Claire Messud Ordine dei libri (cronologico)

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2024, this novel explores profound themes of identity and belonging through the lives of its richly developed characters. Set against a backdrop of societal change, the narrative delves into personal struggles and the quest for meaning. The author masterfully weaves together multiple perspectives, creating a tapestry of experiences that resonate with contemporary issues. Readers will find themselves captivated by the emotional depth and intricate storytelling that challenges perceptions and invites reflection.

A family torn apart by war, geography, politics, religion, over the course of three generations

A jewel of a novel by New York Times -bestselling author Claire MessudWhen the Armstrong family moves from New York at the dawn of the 1970s, Australia feels, to Alice Armstrong, like the end of the earth. Residing in a grand manor on the glittering Sydney Harbour, her family finds their life has turned upside down. As she navigates this strange new world, Alice must weave an existence from its shimmering mirage.Lies and self-deception are at the heart of this keenly observed story. This is a sharp, biting, and playful tale with a cast of unscrupulous characters adrift in a dream life of their own making. Written with the characteristic delicacy of touch, humor, and emotional insight that make Claire Messud one of our greatest writers.“A novelist of unnerving talent.” —The New York Times Book Review“[Messud is] among our greatest contemporary writers.” —The New Yorker“A perfect frolic of a book, puffed on breezes of beauty and it waltzes you through a little fear, a little darkness, and tips you out, refreshed and laughing, into the sun.” — Helen Garner

Isolation and the complexities of love are intricately examined in two novellas. In "A Simple Tale," Maria Poniatowski, an aging Ukrainian woman, navigates her newfound freedom in Canada while grappling with the weight of her past. Meanwhile, "The Hunters" follows an American academic in London whose obsession with his downstairs neighbors spirals into a potentially harmful fixation, highlighting how loneliness can fuel an overactive imagination. Together, these stories delve into personal struggles and the impact of solitude.

A collection of personal and critical essays on everything from childhood to womanhood, literature to visual arts and the relationship between form and meaning in storytelling.

Marlene Dumas, an influential painter born in Cape Town and based in Amsterdam since 1976, delves into the complexities of identity and representation through her art. Her work, characterized by gestural and fluid styles, often features the human form and draws from a diverse archive of images, including art history, mass media, and personal photographs. Dumas skillfully reframes her subjects, examining the blurred lines between public and private identities, making her paintings both poignant and thought-provoking.

Julia Robertson en Cassie Burnes zijn als sinds de kleuterklas bevriend; een vriendschap waarin ze alles met elkaar delen, ook de wens om te vertrekken uit hun geboortestad Royston, Massachusetts. Naarmate de meisjes ouder worden, tekenen de verschillen zich af. Julia lijkt voorbestemd een typische middenklasseburger te worden: ze doet haar best op school en omringt zich met verstandige vriendinnen. Cassie heeft echter een steeds turbulentere relatie met haar alleenstaande moeder, Bev, en wordt beschouwd als de rotte appel. Wanneer Bev een nieuwe man ontmoet, wordt de toekomst van Cassie ongewisser, terwijl Julia’s pad steeds duidelijkere contouren krijgt. Ze kan niet anders dan toekijken hoe Cassie, die ze ooit beter kende dan wie ook, steeds verder van haar verwijderd raakt.

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Emperor's Children, a brilliant new novel: the riveting confession of a woman awakened, transformed, and betrayed by passion and desire for a world beyond her own. Nora Eldridge, a thirty-seven-year-old elementary school teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who long ago abandoned her ambition to be a successful artist, has become the "woman upstairs," a reliable friend and tidy neighbor always on the fringe of others' achievements. Then into her classroom walks Reza Shahid, a child who enchants as if from a fairy tale. He and his parents--dashing Skandar, a Lebanese scholar and professor at the École Normale Supérleure; and Sirena, an effortlessly glamorous Italian artist--have come to Boston for Skandar to take up a fellowship at Harvard. When Reza is attacked by schoolyard bullies who call him a "terrorist," Nora is drawn into the complex world of the Shahid family: she finds herself falling in love with them, separately and together. Nora's happiness explodes her boundaries, until Sirena's careless ambition leads to a shattering betrayal. Told with urgency, intimacy, and piercing emotion, this story of obsession and artistic fulfillment explores the thrill--and the devastating cost--of giving in to one's passions.

Murray Thwaite, affascinante giornalista liberal di mezza età, è l'"imperatore" della scena artistico-letteraria-mediatica newyorkese, il "venerato maestro" intorno al quale orbitano i personaggi di questa dark comedy sofisticata e ironica. Tra di loro ci sono Marina, la bellissima figlia di Murray, che a trent'anni vive ancora con i genitori e cerca invano di scrivere un libro sulla moda per bambini; Danielle, la migliore amica di Marina, produttrice televisiva emancipata e intelligente, ma attratta da una relazione ambigua con Murray; e Julius, il vulnerabile critico gay innamorato di un pericoloso principe azzurro di Wall Street. L'equilibrio del terzetto viene scosso da due nuovi arrivi: Ludovic, un australiano dal fascino discutibile che seduce Marina per insinuarsi nella cerchia e minacciare la reputazione di Murray, e Ciccio, il giovane nipote di Murray, che con ingenuità finisce per aiutare Ludovic. La storia si svolge tra marzo e settembre 2001, prima e dopo l'11 settembre, in un turbine di ricevimenti e vernissage, premi letterari e matrimoni aristocratici, lussuosi appartamenti su Central Park e monolocali bohémien nel Village. Il crollo delle Twin Towers minaccia di distruggere il castello di bugie su cui Thwaite ha costruito la propria fama e l'esistenza dei suoi figli, veri e metaforici.

"The Last Life" tells the story of the teenage Sagesse LaBasse and her family, French Algerian emigrants haunted by their history, brought to the brink of destruction by a single reckless act. Observed with a fifteen-year-old's ruthless regard for truth, it is a novel about secrets and ghosts, love and honour, the stories we tell ourselves and the lies to which we cling. It is a work of stunning emotional power, written in prose of matchless iridescence and grace. "'Powerful, Gripping, dark at its heart, this is an almost faultless novel" - "Evening Standard". "A joy to read. Messud's prose is lush, incantatory ...her observations are funnily astute, brimming with wit and imagination ...as elegant and precise as geometry" - "Independent". "Mesmerizing ...Ms Messud has written a large and resonant novel that is as artful as it is affecting" - "New York Times".