a love letter to Augustnotes on the books I’m reading for my mfa and the first few weeks in Providence
Hello, Providence
My partner and I are recently settled into a charming little apartment in Federal Hill, otherwise known as the Little Italy of Providence. Given that I studied abroad in Italy in the summer of my sophomore year, Federal Hill is the perfect segue way into living independently in a new city with the literary scrawls and masterpieces of my MFA at Brown before me. There is a wonderful Italian grocery and restaurant right on the corner of our street and the main road with $5 cappuccinos and a delightful plethora of cafes, wine and oyster bars, and restaurants smattered all around us. Further down into the city is downtown with bookstores, gift shops, and hotels. Up the hill beyond downtown is College Hill, a steep incline up past student apartments, art galleries, academic departments, and cafes to the Van Wickle Gates from whence one enters onto the Brown campus. It is all frightfully lovely and overwhelming and exciting all at once. Books LatelyThe greatest tribulation of any writer is that one must read. Naturally, I’ve been doing just that and am making my way through the few books I brought with me to my apartment. I had ideas about saving space for the books I will inevitably purchase in Providence and further foresee fruitful trips to the public library just down the road. Now, here’s what I am reading lately. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides: A gift from one of my creative writing professors back at the University of Arizona. Set in the 1980s, the book follows three recent graduates from Brown University into tumultuous post-grad life. Primarily a coming of age story, it deals with mental health, obsession, wealth inequality, sexual identity, and the realism of searching for what’s next. Well written, a great many references to English writers and history, philosophy, and religion. Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani: Set in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, this cozy small-town romance novel follows Ave Maria Mulligan as she navigates single life in her late thirties. Having already condemned herself to spinsterhood, she fumbles her way through dating. She discovers her father was her stepfather and that, in fact, her blood father is an Italian man her mother romanced as a teen. Ave Maria sells the pharmacy and house she inherited from her mother and determines to travel to Italy to reconnect with her blood relations and finally rushes into a marriage in the last couple chapters of the book. Whew, what a ride! Good writing, inconsistent characterization. Indiana, Indiana by Laird Hunt: told in surrealist and often meandering vignettes, a novel about a man haunted by memories of his pyromaniac wife whom is committed to a mental asylum. Much of the story pays attention to the landscape of rural Indiana. I’ve just read the first chapter of seven chapters and am looking forward to reading more. Watching: Hercule Poirot
I do so love mysteries and certainly Agatha Christie’s novels are a pinnacle of clever plotting. No one portrays Hercule Poirot, detective extraordinaire, like David Suchet in ITV’s British series. I’m enjoying rewatching the series from start to finish as it’s the perfect cozy addition to any day. What’s MoreClasses start on September 9th and I can’t wait to dive in! In the meantime, I’m exploring local cafes and restaurants, hunting for furniture on Marketplace, and learning new ways to edit and share content on Instagram. Paid subscribers get everything I don’t post for free: complete personal essays, craft notes from my MFA at Brown, and lit guides to Southern and Appalachian Gothic. $5/month. Come up the holler with me. You're currently a free subscriber to Letters By Layla. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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