Two great reads

The early 20th-century Australian writer, Henry Handel Richardson, is someone I teach in my course "Women's Literature: British and Colonial." Her short story "Two Hanged Women" appears in The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women, my foundational textbook for both women's literature courses I teach. I love the stylistic economy of the story.

The novel I've just finished reading is Richardson's masterpiece: The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, which consists of three separate novels: Australian Felix, The Way Home, and Ultima Thule. The protagonist is based on her father, say most critics, and I recommend the entire 900+ pages.

A second good book, Charles Baxter's Burning Down the House, is a collection of essays about writing fiction. I'm just starting it and already I want to copy the essays to use in class.