Maureen Howard

[Larou]

Maureen Howard was born in 1930, published her first novel in 1961 and has written ten novels (the most recent one in 2009) and an autobiography. She used to be quite popular with readers and critics alike, but that popularity has waned over the years up to her current, quite buried state. That might be due to her novels, which apparently started out fairly conventionally psychologically-realist becoming increasingly adventurous in their form.

I have read only one of her novels so far (Natural History: A Novel), but would consider it a major contribution to 20th century literature, and argue for unburial (unburiment? unburitude?) on the merit of that novel alone.

Links: an interview and a review (which I find a bit to comparison-happy but which gives a nice overview of her writing)

[Nathan "N.R."]

I'm currently reading Big as Life. Very happy with it. She's worth looking into for ye mighty SPADE wielders.

[Nate D]

Wow. Someone writing about Bridgeport CT. I'm intrigued on that basis alone.