No, that title isn’t a typo. It just reflects the fact that this lit lover can’t help but love Lit Lover, the book review site for book clubs trying to find just the right read. After all, how can an author resist a book site that not only names her novel a “new book to watch” along with books by Kate Atkinson, TC Boyle, and Alice Hoffman, but places it in their “wonderfully written” category? In fact, how can an author resist a site that actually has a “wonderfully written” category? I love critics and readers who want more than mere plot, who also want and notice and celebrate good writing.
The entire review is here, but here’s the takeaway:
Funny though it is—and it is often very funny—Mitchell tackles serious cosmic issues, ranging from the meaning or meaninglessness of life, acausal time (all events are random), coincidence vs. synchronicity, and the burden of history—how ghosts from the past continue to haunt the living….
This is a brilliant, tender book about tragedy that can erupt not only on a world scale but in everyday life. Yet the story is also about the consolations of deeply felt love. The Alter sisters are enchanting, and so is Mitchell’s wonderful novel.