Chicago Review of Books

4 days ago | chireviewofbooks.com | Lori Rader-Day

This will certainly reveal more about me than Megan Abbott, who, as the author of the new tense and atmospheric novel  El Dorado Drive, is the true object of this piece. But here we go: Megan Abbott is the source of an intense gothic ambivalence for me. I want to be her very best friend, have her teach me everything she knows as a writer—and, also, she scares me. If you met her in person, you’d think I was telling you a slant tale. She’s small, elegant, delightful, funny. Personable.

1 week ago | chireviewofbooks.com | Joe Stanek

Stories of witches may be as old as tales involving the devil himself. They transcend cultures and generations. Read any account of witchcraft trials and executions and you’ll notice something missing from the long diatribes accusing women of various misdeeds though. Namely, the accounts of the accused in their own words.

1 week ago | chireviewofbooks.com | Ian J. Battaglia

The Translator’s Voice is a column from editor Ian J. Battaglia, dedicated to global literature and the translators who work tirelessly and too often thanklessly to bring these books to the English-reading audience. Subscribe to his newsletter to get notified of new editions as well as other notes on writing, art, and more. None of us asked to be born. When we come into being, it’s into circumstances beyond our control, yet it’s still us who’s most responsible for the trajectory of our lives.

3 weeks ago | chireviewofbooks.com | Meredith Boe

If you live in roughly one place all your life, the physical idea of home may not be that complicated; if you move a lot, or are even forced to leave your country, searching for belonging may become a mainstay. Where can you locate your memories? Where can you count on finding the people you love? The political exploitation of land, of people, only adds to the burden of carrying the memories of those lost places.

3 weeks ago | chireviewofbooks.com | Rachel Leon

Many years ago, during a screening of the documentary The Business of Being Born, a woman I knew who’d recently given birth got up and left mid-film. Later, she told me it had been too triggering—her birth experience wasn’t what she’d hoped for and was in a constant mind loop of could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. I think of that woman when I find books that explore childbirth and the postpartum period with honesty, rawness, and tenderness. They’re rarer than you’d think, given the prevalence of birth.