Briar Patch Books

Tag: contemporary literary fiction

  • War is hell, and it has lessons for us

    Paul O’Connor takes a look at what he considers an  outstanding novel,  set during  the war that turned Yugoslavia into a hell on earth in 1992. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor. BLACK BUTTERFLIES. By Priscilla Morris. Alfred A. Knopf. 278 pages, $28, hardcover. For those old enough to remember the 1984 Winter Olympics, the thought…

  • Let the stories be heard

    Bob Moyer reviews the latest —  and could it be the last? — novel by Julia Alvarez, a distinguished author who, though born in New York, spent much of her childhood in the Dominican Republic. THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES. By Julia Alvarez. Algonquin Books. 227 pages. $28. With a blend of family drama, magical…

  • Learning to fly

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF LOVE. By Elizabeth J. Church. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. 333 pages. $25.95. Meridian Wallace’s father, a high-school teacher, died when she was 11, but not before he had instilled in her a love for learning and a determination to succeed. Her widowed mother worked hard…