Douglas Stuart How Good Luck—And Great Talent—Produced His Extraordinary Debut, Shuggie Bain P
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Featuring 404 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction, Children'sand YA books KIRKUSVOL. LXXXVIII, NO. 3 | 1 FEBRUARY 2020 REVIEWS Douglas Stuart How good luck—and great talent—produced his extraordinary debut, Shuggie Bain p. 14 Also in the issue: Emily Nemens, Sam Wasson, Tonya Bolden, Fred Aceves from the editor’s desk: Chairman Literary valentines HERBERT SIMON President & Publisher MARC WINKELMAN BY TOM BEER # Chief Executive Officer MEG LABORDE KUEHN [email protected] J ohn Paraskevas Sorry, but is there any holiday worse than Valentine’s Day? The saccharine cards, Editor-in-Chief TOM BEER the ridiculous bouquets, the overabundance of candy? (OK, maybe the candy isn’t [email protected] so bad.) If you’re coupled, there’s all that pressure to manufacture a romantic eve- Vice President of Marketing ning. If you’re single, well…you probably don’t feel like leaving the house. SARAH KALINA [email protected] But as I’ve watched the streaming series Modern Love in recent weeks—it’s Managing/Nonfiction Editor based on the long-running series of essays about relationships in the New York ERIC LIEBETRAU [email protected] Times, also collected in book form—I was reminded that love stories, when well Fiction Editor told, offer unique windows on to human behavior and psychology. Of course, LAURIE MUCHNICK there’s the whole genre of romance fiction, and Kirkus romance correspondent [email protected] Jennifer Prokop has already made a host of 2020 recommendations on our website. Children’s Editor VICKY SMITH As for me, here are some of my favorite literary novels, all published in recent years, [email protected] that depict love in all its complicated glory: Young Adult Editor Tom Beer LAURA SIMEON Normal People by Sally Rooney (2019): Rooney’s second novel is the story of Mari- [email protected] Editor at Large anne and Connell, two young people whom she follows from their adolescence in MEGAN LABRISE provincial western Ireland to university in Dublin. Their powerful connection— [email protected] Vice President of Kirkus Indie tested by personal growth and social circumstances—is scarily familiar and quietly KAREN SCHECHNER heartbreaking. Kirkus’ reviewer praised the book for its “bravura intelligence, wit, [email protected] and delicacy.” Senior Indie Editor DAVID RAPP Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor (2017): This wildly inven- [email protected] Indie Editor tive novel tackles issues of gender, sexuality, and intimacy by making its protago- MYRA FORSBERG nist a shape-shifting grad student in Iowa City in the mid-1990s. As Paul, they [email protected] Associate Manager of Indie cruise hungrily and have lots of sex with gay men, but after transforming into KATERINA PAPPAS Polly, they attend the Michigan Womyn’s Festival and fall hard for Diane, a vegan [email protected] lesbian. Our reviewer called it a “magical, sexual, and hopeful debut novel about Editorial Assistant JOHANNA ZWIRNER transcending boundaries of gender to pursue emotional connection.” [email protected] Mysteries Editor Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (2017): I will never forget the love story of Nadia and THOMAS LEITCH Saeed, conducted under cover of night in an unnamed Middle Eastern City ruled Contributing Editor by fundamentalists, in the grip of a civil war. Saeed sneaks into Nadia’s building GREGORY McNAMEE Copy Editor disguised in a burka; together they smoke pot and listen to forbidden records. BETSY JUDKINS Then they take a chance and seek asylum from their homeland—with devastating Designer consequences. Kirkus called it “one of the most bittersweet love stories in mod- ALEX HEAD ern memory and a book to savor even while despairing of its truths.” Director of Kirkus Editorial LAUREN BAILEY The Golden Age by Joan London (2016): This lovely novel [email protected] Production Editor from Australia depicts the tender relationship between CATHERINE BRESNER teenagers Frank and Elsa, both residents at a children’s [email protected] Website and Software Developer polio hospital outside Perth in the 1950s. Frank, who also PERCY PEREZ discovers poetry while at the clinic, is a Jewish refugee [email protected] from Hungary, and the novel evokes the powerful feeling both young people expe- Advertising Director MONIQUE STENSRUD rience of being uprooted from life. Kirkus’ reviewer called it “cleareyed, generous- [email protected] hearted, never sentimental.” Advertising Associate TATIANA ARNOLD Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013): Many readers remember [email protected] Graphic Designer Adichie’s third novel for its whip-smart social commentary, delivered through the LIANA WALKER vehicle of one character’s blog about being an African among African Americans. [email protected] But even more powerful, for me, was the sweet and sad love story between Ifemulu Controller MICHELLE GONZALES and Obinze, natives of Lagos, Nigeria, who can’t find their way back to one another after landing in the [email protected] United States and England, respectively. Kirkus deemed the novel “elegantly written” and “emotionally for customer service or subscription questions, believable.” please call 1-800-316-9361 Print indexes: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/print-indexes Submission Guidelines: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/submission-guidlines Kirkus Blog: www.kirkusreviews.com/blog Subscriptions: www.kirkusreviews.com/subscription Advertising Opportunities: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/advertising- Newsletters: www.kirkusreviews.com/subscription/newsletter/add Cover photo by opportunities Clive Smith 2 | 1 february 2020 | from the editor’s desk | kirkus.com | you can now purchase books online at kirkus.com contents fiction INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ...........................................................4 The Kirkus Star is awarded REVIEWS ...............................................................................................4 to books of remarkable EDITOR’S NOTE.....................................................................................6 ON THE COVER: DOUGLAS STUART ............................................... 14 merit, as determined by the INTERVIEW: EMILY NEMENS ...........................................................24 impartial editors of Kirkus. MYSTERY ............................................................................................. 43 SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY ......................................................... 50 ROMANCE ........................................................................................... 54 nonfiction INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ......................................................... 59 REVIEWS ............................................................................................. 59 EDITOR’S NOTE...................................................................................60 INTERVIEW: SAM WASSON .............................................................74 INTERVIEW: P. CARL ......................................................................... 80 children’s INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ........................................................107 REVIEWS ............................................................................................107 EDITOR’S NOTE................................................................................. 108 INTERVIEW: HANNAH SALYER .....................................................124 INTERVIEW: TONYA BOLDEN ........................................................128 EASTER & PASSOVER PICTURE BOOKS ........................................ 153 young adult INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ....................................................... 158 REVIEWS ........................................................................................... 158 EDITOR’S NOTE................................................................................. 160 INTERVIEW: JULEAH DEL ROSARIO.............................................164 Sayantani DasGupta triumphantly con- INTERVIEW: FRED ACEVES ........................................................... 168 cludes the adventures of Kiranmala and indie the Kingdom Beyond with a thoughtful, INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ....................................................... 176 passionate, and funny trilogy closer. Read REVIEWS ........................................................................................... 176 EDITOR’S NOTE................................................................................. 178 the review on p. 120. INTERVIEW: JUDITH MOFFETT ..................................................... 184 Don’t wait on the mail for reviews! You can read pre-publication reviews as they are released on kirkus.com—even before they are published in the magazine. .................................................................................198 SEEN & HEARD You can also access the current issue and back issues of Kirkus Reviews on our APPRECIATIONS: THOMAS PYNCHON’S VINELAND .................199 website by logging in as a subscriber. If you do not have a username or password, please contact customer care to set up your account by calling 1.800.316.9361 or emailing [email protected]. | kirkus.com | contents | 1 february 2020 | 3 fiction These titles earned the Kirkus Star: AFTERLIFE Alvarez, Julia Algonquin (272 pp.) AFTERLIFE by Julia Alvarez ............................................................... 4 $25.95 | Apr. 7, 2020 978-1-64375-025-5 GODSHOT by Chelsea Bieker ................................................................7 STARLING DAYS