The New Yorker:
John Spiegel, a retired banking executive, and his wife, Karen, a retired college-textbook publisher, describe themselves as “lifetime committed Republicans.” They split their time between a manicured Atlanta neighborhood and a waterfront community in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. “Fewer murders,” Karen explained, referring to Ponte Vedra. “And, you know, you don’t pay any state income tax.” Other than being readers of books, they are not what one imagines to be the core demo for “While Justice Sleeps,” the newest work of fiction from Stacey Abrams. The progressive Democrat, who is expected to run for governor of Georgia next year, has previously written romantic thrillers (“Hidden Sins,” “The Art of Desire”) under the pen name Selena Montgomery, and politically oriented nonfiction books under her own (“Minority Leader,” “Our Time Is Now”). None of those interested the Spiegels. But her new political thriller appeared on the Times best-seller list. This got the attention of John, who considered Abrams the politician “overly outspoken and one-sided.”
John’s curiosity overcame him. He bought a copy of the novel and finished it in a few days. “You’re not going to approve of who wrote this book,” he told his wife, upon emerging from his study. “But it’s good.” Abrams is, he said, “articulate and a gifted storyteller.”
Karen generally accepts her husband’s recommendations. What about an author whose politics Karen believes to be Marxist? She said, “I don’t like Stacey’s liberal approach to everything being free, you know. All the ‘give-me’s and ‘gotta-have’s.” But she enjoys what she calls “true-killer books”—“You know, Ann Rule, that kind of thing.”
Go to link
Comments