RaveLos Angeles Review of Books... captivating ... The impression that arises from the pages of Creating Anna Karenina is one of unexpected variety. There were so many Tolstoys! ... One of the delights of the book is the revelation of several parallels between the experiences of Tolstoy’s circle and the incidents in the novel ... Perhaps the most rewarding element of Creating Anna Karenina is not the research but Blaisdell’s own imagining of how it would feel to be part of that first audience, one of the 5,000 subscribers to The Russian Herald ... Blaisdell has created a worthy companion to the novel, a personal and deeply researched, multifaceted portrait of a literary genius that does indeed indicate the source of the book’s greatness: the battle of elements within Tolstoy himself.
Kate Milliken
RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewComing-of-age is hard in any place, at any time, but in the Topanga Canyon of Kate Milliken’s debut novel...it’s a volatile concatenation of class, beauty, vulnerability and desire ... Milliken beautifully portrays this combustible social biome among the live oak, eucalyptus and chaparral lining nearby hillsides ... Milliken trusts us to keep up with her fast-paced tale, catching clues on the fly as we careen through the intricate story lines. But she’s at her best when she lingers, treating us to deft insights and gorgeous, sensual description, especially of the natural world and the esoteric practices of horse breeding and competitive riding ... Kept Animals is an event-packed novel of class, desire, coming-of-age and familial disintegration. It’s also a knowing depiction of an unstable world where residents can be as treacherous as the landscape.
