Archive
The complete Open Letters Monthly Archive.
An auspicious debut, The Abomination is a riveting conspiracy thriller by JonathanHolt. Plus, Philip Kerr’s cheeky, charismatic Berlin cop Bernie Gunther is back in A Man Without Breath.
Read MoreA debut novel of alternate history spins out one of the most tantalizing hypotheticals of the past: what if Anne Boleyn had managed to give King Henry VIII a healthy male heir? Some of the answers - and some of the resulting mysteries - may surprise you.
Read MoreJohn le Carré, the pre-eminent spy writer of the 20th century and beyond, dazzles us again with A Delicate Truth. Plus a debut addition to the ranks of the genre, Red Sparrow, might just earn the author Jason Matthews a pat on the back from the master.
Read MoreA startling triptych illuminates the crossroads of social, racial, and sexual identity in the Copley Square of a century ago, as "The Gods of Copley Square" continues
Read MoreTwo seductive thrillers: one starring a fearless female cop, the other a boatload of washed-up MI5 spies.
Read MoreGhostman, by Roger Hobbs, is a dazzling debut that deserves a place as a benchmark of the crime-thriller genre
Read More"The proper function of a critic is to save a tale from the artist who created it" wrote D. H. Lawrence, but sometimes - most of the time - despite the best efforts of the best critics, both tale and artist disappear. What do we do with the criti-cal darlings of yesteryear, now filling the library bargain sale? And what of the critics, who called them imperishable?
Read MoreThe startling revelations in Anonymous turn out to be only the beginning: literary sleuths have uncovered a slew of other authorial misdemeanors.
Read MoreLost to history, here re-discovered, Trinity Chancel --"a daring enterprise in its day, as original an expression and as unique as was the genius of the American people."
Read MoreWatching the Dark, the latest in Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks series, shows the master crime writer at the top of his form.
Read MoreA rumor of Narnia at Trinity Church prompts two questions. Can a building have a spiritual life? Can a work of art not? Phillips Brooks and the idea of ecstasy
Read MoreIn this special feature, we look back at some highlights of the reading we did in 2012.
Read More"Truth is Catholic, but the search for it is Protestant," quoth W.H. Auden, and this month Phillips Brooks is at Lourdes, of all places, his liking for which can only be explained by his experiences at Benares.
Read MoreA city in northern England and a remote Scottish island are appropriately bleak settings to launch two impressive new series.
Read MoreIn this special feature, we look back at some highlights of the reading we did in 2012.
Read MoreWilliam Kent Krueger and Steve Hamilton, authors of two critically acclaimed series, have winning new detective novels. Irma Heldman reviews.
Read MoreRenowned reviewer and cultural critic Daniel Mendelsohn has a scintillating new collection of his recent work; John Cotter and Steve Donoghue compare notes on "Waiting for the Barbarians"
Read More"Perhaps a little drunk might answer" was Phillips Brooks's idea of how to view Pre-Raphaelite art, several masterpieces of which he commissioned for Trinity Church. "Centerpiece" continues.
Read MoreHenry Adams on the road to Chartres, Phillips Brooks on the Madonna of the prairie, and John La Farge on why he worried Trinity Church had "no heart" -- The Gods of Copley Square continues
Read MoreByzantium rediscovered. An American in Venice and a forgotten Madonna (which breaks the rules) in Copley Square. Behold an American Hagia Sophia
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