Two books I think are interesting. One, Let Us Descend, by two-time National Award-Winning Jesmyn Ward, is described as a powerful rendering of American slavery by one of the best writers about race and the American South.
The book is a haunting journey of a slave from the rice fields of the South to the sale markets of New Orleans. It’s the story of Annis, who is sold by the white slave owner who fathered her, and her travels through the hellscape of slavery.
I got this book for me. Ward is a gifted writer, but Maria has commandeered it, so I’ll have to wait a week or so to read it.
I was also intrigued to learn of and to buy The Secret Life Of John LeCarre by Adam Sisman, who wrote a much-praised biography of LeCarre in 2015. To publish his book, Sisman had to agree to leave out some secrets in LeCarre’s life, including his chronic lying and philandering and use of spycraft to keep his many affairs and lies secret.
LeCarre said Sisman could write about his secret life of spying and hiding after he died, which he did two years ago. I’m 30 pages into the book, and it is an amazing read for anyone who loves LeCarre’s work, as I did. I now understand how he wrote so confidently about spying and lying. He was, it turns out, a lifelong spy and liar. He used every bit of the spycraft he wrote about in his books to live his life, much of it secretly.
His wives never knew.
I ordered ‘Let Us Descend’ just the other day, and waiting for it to arrive. Dr. Heather Richardson’s ‘Democracy Awakening’ is at the top of my ‘to be read’ pile right now. SO many books, so little time! 🙂
Read the author’s preface of The Secret Life Of John LeCarre. The free sample that Amazon offers you. I am sure it is quite a book of revelations. And my respect for his writing on the secrets of spycraft has gone up immensely. Am adding it to my want to read list.