Review by New York Times Review
LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, by Celeste Ng. (Penguin Press, $27.) The magic of Ng's second novel, which opens with arson and centers on an interracial adoption, lies in its power to implicate every character - and likely many readers - in the innocent delusion that "no one sees race here." DEFIANCE: The Extraordinary Life of Lady Anne Barnard, by Stephen Taylor. (Norton, $28.95.) Over the course of Taylor's biography, a picture emerges of Lady Anne Barnard as a cleareyed yet self-doubting woman determined to live life on her own terms even as she worried about her right to set those terms. AT THE STRANGERS' GATE: Arrivals in New York, by Adam Gopnik. (Knopf, $26.95.) In his new memoir, Gopnik recalls the decade after he and his soon-to-be wife moved from Montreal to New York, in 1980. Always the elegant stylist, he effortlessly weaves in the city's cultural history, tracing his path from graduate student in art history to staff writer for The New Yorker. HOME FIRE, by Kamila Shamsie. (Riverhead, $26.) In a challenging and engrossing novel full of tiny but resonant details, two families find their fates entwined when a young man travels to Syria to join ISIS, following in the steps of the jihadist father he never really knew. BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD, by Attica Locke. (Mulholland/ Little, Brown, $26.) This murder mystery follows Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger, as he tries to solve a dual killing in a small town full of zany characters, buried feelings and betrayals that go back generations. THE STONE SKY: The Broken Earth: Book Three, by N. K. Jemisin. (Orbit, paper, $16.99.) Jemisin, who writes the Book Review's Otherworldly column about science fiction and fantasy, won a Hugo Award for each of the first two novels in her Broken Earth trilogy. In the extraordinary conclusion, a mother and daughter do geologic battle for the fate of the earth. AUTUMN, by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Translated by Ingvild Burkey. (Penguin Press, $27.) In this collection of finely honed miniature essays, the first of a planned quartet based on the seasons, the Norwegian author of the multi-volume novel "My Struggle" describes the world for his unborn child. AFTERGLOW (A Dog Memoir), by Eileen Myles. (Grove, $24.) Myles, the poet and autobiographical novelist, turns her attention to the role her dog Rosie played in her life and art. ONE NATION AFTER TRUMP: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet-Deported, by E. J. Dionne Jr., Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann. (St. Martin's, $25.99.) Seasoned Washington observers examine how Donald Trump's rise reflects long-term Republican trends. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 30, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
With access to his subject's extensive unpublished memoirs, captivating biographer Taylor (Commander, 2012) re-creates the fascinating life of an eighteenth-century woman who boldly defied societal strictures and expectations, carving out an exceptional life on her own revolutionary terms. Aristocratic beauty, author of the classic Scottish ballad Auld Robin Grey, landscape artist, and inveterate diarist, Lady Anne Barnard took many lovers before eventually marrying an unsuitable, by genteel society's standards, army officer several years her junior. Fiercely independent, she entertained literary, political, and social royalty; traveled widely; observed the French Revolution firsthand; lived in and chronicled life in South Africa for five years; and scandalously adopted her husband's biracial daughter, whom she slyly referred to as my protégée of a darker complexion. This sparkling portrait of a woman unapologetically ahead of her time also constitutes a valuable contribution to the scholarship of women's studies.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Anne Barnard knew everybody worth knowing in late-18th-century England, turned down a literal dozen marriage proposals, and wed for love in her early 40s after having become a very wealthy woman with the help of former suitors. She lived for a time in South Africa; adopted, raised, and provided for her husband's biracial daughter; wrote a famous ballad beloved of Walter Scott; painted; and became an accomplished hostess. Her full and compelling life leaves the biographer with a puzzle: how to compress a story that could easily fill three volumes into a single book. Taylor (Commander: The Life and Exploits of Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain) solves this conundrum admirably, focusing on a chronological retelling of the highlights of Barnard's life. His work is enriched by his access to private unpublished source material. Taylor doesn't fail to entertain, and his book is a fine, easily readable introduction to Barnard that does the work of leaving readers wanting more-more on navigating the difficulties of raising a biracial child in 19th-century London, more on Barnard's relationship with the Prince of Wales, more on her interiority. This is a page-turning introduction to a fascinating life. 8 color illus. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Taylor (Storm and Conquest) has crafted an intricate and cozy biography of Lady Anne Barnard (1750-1825) that illustrates the strength and vivacity that lit her from within. Barnard was an accomplished Scottish woman of letters who was both of her time and beyond it. Born Lady Anne Lindsay, she had many suitors and lovers but remained single until her 40s, vacillating often in her affections. In London, Barnard's gift of social intercourse allowed her to count many of the most influential men of the times among her circle, including the Prince Regent. It was considered a scandal when she married Andrew Barnard, a young officer with no title or wealth. She accompanied him to his post in South Africa, hiked mountains, reported expertly on the state of the colony to her political friends, and, after Andrew's death, adopted a daughter he had fathered by a slave. Infused with sections from her letters and an unpublished multi-volume memoir, this work brings Lady Anne's own voice to life. VERDICT Taylor's book will appeal to biography and history lovers alike with its approachable style.-Stacy Shaw, Orange, CA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An exhaustive biography of a clever, convivial Regency woman who was "dangerously unconventional, a character too colourful for propriety."In an age of enlightenment, upheaval, and revolution, Lady Anne Lindsay (1750-1825) was a prolific letter writer and a dedicated chronicler of current events. Taylor (Commander: The Life and Exploits of Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain, 2012, etc.) sifted through mountains of material at her family's Scottish home, including her multivolume memoir. Anne charmed all who met her, and it's easy to see how, with her upbringing in Scotland amid one of Britain's greatest literary collections, the Bibliotheca Lindesiana. Her broad education was the product of that collection, as she and her sister read voraciously. She met the age's most eminent thinkers, including David Hume, Alison Cockburn, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Edmund Burke. After moving to London, she found intelligent stimulation greater even than Edinburgh but without the small-town constraints. She was labeled a coquette because she was unconventional, preferring to befriend men rather than marry them. Her letters and journals are detailed, if somewhat prolix, but they give a wonderful picture of her times. She met London's literati and politicians through her sister's husband, who was a banker and gamblernever a good mix. It was his short selling that brought down his bank and caused one of the biggest financial crises of the century. Of all the men who wooed her, William Windham and Henry Dundas, both destined for high office, played the largest parts. When she finally married Irishman Andrew Barnard, it was Dundas who found him a position at the new colony in South Africa. Their years there were idyllic until her husband's death, and she ably chronicled and drew the scenery and people. At the same time, she used her talents as a hostess to win over the defeated Dutch and to entertain passengers stopping on their way to India. An edifying, uncluttered, and enjoyable picture of life in Regency England. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
