I am nearly finished reading Dawn Clifton Tripp's The Season of Open Water. It is a wonderful book. The prose is both lush and spare. Can it be both? It is set in Massachusetts in 1927. The story is told from several perspectives: Bridge who is 19 and works in her grandfather Noel's boatbuilding shop; Luce her brother, who gets mixed up in the rum running business and drags Bridge in; Cora, their mother; and Henry, a once-doctor who lost his nerve after WWI. There is an elegance to this book. I have about 50 pages left to read, but I don't want it to end--it is so artfully told. Tripp has published one other novel, Moon Tide, which is just as good. I may have to dig that one out and re-read it! This happened to be a library book, but it would be worth it to buy it when it comes out in paper!
Since I am very near the end of this book, of course my mind is already thinking ahead to what my next read will be. The contenders are two library books, and a hardcover I just bought last week: Twilight by Katherine Mosby (this got a starred review in Booklist--set in pre-WWII Paris), Natives and Exotics by Jane Alison (set in Ecuador, Australia and Scotland--multigenerational novel), and Vita by Melania Mazzucco (turn of the century NYC, Italian immigrant tale--won the Strega Prize in Italy). Decisions, decisions....And I need to read Pages magazine. Have I already mentioned--there are some excellent articles in it this time around--I have been dragging it around with me!