Books to Get You Thinking

For over fifty years, the Booker Prize has been awarded annually for outstanding literary works of fiction penned in the English language. The award process starts with a limited number of nominations submitted by publishers, from which a panel comprising several literary icons make selections for the Booker Longlist. The much-anticipated Longlist, comprising thirteen works of fiction, was announced earlier in July. What is fascinating is the large number of debut novels and women authors that feature in the selections this year. A shortlist from this collection is expected in September and the final winner of the Booker Prize will be announced during a ceremony on October 27th. Speaking about the thirteen books in the Booker Longlist, Margaret Busby, Chair of the 2020 panel of judges, eloquently says:

“Each of these books carries an impact that has earned it a place on the longlist, deserving of wide readership. Included are novels carried by the sweep of history with memorable characters brought to life and given visibility, novels that represent a moment of cultural change, or the pressures an individual faces in pre- and post-dystopian society. Some of the books focus on interpersonal relationships that are complex, nuanced, emotionally charged. There are voices from minorities often unheard, stories that are fresh, bold and absorbing. The best fiction enables the reader to relate to other people’s lives; sharing experiences that we could not ourselves have imagined is as powerful as being able to identify with characters.”

From the Booker Longlist, here is a selection of titles, all of them available at the Mercer County Library!

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

This is the third and final book in the author’s trilogy on Thomas Cromwell. It follows Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, both of which have already won the Booker Prize. The previous volumes follow the phenomenal rise of Thomas Cromwell from his humble beginnings as the son of a blacksmith to his appointment as the trusted courtier and closest advisor to King Henry VIII. Cromwell had a powerful influence on the entire political landscape of the Tudor era. Richly detailed and meticulously researched, this brilliant finale of the trilogy closes in on the last four years of Cromwell’s life, the period between 1536 to 1540, one of the most turbulent times in English history. Hilary Mantel vividly portrays the complexities and multiple facets of Thomas Cromwell’s thinking and personality, his fierce ambition and political prowess that helped propel him to the highest echelons of power. In the end, the very same forces placed him on a perilous path of political manipulation that proved his ultimate undoing. Cromwell resorted to ruthless and vicious tactics to remove obstacles from the king’s path. His role in the execution of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, came back to haunt him and earned him powerful political foes. His Reformist policies and the abolishing of monasteries propelled rebellions against him, and the common people he was trying to help did not share his religious views. A historical novel that encompasses one of England’s most powerful figures and tempestuous times which, in the skilled hands of its author, stays gripping and, while true to its time, feels like the present.

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Kiley Reid’s debut novel is a satire that explores a range of complex themes including race, class, privilege, and friendship in contemporary America. Set in Philadelphia, the central figure in the book is Elmira Tucker, a twenty-five-year-old Black woman with a recent college degree, still struggling to find her passion. While trying to figure out her career trajectory, she starts working as a part-time typist and takes up another part time job baby sitting at the house of Alix Chamberlain. Alix is 33 years old, a high-profile social media influencer with progressive ideas and a popular Instagram based female empowerment campaign, Let Her Speak. Married to a newscaster, she has two little girls, three-year-old Briar and a baby, Catherine. This fast-paced plot is set in motion when one night, Elmira takes young Briar to an upscale supermarket. In a classic case of racial profiling, seeing a white child with a Black woman she is accosted and interrogated by a security guard and is released only when Briar’s dad arrives at the scene. The incident is filmed by a bystander and later released. Through an intricate plot, the author speaks in the voices of both Elmira and Alix, highlighting in subtle ways how race, and economic and social backgrounds shape the unique mindset of each woman and ultimately determine their relationship and how they see each other.

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

In her fifty years of authoring books and short stories, Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Taylor has carved a unique niche for herself – with her keen sense of observation and empathy, her novels uniquely portray the minds and hearts of ordinary people. The central figure of this narrative is Micah Mortimer, a forty-year-old man who lives by himself, with no family or friends, in the basement of an apartment building in Baltimore. As its superintendent, he does odd jobs around the building, changing broken bulbs and switches, and rolling out the trash cans into the alley. During the day he is a self- employed “Tech Hermit”, driving around in his car helping fix computers for clients who are mostly elderly people. Micah’s life is a strictly regimented one - he has fixed hours for everything, starting from his morning run at 7: 15am each day to each of his household chores. He does have a woman friend Cass, but their relationship too is confined within strict boundaries. Micah’s organized life starts to unravel when his friend Cass is threatened with eviction and then breaks off with him. Micah faces yet another upheaval when he finds, on his doorstep, the son of an old college girlfriend who believes Micah is his father. These two events bring to the surface the innermost thoughts and emotions of a man whose life, in many ways, can be considered unremarkable but through them the author brings to the surface universal truths of human nature.

- by Nita Mathur, West Windsor Branch