December Light

Writing and Reading

I am writing to you today from MacDowell, where I will be for the next four weeks. I feel hugely lucky to be here and more than a little intimidated by the other amazing artists who are in residence as well. I arrived yesterday, so am still settling in, but couldn’t be happier to be here. Happy to see friends’ names in the library and on the walls of my studio.

I’ll be working on my next book, but I also brought many books to read. Some books are directly or indirectly linked to this next book and perhaps the one after that; others are books that have been recommended or books that I’ve wanted to read for a long time, and this seemed the right moment. I can’t imagine I will get through them all, but I thought I’d list them here, in case something calls out to you.

Mrs. Woolf and the Servants by Alison Light: A book about domestic life in Bloomsbury. I’m very interested in service, and in the relationship between employer and employed, particularly at the start of the 20^th century. Both the book I’m working on and the next one dovetail with this interest and this period of time.

The White Blackbird by Honor Moore: A fascinating account of the life of Moore’s grandmother, Margaret Sargent. Sargent, born into privilege, was an accomplished artist until she abruptly stopped making art. Here, too, the time period and a woman of privilege pushing the boundaries of her life are fascinating to me.

Radium Girls by Claudia Clark and The Radium Girls by Kate Moore: The book I’m working on is about three women whose lives were touched by radium. I’ve read both of these books already, but will reread as I edit and revise.

Loving, Living, Party Going by Henry Green: I have long wanted to read Green’s work, so I’m eager to dive in. And Loving is about the upstairs and downstairs in an Irish castle during WW2, so nicely complements the above.

The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Tóibín: I’m a huge Tóibín fan, slowly making my way through all his works.

Eustace and Hilda by L.P. Hartley: A collection of three novels about a brother and sister’s lifelong relationship. Another mid-20^th century British classic that has been on my shelf forever.

The Saga of the Century by Rebecca West: A collection of three semi-autobiographical novels by the British writer. I have seen Yiyun Li recommend this multiple times, and she has a new essay in The Paris Review about a favorite paragraph. 40 pages in and already hooked.

I have high hopes to get through at least some of all of these in the next weeks. I’ll let you know how things have progressed. See you in two weeks!