More sun and more heat – I am very grateful for air conditioning. Himself continues to work on his trees and on projects around the house going for bike rides in the early morning to beat the heat. This is the first year we are not watching The Tour de France as Himself is too disappointed with the doping situation to have more interest than checking occasionally on-line. The absence of the tour makes this a very different July. It was a sad week for us also as my mom’s mastiff, Yogi Bear, passed away. I have loved everyone of her mastiffs but Yogi was my best bud. Sigh. I did finish At Mrs. Lippincote’s by Elizabeth Taylor and Little Sinners and Other Stories by Karen Brown so I did have good reading this week.
Here is what caught my interest this week:
I have really enjoyed Vishy’s series on reading French Literature and now have to add another book from his reviews to my reading list. Patrick Modiano is a prolific and prize winning French novelist and Missing Person is his 6th novel. Guy Roland was given his name and life ten years earlier by the head of a French detective agency and he has decided to try and find out who he is and where he is from. The novel is set in post-war Paris, so Guy is digging through the tangled history of the occupation. I absolutely love the quotes Vishy includes in his review – the writing has that spare, evocative quality I really enjoy. I looked at Amazon to see what else the author has available and unfortunately not much of his work is available in the United States. Even so, I am also keeping an eye out for Dora Bruder (or The Search Warrant) as I loved the premise of this as well.
We actually have a family friend that unknowingly married a bigamist. Her wedding and the subsequent fallout of her realization of the truth was one of the dramas of my childhood so The War of the Wives sounds like it would be a great read. Reviewed by Leeswamme ‘s blog, this is the second novel by Tamar Cohen. Simon Busfield dies unexpectedly in London (he is suppose to be in Saudi Arabia) and at his funeral, appear two wives, both shocked by the appearance of the other. Now lives need to be sorted out, relationships (there are new sibling relationships), as well as the mystery of how and why Simon dies. This sounds like a great travel read.
Finally, thanks to The Literary Omnivore, I found this marvelous essay by Ross Gay so pertinent in the light of what is happening in our country. I highly recommend it.
Happy reading!
Reflections from the Hinterland 
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