Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes* is an exceptional work about an exceptional woman that manages to put the spotlight on a little known historical document (the titular Book of Negroes).

Spanning sixty or so years, from the mid 1700s to early 1800s, The Book of Negroes is about Aminata Diallis, a woman who as a child is kidnapped from her ( Read more... )

I dove directly into this after finishing up Trois Femmes Puissantes which was something like kismet. I don't know if Zadie Smith reads French, but there were some striking parallels in structure and theme between her most recent novel and Marie NDiaye's work. Most likely though it's just a coincidence since both NW and the English translation of ( Read more... )

Marie NDiaye has an illustrious career in France, winning both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Femina and being one of only two women who have ever had their work performed at the Comédie française. It is no surprise then that Trois Femmes Puissantes (available in English as Three Strong Women) which one the Goncourt, is such a staggering sweeping ( Read more... )

I've been meaning to read this book since I first heard of it back in 2006, when it won the Giller beating out odds-on favourite De Niro's Game (which would go on to win the Booker). The reason it took so long for me to eventually get around to reading it was because it had two things against it: Bloodletting is a collection of short stories and ( Read more... )

It's been a dog's age since I've updated in this community. A bunch of things happened: I applied for and got a job in another country, I moved to Japan, I adjusted to life in the middle of a wild nowhere, I turned out to have a lot of trouble settling back in to important old routines like doing writing, and reading in English. Anyway, I'm getting ( Read more... )

Through Black Spruce was the 2008 winner of the Giller award (Canada's top literary prize for those not in the know). I've only read a handful of the winners and nominees over the years, but Through Black Spruce easily tops my list as my favourite of those I've read ( Read more... )

19. Eddie Chuculate, Cheyenne Madonna.A novel-in-stories about Jordan Coolwater, a Cherokee and Creek artist, and his Cheyenne wife, Lisa Old Bull. (Mostly Jordan, though ( Read more... )