It has been so enormously long since I last posted. I've been happily consumed by satisfying work, and the research for an article I'm writing about the "Hard Winter," 1779-1780, during the Revolutionary War. I'm just barely grabbing moments for non-work reading these days.
A question for any reader out there: Did you ever read a novel set during the American Revolutionary War that you enjoyed, or that you remember reading? I can't recall a single one, other than The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, which I really appreciated.
I'm in the mood for Revolutionary-War era fiction, given my recent research. We're well into the 250th anniversary of the Revolution, and I hope fiction and non-fiction will be appearing, but thus far, given that I have heard nothing about any new historical fiction on this topic, I fear there will be nothing.
Right now I'm reading the 2024 translation of the acclaimed German author Bernhard Schlink's The Granddaughter. It's so thought-provoking, so fascinating, I'm riveted, but then again, it's not easy reading, emotionally speaking. It's emotionally hard, as are all his novels. Very worthwhile, however. A young woman brought up in the GDR (East Germany) weds a young man from the FDR (West Germany). Lots going on. It all runs so deep. So deep.
I read The Sequel recently, the thriller-mystery novel by Jean Korelitz, and the sequel of her bestseller The Plot. This one was stupendously clever, I grant you, but the characters are colder than ice and worse than that. So if you need a novel to sustain you in harrowing times, this one is not it.
I really enjoyed Nancy Thayer's audiobook, The Summer We Started Over. Family fiction, set on Nantucket, and I thought it extremely well done. I highly recommend it for these times. Very soul-satisfying.
I'm sorry I have not provided links to any of these books. If I have time tomorrow or later, I will. I hope you will be able to find them if you are interested.
