Wednesday, April 18, 2012

What is Joseph Olshan reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Joseph Olshan, author of Cloudland.

His entry begins:
I am reading two books at present. The first is The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope, the third novel in the Palliser series. Most Trollope fans will understand it when I say that reading his novels is like eating candy. They have wonderful, intricate plotting, great characters, they give an instructive overview of the political scene in England during the 19th century, and they dissect and parse the vagaries and traditions of the upper classes. Trollope is particularly good at creating feckless yet compelling young men. I blistered through Phineas Finn and...[read on]
About Cloudland, from the publisher:
A stunning literary thriller set in rural Vermont from the much praised author of Nightswimmer and Clara's Heart

Once a major reporter for a national newspaper, Catherine Winslow has retreated to the Upper Valley of Vermont to write a household hints column. While out walking during an early spring thaw, Catherine discovers the body of a woman leaning against an apple tree near her house. From the corpse’s pink parka, Winslow recognizes her as the latest victim of a serial killer, a woman reported missing weeks before during a blizzard.

When her neighbor, a forensic psychiatrist, is pulled into the investigation, Catherine begins to discover some unexpected connections to the serial murders. One is that the murders might be based on a rare unfinished Wilkie Collins novel that is missing from her personal library. The other is her much younger lover from her failed affair has unexpectedly resurfaced and is trying to maneuver his way back into her affections.

Elegant, haunting and profoundly gripping, Cloudland is an ingenious psychological trap baited with murder, deception and the intricacies of desire.
Learn more about the book and author at Joseph Olshan's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Conversion.

The Page 69 Test: Cloudland.

Writers Read: Joseph Olshan.

--Marshal Zeringue