I’ve read none of the novels from this first batch of May paperbacks which begins with one that’s impressed several bloggers I follow. I wasn’t as enamoured with Charlotte Wood’s The Weekend as many readers but I’ll be trying again with her new one, Stone Yard Devotional, which sees a middle-aged woman seeking peace and refuge fetching up in a small religious community in the Australian outback, almost by accident. Three things disrupt the tranquillity she finds there: a plague of mice, the unearthing of the remains of a nun, long since disappeared, and the arrival of someone who forces her to examine her past. I’m not entirely sure about that but Kim’s review here is very persuasive. 
Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Long Island Compromise begins with the kidnapping of a wealthy businessman in 1982, returned to his family after a ransom is paid. Forty years later, the trauma of that event comes back to haunt Carl when his mother dies, and long buried memories resurface. ‘Long Island Compromise spans generations, winding through decades of history all the way through to the wild present, dealing along the way with all the mainstays of American Jewish life. And through it all, it addresses timeless questions about wealth, trauma, and the American soul’ according to the blurb. Although I didn’t enjoy the much-hyped Fleishman is in Trouble as much as I’d expected, this one sounds worth investigating.
Claire Messud’s This Strange Eventful History begins in 1940 with Paris about to fall to the Germans. Gaston Cassar has been posted to Salonica hoping that he will eventually be reunited with his family when the war is over. ‘A work of breathtaking historical sweep and vivid psychological intimacy, This Strange Eventful History charts the Cassars’ unfolding story as its members move between Salonica and Algeria, the US, Cuba, Canada, Argentina, Australia and France – their itinerary shaped as much by a search for an elusive wholeness, as by the imperatives of politics, faith, family, industry and desire’ says the blurb rather grandly but a new novel from Messud is always worth investigating.
I admit to being swayed by the George Saunders puff included in the blurb for Camille Bordas’s The Material set in a Chicago stand-up comedy school where staff and students all wrestle with the kind of problems that offer grist for the comedy mill. A visit from the controversial Manny Rheinhardt could either be just what’s needed to lick them into shape or a disaster. ‘Set over the course of a single day, and shifting exquisitely between several points of view, The Material examines life through the eyes of a band of outsiders bound together by the need to laugh, and the desire to make others laugh even harder’ according to the blurb which sounds quite cheering.
It’s its structure that draws me to Catherine Gray’s Versions of a Girl in which fourteen-year-old Fern is faced with a dilemma: whether to stay in California where her father scratches a living or travel to London where her social climbing mother leads a much more comfortable life. As the title suggests, Gray follows Fern down two very different pathways, but both versions are faced with what to do about a murder. ‘Warm and brilliantly wise, this is the irresistible fiction debut from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober.’ Not entirely sure about that but I do like that Sliding Doors idea. Clever cover, too.
That’s it for May’s first batch of paperbacks. A click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis should you want to know more, and if you’d like to catch up with new fiction it’s here and here. Part two soon…
I found Stone Yard Devotional an unsettling and not entirely comfortable read, which has not stayed with me as much as I thought it might. But I’ll definitely look out for your remaining choices, though, like you, I’m not immediately drawn to the Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
I think my expectations of Wood’s previous book had been ramped up by the buzz around it. They’re not nearly so high this time around.
Claire Messud is a fairly recent discovery for me and I’m keen to read more by her. I don’t know why they think such overblown blurb is helpful though!
I’d love it if publishers wrote more straightforward blurbs for readers who simply want a flavour of what the book’s about. Obviously, they think it’s brilliant otherwise they wouldn’t be publishing it. Bit of a bugbear of mine,
At least they didn’t describe it as ‘unputdownable’. That’s the one that REALLY annoys me.
Ha! I know – as if someone’s superglued it to your hand.
I’m intrigued by all of these choices. I have Stone Yard Devotional to listen to (just bracing myself for the mice) and Long Island Compromise as a cheap Kindle book. I enjoyed the previous Claire Messud novel I read and would like to try this one. The remaining two books are by authors I’ve never heard of, but the premises are interesting. I kind of wish Versions of a Girl didn’t include a murder. There seems more than enough plot in the sliding doors premise, but so many books seem compelled to shoehorn a murder in, sigh. Still, it might juggle it all very well.
I know what you mean about the murder. Hard to get away from in so much fiction, both on the page and TV. I feel on surer ground with the others.
As you know, I was one of those who adored SYD! If you were disappointed by Fleishman is in Trouble, I’d urge caution with Long Island Compromise; I liked Fleishman but this one felt like a step down.
Oh dear! Thanks for the warning. You’re one of the fans of SYD I had in mind.
Do read the excellent Stone Yard Devotional! I’ve always meant to read more by Messud after The Emperor’s Children, but possibly not this one.
This Messud’s a bit chunky but I suspect I’ll read it. You and several other bloggers have done an excellent job persuading me in Stone Yard Devotional’s favour.
The comment that really annoys me is such and such a book ‘demands to be read’. HOW, exactly?
Books telling you what to do! There are so many pet hates – dazzling and stunning are two adjectives I could do without plus far fetched comparisons with bestselling authors.
I have read three of the Booker shortlisted books: James, Orbital and just recently The Safe Keep, which I thought was the best of the three. It was masterful and I hope it wins one of the other awards it is shortlisted for now, having been short changed in the Booker. Haven’t read SYD yet. I read this book by Messud couple of weeks ago. Its a tome! I thought it was good but a bit over-hyped. It took we a good while to get into it as it’s very descriptive, repetitive in places and could do with more dialogue to fully understand the relationships in the story. Having said that the latter half of the book takes off, and I was really immersed in the story by the end. Apparently she wrote it over a long period of time during COVID, and it shows. It could have been contained more.
It’s the size that’s put me off the Messud a little. I’ll be interested to see what you think of Stone Yard Devotional when you get to it.
I loved the Claire Messud, I found it very completely absorbing ( if not unputdownable!). Really enjoyed Fleishmann and was looking forward to Long Island Compromise but abandoned it less than quarter of the way through! Although I liked The Weekend, I’m not drawn to this new one…I haven’t heard of the others but both seem worth a look.
Hmm… Now getting mixed messages about the Messud but yours is very encouraging, and you’re the second person to warn me off Long Island Compromise.
Hi Susan
We read ‘Long Island Compromise’ but found it so boring that we didn’t finish it. Much more interesting, we found ‘The Material’.
Thanks for introducing us to these books
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hello, and you’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed The Material. I’m beginning to go off reading Long Island Comprise now. Several readers have left similar comments to yours,
The Material sounds like a breath of fresh air. I’m almost more persuaded by the Percival Everett praise than the Saunders, although I think they’re both terrific. I recently read Everett’s James. What a talent for keeping story rolling and not fearing the use of literary violence where its due.
I’m so pleased Percival Everett is getting the attention he deserves here in the UK. Humour is one of the best weapons against prejudice of any kind.
Yes, that’s what I was going to say: both Saunders AND Everett. What a fantabulous combination. (See that’s an unputdownable adjective that demands to be read too.) The Material would be my first pick in this very moment.
Haha! Looks good, doesn’t it.
I started Long Island Compromise and was enjoying it then put it aside and never went back for some reason. Sounds like I should try it again.
I’m wavering as to whether to read it after some of the comments on here.
I’ve not heard of any of these other than Stoneyard Devotional which I read earlier this year. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I expected to. I think because ai expected a slightly different book. I hope you enjoy it
Thank you. I had a similar feeling after reading her previous novel.
I was intrigued by Long Island Compromise but after reading some of the comments above am beginning to reconsider. Versions of a Girl sounds interesting too–it’s structure seems similar to a book I read recently (nor reviewed on the blog yet) which also explores two courses in parallel chapters–where the protagonist marries the man she loves and where she makes the socially approved choice of partner.
That sounds interesting, Mallika. I’ll look out for your review. I’ve gone off the idea of Long Island Comprise, too.