So many ways to focus ones reading in March: Women’s Prize, Stella Prize, Reading Ireland Month… I try to do a little of each. This time, two audios (the wait-list on hard copies at the library was impossibly long for both).
Rapture by Emily Maguire – longlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize.
Hmmm… I recently saw Conclave… How much Pope-drama do I need? (That said, I reckon Maguire would have been spewing about Conclave.)
Rapture is a rich, historical novel about a young motherless girl, Agnes. She lives with her father, an English priest, and the story is set in ninth-century Mainz. To avoid a future as a wife or nun, Agnes enlists the help of a lovesick Benedictine monk to disguise herself as a man and secure a place in a monastery. Agnes becomes ‘John’, a celebrated scholar and scribe and the story unfolds from there.
There are reasons why I usually avoid historical fiction – mostly it’s the info-dumping and contrived dialogue that turns me off, however, Maguire skillfully avoids both of these traps. There’s plenty in this book to learn about the work of scribes, monks, plague, and the politics of the Church, yet none of it was overdone. Equally, the dialogue and language sat naturally.
I happily suspended doubts during some of the more dramatic scenes – Agnes has to make some dangerous journeys, and the likelihood and practicalities of these parts of the story might have been flimsy if I had thought about them too hard.
I am loathe to reveal too much of the plot, short of saying that since finishing the book I have enjoyed reflecting on Maguire’s choice of Rapture as a title (there are various parts of the story that this glorious word may refer to).
Will it win the Stella? I don’t think so but I enjoyed listening to the audio.
3.5/5
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout – longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
I LOVE Strout but I think it’s time to draw a line under Lucy, Olive, Bob et al.
Tell Me Everything is the fifth book in the Amgash series. Unlike the others, I don’t think this one can be read as a standalone novel – the characters are too intricately entwined and their back stories are too detailed. And while I enjoyed elements of this book – especially the emphasis on Bob Burgess’s story – there were parts that strayed from Strout’s usual formula. In this installment we get a murder mystery. It’s fine but I went in expecting a focused character-study and didn’t need plot-twists (or the story of every man and his dog in Crosby, Maine).
As always, Strout delivers some lovely emotional one-liners –
To be in love when the outcome is uncertain is an exquisite kind of agony.
She’s a bully, and bullies are always frightened.
But the gems weren’t enough to tie the many, many strands of this story together.
Will it win the Women’s Prize? No, there’s not enough to set it apart.
3/5
I agree with you about Rapture. I enjoyed it, but I don’t think it’s a winner.
As for Strout, well, you might have saved me from reading this one. I’ve only read one of them anyway, can’t remember anything about it, except that I was puzzled about why people thought it was so great. So unless it comes in from the library when nothing else has, I’ll probably skip it.
I am having a lovely time reading Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis. You wouldn’t think that a story about an aid worker going to Iraq to deradicalise ISIS wives would be (a) enjoyable and (b) funny, as well as intelligent, but trust me, it is, and you need to get your hands on it if you can. I’ve read four of the longlist, and this is the best of them so far, and that’s saying something because I really liked A Little Trickerie (which might even tempt you into historical fiction!) and also The Artist.
I felt much the same about the Strout. The previous book, Lucy by the Sea, was excellent, but this one felt like a rehash of Oh William!
I enjoyed the Strout much more than you although I was surprised to see it on the Women’s Prize longlist. I assumed that the meeting between Olive and Lucy will bring the series to a close.
I’m a bit behind on Strout but I can see how the time would come to draw it all to a close. I’m looking forward to catching up with her though!
Oh, my gosh! Strout has another book out already? I’m not sure I got to her last one yet. I love the cover of the Maguire book.
Oh, no, I recognize the American cover of Tell Me Everything, and I am pretty sure I have it in my pile. I don’t think I’ve read it yet. (Obviously, I didn’t recognize the name.)
I only bought and read the Strout book because I love Olive so much but wasn’t thrilled with it. I think she needs to wrap these characters up and move on (unless another Olive book comes out).🌻
Following your posts and predictions. Haven’t read but “guilty” of enjoying Conclave, not so much for its inherent value, but it was a clever departure of the movie rubbish that is produced. In that regard it felt “fresh” even if it also felt in some cliches.
When I read about “Woman disguised as man” books I always think–what about “that time of the month”??? How did they hide it. Every woman disguised as a man couldn’t be uber-late starting it or have such ridiculously light or irregular periods that they could hide it. I’m sure a few women pulled it off, but too often I’m left saying “Come on!” Even Yentl! lol I’ll wait on your review. Then I might try that one.
I totally agree – a very real issue to manage in order to maintain disguise! In this case, the character had the protection for a while of a man who knew but later in the story, she was surrounded by others the whole time and I thought exactly the same thing!
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