Fiction: Two for 2023

When I get multiple recommendations from readers I trust for a book by an author whose books I have loved, I go for it. Geraldine Brooks' novel Horse is a case in point. I especially loved People of the Book, with its reverse chronological timeline. This latest novel moves back and forth between the South during the slavery era and current Washington D.C. In present day, the two main characters are Theo, a Nigerian American  studying historical equestrian art, and Jess, a scientist at the Smithsonian who becomes aware of the skeleton of an important race horse stored in the institution's attic. 

In the back story, Jarrett is an enslaved son of a freed black horse trainer who forms a special bond with a horse he has known from its birth. The narrative delves into the politics of race and horse breeding across centuries. As readers discover in the epilogue, Brooks based the story on fact, particularly the racehorse Lexington, which went on to be one of the nation's most prolific sires.

I also learned a lot about equestrian artists of the day, preserving for posterity what would eventually be accomplished by photography. Through her characters, Brooks presents the complicated and many layered perspectives on race, slavery, war, and ultimately, human nature.

Another book that surprised me this past year was R. F. Kuang's novel Yellowface. If I were teaching a literature survey course, this novel would give me the ideal example of an unreliable narrator. The story opens with June Hayward, an aspiring writer yet to achieve the success for which she longs. After a dinner with her former classmate, rising star Athena Liu, she is invited to go back to Athena's apartment, where she discovers that her peer is not only achieving fame for her current publication, but she has a completed manuscript in her office. 

Early spoiler alert: When Athena chokes to death in her presence, June can't avoid the temptation to take the manuscript for herself. The drama that develops as she convinces even herself that the edited work is her own is heightened as she is challenged both anonymously on social media and directly, particularly by those who accuse her of appropriating the story of Chinese laborers in World War I. That she allows her editor to convince her to use her first and middle name, Juniper Song, falsely suggested Asian roots, further complicates the plot. As June takes actions that make readers squirm, thinking, "Surely not!" she becomes increasingly delusional and paranoid. Kuang's story may add to the dialogue about who has the right to tell what story, but at its core, the story is a psychological thriller as well.

Fiction: Two for 2023