This is the latest in a series of occasional posts featuring books I read years ago about which I was wildly enthusiastic at the time, wanting to press a copy in as many hands as I could.
After the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, it seemed that everyone, particularly American novelists, felt they had to produce a piece of writing exploring the aftermath of those horrific events. One of the best acknowledgements of it I’ve seen in fiction was Paul Auster’s glancing reference at the end of Brooklyn Follies when his narrator walks out into a bright September morning. Amy Waldman’s The Submission takes what seemed to me to be a strikingly original approach.
When a jury assembles for the final selection of a memorial for the victims of the atrocities, many are appalled to find that the previously anonymous winner is an American Muslim. Claire Burwell, widowed by the attacks, springs to Mohammed Khan’s defence, facing outrage from all sides when the news is leaked to the press. Intelligently and articulately, Waldman’s novel explores this controversy from a variety of angles, from the politically savvy chairman of the jury to a widow of a Bangladeshi victim. It’s an engrossing novel, cleverly but compassionately expressed, which neatly avoids simplifying a complex emotional and political dilemma. I suspect Waldman’s experience as a reporter for The New York Times stood her in good stead when writing it.
What about you, any blasts from the past you’d like to share?
You can find more posts like this here
This looks like something I’d like to get my hands on too. But no blasts from the past from me. I’ve only relatively recently started to review every book I read.
Hope you can. I don’t review every book I read but those I do stick in my memory.
I remember reading a review of this novel in the Guardian when it came out, so it’s good to see you recommending it. A useful reminder, for sure.
So much more nuanced and thoughtful than many of the post-9/11 novels I’ve read.
Read this book years ago and the story also stuck with me.
Me, too. She took such an original approach, perhaps because it was written so long after the attacks.
I have never heard of this – thank you for your blast from the past! I have two books here which I really enjoyed at the time but haven’t spoken much about since 2016: Pascal Garnier and Péter Gárdos. https://findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/love-and-being-content-in-a-mad-bad-world/
I don’t think it got much attention when it was published. Thanks for the link. Always pleased to remind readers of great backlist titles.