Caroline's Reviews

A perfect intersection of music and literature, This Woman’s Work highlights the complexity of female artistry in the modern century. Filled with work by grade-A authors like Maggie Nelson, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Leslie Jamison, this collection captures sadness, joy, and anger with the fluidity and dynamism of a well-made mixtape. Though a collective focus on music drives the narrative of these carefully crafted essays, their core seems to scream “Why shouldn’t women want more?” Ideal for lovers of punk rock, a good cry, introspective looks on female relationships, and self-cut bangs.  —Caroline

To cross a border is to both affirm the border’s existence and expose its futility. Gutiérrez’s stunning collection of essays about a queer existence in the Southwest is a meditation in this kind of border-crossing, jumping from the ’90s DIY-punk scene in Los Angeles to the guttingly tragic question of citizenship in the modern–day xenophobic landscape. Whether writing from the microscopic (an essay on the creation of adobe architecture) or the macroscopic (a shift in urban life and aesthetics based on immigration policies), Gutiérrez possesses the unique ability to call into question both our comforts and our fears. This book deliciously captures the modern and nostalgic experience of Southern California living.  —Caroline

In this transnational collection of thought-provoking stories, Freedman takes us across the globe to examine the depths of instability. While her stories prickle with tension, each character acts as a mirror of tumult—whether it be dealing with class, race, or insecurity—and allows us to confront the truth of human experience while giving us a glimpse into life abroad. Perfect for fans of Ursula LeGuin or Lisa Wingate.  —Caroline

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