A Conversation with Sarah Blakley-Cartwright about “Alice Sadie Celine” – Chicago Review of Books

A Conversation with Sarah Blakley-Cartwright about “Alice Sadie Celine” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Sadie and Alice have been best friends since high school and now live on opposite ends of California. When budding actress Alice comes back to the Bay Area to perform in a basement-theater production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, she expects reliable Sadie to attend opening night. But her friend has special plans of … Read more

Ambivalent Comfort in “The Loneliness Files” – Chicago Review of Books

Ambivalent Comfort in “The Loneliness Files” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Athena Dixon is lonely. A middle-aged single woman without children or pets, she lives alone and works remotely, more than 350 miles from her family. In The Loneliness Files, a thought-provoking memoir in essays, she explores the many facets of her solitude and what they lead her to understand about herself and the world … Read more

An Interview with Michelle Wildgen About “Wine People” – Chicago Review of Books

An Interview with Michelle Wildgen About “Wine People” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In Wine People, Michelle Wildgen dives into the rich and ruthless business of wine via the dueling perspectives of two young women working for a Manhattan importer.  While steely, pragmatic Wren learns the nuances of wine buying from her quixotic mentor, Sonoma-bred Thessaly prides herself on delivering top sales numbers alongside an eclectic cast … Read more

Life, Unmothered, in “Acceptance” – Chicago Review of Books

Life, Unmothered, in “Acceptance” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In the first chapter of her memoir, Acceptance, Emi Nietfeld reconnects with her estranged mother. Nietfeld, a young software engineer living in New York City, is about to get married, and her mother’s arrival to meet the new in-laws threatens the tenuously peaceful life Nietfeld has built for herself. Her mother, a former crime-scene … Read more

An Interview with Kelly McMasters on “The Leaving Season” – Chicago Review of Books

An Interview with Kelly McMasters on “The Leaving Season” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In the central pages of The Leaving Season, Kelly McMasters decides to leave her marriage. Together with her husband, a painter, she had moved from New York City to rural Pennsylvania to enjoy a slower pace of life, start a family, and later open a bookshop. The decision to leave upends it all. In … Read more