MUST READ WELL

A New York City graduate student seeks out an elderly author as a primary source for her dissertation about women writers in this novel by Pall, author of Among the Ginzburgs (1996).

Liz Miller has spent nine years at Columbia University and is heavily in debt. Her incomplete dissertation, about mid-20th-century women writers, is in desperate need of more information about Anne Taussig Weil, author of the 1960s bestseller The Vengeance of Catherine Clark. The novelist has rebuffed Liz’s attempts at contact, but then a miracle happens: Liz sees a Craigslist ad for a room for rent in Greenwich Village that requires the applicant to be able to “read well.” She figures out that it was placed by Anne, so she replies, hoping that it’s her chance to finally interview the author. Liz, using the false name Beth, is offered the room and, to her delight, finds that her cheap rent comes with an obligation to read Anne’s old diaries to her. The writer is frail and visually impaired but still “looked command­ing enough to have been the notorious author of a book that galva­nized a generation,” according to Liz. The diaries recount a brief but massively consequential affair between Anne and a concert pianist. It’s a stroke of luck for Liz and her research, but her deceptive game leads toward a very uncertain future. Pall’s novel takes a deep dive into the personal lives of New York writers and musicians, and it has a premise that many readers are sure to find irresistible. Liz is revealed as hardworking and intelligent and crafty enough to get what she wants but also sympathetic. She is, however, no match for Anne, who’s portrayed as a grande dame who knows exactly how to handle a budding scholar such as Liz. The novel’s unpretentious sophistication and smart, savvy characters make it an enjoyable read—one that’s heightened by the unexpected and satisfying conclusion.

A thought-provoking novel about the mysterious ways that creative people use others for inspiration.