Mothers, Daughters, and Desperate Performances in “My Phantoms” – Chicago Review of Books

Mothers, Daughters, and Desperate Performances in “My Phantoms” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] I first came across Gwendoline Riley’s work via Andy Miller’s glowing recommendation on his podcast Backlisted, in which he praises My Phantoms, her latest novel, as “a page-turning discomfort read.” And it is uncomfortable. It’s also darkly funny and incisive. But perhaps the word that best describes it is cold. Over the course of … Read more

Fables for Our Time in Maya Sonenberg’s “Bad Mothers, Bad Daughters” – Chicago Review of Books

Fables for Our Time in Maya Sonenberg’s “Bad Mothers, Bad Daughters” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In her essay “Fairy Tale Is Form, Form Is Fairy Tale,” Kate Bernheimer balks at critics who pan fairy tales, fabulism, and other genres where magic insinuates itself in everyday experience. Bernheimer instead points out that the fairy tale’s grimness and infinite possibilities energize even writers of literary realism and every fiber of their … Read more