Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray
A review of Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray.
“Soft Burial” by Fang Fang
Soft Burial by Fang Fang was originally met with critical acclaim upon its publication in China in 2016 and even received the Lu Yao Literature Award, but by May 2017, the work had been denounced and removed from stores.
The novel opens with a nameless protagonist suffering from amnesia since 1952 after being pulled, barely alive, from a river.…
“Elephant Herd” by Zhang Guixing
Elephant Herd by Zhang Guixing, translated by Carlos Rojas, follows Shi Shicai as he travels in the rainforest searching for his uncle, the leader of a communist guerilla group. The novel jumps in time mid-paragraph, blurs humanity and nature, and includes elements of magical realism.…
“The Road to the Country” by Chigozie Obioma
TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic Violence
The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma is a brutal and honest look at war and genocide. Kunle, the novel’s protagonist, is defined by the guilt he feels over a childhood accident that left his younger brother paralyzed.…
“The Instrumentalist” by Harriet Constable
In 18th-century Venice, female babies of prostitutes are commonly drowned in the canals, but a lucky few are placed through a box in the wall of the Ospedale della Pietà. Inside, the girls are given music lessons from a young age, and those who excel can escape the fate of being married off to anyone who will have them.…