Pg. 99: Kathleen B. Casey's "The Things She Carried"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: The Things She Carried: A Cultural History of the Purse in America by Kathleen B. Casey.

About the book, from the publisher:

Purses and bags have always been much more than a fashion accessory.

For generations of Americans, the purse has been an essential and highly adaptable object, used to achieve a host of social, cultural, and political objectives. In the early 1800s, when the slim fit of neoclassical dresses made interior pockets impractical, upper-class women began to carry small purses called reticules, which provided them with a private place in a world where they did not have equal access to public space. Although many items of apparel have long expressed their wearer's aspirations, only the purse has offered carriers privacy, pride, and pleasure. This privacy has been particularly important for those who have faced discrimination because of their gender, class, race, citizenship, or sexuality.

The Things She Carried reveals how bags, sacks, and purses provided the methods and materials for Americans' activism, allowing carriers to transgress critical boundaries at key moments. It explores how enslaved people used purses and bags when attempting to escape and immigrant factory workers fought to protect their purses in the workplace. It also probes the purse's nuanced functions for Black women in the civil rights movement and explores how LGBTQ people used purses to defend their bodies and make declarations about their sexuality.

Kathleen Casey closely examines a variety of sources―from vintage purses found in abandoned buildings and museum collections to advertisements, photograph albums, trade journals, newspaper columns, and trial transcripts. She finds purses in use at fraught historical moments, where they served strategic and symbolic functions for their users. The result is a thorough and surprising examination of an object that both ordinary and extraordinary Americans used to influence social, cultural, economic, and political change.

Visit Kathleen B. Casey's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Things She Carried.

--Marshal Zeringue

Q&A with Marisa Silver

From my Q&A with Marisa Silver, author of At Last: A Novel:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

At Last follows the lives of two women who enter into an uneasy, often competitive relationship when their children marry. The lengths they go to prove that they are the more essential matriarch is sometimes comic, sometimes heartbreaking and often both at the same time. But underneath all of their missteps lies their desire to love and be loved by their children, their granddaughter, and, in the strange ways that love shows up, by each other — at last.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

I wasn’t the most dedicated reader as a kid. This is an understatement. My free time was mostly spent...[read on]

Visit Marisa Silver's website.

The Page 69 Test: The God of War.

Q&A with Marisa Silver.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight top folklore-inspired horror novels

Daphne Fama was born in the American South, embedded in its tight-knit Filipino community. When she’s not writing stories about monsters and the women who love them, she’s writing about video games. And when she’s not writing, she’s spending every minute adoring her partner and pup.

Fama's new novel is House of Monstrous Women.

At Electric Lit she tagged "eight unforgettable folk horrors [that] will crawl beneath your skin and make your blood run cold." One title on Fama's list:

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

On the last day of hunting season, four young Blackfeet men trespass on sacred ground and commit an act they’ll come to regret. The consequences are long-reaching—and they come on hooves. More than just a tale of supernatural vengeance, The Only Good Indians is a haunting novel of intergenerational trauma, guilt, and a past that refuses to let go.

Read about another title on the list.

The Only Good Indians is among Alena Bruzas's seven best literary horror novels, Samsun Knight's seven top horror novels about mysticism, B.R. Myers's ten quietly effective suspense novels, and Gus Moreno's top ten groundbreaking horror novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Nolan Chase's "A Lonesome Place for Murder"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: A Lonesome Place for Murder by Nolan Chase.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this dark mystery, perfect for fans of C. J. Box, one wrong step leads Ethan Brand to the most dangerous case of his career...and the most personal.

Hoping to surprise his sons, Ethan Brand, the chief of police of a small town in northern Washington state, is contemplating buying a horse. But when the horse literally stumbles upon an abandoned smuggling tunnel, Ethan and his lead investigator Brenda Lee Page discover a dead body connected to a decade-old mystery.

Ten years ago, Tyler Rash, a troubled friend of Ethan’s, vanished without a trace. The body in the tunnel has Tyler’s ID and personal effects.

As Ethan and Brenda Lee investigate Tyler’s disappearance, they follow a trail that leads them to a cross-border smuggling operation connected to the town’s notorious family of smugglers. And when a bomb is sent to Ethan’s own house, the case takes a deadly and personal turn. A killer is stalking Ethan Brand–a killer he’ll have to face if he wants to see his family again.

Visit Nolan Chase's website.

Writers Read: Nolan Chase (May 2024).

The Page 69 Test: A Lonesome Place for Dying.

My Book, The Movie: A Lonesome Place for Dying.

My Book, The Movie: A Lonesome Place for Murder.

Writers Read: Nolan Chase.

The Page 69 Test: A Lonesome Place for Murder.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Kathleen Barber reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Kathleen Barber, author of Both Things Are True: A Novel.

Her entry begins:

One of the upsides of being an author is getting to read new books before they're released! I just finished reading an early copy of Lyn Liao Butler's The Deadly Book Club, which is about the murder of a high-profile bookstagrammer and the other bookstagrammers-slash-frenemies who are all suspects. It's dishy and a lot of fun!

I also just started an early copy of Michelle Maryk's debut, The Found Object Society, which is delightfully creepy and...[read on]

About Both Things Are True, from the publisher:

For two exes who meet again, moving on is harder than ever in a funny and heartfelt romantic comedy about starting over by the author of Truth Be Told, now a major Apple TV+ series.

Vanessa is a yoga influencer living high in New York. But after her crypto-entrepreneur fiancé ruins both their lives by fleeing the country amid fraud allegations, Vanessa’s only choice is to start over―by flying home to Chicago and moving in with her sister.

Just as Vanessa puts her life back together, she bumps into Sam. Years ago, they fell hard and too fast. Their relationship ended in heartbreak after an impromptu Las Vegas wedding officiated by a Dolly Parton impersonator―and an annulment that was just as sudden. Now Sam is co-owner of a solar company with a promising future, a future Vanessa wants to be included in. But she can’t shake the whiff of scandal from her AWOL fiancé, and to protect Sam’s reputation, she’s keeping her distance. Then again…

If anyone can turn a negative into a positive―and a first love into a second chance―it’s a young woman with influence.

Visit Kathleen Barber's website.

The Page 69 Test: Follow Me.

Writers Read: Kathleen Barber (March 2020).

12 Yoga Questions with Kathleen Barber.

The Page 69 Test: Both Things Are True.

My Book, The Movie: Both Things Are True.

Q&A with Kathleen Barber.

Writers Read: Kathleen Barber.

--Marshal Zeringue

Beth Morrey's "Isabella's Not Dead," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Isabella's Not Dead by Beth Morrey.

The entry begins:

OK, well, I haven’t really thought about it, but I guess there is a dream scenario where I get a call from Netflix out the blue – can I fly to New York at a moment’s notice to meet a director? The director would be Greta Gerwig – I’m fairly sure she made both Lady Bird and Little Women for me personally. She would also adapt the screenplay of Isabella’s Not Dead because she picked it up in a kooky book store in Greenwich Village and fell in love with it. We’d have coffee in some arty café on the Upper East Side and get on like a house on fire – can I be some sort of consultant on the show? Like, wafting around set, advising?

The casting director would also be me, and I would meet lots of people I admire for expensive dinners, and gush over them before selecting the following stellar cast: The main character of Gwen (who is me) would be played by Tina Fey. I have been devoted to her for years and love everything she does. I recently watched The Four Seasons, which has similar vibes to Isabella’s Not Dead. It’s the same life stage, similar humor and a bit of travel, so...[read on]

Visit Beth Morrey's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Beth Morrey & Polly.

The Page 69 Test: The Love Story of Missy Carmichael.

My Book, The Movie: The Love Story of Missy Carmichael.

Q&A with Beth Morrey.

The Page 69 Test: Delphine Jones Takes a Chance.

My Book, The Movie: Delphine Jones Takes a Chance.

Writers Read: Beth Morrey (April 2022).

Writers Read: Beth Morrey (August 2025).

My Book, The Movie: Isabella's Not Dead.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Deborah Baker's "Charlottesville"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Charlottesville: An American Story by Deborah Baker.

About the book, from the publisher:

In August 2017, over a thousand neo-Nazis, fascists, Klan members, and neo-Confederates descended on a small southern city to protest the pending removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. Within an hour of their arrival, the city’s historic downtown was a scene of bedlam as armored far right cadres battled activists in the streets. Before the weekend was over, a neo-Nazi had driven a car into a throng of counterprotesters, killing a young woman and injuring dozens. Pulitzer Prize finalist Deborah Baker has written a riveting and panoptic account of what unfolded that weekend, focusing less on the rally’s far right leaders than on the story of the city itself. University, local, and state officials, including law enforcement, were unable or unwilling to grasp the gathering threat. Clergy, activists, and organizers from all walks of life saw more clearly what was coming and, at great personal risk, worked to warn and defend their city.

To understand why their warnings fell on deaf ears, Baker does a deep dive into American history. In her research she discovers an uncannily similar event that took place decades before when an emissary of the poet and fascist Ezra Pound arrived in Charlottesville intending to start a race war. In Charlottesville, Baker shows how a city more associated with Thomas Jefferson than civil unrest became a flashpoint in a continuing struggle over our nation’s founding myths.

Visit Deborah Baker's website.

Writers Read: Deborah Baker (December 2011).

The Page 99 Test: Charlottesville.

--Marshal Zeringue

Fourteen of the best books about fatherhood

At GQ (UK edition) Nathalie Kernot and Josiah Gogarty tagged fourteen of the best books about fatherhood, including:

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

If the title hasn’t convinced you, let me try: a lightly fictionalised memoir, this book explores the impact on 21-year-old Dave Eggers’ life when he abruptly becomes both guardian and father figure to his little brother, Toph, following the sudden deaths of their parents. Within it Dave learns to be a parent while learning to be a man, trying to develop his own life while constantly preoccupied with his duty to Toph, via a dynamic narrative including Q&A sections, lists and interjections, and a Nick Hornby–esque melding of humour and poignancy.

Read about another entry on the list.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is among Andy Abramowitz's seven books about the lies that bind siblings together and the Daily Telegraph's one hundred books that defined the noughties.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Marissa Higgins's "Sweetener"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Sweetener: A Novel by Marissa Higgins.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the author of A Good Happy Girl, a lesbian screwball comedy following two exes who turn to online dating after their dramatic split—only to end up seeing the same woman

In Sweetener, recently separated wives, both named Rebecca, can’t seem to disentangle their lives. Lonely and depressed, Rebecca is scraping by as a part-time cashier at an organic grocery store. Despite having less than ten dollars in her bank account, she lists herself as a sugar mama on a lesbian hookup app. Enter Charlotte, a charismatic artist who, unbeknownst to Rebecca, is also dating her wife.

Meanwhile, the other Rebecca, a newly sober doctoral student, has renewed her efforts to foster a child. The catch? Because the Rebeccas are still legally married, she needs her wife to attend parenting classes with her as part of the approval process.

Neither of them asks whether this means they’re getting back together, but the idea alone sends Charlotte into a tailspin. As Charlotte navigates her desire for each Rebecca—or her desire for attention—her world becomes more and more Gumby-like and surreal. It doesn’t help that she’s been wearing a fake pregnancy belly to all of her dates, and only one of the Rebeccas knows it isn’t real.

Sumptuous, sticky, and slightly absurd, Sweetener brings together three women fixated on the fantasy of motherhood, and trying to figure out what kind of mother, partner, or sugar mama they want to be.

Visit Marissa Higgins's website and follow her on Instagram and Threads.

The Page 69 Test: Sweetener.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Deborah James's "Clawing Back"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Clawing Back: Redistribution In Precarious Times by Deborah James.

About the book, from the publisher:

The impulse to redistribute wealth is said to be a tool to counter inequalities, applied by the state or society to curb the worst excesses of capitalist exploitation and free trade. In settings where previous political regimes are reformed, or toppled and replaced by new ones, redistribution can also be a policy specifically oriented at redress, one exercised at the formal level of policy. Drawing on a comparative ethnography in South Africa and the United Kingdom, Clawing Back explores how notions of reallocation and payout are intimately connected with those of compensation for a loss. Where financialization is accompanied by increased informalization, redistribution can equally involve the market as well as kinship and social networks. Drawing on a rich ethnography of the human relationships at the center of redistribution, Deborah James shows how borrowing can provide negotiation opportunities to wage earners and welfare beneficiaries alike: they make use of debt to constitute relations and futures, to engage with the state, to convert between commodified and non-commodified relationships. Rather than suggesting that financialization is serving either a totally negative or wholly beneficial purpose, James posits a different way of visualizing the relationship between the finance industry and the world of everyday needs.

Learn more about Clawing Back at the Stanford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Clawing Back.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven of the best books about sisters

Brooke Lea Foster is an award-winning author and journalist who has worked as a writer and editor at The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, The Huffington Post, and the Washingtonian magazine.

Her novels include Summer Darlings, On Gin Lane, All the Summers in Between, and Our Last Vineyard Summer.

At Oprah Daily Foster tagged seven favorite novels about sisters that capture the complexity — and joy — of the sibling bond. One title on the list:

Searching for Sylvie Lee, by Jean Kwok

“Often there’s a dichotomy between the beautiful sister and the smart one, but in our family, both of those qualities belong to my sister.” It’s a powerful line spoken by younger sister, Amy, in a novel about her “perfect” older sister’s disappearance and her desperate search to find her. Sylvie is the pride of her family. She’s Ivy League educated, lives in Brooklyn Heights, and is married to a loving husband. But after visiting her ailing grandmother in the Netherlands, she vanishes. Amy, who has been living in Queens with their parents and hasn’t done much of anything with her life, must travel abroad to look for Sylvie, discovering eerie family secrets in her sister’s wake. Ultimately, the novel raises a painful question: What happens when both sisters think the other is the more beloved in a family? And at what point does that subtle competition erupt into something darker?

Read about another entry on the list.

Searching for Sylvie Lee is among Leah Konen's seven top getaway thrillers, Andrea Bartz's seven top thrillers about vacations gone wrong, Jennifer Baker's twelve mysteries featuring BIPOC protagonists and Katherine St. John's eleven novels of vacations gone horribly wrong.

The Page 69 Test: Searching for Sylvie Lee.

--Marshal Zeringue