All of You Every Single One: A Novel – Beatrice Hitchman – Overlook Press – 978-1-4197-5693-1 – Hardcover – 320 pages – $26 – January 4, 2022 – ebook editions available at lower prices
This novel is an absolutely riveting book I truly enjoyed. And happily, it introduced me to the work of Beatrice Hitchman, who is a wonderful writer. Her story begins in 1910 with Julia Lindqvist, who is unhappily married to a well known Swedish playwright. She leaves him after falling passionately in love with a captivating Austrian woman, a tailor named Eve. Together, they escape to the much less restrictive environment of Vienna, where the story unfolds over the course of 35 years, against the backdrop of the progressive period between the wars, the couple’s close-knit group of unusual friends, Julia’s analysis by Freud, and then later, the difficult period leading up to and including World War II.
Julia and Eve create a lifelong partnership and live as a couple. With the help of their friend, Frau Berndt, they form a network of supportive friends and neighbors. The narrative shifts between Julia, Eve, and the other key people in their network.
I felt that the beginning of the book does not prepare us for all that will follow, and there were times when I could not keep track of all the characters and the storyline. And I’d say that the ending is perhaps the weakest part of the novel. But the author’s language carried me forward, and her characters have stayed with me still. This book will reward you with its depth throughout.
This is Beatrice Hitchman’s second novel. Her first, Petite Mort, was published in 2013 by Serpent’s Tail. She was born in London and has lived in Hong Kong, Edinburgh and Paris. Beatrice is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Brighton. Her research focuses on contemporary queer fiction, the ethics of historical fiction, writing the remote past, and the endings/closure events of novels (which certainly comes through in this novel!)
You can visit her website here. Buy her book here.
I loved talking to Beatrice about her novel and hope you will enjoy hearing our conversation.
Author photo by Sara Lee
The post Beatrice Hitchman: All of You Every Single One first appeared on WritersCast.Lee Klancher: The Farmall Century 1923-2023
John Oakes: The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Promise of Doing Without
Chris Yogerst: The Warner Brothers
Publishing Talks Interview with Jane Friedman of Hot Sheet
Chris Jones: The Swine Republic: Struggles with the Truth about Agriculture and Water Quality
Baron Wormser: The Road Washes Out in Spring
S.C. Gwynne: His Majesty’s Airship interview by David Wilk
Publishing Talks: An Interview with Shouvik Paul of CopyLeaks
Maureen Owen and Barbara Henning: Poets on the Road
Publishing Talks: Interview with Josh Schwartz of Pubvendo
Publishing Talks: Interview with Michael Wolfe
Cornelia Maude Spelman: Missing: A Memoir
Publishing Talks: Interview with Dan Harke of Mayo Clinic Press
Publishing Talks: Interview with Mark Hurst of Creative Good
Robert Child: Immortal Valor: The Black Medal of Honor Recipients of World War II
Publishing Talks: Interview with Jane Friedman
Sarah Vogel: The Farmer’s Lawyer: The North Dakota Nine and the Fight to Save the Family Farm
Betsy Dovydenas: If You Want to Know How I Got Brainwashed
Publishing Talks: Interview with George Slowik, Jr. of Publishers Weekly
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Grimms’ Fairy Tales
The Turn of the Screw
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll