Summer Newsletter 2022 Fiction

Acclaimed short story writer Kali Fajardo-Anstine (Sabrina & Corina) has written a sweeping debut novel that reclaims a history of the West as lived by its Indigenous and Latinx residents. A lush and important work that jumps between the Lost Territory of late–nineteenth– century New Mexico and Depression-era Denver, Woman of Light is a story of race and class, struggle and resilience, all wrapped up in a good romp, replete with tea leaves, romance, and snake charmers.  — Melinda

Summer destination seaside communities are made up of much more than amusement park rides—so says Katie Runde in her moving, funny, and heartwarming story about a family who runs the businesses behind the boardwalks of the Jersey Shore. When the father faces a battle with brain cancer, his teens and wife struggle to maintain normalcy while contemplating life-altering changes. Ultimately, through their connections with each other, their deep sense of shared history, and the way that community reminds them of the genesis of their dreams, they come to define home and family for themselves. A perfect Santa Cruz read.  —Casey

Young Skins, Barrett’s first collection of stories, brutally and hilariously evoked life in the dead-end small towns of western Ireland where Barrett grew up. I’m very happy to report that his new collection is just as good and possibly better. Barrett astonishes with startling images and fresh turns of phrase, but his focus has broadened beyond drunk and shiftless young men to include a wider cast: a female police officer, a writer, a set of siblings who’ve lost both parents, and several other well-drawn characters with complex and compelling inner lives.  —Rico

A brave new voice in fiction, Tara Stringfellow brings poetic beauty to Black women’s experience—the joy of living in a community of strong women along with the sorrow of surviving men's rage. When Joan is raped as a young girl and her mother faces an abusive husband, they retreat to the Memphis home of her sister. Through art, sacrifices, loyalty, storytelling, and courage, they remake their lives to encompass healing and possibility.  —Casey

An immersive tale of the power of wealth and privilege to bend both reality and history. This is exceptional historical fiction about a Wall Street tycoon in the Roaring Twenties, a triumph of multilayered narration and storytelling. Four different, distinct versions of the story produce a remarkable reading experience. Each telling peels away another layer of mystery. Insights from a hundred years ago resonate today. An exhilarating novel, a pleasure to read!  —Trey

Instead of telling you about Douglas Stuart’s stellar sophomore novel; the vibrant working class, religion-torn community it paints; the lyricism of Glaswegian dialogue; the big-hearted, finger-biting coming–of–age story, complete with budding queer romance and subsequent danger; instead of all this, can I just tell you how much I adore the protagonist Mungo Hamilton? That we get to know him, love him, and fretfully want the best for him? This is complicated, scary, wonderful humanity expertly distilled. 

Instead of telling you about Douglas Stuart’s stellar sophomore novel; the vibrant working class, religion-torn community it paints; the lyricism of Glaswegian dialogue; the big-hearted, finger-biting coming–of–age story, complete with budding queer romance and subsequent danger; instead of all this, can I just tell you how much I adore the protagonist Mungo Hamilton? That we get to know him, love him, and fretfully want the best for him? This is complicated, scary, wonderful humanity expertly distilled.  —Melinda

Marina’s murder awakens the aswang—a spirit bent on vengeance. Little by little, the past unfolds to explain the present. I found myself crying for justice throughout, angered that the world was stacked against these characters from the start. Melissa Chadburn’s gritty debut novel, laced with Filipino folklore and culture, gives us a fresh perspective on issues facing BIPOC women every day.  —Kailey Jo

Mieko Kawakami is a genius when it comes to writing about social outcasts. Fuyuko Irie, Kawakami’s latest lone wolf, is a freelance editor who only interacts with her boss. Irie seems to be completely satisfied with her monastic existence until she has a fateful encounter with a nondescript man. The dreamy tone of this novel and the narrator’s strong desire to connect with another person is tremendously engaging.  —Katrina

Tove Ditlevsen has repeatedly demonstrated a mastery of simplistic, nostalgic, and ominously eerie prose that radiates throughout her works; similar to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, the chilling nature of Ditlevsen’s storytelling radiates beyond the page and into the hearts of her readers. Her uncanny talent for vivid imagery and conveying working class experience has kept her spirit alive since the original publication of these works in the 1960s. Now more than ever can we find solace in stories the way she once did.  —Caroline