Wide variety of genres at Public Library
William Gwin/Reader s Guide
As usual, this reviewer attempts to cover a range of genres so that various readers’ interests may be represented. My writer friend in Atlanta, after reading one of my reviews, affirmed that I am not a “genre snob.” How boring it would be if everyone read the same stuff! So, it is with this installment of the Reader s Guide where again we run the gamut from light, popular fiction to “literature” and anywhere in between.
Maggie O’Farrell, a native of Ireland, who grew up in Wales and Scotland, has been the darling of many book clubs this year with her most recent title, “Hamnet.” The story is set among the plague years of the 1580s in England. Originally, “The Black Death” came to Europe from China in 1340 via the trade routes. It is estimated over the centuries that this plaque, spread by fleas, killed up to 25 million people in Europe, a third of the continent’s population. “Hamnet” f