“In our latest edition of featured fiction—curated by our own Carolyn Quimby—we present an excerpt from Carolina De Robertis’s new novel, Cantoras, out today from Knopf.”
The Millions featured an excerpt from Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis. Follow the link above to view the piece!
“Books are a traveler’s best friend both on the road and at home. There’s no better way to pass the hours of a long flight than with a riveting book in your hands. At home, stories of adventures and lives on the other side of the world help inspire our next trips and broaden our horizons. Here are the books that should be on your bedside table (and in your suitcase) this season.”
Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis was included in Fodor’s roundup of the best books to inspire your fall travels! Fodor’s suggests that Cantoras might be best enjoyed “on your own adventure to the rugged coastlines and pristine beaches of Uruguay.” Follow the link above to view the entire list.
“As a novelist, I’ve always been inspired by true histories, and by fiction’s ability to breathe life into them, make them vivid, make them sing. We need nonfiction, of course, in all its glorious forms: memoir, journalism, scholarly tomes, essays, histories, cold hard facts. Good lord, yes: facts. More facts! All hail real facts! And yet, novels can not only reveal the truths of history but transport us into them, and into the consciousness of human beings in other places and times. As a reader, I’ve experienced this hundreds of times, and it’s helped shape who I am. As a writer, it’s my job to try my darnedest to offer readers the same.”
Carolina De Robertis, author of Cantoras, shares with Read it Forward what inspired her to write Cantoras and the history behind the five women the novel explores.
“What it’s about: In 1977 Uruguay, life under a military rule is punishing: political dissent is quickly squashed, civil rights are under attack and homosexuality is ruthlessly punished. Still, five women find one another, become friends, then family, and try to live authentic lives.
The buzz: ‘A stunning novel about queer love, womanhood, and personal and political revolution,’ says a starred review in Kirkus Reviews.”
USA Today named Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis one of five books not to miss! Follow the link above to view the entire list.
“Kassandra Montag's novel imagines a world that may soon not be fiction. A hundred years in the future, the coast and the heartland of the United States have been obliterated. A mother lives with her daughter on the mountainous islands that remain, but when she learns that her older daughter — the one who has long been missing — is living on a colony in the Arctic Circle, she undertakes a perilous journey to find her.”
After The Flood by Kassandra Montag was included in this list on Bustle featuring the most anticipated books of September 2019! Follow the link above to read the full article.
“It’s impossible not to fall in love with these fierce ‘girlwomen’—queer, courageous, and adventurous—as they find freedom in their relationships with each other while living under a ruthless dictatorship. —Angie Cruz”
Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis was included in Vanity Fair’s list of fiction recommendations by fall’s most anticipated authors! De Robertis was also quoted by Vanity Fair for her praise of Laura Restrepo’s Delirium! Follow the link above to view the entire list of recommendations.
“It’s 1977 in Uruguay, and the country is under a military dictatorship. Groups of five or more people can’t gather in private spaces without a permit, and while homosexuality isn’t outlawed outright, it doesn’t need to be, because being an out gay man or woman is an automatic prison sentence. Under these dire straits, five women — ringleader Flaca, activist Romina, housewife Anita, the mysterious Malena, and the teenage Paz — go on an excursion to an isolated beach where they can just be themselves — ‘cantoras,’ or women who sing, a code name for lesbians. Over the course of 35 years, De Robertis charts the fortunes of these women as they fall in and out of love and navigate the country’s tumultuous politics. That it’s written in such lovely prose is an added bonus.”
Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis was included in this Buzzfeed list featuring the most exciting books coming out this fall! Follow the link above to view the entire list.
Pumpkinheads, by Rainbow Rowell and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks, was chosen as one of People’s best fall books of 2019! Follow the link above to view the entire list.
“Aside from the consistently engrossing narrative that effortlessly interweaves the story of each woman’s personal successes and setbacks with Uruguay’s complicated struggle to come into its own as a democratic republic, De Robertis’ writing is reason alone to read this book. Like her fierce characters, her words pry and pull at the essence of not only what it feels like to be thwarted, condemned or quarantined because of your beliefs and identity, but also what it means to be a vulnerable yet empowered, infinitely beautiful and fully alive woman. Often, these sentences hit their target so directly and eloquently that they practically sing.”
Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis received a wonderful review in the San Francisco Chronicle! Follow the link above to read the entire review.
The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter, the latest installment of her Will Trent series, is #1 on Apple Books for the week of 8/25/19! Follow the link above to view the entire list.
“Pumpkinheads is more than a story about a last evening at a beloved pumpkin patch; it is about being confident enough in a friendship to speak both challenge and truth — even the truth that makes you feel vulnerable, but could set you on a new, rewarding path. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t look away from this delightful pair.”
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks received a fabulous review in The New York Times! Follow the link above to read the entire review.
“Our advice is to read Pumpkinheads fast, then again slowly. Find out what happens to Deja and Josiah, but be sure to catch the whimsy and detail Hicks embeds into every frame.
We spoke to Rowell and Hicks about creating characters, crushes, and Nebraska.”
Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks, author and illustrator, respectively, of Pumpkinheads, were interviewed by Refinery29 about their new graphic novel. Follow the link above to read the full interview!
“The New Year gets all the credit in the self-improvement space, with its resolutions and dry Januaries and general air of rebirth, but for the true bookworm, the fall is the ideal time to turn over a new, perfectly crisp, reading leaf. Not only does the season inspire a callback to school supply shopping, planners, and the excitement of a syllabus, but it’s also the strongest time of year for great literature. As the awards shortlists beckon, publishers send their long-awaited prestige titles to the shelves.
This year proves to be no exception. Below, EW’s book editors select the 40 titles for which we’re most excited. This year’s fall must-list reflects the best of everything on offer, from the literary A-listers still going strong to the debut darlings poised to be the next big thing.”
Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis was included in Entertainment Weekly’s list of Fall Must-Reads! EW says Cantoras “sensitively and singularly touches on themes of queerness, community, and perseverance.” Follow the link above to view the entire list!
“Grab a tissue or two and read Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood. When Ginny Richardson’s daughter Lucy is born with down syndrome, her husband Ab sends Lucy away to a special school, telling Ginny it’s for the best. The heart-wrenching story takes a turn when two years later, Ginny’s best friend Marsha discovers an article claiming the school is not what she thought it to be. The two go to rescue Lucy, turning Ginny into a fugitive who’s fighting to keep her daughter.”
Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood was included in L’Oréal Paris’s Book Club picks for Fall 2019! Follow the link above for the full list.
James Beard award winning chef Alexander Smalls, author of Between Harlem and Heaven, will be participating in this year’s New York Times Food Festival! Chef Smalls will be hosting an event titled “Welcome: The Fine Art of Hospitality” on October 5, 2019 at 1:00pm EST. Follow the link above to purchase tickets and to view the entire schedule of the festival!
“At the beginning of Barbara Bourland’s extraordinary novel, the narrator—who remains unnamed throughout—is working on the show of paintings that could catapult her career from up-and-coming working artist to art world star. The paintings, gigantic canvases that take months each to make, are titled Prudence, Temperance, Humility, Modesty, Chastity, Obedience, and Purity, and are a commentary on the expectations laid upon young women and the urge to break free of them. Three months before the show, the narrator’s apartment/studio burns down, and now, homeless and deeply in debt, she has those three months to covertly recreate what she’d taken two years to meticulously craft.”
Medium wrote a phenomenal article about Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland. Follow the link above to read it in its entirety!
“It’s been a great year for mystery writers!”
Former President Bill Clinton tweeted out his list of the best things he’s read so far this year and included Karin Slaughter’s latest book The Last Widow! Follow the link above to view his entire list!
“Every year it seems there are more and more accessible queer themes from queer writers in mainstream books publishing, in every genre, and this fall has maybe the widest range of super exciting releases to date. Whether your thing is queer girl YA inspired by Greek mythology, groundbreaking poetry collections, challenging and mind-expanding critical nonfiction on art, power, illness or design, or weird and dynamic short fiction, this fall brings you some new titles you won’t be able to stop thinking about.”
Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis was included on Autostraddle’s list of most anticipated queer and feminist books forthcoming this fall. Follow the link above to view the entire list!