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Book Reviewed by:Sweeping and sultry literary fiction, featuring a memorable young heroine and engaging characters whose intimate dramas interconnect with hers.
Here at last is the
eagerly awaited new novel from New York Times bestselling author Gail Godwin.
Queen of the Underworld is sweeping and sultry literary fiction, featuring a
memorable young heroine and engaging characters whose intimate dramas
interconnect with hers.
In the summer of 1959, as Castro clamps down on Cuba and its first wave of
exiles flees to the States to wait out what they hope to be his short-lived
reign, Emma Gant, fresh out of college, begins her career as a reporter. Her
fierce ambition and belief in herself are set against the stories swirling
around her, both at the newspaper office and in her downtown Miami hotel, which
is filling up with refugees.
Emma's avid curiosity about life thrives amid the tropical charms and intrigues
of Miami. While toiling at the news desk, she plans the fictional stories she
will write in her spare time. She spends her nights getting to know the Cuban
families in her hotel–and rendezvousing with her married lover, Paul
Nightingale, owner of a private Miami Beach club.
As Emma experiences the historical events enveloping the city, she trains her
perceptive eye on the people surrounding her: a newfound Cuban friend who joins
the covert anti-Castro training brigade, a gambling racketeer who poses a grave
threat to Paul, and a former madam, still in her twenties, who becomes both
Emma's obsession and her alter ego. Emma's life, like a complicated dance that
keeps sweeping her off her balance, is suddenly filled with divided loyalties,
shady dealings, romantic and professional setbacks, and, throughout, her adamant
determination to avoid "usurpation" by others and remain the protagonist of her
own quest.
This is a novel to approach with caution. If you have enjoyed other works by Godwin you might well enjoy this ... however, if you are reading her for the first time you will likely be better served starting with one of her earlier novels which include A Mother and Two Daughters, Violet Clay and Father Melancholy's Daughter...continued
Full Review
(412 words)
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Gail Godwin published her first novel, The Perfectionists, in about 1970;
since then she's produced 12 novels and a number of short stories, plus her
first volume of memoirs. Her second, and I believe final, volume of
memoirs will be published next year and will cover the years 1963-1970.
She is also working on a novel, The Red Nun.
In an interview, Godwin reveals some of the experiences that inspired Queen of the Underworld, and also
explains why she didn't feel compelled to do any field research while writing
it:
"During the two years I was writing Queen of the Underworld, I could
hardly wait to get to my computer. I loved being 22 and hungry again, with a
22-inch waistline, so desperate to succeed and equally ...
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If you liked Queen of the Underworld, try these:
by Lamar Herrin
Published 2006
Set in Spain, this is a haunting and beautiful story of one man's brush with terrorism and his quest to find answers.
by John Banville
Published 2006
A luminous novel about love, loss, and the unpredictable power of memory. Winner of the 2005 Booker Prize.
Elizabeth Strout
Here is a wonderfully engaging story that explores the growth of a young woman beginning her career as a journalist. The inner workings of Emma's life are gracefully presented and marvelously mingled with the workings of the outer world; the combination provides a universe in which the reader is glad to reside.
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