THE NINTH HOUR by ALICE McDERMOTT (2017)

The Ninth Hour begins with a suicide and ends with a murder. In between is a story of survival against the odds, of the kindness and harshness of nuns of the Catholic church, of the questioning of religious belief, of the inheritance of the sins of our fathers, of sex and sensuality, and of love.

When a soon-to-be Irish father, who has recently become unemployed, commits suicide, his pregnant wife and soon-to-be daughter are rescued from destitution by the charity of Catholic nuns. The newly born baby, Sally, is reared in the basement of the convent, where her mother has been employed. The novel, narrated by the Sally's children, traces the family history, particularly in its involvement and interactions with their Catholic upbringing.

McDermott writes with grace and assurance, and thus this is a very readable story. The characters never becomes stereotypes and seem totally human. Both the compassion and the restrictiveness of the Catholic religion, particularly among the devout Irish, is portrayed with sensitivity.

The Ninth Hour was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award. It is not one I will ever read again, but it was pleasurable the first time.

DARK AT THE CROSSING by ELLIOT ACKERMAN (2017)

This timely novel centers itself on the border between Turkey and Syria. Haris Abadi, the protagonist, is an Iraqi-born American citizen whose idealism has prompted him to try to cross into Syria in order to join the fight for freedom against the regime of Bashar al-Asad. As he encounters barriers and betrayals, he begins to question his own motivations, feeling as he does that he is a citizen of nowhere. He is eventually joined in his quest to cross by a Syrian women who has fled her country but wishes to return to seek her lost daughter.

Dark at the Crossing is valuable in that it provided an insight into the plight of the Syrian people in a war that seems endless. Abadi's story, however, is more problematic. His motivations come across as muddled and he never seems to take on a real presence in the story. Perhaps the author intended that to be so to underscore his themes. Nevertheless, the result is that the book provides little emotional involvement.

Dark at the Crossing was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award. It is interesting on an informational level, but it was not a pleasurable read for me.

LESS by ANDREW SEAN GREER (2017)

It surprised most when Less was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. It most assuredly surprised Amazon and Barnes and Noble, because neither had the book available at the time. It was not until more than a month afterward that the book became available for shipment. In our era of so many social and political problems, most praised novels are dead serious. This one is lively, marvelously funny, warm-hearted, and even has a happy ending. I don't see it as an IMPORTANT book, but it is very rewarding to read.

Arthur Less is a second or third-tier writer whose boyfriend of some years is about to be married to someone else. He is nearing 50 and is feeling suddenly old and alone and a failure at life and love. In order to avoid being around for the upcoming wedding, he accepts some of the numerous invitations which come to writers of his less-than-elevated status, which will take him literally around the world. He has never felt more sorry for himself.

So begins Less's picaresque misadventures in Mexico, Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, and Japan. A dog eats his favorite suit; he is locked out of his room and ends up hanging from the sill of a window; he mistakenly thinks he is fluent in German; and so on. Some of this verges on farce, but it is always funny, and the author's compassion for his character always shines through, so that the reader becomes quite fond of Less and wishes him well.

Underlying the comedy is a serious current concerning such matters as the fear of commitment to love, the fear of growing old, and the fear of professional failure. Arthur Less's journey takes him not only around the world, but also to a new outlook on life.

I highly recommend this novel.