Biblioracle: In ‘Fonseca,' Jessica Francis Kane turns a real author's life into a work of imaginative fiction
'Fonseca' is the story of Penelope Fitzgerald, a real-life writer who published her first novel in 1977 ('The Golden Child') at age 61. She went on to be nominated for the Booker Prize for 1978's 'The Bookshop,' before winning the Booker in 1979 for 'Offshore.' Fitzgerald was considered one of the greatest British novelists of the 20th century, an heir to no less than Jane Austen.
Kane, author of 2019's gentle and penetrating 'Rules for Visiting,' has taken a real-life incident from Fitzgerald's pre-novelist life and spun it into something very much like a Penelope Fitzgerald novel, while also clearly being its own distinct entity. It requires some mettle to take the life of a beloved author and render that life as a work of imaginative fiction.
In the novel, it's 1952 and Fitzgerald is pregnant with her third child and married to Desmond, who returned from World War II an intractable alcoholic. Together, they are editing a magazine, 'World Review,' which most famously first published J.D. Salinger's 'For Esmé with Love and Squalor' in the UK. Their finances are dire. The magazine is not profitable, Desmond is not reliable, and they've overextended themselves by moving into a large house in need of repair.
So when a letter arrives from one of the two widowed Delaney sisters inhabiting a large house in Fonseca that says it's possible that her son Valpy is an heir to a fortune achieved through silver mining, Penelope and Valpy cross the ocean and find their way to the house.
Once there, they find all manner of competition for the fortune of unknown size, various hangers-on and supplicants who come before the 'Doñas' to make their case. The evenings consist of group salons over the cocktail hour, followed by dinner, conducted by the Doñas and fueled by Chela, the home's chief cook and overall major domo.
The novel is constructed as a series of episodes, mostly featuring Penelope and Valpy, a precocious and winning child who steals the heart of Chela and that of the reader as well. At one moment, Penelope is chasing down what seems to be a ghost in the house. A chaste, but real romance blooms between Penelope and a grown male potential heir who may or may not be a Delaney. Valpy hooks up with the local troop of sea scouts, despite Fonseca being entirely landlocked. An ongoing thread involves Penelope intersecting with the painter Edward Hopper and his wife Jo.
The novel is low on events — a chapter might be as simple as a visit to the market for Valpy to buy a piggie bank — but thanks to Kane's deft touch, every moment is infused with a deep, lived-in feeling, the same warmth and acuity she brought to 'Rules for Visiting.' The central question of whether Valpy will be judged a worthy heir, saving the Fitzgerald family finances, looms over the months the book covers. But the energy in the book comes from the close attention to the characters' lives.
In an interesting, metafictional twist, several chapters into the book, we are greeted with a letter from a grown-up Valpy to the (unnamed) author correcting the record. There is no 'Fonseca,' the town was 'Saltillo.' The family was 'Purcell,' not 'Delaney.' Valpy shares his memories that we have previously read in the novel. These letters from Valpy and Tina, the daughter left behind with her mother-in-law, are sprinkled throughout and highlight the daring of Kane's invention.
Penelope Fitzgerald lived and wrote; we can know her. Jessica Francis Kane has taken this knowing and made something fresh and beautiful.
John Warner is the author of books including 'More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.' You can find him at biblioracle.com.
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you've read.
1. 'The God of the Woods' by Liz Moore
2. 'Killing the Rising Sun' by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
3. 'The Great Alone' by Kristin Hannah
4. 'James' by Percival Everett
5. 'A Walk in the Park: A True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure' by Kevin FedarkoFor Mike, I'm thinking of a classic of interpretive historical fiction, E.L. Doctorow's 'Ragtime.'
1. 'Not the End of the World' by Kate Atkinson
2. 'Triptych' by Karin Slaughter
3. '1Q84' by Haruki Murakami
4. 'The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store' by James McBride
5. 'Faithful Place' by Tana FrenchThe inclusion of '1Q84' on the list makes me think Paul will dig the strange mystery of Dexter Palmer's 'Version Control.'
1. 'A Civil Action' by Jonathan Harr
2. 'An Education' by Lynn Barber
3. '50 Funniest American Writers: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion' by Andy Borowitz
4. 'The Stranger in the Woods' by Michael Finkel
5. 'Dark-Land' Kevin HartThis is a book I like to recommend in order to keep it in the public conversation when I find the right reader: 'The Cliff Walk' by Don J. Snyder.
Get a reading from the Biblioracle
Send a list of the last five books you've read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com.
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Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Biblioracle: In ‘Fonseca,' Jessica Francis Kane turns a real author's life into a work of imaginative fiction
Jessica Francis Kane's 'Fonseca' is a daring book. 'Fonseca' is the story of Penelope Fitzgerald, a real-life writer who published her first novel in 1977 ('The Golden Child') at age 61. She went on to be nominated for the Booker Prize for 1978's 'The Bookshop,' before winning the Booker in 1979 for 'Offshore.' Fitzgerald was considered one of the greatest British novelists of the 20th century, an heir to no less than Jane Austen. Kane, author of 2019's gentle and penetrating 'Rules for Visiting,' has taken a real-life incident from Fitzgerald's pre-novelist life and spun it into something very much like a Penelope Fitzgerald novel, while also clearly being its own distinct entity. It requires some mettle to take the life of a beloved author and render that life as a work of imaginative fiction. In the novel, it's 1952 and Fitzgerald is pregnant with her third child and married to Desmond, who returned from World War II an intractable alcoholic. Together, they are editing a magazine, 'World Review,' which most famously first published J.D. Salinger's 'For Esmé with Love and Squalor' in the UK. Their finances are dire. The magazine is not profitable, Desmond is not reliable, and they've overextended themselves by moving into a large house in need of repair. So when a letter arrives from one of the two widowed Delaney sisters inhabiting a large house in Fonseca that says it's possible that her son Valpy is an heir to a fortune achieved through silver mining, Penelope and Valpy cross the ocean and find their way to the house. Once there, they find all manner of competition for the fortune of unknown size, various hangers-on and supplicants who come before the 'Doñas' to make their case. The evenings consist of group salons over the cocktail hour, followed by dinner, conducted by the Doñas and fueled by Chela, the home's chief cook and overall major domo. The novel is constructed as a series of episodes, mostly featuring Penelope and Valpy, a precocious and winning child who steals the heart of Chela and that of the reader as well. At one moment, Penelope is chasing down what seems to be a ghost in the house. A chaste, but real romance blooms between Penelope and a grown male potential heir who may or may not be a Delaney. Valpy hooks up with the local troop of sea scouts, despite Fonseca being entirely landlocked. An ongoing thread involves Penelope intersecting with the painter Edward Hopper and his wife Jo. The novel is low on events — a chapter might be as simple as a visit to the market for Valpy to buy a piggie bank — but thanks to Kane's deft touch, every moment is infused with a deep, lived-in feeling, the same warmth and acuity she brought to 'Rules for Visiting.' The central question of whether Valpy will be judged a worthy heir, saving the Fitzgerald family finances, looms over the months the book covers. But the energy in the book comes from the close attention to the characters' lives. In an interesting, metafictional twist, several chapters into the book, we are greeted with a letter from a grown-up Valpy to the (unnamed) author correcting the record. There is no 'Fonseca,' the town was 'Saltillo.' The family was 'Purcell,' not 'Delaney.' Valpy shares his memories that we have previously read in the novel. These letters from Valpy and Tina, the daughter left behind with her mother-in-law, are sprinkled throughout and highlight the daring of Kane's invention. Penelope Fitzgerald lived and wrote; we can know her. Jessica Francis Kane has taken this knowing and made something fresh and beautiful. John Warner is the author of books including 'More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.' You can find him at Book recommendations from the Biblioracle John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you've read. 1. 'The God of the Woods' by Liz Moore 2. 'Killing the Rising Sun' by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard 3. 'The Great Alone' by Kristin Hannah 4. 'James' by Percival Everett 5. 'A Walk in the Park: A True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure' by Kevin FedarkoFor Mike, I'm thinking of a classic of interpretive historical fiction, E.L. Doctorow's 'Ragtime.' 1. 'Not the End of the World' by Kate Atkinson 2. 'Triptych' by Karin Slaughter 3. '1Q84' by Haruki Murakami 4. 'The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store' by James McBride 5. 'Faithful Place' by Tana FrenchThe inclusion of '1Q84' on the list makes me think Paul will dig the strange mystery of Dexter Palmer's 'Version Control.' 1. 'A Civil Action' by Jonathan Harr 2. 'An Education' by Lynn Barber 3. '50 Funniest American Writers: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion' by Andy Borowitz 4. 'The Stranger in the Woods' by Michael Finkel 5. 'Dark-Land' Kevin HartThis is a book I like to recommend in order to keep it in the public conversation when I find the right reader: 'The Cliff Walk' by Don J. Snyder. Get a reading from the Biblioracle Send a list of the last five books you've read and your hometown to biblioracle@
Boston Globe
05-08-2025
- Boston Globe
An English writer on a mysterious Mexican sojourn yields an absorbing new novel
Penelope's three-month hiatus in Fonseca, along with Valpy, forms the spine of Kane's novel. Evoking real-life events and how they fired the crucible of an artist's imagination, Kane's technique is delicate yet astute, recalling Elizabeth Strout. Mirando is a sprawl of rooms, 'a heavy rounded balcony that reminded Penelope of a pulpit,' Kane writes. 'There were several tall chimneys, two dormers, and a number of mullioned windows in various sizes, all shuttered. Old, twisted pecan trees on the street further darkened the front.' Penelope jots down the occupations and habits of her fellow residents at Mirando: an impoverished organist and his wife, a pompous Irish tutor, and a dashing cousin, New Jersey-born and raised, called 'the Delaney.' There's also a surly gardener and a cook who spoils Valpy with sweets and gossip. Other vague connections flow among the frayed furniture. All are vying for the fortune. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Doña Elena is imperious, Doña Anita deferential — think Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon's characters in HBO's ' Advertisement Kane intersperses her pointillist chapters with present-day correspondence from Valpy and Tina, blending fact and fiction. (Fonseca's actual name was Saltillo, for instance.) The emails sent by the Fitzgerald children, now retired, map a counter-narrative, a playback in reverse, skewing the plot — something about a murder? What manner of story is this? 'Fonseca''s tensions break the fourth wall, arousing our suspicions while undermining the very structure of the book. Advertisement Kane could have piled on the textures and sensory details of Mexico — the tang of queso fundido, shadows scattered across stucco arches — but maintains a supple restraint. Less is more. 'Fonseca' is a portrait of the artist as a young woman, the internal on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand common among women who strive for balance between familial obligations and creative desires. Compromises are frustrating, unwanted, and inevitable. As Penelope's pregnancy advances, as the Doñas guess her secret, she stares down these challenges. Desmond lingers offstage yet he permeates Penelope's thoughts at Mirando. 'Fonseca,' then, is a welcome diversion from our rage-soaked, polarized culture: a fable with heart and a searching investigation into what makes a marriage endure. A market saturated with divorce memoirs can only benefit from Kane's candor, despite the occasional sentimental note amid her prose. Like heroines before her, Penelope faces a choice. 'Maybe if Desmond didn't love poetry. Maybe if he didn't write so well. Maybe if they hadn't stayed up so many nights when they were younger talking about painting and music and architecture,' she mulls. 'Maybe if he became unpleasant when he drank. If he got angry or loud instead of quiet and sad. Maybe if he hadn't cried with happiness when Valpy was born. Maybe if he didn't hold Tina so gently and read stories aloud so well.' Advertisement Kane bases 'Fonseca' on Fitzgerald's 1952-53 trip, which seems to have been cloaked in mystery, and the result is a book brimming with entangled fiction, history, and biography, the unexpected treasures a writer unearths at the convergence of genres. Kane is true to the muse at the center of her novel, highlighting not only Penelope Fitzgerald's stature and vision but also the necessity of literature in an era of university budget cuts and social-media distractions. FONSECA By Jessica Francis Kane Penguin Press, 272 pages, $28 Hamilton Cain is a book critic and the author of a memoir, 'This Boy's Faith: Notes from a Southern Baptist Upbringing.'
Los Angeles Times
01-08-2025
- Los Angeles Times
10 books to read in August
Contrary to some recent media chatter, the novel isn't dead: A glance at this month's choices, which include quirky robot sci-fi, an artist's tale set in 1950s Mexico and a dysfunctional family's reckoning with addiction, proves that imaginative storytelling has a strong heartbeat. Meanwhile, whether you're looking for history or current events, check out an oral history of the atomic bomb, an expert's thoughts on climate change and a thorough tribute to the writer James Baldwin. Happy reading! Automatic Noodle: A Novel By Annalee NewitzTordotcom: 176 pages, $25(Aug. 5) Late 21st-century San Francisco: California has seceded from the United States, and robots serve humans like crypto money launderer Fritz Co, whose Burgers N More is a front. He absconds and leaves four robots adrift, but with aid from unhoused human 'robles,' they reconfigure the joint as a ramen shop — until robophobes launch a campaign to shut them down. Robots Staybehind, Sweetie, Cayenne and Hands will capture readers' hearts. People Like Us: A Novel By Jason MottDutton: 288 pages, $30(Aug. 5) Soot, one of the protagonists of Mott's funny and affecting new book, also appeared in 2021's 'Hell of a Book.' Like the (at first) unnamed narrator, Soot is now a middle-aged writer from North Carolina (Mott originally intended this story to be in memoir form), and both men's paths illustrate the difficulty of reconciling being Black with being American. While the theme of gun violence plays an important role, Mott is ultimately concerned with how and where his characters find safety. Fonseca: A Novel By Jessica Francis KanePenguin Press: 272 pages, $28(Aug. 12) In this fictionalized version of British novelist Penelope Fitzgerald's real-life trip to Saltillo, Mexico, in 1952, she arrives pregnant with her son Valpy in tow, hoping eccentric, elderly sisters might keep their promise to leave Valpy their silver mine. 'Fonseca' ('dry well' in Latin) is how Fitzgerald always referred to Saltillo, but Kane's remarkable excavation of this interlude, including real letters from Valpy, drips with juicy conflict and detail. The Frequency of Living Things: A Novel By Nick Fuller GooginsAtria: 336 pages, $29(Aug. 12) Three sisters make up the band name 'Jojo and the Twins' — but Jojo, younger sister to identical twins Emma and Araminta (Ara), isn't in the band. Instead, she's the caretaker for her siblings, who made a fortune with their blockbuster hit 'American Mosh,' then lost that fortune, in part due to Ara's substance addictions. Chapters alternate between Jojo, Emma, Ara and their absentee mother Bertie, who all discover that big love has big costs. Katabasis: A Novel By R. F. KuangHarper Voyager: 560 pages, $32(Aug. 26) Alice Law and Peter Murdoch, Cambridge University doctoral fellows in Magick, wind up in Hell looking for their adviser in a dark academia thriller whose title is the Greek word for 'downward journey.' This version of Hell closely resembles Dante's 'Inferno,' with many circles leading toward the very worst human actions. There's a great deal of doubling back and a lot of incantatory action, both of which sci-fi/fantasy stans will appreciate. The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb By Garrett M. GraffAvid Reader Press: 608 pages, $35(Aug. 5) Many accounts of the unusual and unholy circumstances that led to the atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II center on scientific discovery, neglecting the enormous human and environmental toll involved. Not so with journalist Graff's ('When the Sea Came Alive') approach, in which everyone from theoreticians to site managers on to survivors of all ages share first-person stories of what they did, saw and understood. Putting Myself Together: Writing 1974– By Jamaica KincaidFarrar, Straus and Giroux: 336 pages, $30(Aug. 5) Since her 1985 debut novel, 'Annie John,' the Antiguan-born Kincaid has been impossible to ignore, and this collection of essays and journalism shows why: Even as some critics have found her prose too personal or political, Kincaid knows she meant it to be so. Ranging from her famed 'Biography of a Dress' to pieces for the New Yorker on to essays on gardening, the works speak of a person who has refused to be defined by any kind of constraints. Greyhound: A Memoir By Joanna PocockSoft Skull: 400 pages, $19(Aug. 12) The Great American Road Trip, that idealized trek heading west, might be different now, according to author Pocock, who first made that journey in 2006 from Detroit to Los Angeles in the wake of grief after several miscarriages. In 2023, retracing her steps via Greyhound bus like French writer Simone de Beauvoir ('America Day by Day,' 1948), she discovers fewer humans, more dirt and less safety — but the same magical 'sense of no longer existing.' Baldwin: A Love Story By Nicholas BoggsFarrar, Straus and Giroux: 720 pages, $36(Aug. 19) James Baldwin's four great affairs (intellectual, romantic, platonic and artistic) provide a beautiful structure for this biography, which includes careful research into the writer/activist's upbringing and political formation as well as his widespread influence. Beauford Delaney's creative guidance, Lucien Happersberger's intimacy, Engin Cezzar's call to activism and French painter Yoran Cazac's artistic collaboration — each forms a polished facet of Baldwin's gem-like dazzle. Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization By Bill McKibbenW. W. Norton: 224 pages, $30(Aug. 19) Since McKibben's 1989 'The End of Nature,' the world's temperature has risen by at least 1 degree Fahrenheit. Now the author and environmental activist wants to wake everyone up to the fact that we can't stop global warming, but we can stave off reaching the next degrees if we enact the kind of political change necessary to use new technologies (like photovoltaic devices) that, instead of draining our planet's resources, harness those beaming down daily.
