Good evening!
Happy Grand National weekend to all who observe. One of my favourite reads of the year so far has been Kathryn Scanlan’s Kick The Latch, which I very much urge you to read if you have strong feelings on horse racing in either direction. In any case, let’s hope for nice weather, and for one of my horses to come in.
What I’ve been reading this week and what I think about it
I read an advanced copy of Kathryn Bromwich’s At the Edge of the Woods this week, which is out in June this year. I don’t actually know if it will get a UK release, as this was sent to me by Bromwich’s agent via the US press Two Dollar Radio. I hope it does because I really enjoyed it -- although it is inevitable that I would like a novel set in the woods, about a woman who lives alone (because I love the woods, and I love living alone).
At The Edge of the Woods takes the trope that is very common in all kinds of communities, of one person who lives by themselves as is seen as some kind of social pariah because they don’t interact with other people very often, and live in a house that other people would not feel comfortable in. It’s very common for Gothic or Horror stories to centre around a group of people -- usually children -- who dare each other to go close to a certain house in their street or town because the person in it is rumoured to be a witch or murderer or something of that nature. This novel is told from the perspective of a woman who becomes that figure, but it doesn’t fall into cliched traps, which I appreciated.
It is set in Italy in an unspecified time in the past, which made me think of Amina Cain’s Indelicacy (2020) -- a book that very much leans into a vague setting and time. ‘The past’ in Bromwich’s novel therefore takes on a kind of elastic tendency, in which some things feel recognisable and others take on a fairy tale element. This plays into the Gothic elements of the text, which very much centre on uncertainty and the indefinite.
I won’t talk too much about the plot because it takes some neat and surprising turns that I wouldn’t want to ruin, but I will say that it is a very good look at how people become ostracised, and the terms that communities treat them under. Specifically, this is a look at how women become social outsiders, and how, when they don’t act in certain capacities (as part of a family unit, for example, or being open when called upon to speak) they are rejected. On a more positive note, this is also a very good ode to how living in close connection to nature and as a single person is a very enriching experience. There are elements of eco-Gothic in this which I also really enjoyed.
I am about half way through Dorothy Parker’s collected short stories and sketches, and am very much having a great time with them. Dorothy Parker is perhaps best known for her story ‘Big Blonde’ (1929), as well as the screenplay for the original film of A Star is Born. She was also one of the people who were banned from Hollywood after being found to have leftist sympathies, which is a very big interest of mine.
What is quite amazing about Parker is how cohesive she is. She is very much concerned with unhappiness in domestic and social settings, and how men and women speak to each other. Even in her earliest stories, this is a strong focus, although you can see how she develops her writing style when you read them all together. She writes speech incredibly well, catching its strangeness really well, as well as how people come to misunderstand one another. She also writes jealousy in a wonderful way, showing how quickly someone can become annoyed at their spouse or the person they like when they mention a certain thing or person.
I’ll write more extensively about her when I finish the collection, but for now I’ll leave you with this paragraph that is so perfectly formed I made a noise when I read it:
You know what I like about this place? It’s got atmosphere. That’s what it’s got. If you would ask the waiter to bring a fairly sharp knife, I could cut off a nice little block of the atmosphere, to take home with me. It would be interesting to have for my memory book. I’m going to start keeping a memory book tomorrow. Don’t let me forget.
Books on my radar
I ordered Larry McMurty’s Lonesome Dove (1985) in the mail, and was surprised at how long it is when it arrived. I’m actually kind of glad, as I love an immersive novel and I understand that it is very immersive, and worth the page count.