If your book club is looking for a compelling, provocative, stirring, and relevant read for 2012, then Amy Waldman’s The Submission should be on the top of your list.
Not since Let the Great World Spin has this blogger read a “New York†novel as interesting as this one. And, as you read The Submission, you will find yourself questioning your own principles, values, and biases while you are simultaneously challenged to understand those of the characters. Quite simply, The Submission is a great book.
Essentially, the novel opens when a group of New Yorkers are selecting the finalist for the 9/11 memorial only to discover that the winner is an American Muslim. This revelation is the catalyst for community-wide debate and chaos, much of it instigated by self-serving journalists and politicians. Caught in the fray is the memorial’s designer as well as other ‘survivors’ of the attacks.
One reviewer writes, “In this deeply humane novel, the breadth of Amy Waldman’s cast of characters is matched by her startling ability to conjure their perspectives. A striking portrait of a fractured city striving to make itself whole, The Submission is a piercing and resonant novel by an important new talent.â€
We wholeheartedly agree.
Let us know if you have read The Submission and what you think. Our reading group will be discussing it on Friday, January 6, and another blog will follow the meeting. Reading group discussion questions can be found by clicking on Other Smart Reads.
Happy New Year to all.
