” Fittingly, the setting of “Such Good Friends,” the story of friendship between him and Lee Radziwill, a wealthy socialite and Jackie Kennedy’s sister, is mostly New York. Lee and Truman traveled to Europe and even…
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“Sing Her Down” by Ivy Pochoda
It’s 2020 and the pandemic time. Florence Baum, aka Florida, and Diana Dios Sandoval – Dios – are on early release from a woman’s prison in Arizona and going to LA. Dios says, “The world is on pause. (…) But we aren’t. We are on the move. (…) The world isn’t paying attention to us.…
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“The Exhibitionist” by Charlotte Mendelson
The family, friends, and influential art people gather at the Hanrahans’ house in North London to witness Ray Hanrahan’s big comeback. The long weekend is when his new exhibition will hopefully secure his place in the art world as a painter. Yet, ironically, this is also the weekend when his wife, Lucia, a sculptor, receives…
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“Mastering the Art of French Murder” by Colleen Cambridge
Tabitha Knight is a twenty-something girl from Detroit who moved to Paris. She lives with her grandfather and uncle, tutoring Parisians in English (her French is perfect thanks to her French mother.) It’s 1949, and Paris has just reclaimed its title of “The City of Lights” after the darkness of WWII. The restaurants are open,…
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“Silver Nitrate” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The magic of the movies. This phrase carries a special meaning for two childhood friends, Montserrat and Tristán. They love watching old horror movies together, and they both work in the movie industry: Montserrat is the only woman in sound editing production, and Tristán works as an actor, thanks to his good looks, which have…
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“The Rachel Incident” by Caroline O’Donoghue
Rachel Murray is a twenty-one-year-old, tall (5’11, but to make it easier, she often says she’s six foot) woman living in Cork, Ireland. She studies English and has a crush on her professor. Her roommate, James, a closeted gay who works with her at a quaint bookstore, tries to help her attract the professor’s interest,…
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“Tabula Rasa” by John McPhee
At the beginning of his “Tabula Rasa,” John McPhee recalls when he was invited to lunch with the famous playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder. Asked what he was working on, Wilder replied that he was cataloging plays of Lope de Vega. About four hundred and thirty-one plays by Lope de Vega survived, and Thornton Wilder…
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“Murder at the Mill” by Debbie Young
Sophie Sayers, the budding writer working in the quaint Cotswold village’s bookstore, run by her boyfriend Hector, feels slightly out of place when she arrives at a writer retreat on a small Greek island. She didn’t plan on attending such a workshop, but Hector secretly entered her into a writing competition – which she won…
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