Elayne Clift

Elayne Clift is a writer, journalist, and adjunct professor in the humanities at several New England colleges. She is also senior correspondent for the India-based news syndicate Women’s Feature Service, and a regular columnist for the Keene (NH) Sentinel and the Brattleboro Commons.
Ms. Clift’s latest book is ACHAN: A Year of Teaching in Thailand (Bangkok Books, 2007). She has just completed her first novel, Hester’s Daughters, a contemporary, feminist retelling of The Scarlet Letter, and she is currently working on a book about doula-supported birth in the US. She lives in Saxtons River, VT.

Book Reviews by Elayne Clift

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Anyone seeking respite from serious matters, or excitements of their own, would do well to grab a copy of British writer CJ Wray’s novel, The Excitements. 

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“Uncovering the flaws of omission and the personal pain of activists reveals an unrecognized part of our social and cultural history that should not have been lost to us for so long.”

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Kristen Loesch has written a masterly, unique, gripping novel.”

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“The closing words in Brown’s important and fine book put her in a class with the brilliant women whose life stories she shares.

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Debut novels are often overlooked by avid readers because of the wealth of works by well-known authors. This one should not be.

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“the brilliance of Gunty’s writing and thinking expressed so originally and stunningly will keep most people turning every page in this novel of wild imagination, wisdom, and originality.”

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Anyone familiar with legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick’s prolific writings at Slate.com or in numerous prestigious publications will find her book, Lady Justice, compelling, disturbing, urgent

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C. J. Carey’s novel, Widowland, couldn’t be more chilling—or dystopian—given the frightening political landscape confronting women in America and elsewhere.

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The Foundling touches on important issues like women’s autonomy, racism, classism, and anti-Semitism, as well as other social justice issues.”

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“a carefully crafted work of fiction that makes good writing seem easy.”

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“A contemporary treatise on oppression wherever it exists, Read Dangerously raises Nafisi to new heights in the contributions she makes to writing and political analysis.”

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Isabel Allende is a wonderful storyteller. Her distinct voice and her vivid imagination have delighted readers for many years now.

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“a tale of love—platonic, familial, romantic—and of forgiveness and growth, along with acceptance of what life doles out.”

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Hidden women abound in all sectors of society, nearly all cultures, and throughout history, threatening powerful, dominant men who fear losing their power and prestige.

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Klara Hveberg has written a stunning debut novel about unrequited love, longing, obsession, betrayal, and more.

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Louis-Philippe Dalembert’s story of immigrants attempting to escape their home countries for better lives shines harrowing light on the experience of multitudes of people fleeing war, famine, droug

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Disquiet by Zulfu Livaneli, Turkey’s bestselling author as well as noted political advocate, is a short but powerful novel that might well be described as a political treatise wrapped in a

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If one were to draw a Venn diagram to help explain Robert Plumb’s well-intentioned but flawed book about five significant women in American Civil War history, its overlapping circles would include

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“Reading Rosemary Brown’ carefully crafted, charming book, readers can now be armchair companions of two amazing women.”

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In this extraordinary debut novel, Meng Jin writes about numerous themes ranging from family relations, platonic and romantic love, the pain and pleasure of memory, and escaping one’s past in order

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The first thing to say about Elizabeth Blackwell and her younger sister Emily is that they were formidable women.

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In just 170 pages Isabel Allende manages to write a humorous memoir, an homage to her family, all of whom seem to have walked off the pages of her delicious novels, and a feminist plea for women’s

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“Liz Heinecke has shined a light on two remarkable women whose work and friendship was a gift to each other and to the world.”

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It’s 2008, Barack Obama has been elected president. Ruth Tuttle and her husband Xavier are excited about what lies ahead for them.

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a great swashbuckler and ultimately a good read.”

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“If Carlos Manuel Alvarez’s debut novel The Fallen is any indicator, he is a Cuban writer to watch.”

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How can those who read this compelling story of courage, commitment, connection, and love not want to share it with others?”

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Americans have always been enraptured royal followers.

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Julia Alvarez is a good storyteller, as anyone who has read her most well-known novels, In the Time of the Butterflies, and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, knows.

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Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader is pure Vivian Gornick—not always easy reading, but sufficiently gripping to make us carry on, page after page,

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“An estimated 30 million people died under Stalin’s regime of terror. These nine women show us how they avoided being among them. Their voices inspire us all . . .”

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“Whether sharing a piece of history or capturing the theme of this fictional book through the words of a character, Allende beautifully reveals the mastery of her prose

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“Heather Morris reminds us about the human side of the Holocaust and helps us remember with her fine storytelling.”

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Even readers familiar with Afghanistan’s years of travail under Soviet occupation and Taliban rule, including the trauma of American military intervention, will discover aspects of those times to p

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“Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir has gifted us with these women’s experiences and their voices.”

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“an effective attempt to inform and enlighten readers on a topic of immense importance.

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Calcutta-born Neel Mukherjee, whose prior work has been both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and cited as a New York Times 2018 Notable Book listing, is often compared to V. S.

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The publication of poet Sylvia Plath’s newly discovered short story, Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom, follows the highly acclaimed second and final volume of her letters (The Letter

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“The power of this well-written novel grows as the story moves forward both historically and fictionally.

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“‘Whatever you learn, remember: the learning must make you more, not less, human.’”

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Readers familiar with Man Booker Prize winners will quickly realize why Dorthe Nors’ novel, Mirror, Shoulder, Signal was a 2017 finalist for the international prize.

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Maya Dusenbery has added immensely to the literature on women’s health in her important book Doing Harm by addressing the two biggest impediments to women getting good care: “The knowledge

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The first thing to say about Jennifer Fink is that she is intelligent, clever, and sometimes funny.

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Atia Abawi, a journalist and an Afghan refugee who made it to Germany as a child, has written a deeply gripping and affecting novel about the global refugee crisis that continues across Europe toda

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Katja Petrowskaja has indeed, as her publicist claims, written an “inventive and unique literary debut” as she travels to various countries in search of her family’s dramatic 20th century history.

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She is a self-taught journalist, a natural detective, a Good Samaritan, and a woman with a mission. Her name is Gladys Kalibbala but the kids she saves call her Mommy or Auntie Gladys.

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Joan Marie Johnson’s new book Funding Feminism offers an important and accessible (if occasionally redundant) contribution to both academic and lay audiences interested in women’s history

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“historically accurate, warm, moving and easy to recommend.”

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Vaddey Ratner’s second novel about the horrors of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia and the price survivors pay is the story of Teera, a now-American woman who returns to her native country for the fi

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". . . Schlink’s brilliance as a contemplative writer. . ."

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". . . a gripping historical novel . . ."

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Emily Robbins has written a lyrical story about love in nearly all of its manifestations.

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If every journalist wrote like Patrick Kingsley, more people would likely be reading the critical nonfiction books of our time.

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In Melanie Wallace’s third novel, her first in hardback by a major publisher, Olive Kitteridge meets Dorothy Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina, both interpreted by Alice Munro.

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With this enticing debut novel Imbolo Mbue demonstrates that she knows her stuff as a storyteller, a native Cameroonian, and a New Yorker.

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Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun is an award-winning internationally bestselling author who has been regularly shortlisted for the Nobel Prize, among others.

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Meredith Tax is to be commended for her thorough and well-documented book about the history and politics of a region of the world most people know very little about.

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French writer Clelie Avit, recipient of the Prix Nouveau Talent, shows promise in her first novel, yet she still has a way to go before realizing her full potential.

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quickly read but not easily forgotten. It’s a lovely story . . .”

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This highly readable novel based on a fictional masterwork by J. S.

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It is this kind of insight . . . that makes [Traister’s] important work a significant addition to the literature of sociology and women’s studies.”

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Elizabeth Nunez’s latest novel, a retelling of the tragedy King Lear set against a contemporary Caribbean landscape, takes place on the islands of Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad, exactly

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“[S]he wrote, ‘I do not desire ecstatic, disembodied sainthood . . . I would be human, and American, and a woman.’”

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The first thing to be said about this intriguing historical novel is that it ranks high among the “must read” list of debut works.

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Editor Meredith Maran’s latest book, which follows her previous collection, Why We Write, gathers together the thoughts of Twenty Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others)

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Gloria Steinem is the consummate writer, observer, and political analyst when it comes to exploring issues through the lens of gender.

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"This story of . . . struggle . . . is both brave and original."

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When Erica Jong’s groundbreaking novel, Fear of Flying, was published in 1973, it rocked the world.

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“riveting, finely wrought . . . not . . . easily forgotten . . .”

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“urgent and unforgettable . . .”

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a richly imagined, well-written story full of historical realities and peopled with unique characters . . .”

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“many readers who reach for this latest offering are likely to be disappointed.”

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In this enticing historical novel about the French designer Coco Chanel, Edith Piaf meets Maria Duenas’s heroine in the well-received and compelling 2014 novel, The Time In Between.

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“Beautiful writing . . .”

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Nazila Fathi is a woman of courage. She is also a very good writer.

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“. . . a rare work of deep reflection, imbued with a sense of what is right, even when one struggles for identity and meaning.

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“. . . there is something sad rather than enlightening about this ‘not-quite-memoir’ from a much loved, observant, feisty but fatigued writer.”

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“. . . Carla Kaplan has given us and history a great gift.”

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“Even though sex sells, the respectable HarperCollins should have known better than to go with this cash cow.”

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“. . . a decidedly New York book . . . well crafted for the most part and worth reading, despite its disappointing passages and missed opportunities.”

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“Like our protagonist, we hope to soar to new heights, to conquer our fears, to land where we belong.

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“A Lethal Inheritance: A Mother Uncovers the Science Behind Three Generations of Mental Illness should be read with a healthy dose of caution and not as a single-source reference o

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“despite everything, our sympathies remain clearly and profoundly with Blanca, regardless of her culminating acts.

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“This family is so real, so understandable, so in need of comfort each in their own way, that we want to embrace them in their grief, applaud their reconciliations, and learn from their lov

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“Yoani Sanchez is a remarkable woman.”

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Smuggled is a good read that reveals how history can impact individual lives.”

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What is the place of place in our lives? More specifically, what is the place of place in our romantic lives?

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Near-death experiences (NDE) are fascinating.