A Gate at the Stairs

Lorrie Moore’s coming-of-age story follows Tassie Keltjin, a daughter of an eccentric Midwest farmer, who leaves her home to study at the university town of Troy. Whilst there, she becomes the nanny to an older couple, Sarah, a chef, and Edward, a lecturer.

Moore succeeds in making Tassie an interesting and sympathetic heroine, and I found myself sympathising with her on many occasions. She also manages to make enough subtle hints that all is not quite perfect in the life of Sarah and Edward, something that goes beyond the fact that they have had to adopt their baby.

I also enjoyed the more descriptive passages of the novel, the descriptions of the street on which Sarah and Edward live on the changing seasons, how little phrases can recall flashbacks to Tassie’s childhood on the farm.

My issue with this novel, however, is the fact that there seem to be many different themes all vying for attention. I think that Moore’s intention was to give a snapshot of the many issues facing America today-racism, adoption, education, fundamental religion, terrorism, war-yet for me, none of these themes felt really wholly developed enough. Whilst they were all touched on nicely, it felt at times that Moore had a little too much to say, and not enough room to discuss it properly. Surprising really, considering she is best known as a short-story author.

Overall, I did quite enjoy this book. There were some wonderfully poignant moments, for instance, the scene with the archived email, really got to me as an older sister to a younger brother. Yet, I think with all the hype surrounding it, I was a little disappointed.

Holiday Reading

(Stupid bad quality photo)

These are the books I'm taking with me to Spain. 14 days. 6 books. These have all been out for some time, but I'm catching up. and they should be wonderful.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Mexico, 1935. Harrison Shepherd is working in the household of famed muralist Diego Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo. Sometimes cook, sometimes secretary, Shepherd is always an observer, recording his experiences in diaries and notebooks. When exiled Bolshevik leader Lev Trotsky arrives, Shepherd inadvertently casts in his lot with art and revolution and his aim for an invisible life is thwarted forever.

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Twenty-year-old Tassie Keltjin yearns to escape her provincial home. She moves to the college town of Troy to start university and takes a job as a part time nanny to a glamorous couple. Tassie is drawn into their life and that of their newly adopted toddler. As the household reveals its complications, Tassie is forced out of her naivety, and the past and future burst forth in dramatic and shocking ways.

The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
One night in London, Irina McGovern's destiny hinges on a single kiss. Whether she leans into one alluring pair of lips will determine whether she stays with her long-term partner Lawrence or runs off with Ramsey, a hard-living snooker player.
A parallel-universe structure allows us to follow Irina's competing futures with two drastically different men. An intellectual and fellow American, Lawrence is smart and supportive, but rigid and emotionally withdrawn. A British celebrity, Ramsey is passionate and spontaneous, but jealous, undereducated and prone to pick fights. Irina's choice of partner will have ramifications for her relations with friends and family, for her career, and, most importantly, for the texture of her daily life.
If all love is about trade-offs-if every romantic prospect is flawed-how can we ever know which to choose?

The Other Hand by Chris Cleave
This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice. Two years later, they meet again-the story starts there...

The Children's Book by AS Byatt
Famous author Olive Wellwood writes a special private book, bound in different colours for each of her children. In their rambling house near Romney Marsh they play in a story-book world-but their lives, and those of their rich cousins and friends, the son and daughter of curator at the new Victoria & Albert Museum, are already inscribed with mystery. Each family carries its own secrets.
They grow up in the golden summers of Edwardian times, but as the sons rebel against their parents and the girls dream of independant futures, they are unaware that in the darkness ahead they will be betrayed unintentionally by the adults who love them.

As you can tell, I don't really do light holiday reading. But this book is the exception. hey it was free:

I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk
Fleeing her cheating boyfriend and clutching little more than a crumpled bridesmaid dress, a pair of Louboutins and her passport, Angela jumps on a plane-destination NYC.
Holed up in a cute hotel room, Angela gets a New York makeover from her NBF Jenny and a whirlwind tour of the city that never sleeps. Before she knows it, Angela is dating two sexy guys. And, best of all, she gets to write about in her new blog (Carrie Bradshaw eat your heart out). But it's one thing telling readers about you romantic dilemmas, it's another figuring them out for yourself.
Angela has fallen head over heels for the Big Apple, but does she heart New York more than home?