The Literary Fiction Shelf

The Fawn
Magda Szabo, author
Len Rix, translator
New York Review of Books
www.nybooks.com
9781681377377, $17.95, PB, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fawn-Magda-Szab%C3%B3/dp/1681377373

Synopsis: Eszter, is an only child whose father an eccentric aristocrat and=
steeply downwardly mobile flower breeder. Her mother a harried music teach=
er failing to make ends meet. So Eszter grows up poor and painfully aware o=
f it in a small provincial Hungarian town.

All this is before World War II, and Eszter, as she tells her story of chil= dhood loneliness and hunger, has forgotten no slight and forgiven nobody, l= east of all her beautiful classmate Angela, whose unforced kindness to her = left the deepest wound.

And yet Eszter, post-war (which is when she has come to remember all these = things) is a star of the stage, now settled in Budapest, where Angela, a de= vout Communist married to an esteemed scholar and translator of Shakespeare=
, also lives.

"The Fawn" unfolds as Eszter's confession, filled with the rage of a lifeti=
me and born, we come to sense, of irreversible regret. This is a tale of ch= ildhood, of the theater, of the collateral damage of the riven twentieth ce= ntury, of hatred, and, in the end, a tragic tale of love.

Critique: In "The Door", in "Iza's Ballad", and in "Abigail", the late auth=
or Magda Szabo describes the complex relationships between women of differe=
nt ages and backgrounds with an astute and unsparing eye. Now Eszter, the n= arrator and protagonist of "The Fawn", may well be Szabo's most fascinating=
literary creation. A fascinating, original, and eloquently crafted novel t= hat is deftly translated into English by Len Rix for an American readership=
, "The Fawn" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community, coll= ege, and university library Literary Fiction collections. It should be note=
d for personal reading lists that "The Fawn" is also available in a digital=
book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note #1: Magda Szabo (October 5, 1917 - November 19, 2007) is con= sidered one of Hungary's greatest novelists. Her novels, dramas, essays, an=
d poetry have been published in forty-two countries and in 2003 she was awa= rded the Prix Femina etranger for The Door. The NYRB Classics edition of Th=
e Door was selected as one of the The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2015.=
NYRB Classics also publishes Szabo's novels Iza's Ballad, Katalin Street, = and Abigail. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magda_Szab%C3%B3)

Editorial Note #2: Len Rix (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Rix) is a poe=
t, critic, and former literature professor. In 2006, he was awarded the Oxf= ord-Weidendfeld Translation Prize for his translation of Magda Szabo's The = Door.

Al-Qata'i: Ibn Tulun's City Without Walls
Reem Bassiouney, author
Roger Allen, translator
Georgetown University Press
3240 Prospect Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
www.press.georgetown.edu
9781647122874, $29.95, HC, 456pp

https://www.amazon.com/Al-Qatai-Tuluns-City-Without-Walls/dp/1647122872

Synopsis: Brimming with intrigue, adventure, and romance, with the publicat= ion of "Al-Qata'i: Ibn Tulun's City Without Walls", novelist Reem Bassioune=
y tells the epic story of visionary Egyptian leader Ahmad Ibn Tulun who bui=
lt Al-Qata'i (now Cairo) into a thriving multicultural empire.

The story begins with the rediscovery of the Ibn Tulun Mosque in 1918 and r= ecounts Ibn Tulun's life and legacy in the ninth and tenth centuries. Bassi= ouney presents Ibn Tulun's benevolent vision to unify all Egyptians in a ne=
w city, Al-Qata'i. He becomes so focused on his vision, however, that he ca= nnot see the impact it has on his family or the fate of Egypt. When a betra= yal leads to his demise, the rival Abbasid caliph threatens to regain contr=
ol of Al-Qata'i. In the aftermath of Ibn Tulun's death, his daughter Aisha = emerges as a pivotal figure, bravely taking a stand against the Abbasids to=
preserve her life, the city, and the iconic mosque.

Critique: Reem Bassiouney is a contemporary and gifted Egyptian author that=
has his enthralled readers considering such universal themes as diversity = and equality as viewed through historical and intercultural lenses that mak=
e his historical work of fiction one that will enrich his reader's understa= nding of these same issues as are presented in the contemporary world of to= day. Ably translated from Arabic into English for an American readership by=
Roger Allen, "Al-Qata'i: Ibn Tulun's City Without Walls" is especially and=
unreservedly recommended for community and academic library Literary Ficti=
on collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of anyone=
with an interest in Ancient History/Romance fiction that "Al-Qata'i: Ibn T= ulun's City Without Walls" is also available in a digital book format (Kind= le, $22.49).

Editorial Note #1: Reem Bassiouney (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reem_Bass= iouney) is an Egyptian author living in Cairo. She won the Naguib Mahfouz A= ward for best Egyptian novel for Sons of the People: The Mamluk Trilogy. Sh=
e also won the 2009 Sawiris Foundation Literary Prize for Young Writers and=
the 2009 King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Translation =
of Arabic Literature Award.

Editorial Note: Roger Allen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Allen_(tra= nslator)) is an Arabic literature scholar and translator. He is credited wi=
th bringing Naguib Mahfouz to international recognition.

Crimes of the Tongue
Alicia Gaspar de Alba
Arte Publico Press
www.artepublicopress.com
9781558859579, $19.95, PB, 232pp

https://artepublicopress.com/product/crimes-of-the-tongue-essays-and-storie=
s

Synopsis: Border dwellers struggle with place and identity in the short fic= tion comprising author Alicia Gaspar de Alba's short story collection "Crim=
es of the Tongue".

An El Paso-born American citizen with a high school diploma and a talent fo=
r writing seeks a job as a reporter at the El Paso Herald after World War I=
, but gets hired as a janitor and research specialist instead.

A Mexican woman takes her young daughter north to protect her from sexual a= buse, only to leave the girl with relatives while she crosses the river in = search of a job and a new life.

A college student gets a Tarot reading to help her discern the historical s= ymbolism of her bicultural identity.

In her stories Alicia explores other "crimes of the tongue" in these essays=
showcasing pochismo, or the mixing of English and Spanish, as both a famil=
y taboo and a politics of identity; the haunting memory of La Llorona, prot= ector of undocumented immigrants and abandoned children, and her blood-curd= ling cry of loss and revenge; the intersection of the personal and the poli= tical in the transgressive work of Chicana/Latina artists; the sexual and l= inguistic rebellions of La Malinche and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz; and the = reverse coyote, or border crossing, of Chicana lesbian feminist theory tran= slated into Spanish and visual art as a way of sneaking this counterhegemon=
ic pocha poetic thought into Mexico.

These essays and stories are always intellectually rigorous and often achin= gly personal.

Critique: Fascinating, original, memorable, entertaining, thought-provoking=
, "Crimes of the Tongue" Essays and Stories" by Alicia Gaspar de Alba will =
be of particular appeal to readers with an interest in the art of the essay=
and LGBTQ issues. "Crimes of the Tongue" is especially and unreservedly re= commended for personal, community, college, and university library Contempo= rary Literary Fiction collections and reading lists.

Critique: Alicia Gaspar de Alba (https://aliciagaspardealba.com) has won nu= merous awards for her fiction, poetry and essays, including the American As= sociation of Hispanics in Higher Education Book Award for [Un]Framing the "= Bad Woman" (2015), the El Paso Community College Literary Legacy Award (201= 4), the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery for Desert Blood (20= 05), the Latino Literary Hall of Fame Award for Best Historical Fiction for=
Sor Juana's Second Dream (2000) and the Rudolfo and Patricia Anaya Premio = Aztl n for Emerging Chicano/a Fiction Writers (1994). She has published mor=
e than a dozen books with mainstream, academic and independent presses. She=
has been a professor of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, English an=
d Gender Studies at UCLA since 1994.

Hollyland
Patricia Leavy
She Writes Press
www.shewritespress.com
9781647422967, $17.95, PB, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Hollyland-Novel-Patricia-Leavy/dp/1647422965

Synopsis: What happens when a seemingly ordinary woman with a passion for t=
he arts falls in love with a Hollywood star known for his bachelor status a=
nd quick temper with the paparazzi?

Something extraordinary.

Dee Schwartz is a writer and arts researcher. Ryder Field is a famous actor=
descended from Hollywood royalty. On the night they meet outside a bar, th= eir connection is palpable. Ryder's mother (legendary actress Rebecca Field=
, half of Hollywood's golden couple when she died) was kidnapped and murder=
ed by a crazed fan in a shocking event that forever tarnished Tinseltown.

Dee's mother, too, died when she was young. Bonded by this loss, the two em= bark on a love story that explores their search for magic (or "gold dust") =
in their lives. Everything changes, however, when Dee mysteriously disappea=
rs after an awards ceremony. Is history repeating itself? Can there truly b=
e a happily ever after in Hollywood?

Critique: Written with the kind of eloquence associated with award winning = literary fiction, "Hollyland" by Patricia Leavy is told against the backdro=
p of contemporary Los Angeles, An impressively poignant, laudably original,=
and thoroughly entertaining novel that moves fluidly between romance, humo=
r, suspense, and joy, "Hollyland" is one of those stories that will linger =
in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set=
back upon the shelf. While highly recommended for personal reading lists a=
nd community/academic library Literary Fiction collections, it should be no= ted for fans of contemporary romance and romantic suspense that "Hollyland"=
is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.49).

Editorial Note: Patricia Leavy (www.patricialeavy.com) was formerly an Asso= ciate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and F= ounding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published = more than forty books; her work has been translated into many languages, an=
d she has received more than forty book honors. She has also received caree=
r awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creati= vity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the Intern= ational Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Ass= ociation. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women's Hall of Fame and=
SUNY-New Paltz established the "Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Ju= stice".

Dioramas
Blair Austin
Dzanc Books
https://www.dzancbooks.org
9781950539758, $16.95, PB, 310pp

https://www.amazon.com/Dioramas-Blair-Austin/dp/195053975X

Synopsis: In a city far in the future, in a society that has come through a=
great upheaval, retired lecturer Wiggins moves from window to window in a = museum, intricately describing each scene. Whales gliding above a shipwreck=
and a lost cup and saucer. An animatronic forest twenty stories tall. urba=
n wolves in the light of an apartment building. A line of mosquitoes in uni= forms and regalia, honored as heroes of the last great war.

Bit by bit, Wiggins unspools the secrets of his world -- the conflict that = brought it to the brink, and the great thinker, Michaux, who led the dioram=
a revolution, himself now preserved under glass.

After a phone call in the middle of the night, Wiggins sets out to visit th=
e Diorama of the Town: an entire, dioramic world, hundreds of miles across,=
where people are objects of curiosity, taxidermied and posed. All his life=
, Wiggins has longed to see it. But in the Town, he comes face to face with=
the diorama's contradictions. Its legacy of political violence. Its manipu= lation by those with power and money. And its paper-thin promise of immorta= lity.

Critique: "Dioramas" by author Blair Austin is a kind of hybrid novel -- pa=
rt essay, part prose poem, part travel narrative. Original, imaginative, ex= ceptionally well written, and an inherently interesting read, and particula= rly impressive when considering that this is Austin's debut as a novelist, = "Dioramas" will have a very special appeal to readers with an interest in d= eftly crafted dystopian fiction. While highly recommended for community and=
academic library Science Fiction and Literary Fiction collections, it shou=
ld be noted for personal reading lists that 'Dioramas" is also available in=
a digital book format (Kindle, $9.49).

Editorial Note: A former correctional librarian, Blair Austin (https://www.= youtube.com) was born in Michigan and attended the Helen Zell Writers' Prog= ram, where the seed novel for Dioramas won a Hopwood Award.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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