Literary Fiction

Latest Posts in Literary Fiction

Book Review: Submission by Michel Houellebecq

University Professor Francois is approaching the thick of middle age while the Islamic world encroaches on the French Liberal Body Politic. Women are wearing burqas, alcohol is prohibited (except for the Islamic elite), and all men are encouraged to have multiple wives, the younger the better. Francois will soon lose his job at the New Sorbonne University, unless he submits to the new reigning Islamic order. He must profess his loyalty to Allah.


Book Review: DEATH AND THE BUTTERFLY by Colin Hester

DEATH AND THE BUTTERFLY cracks open the door and allows us to peer into lives that are far apart in time and culture, yet every character has been touched by the long-term effect of the tragedy of World War II. Three storylines, developed over multiple timelines, are interwoven to create a narrative that is equal parts prose and poetry.


Book Review: Perfection by Vincenzo Petronico

Millennial couple Anna and Tom are two halves of the same dull leaf, vaguely similar, almost mirror images of one another, too afraid to be unlike one another. The author states, “Anna and Tom weren’t free to be themselves or rather free to reinvent themselves.” Together they amble through glossy high-tech design careers, while living the good life in trendy Berlin. They vacation in hotspots, do stints in Portugal and Sicily, always suffering from existential pain and the petty inconveniences of modern life. Yet the pics they posted on Facebook show an alternate reality—they weren’t really miserable; they were smiling and having a good time!


Book Review: Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

Enduring Love falls as flat as the hot-air balloon that kills the heroic family doctor John Logan in a freak accident. Logan’s death triggers a maddeningly artificial construct that masquerades as a plausible story. But because the story is told within the highbrow medium of “Literary Fiction,” anything is possible. 


Book Review: Vintage Munro

Alice Munro’s technique as a writer is clean, crisp, and plain spoken. No unnecessary frills dot her stodgy landscape, where the characters are ready to retire before they have reached their prime.