1. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
This book is special—it is so profound and powerful. Based on a multi-generational epic the characters in this novel will stay with you long after you have finished reading. Erdrich is a deep and compassionate observer of human nature; her prose is intelligent, wise but also touchingly beautiful. From identity to memory, from nature to social inequality, the issues she deals with are very close to my heart. I have huge respect for Erdrich.
2. A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman
I have read this novel with deep admiration and afterward, I listened to the audiobook, which is read so beautifully by the author herself. It’s fabulous. Winman has that special talent where, in the scope of a single story, she can break your heart into tiny pieces and mend it back again and fill it with hope in humanity. The old woman, Marvellous, is a remarkable character. This story deals with tough subjects, including grief, trauma, and depression, but it is ultimately life-affirming, magical.
3. Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann
I have read this book years ago, and then recently read it again. It is such an extraordinary novel, multilayered, teeming with life and beauty. It is told through different perspectives, shifting realities or perceptions. It is a dazzling portrait of a city—New York in the 1970s— as much as it is about the intertwined stories of people who are struggling and surviving under its immense skies.
I love this book and I have recommended it to so many people. Anyone who has experienced displacement or migration, anyone who has ever struggled with the complexity of belonging and non-belonging, exile, homesickness or loneliness, should definitely read this novel. It is stunning, deeply moving. Habila is a great storyteller.
Sisterhood—that’s the word I’d use to describe this utterly wonderful novel. It is about women and power and resistance and rebellion and freedom. This book has so much chutzpah, wisdom, passion that it will change the way you look at history, which is, and has been for too long, read and understood as “his-story.” Groff’s writing is captivating.
