As 2019 draws to a close, we pause to remember authors (listed alphabetically) who died over the past year, with suggested reading from the library. Our list concludes tomorrow.
- Andrea Camilleri. The Sicilian author’s mystery series featuring loveably gruff Inspector Montalbano begins with The Shape of Water.
- Da Chen. His memoirs and historical fiction include My Last Empress, a novel about a man obsessed with one of the Emperor’s young consorts.
- Ram Dass. The New Age guru’s prolific literary output included Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying.
- Ernest Gaines. Set in his native Louisiana, the author’s moving novel A Lesson Before Dying was an early selection for our library’s Seattle Reads program.
- Francine Du Plessix Gray. The French-American novelist and journalist explored the place of women in history, such as Madame de Stael: The First Modern Woman.
- Alasdair Gray. Visionary Scottish Sci-Fi satirist Gray’s surreal dystopian debut – Lanark – was written over thirty years.
- Clive James. Essayist, memoirist and poet’s Sentenced to Life is an excellent recent poetry collection, exhibiting his wide-ranging interests.
- Ward Just. The great American political writer’s morally complex novels of power and influence include American Romantic, the story of a young foreign service officer in 1960s Indochina.
- Judith Krantz. The queen of the “sex-and-shopping” novel burst onto the scene with her blockbuster 1978 novel Scruples.
- C. Y. Lee. Author of the 1957 bestseller The Flower Drum Song, basis of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical of the same name.
- Johanna Lindsey. Prolific author of historical romance novels spanning four decades, and set in many eras. Try her Reckless Love, set in Utah Territory.
- Paule Marshall. Her novels and short stories about ethnic identity, race and colonialism reflected her upbringing in Brooklyn as a daughter of poor immigrants from Barbados, recounted in the memoir Triangular Road.
~ Posted by David W
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