‘The Cemetery of Untold Stories’ reads like a novel made up of all the stories that Julia Alvarez no longer wants to carry in bits and pieces in her head,. And Alvarez knows that we all are—and need to be—story creatures.
Books
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Review: Vinson Cunningham’s debut novel takes us deep into presidential politics, divine providence and the NBA
Vinson Cunningham’s constant application of a critical eye in his work for The New Yorker must have helped in composing his first novel, “Great Expectations.”
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‘Septology’ is one long reflection on the nature of God
Jon Fosse’s ‘Septology’ is a literary masterpiece imbued with mysticism and theological insight.
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Review: The intersection of faith and mental illness
Anna Gazmarian’s ‘Devout’ is an emotional, vulnerable portrait of a woman who was failed by two institutions, both science and religion, that she rightfully believed would help her.
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Review: Are we all liberal protestants?
In ‘Citizens Yet Strangers,’ Kenneth Craycraft argues that the American political order presupposes the goodness of the Fall, rather than our original created goodness.
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Review: How to fix the dome of St. Peter’s?
A major takeaway from ‘Saving Michelangelo’s Dome’ is that it is a miracle any pre-modern church is still standing.
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Review: A Catholic prayer for racial justice
Bolstered by extensive research and passionate prose, ‘In the Shadow of Freedom’ makes a compelling argument for Catholics in particular to pay more heed to reconciliation and healing for the racist history of the United States.
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Review: Sally Rooney’s ‘Intermezzo’ is occasionally interesting, frequently frustrating and ultimately insufficient
Rooney’s novel ends up as an overlong interlude, poised between significant moments, not substantial enough to compose its own movement.
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Review: Garth Greenwell’s mystical novel ‘Small Rain’ teaches the art of living from a hospital bed
Garth Greenwell’s Small Rain is a mystical novel, a story in which illness becomes an occasion for a new attention to one’s life and loves.
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Review: Martyrs for the earth
In ‘Ecomartyrdom in the Americas: Living and Dying for Our Common Home,’ Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo invites us to look carefully at the lives of modern ecomartyrs as a guide to help us “re-imagine and re-embody the relationship between human beings and the earth.”