![luce [is reading]](https://wishfullyreading.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/9429655-1.jpeg){kind=small}
-
The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir
“She had appeared so glorious to me that I had assumed she had everything she wanted. I wanted to cry for her, and for myself.” Superbly written The Inseparables is a novella that pairs an enthralling depiction of female friendship with a razor-sharp commentary on gender and religion This is the kind of work of…
1920s, 1st pov, 4 STARS, academia, Adult, all girls school, ambiguous protagonist, beautiful prose, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, catholicism, CHILDHOOD, Christianity, CLASSICS, coming of age, existentialism, female authors, female friendships, feminism, first love, FRANCE, FRENCH, French author, friendships, GENDER, growing up, introspective, jealousy, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, lgbtq+ classics, LITERARY FICTION, modern classics, My reviews, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, obsession, published in 2020, queer, queer undercurrents, read in 2021, reading, Religion, SEXUALITY, Simone de Beauvoir, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, suicide, The Inseparables, TRANSLATED FICTION, unreliable narrators, unrequited love -
Everything Inside: Stories by Edwidge Danticat
“The difference between her and them was as stark as the gulf between those who’d escaped a catastrophe unscathed and others who’d been forever mutilated by it.” This was such a wonderful and poignant collection of short stories.In a interview on LitHub Edwige Danticat said that one of the reasons why she loves the short…
4.5 STARS, affairs, ALIENATION, America, Black & Black heritage authors, Caribbean, caribbean author, CHILDHOOD, class, collection of short stories, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Edwidge Danticat, Everything Inside: Stories, family, female authors, FLORIDA, friendships, GENDER, GRIEF, HAITI, haitian author, identity, illness, ISLAND, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, mental health, migration/immigration, motherhood, mothers & daughters, published in 2019, RACE, re-reads, READ IN 2019, read in 2020, short stories, unnamed country -
SWING TIME: BOOK REVIEW
Swing Time by Zadie Smith ★★✰✰✰ 2 of 5 stars I feel cheated. The beginning of this sprawling and pointless narrative promised something. It gave me certain expectations. So, when I found myself questioning the direction of this novel, I told myself that surely, by the end, this would all make sense. Turns out I…
1980s, 1990s, 1st pov, 2 STARS, 2000s, 20th century, Black & Black heritage authors, British author, CHILDHOOD, class, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, england, female authors, friendships, GENDER, growing up, identity, jamaican british author, LITERARY FICTION, LONDON, published in 2016, RACE, READ IN 2019, social issues, SWING TIME, unnamed country, unnamed narrator, west africa, ZADIE SMITH -
The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy by Barbara Vine
“I want to be in love. I want to be possessed and obsessed by it, I want the sky to change colour and the sun to shine all the time. I want to long for the phone to ring and pace the room when it doesn’t. I want to be breathless at the sound of…
1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, Adult, Barbara Vine, books about books, books about writers, British author, domestic thriller, england, family, GENDER, GRIEF, LITERARY FICTION, literary references, MARRIAGE, MYSTERY, psychological, published in 1998, read in 2018, Ruth Rendell, SISTERS, SUSPENSE, The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy -
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
“If I had been a man, I would have knocked him down on the threshold of his own door, and have left his house, never on any earthly consideration to enter it again. But I was only a woman – and I loved his wife so dearly!” A thoroughly entertaining novel that is intriguing from…
1840s, 1850s, 19TH CENTURY, 4.5 STARS, aristocracy, British author, CLASSICS, drama, england, epistolary, friendships, GENDER, GOTHIC, HISTORICAL FICTION, HUMOR, illness, Italy, male authors, MYSTERY, mystery puzzle, read in 2017, ROMANCE, sensation fiction, SISTERS, SUSPENSE, THE WOMAN IN WHITE, VICTORIAN, WILKIE COLLINS -
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
Even after a third reading I am still surprised by how much this novel resonates with me. A lot readers will start Villette expecting a rehash of Jane Eyre—a novel which I enjoyed but wasn’t particularly taken by—which is a pity given that the narrative of Villette takes its reader through a much more labyrinthine path that the straightforward Bildungsroman…
1840s, 1850s, 19TH CENTURY, 1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, boarding/private school, British author, british classics, CHARLOTTE BRONTË, CLASSICS, cold tone, england, existentialism, female authors, female doubles, FRANCE, GENDER, GOTHIC, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, introspective, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Lucy Snowe, MEMORY, philosophical, published in 1853, re-reads, Religion, ROMANCE, travel, unreliable narrators, unrequited love, VICTORIAN, VILLETTE -
The Stolen Child by Lisa Carey
For the most part, I really loved reading The Stolen Child. Carey’s writing is a real treat to read, and I was intrigued by the story from the very beginning. However, as much as I enjoyed it, I was equally very irritated by certain parts of it. No matter my reaction, negative or not, I…
1950s, 20th century, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, AMERICAN AUTHOR, bad love, f/f, FAIRY TALES, female authors, FOLKLORE, GENDER, HISTORICAL FICTION, IRELAND, ISLAND, jealousy, lgbtq+, LISA CAREY, LITERARY FICTION, MAGICAL REALISM, queer, read in 2017, Religion, SEXUALITY, SISTERS, THE STOLEN CHILD, toxic relationships -
The Painted Bridge by Wendy Wallace
The Painted Bridge gives a harrowing glimpse into the lives of women admitted in asylums during the late nineteenth century. The story follows newly married Anna Palmer who –tricked by her husband – becomes a ‘resident’ of Lake House, a private asylum. Her initial incredulity over her situations soon give way to a strong sense…
luce [is reading] 