Author vs Author: Candice Carty-Williams & Meg Howrey

We explore their oeuuuuuvres #105

Welcome back to another edition of the author head to head (see previous editions here here and herrrrre), which no, silly duck, is NOT a scenario in which authors are compared to each other in a head to head match. Words are confusing!

Instead we compare one authors’ books to each other, in our heads, as a supportive thought exercise where every book wins but some books win more and we all celebrate the art of writing! Perhaps I should craft another description for this series. In the meantime:

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Queenie vs People Person

Longtime readers may recall that I really enjoyed Queenie, which to me is a perfect rendering of a modern millennial “young woman big city” kind of novel. Meaning: witty and wry but also deeply sad, acknowledgement of racism, economic uncertainty and all the other power dynamics that make life challenging for young people, and a realistic ending. I loved Queenie the character and the book - here are like 750 more words why.

So I was excited for Carty-Williams’s newest novel, People Person, which centers on five half-siblings who have been mostly estranged until a dramatic incident brings them back together. Where this author is particularly great is in her characterizations and dialogue, and that is in full effect here. It’s worth reading for that - particularly how these Black Londoner siblings interact with each other and the world around issues of colorism, body, neighborhoods, class, and nationality. The threading of the theme (family and how they disappoint or show up for us) and the plot (The Incident) was not, IMO, perfectly executed. But overall, still enjoyable.

Verdict: Queenie is my pick. But People Person won’t waste your time.

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The Cranes Dance vs They’re Going to Love You

I have reread The Cranes Dance multiple times yet mentioned it to exactly one person (Jill, who has great taste); it’s specific but boy does it tickle my fancy. It’s about a professional ballet dancer who is struggling to keep her place in her company, her physical health, and her mental equilibrium, while also grappling with guilt about her sister, another dancer who has left the company under circumstances that are slowly revealed to us. It’s tense and dramatic, a little dark, intimate, but also funny and very honest, well written and well-paced but not self-impressed; just for that, this is kind of everything I want from a novel.

What I love most about The Cranes Dance, though, and in fairness what might not be your cup of tea, is the behind-the-scenes, pitch perfect rendering of the specialized world of elite ballet (the author was a professional ballet dancer.) I happen to like ballet so it’s particularly appealing to me but any book that intricately, knowledgeably brings to life an intense, specific world - sports, art, medicine, whatever it is - and reveals the toll it exacts in its pursuit is my very extreme jam. It’s why Megan Abbott is so great. Anyway if this appeals, check it out.

Howrey just released her latest novel, They’re Going to Love You (and I was the very first at the library to read it. I swear to God, I felt like Edmund Hillary.) It’s the story of a middle-aged woman who has become estranged from her father and his partner, but who is called back home as her father is dying. Dance, and more accurately art, also play a role in some of the same themes here: what we will sacrifice for excellence, and whether it’s worth it in the final accounting. But it also wrangles with grief, and loss, how family stories get so complicated, and when we have to let go (or not) of our own presumed upper hand. Very assured, lovely and moving, flashes of humor but heavier/more mature, with very considered writing that never feels ponderous. Really good.

Verdict: Meg Howrey should be more popular, she’s so great.

Oh, on the books? If you’re me, it’s The Cranes Dance but for most people, it’s probably They’re Going to Love You - more universal. See the sacrifices I make for you, beloveds!

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Book & Writing Observations

• Spare, like Obama, really built an unexpected coalition. People who would NEVER read a celeb memoir are pre-ordering, and people who normally inhale those are politely stepping back from it. The center can’t hold! I personally don’t think I’ll read it but the book sales would suggest I’m the only one.

• THREE different books lately including They’re Going to Love yYou have mentioned William Morris Strawberry Thief wallpaper. What does it all mean? What’s the FREQUENCY, Kenneth?

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All links go to Bookshop.org, a better way to support the good people running indie bookstores. Theoretically if you buy through these links I get a small affiliate fee which I theoretically would donate to Defy Ventures, but this has happened exactly once and I got $.02.

Also, I just downloaded The Cranes Dance to skim AGAIN. Please send help.