Alice McDermott has written one of THE great novels of 2023. Absolution is so many things…a portrait of diplomatic wives carving out lives for themselves in Saigon before the start of the war, a moralistic novel about the dangers of colonialism and good intentions, the story of the complex relationships women have with motherhood, and with each other. Why did she write it? And what has convinced so many that it's going to be a Pulitzer finalist this year? Tune in and find out. Our bookstore this week comes from one of our beloved listeners-The Lost Bookshop in Delhi, NY. Join us, and keep sending in suggestions!

Books mentioned in this week's episode:

• Absolution by Alice McDermott
• Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
• Someone by Alice McDermott
• The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
• That Night by Alice McDermott
• At Weddings and Wakes by Alice McDermott
• A Bigamist’s Daughter by Alice McDermott
• After This by Alice McDermott
• What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction by Alice McDermott
• The Quiet American by Graham Greene
• This is Happiness by Niall Williams
• The Holy Bible
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• The Art of Seeing Things by John Burroughs
• A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

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