nomadreader

The backstory: Aside from Lorrie Moore's short stories in the The New Yorker , I have never read her fiction. I've wanted to read her latest novel,  A Gate at the Stairs ,  since it was released in September. I appeared on numerous Best of the Year lists for 2009, including The New York Times , which listed it as one of the five best novels of the year. It was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award. The book finally moved to the top of my TBR pile when it was named to the shortlist for the 2010 Orange Prize (the winner will be announced June 9, 2010.) The basics: A Gate at the Stairs  is a coming-of-age novel about Tassie, a half-Jewish farm girl attending college in the typically liberal Midwestern university town of Troy in the days after 9/11. Tassie begins nannying for a white couple who adopt a biracial baby. The verdict: Lorrie Moore is perhaps best known for her short stories. Even in this novel, she often wrote like a short story writer. Observation was l...

he Orange Prize, given to a work of fiction written by a woman in English, has announced its 2010 shortlist. It's a British prize, and a novel's eligibility is determined by its British publication date. The official announcement , including two excellent videos of the judges discussing the shortlist are available on its Web site. The shortlist:   The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver Black Water Rising by Attica Locke Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey My reactions to the shortlist: It's no surprise to see Wolf Hall on the list, but I am shocked Sarah Waters' Little Stranger did not make the shortlist. I am also surprised The Long Song by Andrea Levy did not make the list, but I'm still waiting on its U.S. release to read it. Three U.S. authors are among the six finalists: Barbara Kingsolver, Attica Locke and Lorrie Moore. The...