Chapter 1 In 1988, Otto Rotfeld is a Prussian Jew who is arrogant and unattractive, with a leering gaze. In need of a wife, he visits Yehudah Schaalman, who deals in the dangerous Kabbalistic arts, asking him to make him a female Golem, a person made of clay. Schaalman laughs, explaining that Golems are meant …
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (pronounced Yah Jessi) is the sophomore novel from the author of Homegoing, her 2016 novel that has been widely lauded all around. Her new novel, Transcendent Kingdom, has been one of my most anticipated books of this year. I admit that part of my curiosity was just to see if …
Chapter 1 The book opens with Gifty recalls being sent to Ghana as an 11-year-old child when her mother was sick. She and her aunt go to Kejetia Market each day to sell knock-off bags. Her aunt, speaking in Twi (a dialect of a language spoken in Ghana), points out a gesticulating, dreadlocked man, saying …
I started reading 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand when it first came out, but put it down for a while since I wasn’t all that into it. Still, I’ve been wanting to read (and finish) at least one of her books since I see them around all the time, so I went ahead and finished …
Prologue In 2020, Mallory Blessing, dying of cancer, leaves her 19-year-old son Link a scrap of paper with a phone number. It says “Please call.” Jake McCloud, the husband of a current presidential candidate, answers the phone. When told the news, McCloud tells Link that he’ll come immediately. Part I: Twenties Summer of 1993 In …
