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Cora, a stay-at-home mom, goes to baby group with her second kid—an activity to break the tedium of constant childcare. Among all those mothers is Sam, a stay-at-home dad. Things spark between him and Cora right away. Both are happy in their marriages, but the lure of the new is hard to resist. In this novel, two stories diverge: in one they play out the affair to the hilt; in the second they don't succumb but that doesn't change the intensity. The irony is that the friction of life stresses eventually wears down the long-time lovers, and after a decade, it's over. Witty and insightful.
In this novel, Venice in the mid-'70s brings together Danilo, who designs scenes and costumes for films, and young Nicholas, who fled England, besieged by guilt. Their relationship flowers. Nicholas, who has gone to art school, is put to work. They start on a challenging movie under Fellini's direction, and when that temporarily founders, they move on to Pasolini, who is recreating a film about the fascism he grew up with. Incredible inside dope about the art and craft of moviemaking, the intensity of working with powerful, erratic, driven directors, and interpersonal agonies. Fascinating.
True confessions: I'm a sucker for anomalous variations in human anatomy. This novel about a carnival in 1915 has freaks galore. Twins Bolt and Eleanor, 13, are orphans, first exploited by a very nasty "Uncle Charlie," then escaping him to be enfolded into the Emporium of Wonders. Eleanor can read minds, but she's not exhibited as such, just does regular jobs. Bolt is tasked with looking after a very strange woman who can read the future, also not on exhibition. Bolt wants to be included in this chosen family to become “one of us,” but Eleanor just wants to get away. Meanwhile Uncle Charlie is in pursuit of the twins, and action gets increasingly tense. This book is very creepy; I enjoyed it!
Young Soraya must go into service in this unnamed colonial city, and it's not so bad at first. Her employer, Mrs. Hattingh, lives alone and does "good works." But the large house is filled with ghosts---Soraya can interact with them—and her mistress turns out to be very demanding, often making disparaging remarks about "you people," referring to Soraya’s dusky skin and immigrant roots. Soraya portrays herself as illiterate, though she can read (an underdog's protective coloration), so Mrs. Hattingh offers to correspond with Noah, Soraya's fiancé, who's working at a distant farm to raise money for medical school. Mrs. Hattingh's son, in England after WWI, is supposedly due to visit but somehow it never comes about. Lies, secrets, and scurrilous manipulation abound, but finally Soraya gets what she needs, at considerable cost. The author is from South Africa; though the book's location isn't specified, clues indicate it might be in that region. The date: 1915.
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