Perfect Pairings: NPR Interviews & New Books at the Peter White

The Fraud

By Zadie Smith

So far, the prolific Zadie Smith has delivered essay collections and novels about contemporary life–in The Fraud, her first work of historical fiction, she explores some of the same issues we face today–gender and class inequality, the ongoing consequences of slavery–at work in Victorian England. Narration is by both Eliza Touchet, the Scottish housekeeper of a once famous novelist, and Andrew Bogle, who grew up enslaved in Jamaica but finds himself, through a strange set of circumstances, in London as a star witness in a case of imposture, we see (with a sense of intrigue that is so particular to Smith) how futures are determined by who tells, and gets to tell, a story. Hear Zadie Smith discuss this work and her writing in her Fresh Air interview: www.npr.org/ 2023/09/05/1197627635/zadie-smith-on-the-fraud

The Vaster Wilds

By Lauren Groff

Bestselling author Lauren Groff spins a tale of how we finding new ways of living, through the story of a girl trying to survive in the wilderness in America’s early days. Putting First Nations’ oldest fables, Greek myths, and Grimms’ fairytales to work, Groff, in a somewhat darker turn, studies how we adapt, find direction and endure. Hear her discuss this work, and why she always has “a go bag” ready, in an NPR Book of the Day interview: www.npr.org/ 2023/09/15/1196977059/nprs-book-of-the-day-draft-09-15-2023

Stay True

By Hua Hsu

In Hua Hsu’s Pulitzer Prize winning memoir of a friendship, the author looks for answers: what does it mean to really know someone? What does it mean to represent them after they are gone, in a way that is truthful and real? While the initial construction of this project found footing in the wake of the murder of Hsu’s friend, Ken, the storytelling also fleshes out themes of 90s culture, community, parenthood, immigration, and coming of age, creating a body of work that is uniquely self-aware. Listen to Hua Hsu discuss friendship, Grief, and Pop Culture in his Fresh Air interview: www.npr.org/ 2023/09/07/1198320092/writer-hua-hsu-on-friendship-grief-pop-culture

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

By Cat Bohannon

In Eve, Cat Bohannon meditates on questions of the physical: how have attitudes toward sex and gender, throughout history, affected the quality of the medical care women receive in modern times? What were the true ancestors of the female form, in terms of biochemistry, evolution, and anthropology? In a deep dive of time, science, literature, and ample footnotes, Bohannon offers a large serving of answers, bold commentary, and zero shame. Listen to her discuss this work in her Fresh Air interview: www.npr. org/ 2023/10/03/1203208967/cat-bohannon-women-female-health-eve

By Ann Richmond Garrett, Administrative Assistant