Allison Epstein earned her MFA in fiction from Northwestern University and a BA in creative writing from the University of Michigan. A Michigan native, she now lives in Chicago, where she works as an editor. When not writing, she enjoys good theater, bad puns, and fancy jackets.
She is the author of historical novels including A Tip for the Hangman, the newly released Let the Dead Bury the Dead, and the forthcoming Our Rotten Hearts.
Recently I asked Epstein about what she was reading. Her reply:
I'm currently about halfway through In Memoriam by Alice Winn, a queer love story set at the front during World War I. Books about 20th century wars areVisit Allison Epstein's website.generally not what I go for, but I was persuaded to pick this one up, and I'm glad I did. The two main characters are only eighteen years old, and it really captures the feeling of being that age, when everything is desperately important and embarrassment could kill you. It's wonderful and heartbreaking and I'll need something very lighthearted to follow.
Before that, I recently enjoyed R.F. Kuang's Yellowface, a thriller slash publishing industry send-up about a white woman who steals an unpublished manuscript from her deceased Asian friend. I keep seeing this one described as "compulsively readable," and that's accurate! I kept reading one more chapter... and then just onemore chapter... As someone currently navigating the publishing industry, this book also sent my blood pressure skyrocketing. Sorry to my doctor.
I'd also like to shout out A Sweet Sting of Salt, a debut novel by Rose Sutherland that's coming next April. It's a queer retelling of the fairy tale "The Selkie Wife," about a 19th-century Canadian midwife and the mysterious, beautiful young woman who turns up pregnant at her door during a storm. I was lucky to get an advance copy of this book, which is gorgeous and atmospheric and wonderful. I mean, sapphic yearning by the sea is one of my favorite subgenres.
Finally, I'm working on writing a Dickens retelling right now, so a few weeks ago I decided this was the time to finally read Bleak House. It's so much weirder than I expected! It's a legal drama blended together with a Victorian drama of manners, a Gothic romance, a detective thriller, and Lord knows what all else. I'd like to read it again and pay more attention to how it all hangs together, but I need a break before I pick that 900-page brick back up. (Also, Inspector Bucket should get his own movie franchise, Knives Out style. Who do I need to contact.)
My Book, The Movie: A Tip for the Hangman.
The Page 69 Test: A Tip for the Hangman.
Q&A with Allison Epstein.
My Book, The Movie: Let the Dead Bury the Dead.
The Page 69 Test: Let the Dead Bury the Dead.
--Marshal Zeringue
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