Back from London (more of that later in the week) with the tiniest handful of paperbacks to look out for in November, the first of which I’ve read already. Arlene Heyman’s Artifact follows biologist Lottie from her ‘50s childhood through to the ‘80s, still faced with professional barriers thanks to her gender despite a career grounded in careful research. Heyman handles her subject lightly lacing it with humour but never losing sight of the fact that being a scientist for Lottie is very much harder than it is for her male colleagues, unencumbered by childcare and treated with more respect. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel which explores the nitty-gritty of gender inequality, both at home and at work.
I remember Mary Gaitskill’s This is Pleasure being all over my neck of the Twitter woods last year. A mere 96 pages, it could almost be termed a short story rather than a novella but packs quite a punch by the sound of it. It examines the downfall of a male publisher thanks to allegations of sexual impropriety and harassment whose female friend tries to make sense of his behaviour. ‘Mary Gaitskill has spent her whole career mining the complexity of human relationships on both an individual and societal scale with wisdom and grace. Here her insights are more piercing and timely than ever’ say the publishers. Very keen to read this one.
Told in a series of vignettes taking its readers back and forth between the US and the Middle East, Zaina Arafat’s debut, You Exist Too Much, is the story of a young Palestinian-American woman, from her awkward teenage years to young adulthood when she moves into a Brooklyn apartment with her girlfriend, a settled life which soon becomes unsettled. ‘Opening up the fantasies and desires of one young woman caught between cultural, religious and sexual identities, You Exist Too Much is a captivating story charting two of our most intense longings – for love, and a place to call home’ say the publishers promisingly.
The premise of The Decameron Project is very appealing. Commissioned by The New York Times Magazine in March 2020, the world in the grips of 
Covid-19, it’s a collection of short stories inspired by Boccaccio’s classic which comprised 100 stories told by a group of young men and women waiting out the Black Death in the hills above Florence. This version is made up of 29 stories on the pandemic theme from a list of authors ranging from Margaret Atwood, Kamila Shamsie, Colm TóibÃn and Tommy Orange to the less well known such as Laila Lalami and Etgar Keret both of whose writing I’ve enjoyed.
That’s it for November’s paperbacks. Quite an interesting bunch if a little sparse. As ever a click on a title will either take you to my review or to a more detailed synopsis and if you’d like to catch up with November’s new fiction, it’s here and here.
After two bloggers recommended it to me within a week, The Decameron Project went on my list. My library has a copy, so I’ll try to squeeze in these short stories before the end of the year.
Excellent! I’ll be interested to see what you think of it
Hmmmm. This is Pleasure just in time for Novella November?
Sounds about right!
Oh I like Gaitskill, so This Is Pleasure sounds perfect!
It does, doesn’t it? Very keen to read it, too, Cathy.
Just ordered it 🙂
Excellent! Hoping you’ll review it – no pressure…
I’ve not heard of The Decameron Project, it sounds interesting. Theoretically I don’t want to read much pandemic fiction but this is quite tempting!
I thought I didn’t either but have managed to read two absolute corkers already! I do like the sound of this one and that’s a steller list of writers.
I am interested in The Decameron Project, but it’s all a bit close still, so might keep that on the back burner wishlist (if that’s a thing). This is Pleasure sounds really interesting too.
Definitely a thing!
Nothing calling strongly to me from this list. Maybe Dec will be more appealing.
I’ve already checked December’s new titles out, Karen, and I think your bank balance will be safe.
I like Gaitskill but must admit that I sometimes find her work (Two Girls, Fat & Thin; short story Secretary) a little TOO disturbing. I’ll almost certainly, however, check out This Is Pleasure.
The Decameron Project also looks intriguing. It’s interesting (but not surprising) to see how this theme is playing out, literature wise. Gary Shteyngard has a new novel, Our Country Friends (U.S. publication early November), which also deals with the idea of a small group outwaiting the pandemic in social isolation, with lots of ensuing romantic and social complications.
Oh, I like the sound of that. Perhaps it’ll be published here in the UK eventually.
I was just thinking about Gaitskill recently, how ground-breaking her fiction was, in the beginning. The sense that nobody was doing QUITE what she was doing (quite possibly they were, but my reading was narrower then, living in a city with a much smaller library system). I’ve lost track of her, but have been thinking I should fill that gap and this one sounds not only intriguing…but short.
The last Gaitskill I read was The Mare. She’s not a writer to shy away from difficult subjects!