Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Hilary Mantel, taking time off from Cromwell and Marilynne Robinson's return to Gilead

For those Hilary Mantel fans among us, she has a new book coming out, this one having nothing to do with Thomas Cromwell. Instead, she gives us the rather provocative title The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher:  Stories. Hummm....

The book will come out on September 30. With Marilynne Robinson's new book Lila, coming out on October 7, I know what I will be reading this fall, interspersed with the ongoing drama that is medieval France. 

Advance reviews for both books are of course glowing. Hilary Mantel is, in my opinion, a consummate story teller with a gift for exposing character in a few short sentences. That makes her well suited for short stories, along with her ability to create a plot that carries you along. The advance blurb says these stories are "Unpredictable, diverse and sometimes shocking." I'm in .

As for Marilynne Robinson, plot and quick characterization are not her milieu. She returns to Gilead, to the interconnections she has crafted so carefully. This time she explores the new wife of the older minister, illuminating yet another human view all the while bumping up against the others we know in this tiny town. 

You likely recall that her book Home sparked one of the longest and richest discussions we have had in our group. It touched so many of us personally, with our own experiences coloring how we perceived the characters, the questions they faced and their ultimate actions. 

Her prose is so beautifully constructed and so rich in expression, again, I am in. 

I can't wait. 

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