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‘The Haunting of Alma Fielding’ Is a Ghost Story — and a Tale of Power and Fear

Summerscale’s writing is so inviting, the historical details folded into the narrative so well, that The Haunting of Alma Fielding reads like a novel you don’t want to put down. (The book design is also superb, the typeface somehow evoking something old and mysterious while also being easy on the eyes.) Best of all, it offers a variety of possibilities without definitively landing on one single answer; the book recognizes that, sometimes, the answer to the question “Was it real or was it fake?” is simply “Yes.” Read more

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Jhumpa Lahiri developed her voice for new novel ‘Whereabouts’ by first writing it in Italian

Writing is delicate work, perhaps doubly so when you are writing in a language that is not your native tongue. But Jhumpa Lahiri is no ordinary writer, and her latest novel, “Whereabouts” – an English translation of a story she originally wrote and published in Italian – requires the sort of deft hand so few can properly wield without it becoming boring and unobservant. Read more

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A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames

…Ames delivers an old-school L.A. crime novel that evokes Chandler with maybe an aftertaste of Bukowski. Readers expecting action won’t be let down, and the sparkling yet unpretentious language gives the whole an extra kick. Recommend to noir fans, action fans, anyone who likes a good read. Read more

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