RaveThe San Francisco ChronicleAsks big questions about civilization and society; it seeks to understand what can be known about ancient people ... It also offers a flat-out page turner of a spy story, dotted with sex and booze, sarcasm and cynicism, and a heady dose of vital curiosity.
Sloane Crosley
RaveSan Francisco ChronicleCrosley can’t help but write even the grimmest of explorations with a wit so dry it will make you thirsty ... Manages to be both funny and full of what-will-happen-next moments.
Sigrid Nunez
RaveThe San Francisco Chronicle\"Who better to write a \'pandemic book\' than the godmother of contemplating empathy and connection? ... about how we navigate the bizarre and hostile climates we’re still living through; how we find meaning in being there for each other in some capacity: \'A cure for many ills, it’s been called. For the alleviation of stress and anxiety; for comfort in mourning, sadness, and loss: find someone who needs your help.\' There are quotable, thought-provoking lines on every page of this book, which is not merely a \'pandemic book,\' but a novel that cracks open windows and offers a reassuring breeze, reminding us that it’s OK — and perhaps even necessary — to need each other; it’s only human.\
Keith Rosson
PositiveSan Francisco ChronicleThe prose is imagery infused, alongside entertaining dialogue that manages to feel unique ... A modern-meets-classic horror story that keeps the stakes high until the very last sentence.
Zadie Smith
MixedThe San Francisco ChronicleSome of...boring quality shows up in the text itself. While the subject is fascinating and offers a new light on England’s history with slavery, racism and classism, the meandering...plot and Victorian English-style prose at times makes the 450-page novel quite the slog ... Woven delicately throughout the narrative are Victorian-style sex scenes (read: brief, subtle), both between Mrs. Touchet and William Ainsworth, as well as between Mrs. Touchet and Mrs. Ainsworth.
Roxanna Asgarian
RaveSan Francisco ChronicleWith fiercely empathetic narrative journalism reminiscent of journalist Svetlana Alexievich...Asgarian herself only appears in moments in which the adoptees and biological families’ narratives are enhanced; she brings Dontay and his caregiver to court appointments, or retrieves photos and ashes of the children to bring to the birth families ... Asgarian explores transracial adoption and white saviorism ... Surely a book that should be included in curriculums for courses on social justice, social work and journalism.
