Sometimes, the right book is just waiting for you to find it.
Once, while exploring a dark corner of my hometown library, I looked up to see a dull, greyish, library-bound copy of Walker Percy’s 1961 novel “The Moviegoer.” I don’t know what it was about this dusty tome that grabbed my younger self – especially since its scuffed spine offered no information other than the title and author’s name. I worry that it was as simple as thinking, “Hey, I go to the movies, too!” but I couldn’t really tell you. (I didn’t know it was a National Book Award winner, that’s for sure.)
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Still, Percy’s novel about a disaffected Korean War veteran in New Orleans called to me and I answered. And I remember feeling like it was the book I’d needed to read right then.
More recently, I was here at my desk, thinking about things I needed to do and books I needed to read for work and I let my gaze drift upward into the overflowing bookshelves above.
A slim novel caught my attention: J.L. Carr’s “A Month in the Country,” a book I’d read and enjoyed…right? Pulling it down, I realized that while I’d convinced myself I’d read it at some point, it was clear that I hadn’t.
Talk about hiding in plain sight. Not only had its spine been in front of me for months, but my NYRB edition of the 1980 novel had also been drifting around my shelves since I’d bought it at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Company and I’d rudely been ignoring it.
I shouldn’t have. Backlisted hosts Andy Miller and John Mitchinson devoted the first episode of their wonderful books podcast to “A Month in the Country.” Prior to the inaugural episode, however, neither had read the book (though Mitchinson slightly eased my conscience when he admitted, “I’d pretended to.”)
When I interviewed them last year for the podcast’s 200th episode, Miller brought up the novel during our wide-ranging conversation. I’d not had room to include that part of the discussion in my original piece – and it had almost slipped my mind that we’d talked about it. But after reading the book, I went back through the transcript and found what Miller had told me about it.
“When we met to have the first discussions about the books we might cover, we agreed that ‘A Month in the Country’ by J.L. Carr was sort of perfect – I have literally never met in real life, or online life, anyone who doesn’t love that novel,” said Miller. “In a sense, we began with the perfect one, and we’ve been trying to work our way back ever since.”
Miller then directed his comments directly to you, the Book Pages readers.
“So if anyone reading this hasn’t read ‘A Month in the Country’ by J.L. Carr, we guarantee – guarantee! – that that novel, which will take you 2-3 hours to read, will stay with you forever,” said Miller. “It’s the absolute epitome of a book that everybody loves while simultaneously thinking they are the only person who knows about it. “
Benjamin Myers, the author of “The Gallows Pole” and “The Perfect Golden Circle,” also mentioned it to me when we spoke in 2022: “It’s set in the aftermath of the First World War. It’s really short, poignant, simple – it’s a novella, really – about one man who renovates a church in a little village in England. It’s beautiful. It’s sort of very melancholic. It was made into a film in the ‘80s, starring Colin Firth. I always mention that book because I think it’s not widely read.”
So a novel that not everyone has read, but everyone who has loves it? Sounds about right. I spent a lovely few hours – spread out over a couple of days to make it last – reading this short novel about a World War I veteran who comes to a village in the north of England to restore a painting. (I know this description does not do it justice.)
What do I love about the book? As much as I could point to its melancholy or humor or longing, it’s not that any one part outshines the rest – it’s that’s all of its elements seem so perfectly balanced.
If you’ve read it, you know what I mean. And if you haven’t, well, you have something to look forward to.
I hope the right book finds you, too.
What Book Pages readers are reading (International Edition)
Reader Gemma Burke from Ireland wrote in with a kind note and a wealth of book recommendations to share:
Greetings from a damp and chilly Ireland! Here are some of the books I’ve read and enjoyed recently.
“The Pet” by Catherine Chidgey: Set in a high school in New Zealand. A charismatic new teacher comes to the school but strange things begin to happen.
“Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett: No need to say anything about this! It has been well reviewed and well received. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep and she really brought it to life.
“Go as a River” by Shelley Read: Set in Colorado over four decades and incorporating the creation of the Blue Mesa Reservoir on the Gunnison River (which I enjoyed reading further about). It’s the story of Torie Nash and how her life is changed by the chance meeting of a Native American boy one afternoon.
“The Great Believers” by Rebecca Makkai: Set in 1980s Chicago during the AIDS epidemic. I had the pleasure of seeing Makkai at the Ennis Book Club Festival earlier this month.
“A Crooked Tree” by Una Mannion: It’s set in Pennsylvania one summer in the 1980s. A family grieving the loss of their father and bickering in the back of a car, a 12-year-old left on the side of the road and the terrible consequences of that one rash act.
I would highly recommend all of the above.
Rachel Stark reveals how the winds of Perris, California inspire her
Rachel Stark is the author of the novel “Perris, California,” which Susan Straight said “will live alongside classics of young womanhood by Kaye Gibbons, Helena Maria Viramontes, Maya Angelou, and yes, Dorothy Allison.” With a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from University of California, Riverside, and a master’s degree in creative writing at University of California, Davis, Stark now lives in Colorado. She talked to correspondent Michael Schaub, and here takes the Q&A.
Q: Is there a book or books you always recommend to other readers?
I am always and forever recommending anything from Louise Erdrich.
Q: How do you decide what to read next?
At any given time, I am reading at least one novel, one collection of short stories and one collection of poems. Whenever I need to restock the supply I go to the notes on my phone where I have collected recommended or researched titles. If none on the list fit the need, I’ll pick up something that catches my eye at the library or local bookstore.
Q: Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?
I think “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams was the first book that had an impact on me as a kid.
Q: Do you have any favorite book covers?
I tend to not pay much attention to book covers. I think they just have not been a big part of my relationships with books. That being said, the two that come to mind are “The Seas” by Samantha Hunt and “In the Country of Women: A Memoir” by Susan Straight.
Q: Is there a genre or type of book you read the most – and what would you like to read more of?
I tend to enjoy and lean towards reading polyphonic novels and short story collections. I feel pretty fulfilled by my reading choices. I think it would be interesting and fun to add graphic novels into the mix of my reading selections. I’m interested in how image and word can collaborate on the page.
Q: Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life – a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?
My big sisters read to me and helped me with my school work a lot when I was a kid. I had significant trouble learning to read and by virtue of that I struggled in grade school and high school. My sister Rebecca read “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley out loud to me when I was a senior in high school and still struggling to read. She read a chunk of that book to me every night before bed and for the first time I was able to participate in class conversations in a meaningful way. That first experience of talking about story was so exciting and rewarding. It was an encouraging and pivotal moment in my life that led me to study literature and become a writer myself.
Q: What’s something about your book that no one knows?
Like [the character] Tessa, I have a connection to the winds of Perris, California. I have very special and meaningful memories of being outside the house on the hill I grew up on and the land that surrounded it. Sometimes, I’d stand with my back to the wind with my eyes closed and let my arms hang at my sides with my hair thrashing around my face. Sometimes, when I needed it, I’d lean back, let go and let the wind hold me.
More books, authors and bestsellers
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Closed books
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Underdog story
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The week’s bestsellers
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Next on ‘Bookish’
Steve Almond talks about his new book on writing, “Truth is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow,” and novelist and licensed death row investigator Rene Denfeld discusses her novel “Sleeping Giants” on the next Bookish on April 19 at 5 p.m.
• • •
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
