Unspeakable Things
By Kathleen Spivack
Knopf
ISBN: 978-0-385-35396-0
Adult/Literary
304 pages
Contact Reviewer: HoJoNews@aol.com
A New Author That Shines
and Sighs on the Literary Horizon
Reviewed by Carolyn
Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning series of HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for
writers.
The title of Unspeakable Things by Kathleen Spivack isn’t misleading. Don’t fool
yourself into believing this book will be an upper—at least not in terms of
your mood. Unless, of course, your mood is positively affected by beautiful
language, unusual plotlines, and any tendency toward daring literature.
The language is this book reaches poetic
heights that will thrill those who speak English, breaks new ground in the
genre of magical realism and it does it all within the boundaries of difficult
themes like immigration, survival and pedophilia and spins on the recognition
of the destructive underbelly of secrets kept.
I adore Spivack’s literary skills.
I hope she takes on something that will appeal to a broader audience in the
near future (though I urge readers to stretch a bit and try this one, too!) Having
said that, even if you think this book isn’t your cup of tea, track Spivack’s
literary progress. She is a not-to-be missed new star that shines and sighs on
the literary horizon.
MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of the award-winning fiction This is the Place ,and Harkening, a book of creative nonfiction
short stories. Her newer efforts, Here’s
How I Don’t Cook and This Land
Divided, are being shopped by agent Terrie Wolf. Howard-Johnson is also the
author of fifteen books and chapbooks of poetry including her most recent Imperfect Echoes (http://bit.ly/ImperfectEchoes),
that was recently honored by USA Book News.
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
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