In some idle moments at the community shop, I picked up this book in the swap/borrow shelves. It had me hooked in pages, and so came home with me. Our protagonist is Erik, a psychiatrist. We first meet him as he goes through his recently deceased father's papers with his sister Inga and his mother in the family home in Minnesota. The adult children discover a mysterious letter alluding to some sinister act, from a woman they had never heard of before, Lisa. The pair decide not to worry their mother with it, but can't resist the impulse to find out what this secret of their father's was. This is one of a number of threads that draw us through the ...  Read the complete review

One of my standout reads of all time is "What I Loved" by this author, Siri Hustvedt; a clever book that was extremely well written and one that I enjoyed immensely. Her new novel, "The Sorrows of an American" was similarly billed as a spectacular read and I had high expectations that it would be an equally impressive book. **~~** Story Synopsis: **~~** Beginning with the death of his father Lars, Erik Davidsen unearths a secret that his father held for years - a promise that he had made to a woman called Lisa. Along with his sister Inga, Erik decides to find out more about the cryptic letter this woman had sent their father ...  Read the complete review