Measured Violence in “Wild Houses”

Measured Violence in "Wild Houses"

[ad_1] The real world doesn’t deliver adversity in novel-sized chapters. Rarely do we enjoy perfect hindsight or the ability to glean meaning from violence or misfortune. In that sense, the unforgiving Ireland of Colin Barrett’s new novel, Wild Houses, feels uncomfortably familiar in its complexity and matter-of-fact ruthlessness.  Barrett accomplishes much with an economy of … Read more

The Crushing Weight of Negative Space in “Seven Empty Houses” – Chicago Review of Books

The Crushing Weight of Negative Space in “Seven Empty Houses” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Each of the seven stories in Samanta Schweblin’s collection Seven Empty Houses engages with the subject of significant absence in ways that are distinct, while fitting easily beneath the same thematic umbrella. Characters search for missing people, objects, and pieces of themselves. Certain losses documented in these stories can never be recouped, yet each … Read more