During this holiday week, The Common is presenting highlights from the past year. Today’s highlights come from “Reviews.”
Read Melinda Misener’s review of Townie by Andre Dubus III, here, and Sarah Malone’s review of NW by Zadie Smith, here.
RO SKELTON
And this is how Mother Mary feels—like entering a deep friendship with a writer who shares, over the course of the story of her life, what it was like for her to be somewhat lost and searching, making meaning in her life in the shadow of her loving and often abusive mother.
REEVE LINDBERGH
Her clear voice and her deep intelligence thread this lovely book together, giving weight to every observation, shining light into the dark corners of memory, revealing both the habits and the dimensions of lost and present loved ones.
BRITTA STROMEYER
The narrative suggests that time doesn't necessarily heal wounds but instead makes them less visible. I asked Poppy if this was her intention, and if she agreed with the statement, that time, while making old wounds less visible, creates new forms of emotional hurt and displacement.
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