![]() ![]() Read Full Review >Īli Smith’s new novel, Summer, is the concluding volume in her immersive, prickly and politically ardent seasonal quartet. Not to worry: This final volume bears the weight with aplomb. Of course Summer, the denouement of Smith's truly novel quartet of novels - which ends while the world is still wracked by the novel coronavirus - also faced a risk of being overloaded with our expectations. I'll miss the intricate narrative Smith has spun out of a combination of real and fictional people and events. But as befits our dark times, there's a somberness to this volume that even Smith's characteristic compassion and brainy playfulness can't quite mitigate. ![]() Smith reveals subtle but overarching connections between the four volumes' recurrent characters and themes, bringing this brilliant quartet to a satisfying close. What will keep fresh long after the news cycle has moved on is their passionate engagement with universal issues such as grief, injustice, human warmth and cruelty, and the life-enhancing powers of love, art, and decency. ![]() Is it a mistake for writers to pursue topicality? Is the necessary perspective possible at such close range? Will such work date as quickly as old news? We know where Smith stands on these questions, and I'm with her. ![]()
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