Josie Mitchell
Missing, Presumed Dead
What happens when a frail old woman self-isolates for months on end, her only contact with fellow humans a weekly trip to the grocery store? This is the question posed by Ottessa Moshfegh in her new novel – one that has recently become pertinent for us all.
Vesta Gul, the narrator of Death in Her Hands, has moved to a remote house in Middle America following the death of her husband. It’s a narrow life. Each day, she makes an optimistic list: ‘Walk. Breakfast. Garden. Lunch. Boat. Hammock. Wine. Puzzle. Bath. Dinner. Read. Bed.’ She tends to abandon the programme halfway through, but each morning writes it out again.
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'The authors do not shrink from spelling out the scale of the killings when the Rhodesians made long-distance raids on guerrilla camps in Mozambique and Zambia.'
Xan Smiley on how Rhodesia became Zimbabwe.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/what-the-secret-agent-saw
'Thirkell was a product of her time and her class. For her there are no sacred cows, barring those that win ribbons at the Barchester Agricultural.'
The novelist Angela Thirkell is due a revival, says Patricia T O'Conner (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/good-gad