Six Novels That Are Gender, Gentrification, Literary Wizardry, and Comic Gems

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Taking a break from the science fiction and historical romances she’s known for, Cole treats us to something more contemporary with her latest romance/adventure. Set in the Brooklyn of today, the premise of the novel has to do with uncovering the sickening and sinister side of gentrification—how the unscrupulous developers will stop at nothing to realize their profits, and underhandedly take over a neighborhood and community. It’s a thriller that satisfies, thanks to the well thought out and formed protagonists. While some may scoff and call the gentrification premise outlandish, it does throw us some food for thought on how urban renewal is achieved, and how the ethnic communities that made these districts home for generations, are eased out in the name of lucre.

Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, living with her mother in an historic and valuable brownstone in Gifford Park. Gentrification has set in and it isn’t long before a white couple, Theo and Kim, move into a mysteriously vacated home across the street. When Sydney is insulted by how a local walking tour has its guide ignore the vibrancy and contributions of the African American community to the neighborhood, Sydney takes it upon herself to form her own tour. During a community meeting, Theo volunteers to help Sydney, raising more than a few eyebrows. Is the offer on the level, or is there some hidden agenda at play? And why do Sydney’s neighbors keep selling out and move away without even a goodbye? It’s shades of Get Out but in an urban setting, and it promises to keep you turning the pages.

Where the Wild Ladies Are by Matsuda Aoko

Winner of an English PEN Award, this translation by Polly Barton brings the world of Aoko vividly to life. Witty, inventive, illuminating, at times hilarious in a deadpan manner; what Aoko does is take traditional Japanese ghost stories, and subversively updates them for today, with very distinct feminist twists. It’s tweaking of a major quality, resulting in stories that talk about the contemporary role of the Japanese woman in their society. Especially when put into relief with the original stories (often summarized before each new version starts), we appreciate how fertile Aoko's imagination is.

My absolute favorite would be the short story, “The Jealous Type”, which as we read, we realize is a recruitment pitch for a company of ghosts who look to wreak havoc among the living. Other stories have to do with a woman’s body hair and how culture has made such a big thing about making the natural now be perceived as unsightly or something women should be ashamed about. While the stories may revolve around Japanese women and society, it’s interesting to note how we can in fact generalize how so many of the humor, attitudes, and observations can apply to women in general. The length of the stories are also a delight, as one can finish a short story, pick up the book a few days later, and be treated to a new, stand-alone gem of a story.

Trio by William Boyd

Along with Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan, and David Mitchell, Boyd ranks high up in my list of favorite contemporary British novelists. This latest has a rich cast of characters, and it’s set in 1968 England, a period when the Paris riots had occurred, and we had the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. The ‘bubble’ we’re invited to indulge in is the film set of an artsy film, and what transpires between several of the people involved in the shooting of said film. There’s Elfrida, a blocked novelist married to the film director, then there’s the film’s co-producer Talbot, and the lead female star, Anny.

Touted, to her chagrin, as her generation’s Virginia Woolf, Elfrida is teetering on a nervous breakdown thanks to alcohol and chemical abuse. That her director-husband is carrying on an affair with another female writer isn’t of much help. Anny has her own issues thanks to an unlucky spate of older men she’s gotten involved with. The most elucidating protagonist is Talbot, who’s secretly gay, at a time when it was still very problematic to be out of the closet. His narrative strand is also doubly interesting as he’s mired in a production company with an unethical partner. It’s about human foibles, hidden agendas, and the desperation that creeps in as one tries to find fulfillment in life. Beautifully rendered.

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

With her previous novel, The Stranger Diaries, Griffiths became one of my favorite authors in the crime fiction genre. She has an uncanny knack of blending mystery-writing skills, with an almost deadpan sense of humor, such that you’d often end her chapters with a chuckle, and a burning need to read on and discover what happens next. That’s a potent combination when you’re reading a cozy thriller; so it’s great to report that her latest carries those trademark qualities, and is a joy to unravel. Set in a retirement home in the sleepy English seaside town of Shoreham—poor cousin to Brighton; the mystery commences with the untimely death of Peggy Smith. In her 80’s, while death can be an expected visitor, the fact that she was healthy, and helped authors as a ‘Murder Consultant’, places her demise as ‘under suspicious circumstances’.

Her carer, Natalka, is the first to raise the alarm bells, and she’s joined by Peggy’s neighbor Edwin, and the ex-monk, inow barista, Benedict from the cafe across the home. It isn’t long before this unlikely trio has the local DS joining them to uncover the real reasons behind Peggy’s death. Both a tribute to the Golden Age of Crime Fiction and a nod to the modern purveyors of the genre, the action even shifts to Aberdeen where a festival of mystery writers is being held. From authors, to agents and publishers, there’s a rich tapestry of characters brought to life, as the list of suspects and victims keeps getting longer. Truly another wonderful book from Griffiths—one to savor and enjoy.

Magic Mobile by Michael Frayn

This would have to be described as a concept book, as it’s definitely not a novel, nor is it just a collection of short stories. From the author of the novels The Trick of It and Headlong, and the plays Noises Off and Copenhagen, this is like the written equivalent of comedy sketches. What you’re assured of is Frayn’s acute social observations, and his signature sense of humor blended with his love for the absurd and ridiculous in our everyday life. The ‘stories’ don’t go beyond five to six pages; so it’s the kind of book you digest in small doses, you read a couple one night, then put the book aside, and return to it after a few days.

The consistent thing here is how Frayn takes things that happen to us on a regular basis, and that we’ve probably commented on—but then he takes them to an illogical conclusion, teasing something richly humorous about them. It can be the relationship we have with our laptop, or how we view plagiarism (but now brought to the point where someone is warning Shakespeare not to steal his idea), or our aversion to instruction manuals. Just trust me when I say this book is hilarious, and can have you laughing aloud by yourself, with passers-by wondering what’s gotten into you.

A Declaration of The Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry

This is Parry’s second novel and there’s no sophomore jinx here, as it’s even more ambitious than her debut, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, which imagined a fantasy world populated by a number of the villains in literary history. World history is on Parry’s mind this time out, specifically the 18th century, known as the Age of Enlightenment. Criss-crossing between London and Paris, and soaring over the Atlantic to the island of Saint Domingue (now known as Haiti); this novel tackles such subjects as the French Revolution, the abolition of slavery in England, and the slave rebellion of Saint Domingue—but all with fantasy elements.

While our main protagonists are such historical figures as Maximilian Robespierre, William Pitt, and Toussaint L’Ouverture, in Parry’s hands they become mages, necromancers, mesmerists, and wizards. Instead of talking of Life & Liberté for We, The People; it’s a magical world of sorcerers and the dichotomy between aristocrats and commoners, and the rise of We, the magicians. It’s a Europe where commoners with powers are manacled via a bracelet and policed by the Knights Templar. It’s this whirlwind blending of history, romance, and fantasy that spills across the pages, and turns this into a historical lesson that isn’t.