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Nigel Hamilton‘s new book, “Lincoln vs. Davis,” is a study of its subjects as rival Civil War commanders. Below, the veteran U.S. biographer recommends five novels and a memoir that he’s read this year for pleasure and professional inspiration.
‘Snow’ by John Banville (2020)
My wife read that Banville is now putting his name to his crime novels. I therefore tried this one and found myself fascinated by the Catholic-Protestant strains in 1950s Ireland and admiring of the anti-hero detective — a reminder to biographers not to make their subjects too goody-goody. Buy it here.
‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ by Gabriel García Márquez (1981)
As I will be embarking on a new book about a murdered president, I thought to reread Márquez’s famous novella. To my shame, I realized I’d never actually read it — the curse of the great title — and was bewitched. A reminder of how suspense can be created even when the reader knows the outcome in advance. Buy it here.
‘The Memory Police’ by Yoko Ogawa (1994)
I tried several other Ogawa novels, as I love the formal unfolding of Japanese storytelling, but found them…trying! This one, however, was stunning in its haunting Orwellian conceit, and the methodical, unhurried narrative of what we know will happen is a very useful reminder to the biographer not to hurry. Buy it here.
‘Tom Lake’ by Ann Patchett (2023)
This Covid-time story, set in Michigan, is wonderfully layered: a mother telling her daughters a story of her stage career, but not telling everything. A reminder to not reveal too much too soon. Buy it here.
‘The Safekeep’ by Yael van der Wouden (2024)
An amazing exploration of the sin of ownership — in this case house ownership — set in the context of the Holocaust as it has affected a Jewish family. A reminder to the biographer of the depths and veils covering human guilt. Buy it here.
‘Joseph Anton’ by Salman Rushdie (2012)
When I was unable to obtain Rushdie’s latest memoir, a friend recommended this earlier one — the story behind the Satanic Verses and the fatwa pronounced by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. Rushdie’s portrayal of the British media’s failure to stand fast by him and the British government’s reluctance to provide security (too expensive, too diplomatically inconvenient!) is a potent reminder of how deep the biographer’s forensic investigation into the soul and character of the subject must be if it is to be true. Buy it here.
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