Olivia Boler, Book Reviewer

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Book Review

We're All in This Together

by Olivia Boler

Grouping a novella with short stories offers readers the chance to observe a writer’s range of tone, subject matter, and general skill. In this debut by a winner of the John Gardner Award for Short Fiction, the reader is rewarded with... Read More

Book Review

Daughter of Heaven

by Olivia Boler

In her preface, the author warns her readers not to expect what she calls a “typical cookbook.” In fact, she professes a loathing for the kitchen and a late start in the preparation of the Chinese cuisine that is the book’s... Read More

Book Review

Forged in Fire

by Olivia Boler

For all twenty writers in this new collection of essays, fire is, inevitably, a metaphor. The metaphors change, however, depending on the writers’ experiences; while some experiences are similar, especially the ones that involve... Read More

Book Review

The Painting

by Olivia Boler

The year is 1870. The backdrops are the Franco-Prussian War and the nascent Westernization of Japan. These worlds are linked by a piece of paper used to wrap a handmade Japanese ceramic bowl exported to France; the wrapping is actually... Read More

Book Review

The Open Door

by Olivia Boler

The heroine of Elizabeth Maguire’s historical novel, Constance Fenimore Woolson, points out to her new friend Henry James that the “dilemma of modern female life” is the “freedom to think, to desire, but not the freedom to... Read More

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