Age of Reading

Age of Desire (M) by Jennie Fields. In a story set in Paris' Gilded Age, Edith Wharton has an adulterous affair with a young journalist. Edith's once governess and now friend, Anna, is disturbed by this friendship and guides her back to her troubled marriage. Literary Paris and New York are featured along with the likes of Henry James.



Translated from the Italian, Age of Doubt (M) by Andrea Camilleri features Inspector Montalbano who investigates a corpse found aboard a yacht. Set in Vigata, Sicily this Montalbano's fourteenth adventure. This series is packed full of Sicilian local flavour and a cast of memorable characters.



Love, friendship and marriage are explored in Age of Grief (M) by Jane Smiley. The pitfalls of human relationships are examined a bit more than the high points and characters find themselves reaching their age of grief. Smiley writes, as always, with sensitivity and keen insight into human nature.


Edith Wharton has found her way back to the forefront thanks to the Downton Abbey (M) set. First published in 1920 Age of Innocence (M) features Newland Archer who is planning a perfect marriage with mild and complacent May Welland. Theirs would be the perfect union of two ideal families. Enter the witty and modern Countess Olenska to challenge this view of a perfect marriage.


Age of Longing (M) by Richard B. Wright. Howard Wheeler longs to be back in a time before he was born to understand what drew his parents to one another and why their marriage fell apart. Following his mother's death he returns to her home to settle her affairs and sell her house while making sense of his past.


Age of Miracles (M) by Karen Thompson Walker. Catastrophe looms as the rotation of the earth begins to slow and life as we know it comes to an end. As the days slowly lengthen the government legislates a rigid adherence to a 24 hour day, while a group of rebel real-timers are bullied. Some grow ill and disoriented. The tale is told from the perspective of 11 year old Julia.

 
Age of Orphans (M) by Laleh Khadivi. A Kurdish boy loses his family in a massacre and is then taken in as an orphan by those very soldiers. He is assigned a new name and his past is erased. He rises quickly in the Shah's army and is rewarded with a post which oversees Kurshish assimilation.


Age of Ra (M) by James Lovegrove. The Egyptian gods have defeated all other deities and now rule the earth and have divided it up into divisions at war. There is only one country left, Freegypt, that is not controlled by a god and there Westwynter, a soldier, meets the Lightbringer whose mission is to leave mankind from oppression.