In this week's issue, we review several magnificent works of fiction that fearlessly probe an array of harsh realities. The Ogre's Daughter by Catherine Bardon is a "deft" and "searing" imagining of how a ruthless dictator's daughter might have lived; while Tasmania by Paolo Giordano showcases "propulsive prose and intellectual rigor" in its study of a journalist working on a book about the atomic bomb; and Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin considers "the darker sides of human nature" with "narrative boldness." Plus, with Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell jumpstarts "an exciting, imaginative, and thrilling" middle-grade fantasy series about a land of mythical creatures and the children charged with saving the source of its magic.
And for The Writers' Life, Tony Tulathimutte, recently longlisted for this year's National Book Award, handles rejection with panache and remarks on how his new collection of linked short stories developed from "a kind of centaur" of combined writing forms into what it is today: a svelte work of both humor and seriousness.