Meg Waite Clayton: Recommended Reads of 2011

Meg Waite Clayton is the nationally bestselling author of “The Four Ms. Bradwells,” “The Wednesday Sisters,” and the Bellwether Prize finalist “The Language of Light.” Her fourth novel, “The Wednesday Daughters,” will be released in 2013. Her books have been published in six languages. Her essays and stories have aired on public radio and appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The San Jose Mercury News, Writer’s Digest, Runner’s World, and The Literary Review. Clayton’s third novel, “The Four Ms. Bradwells,” releases today in paperback.

When asked about her favorite reads from this year, Meg said the following:

“Some of my favorite reads this year were by authors I connected with at the Gaithersburg Book Festival. Tayari Jones’ “Silver Sparrow” was lovely both for its moving story and its unusual structure; having spent half the book with an illegitimate daughter’s longing to be the legitimate one, I was stunned to find the legitimate daughter’s side of it equally moving. Caroline Leavitt’s “Pictures of You” captures the effects of a random moment of incredibly bad luck that could happen to any of us — along with the fall-out — SO well. And Eleanor Brown’s “The Weird Sisters” was a delightful debut; I can’t wait to read her next.

I did read some non-Festival authors, too. Ellen Sussman’s “French Lessons” was hands down the sexist read of the year. I also loved Amanda Ward’s “Close Your Eyes,” which is one part literary whodunit and one part poetic and moving contemplation of family, with a nice dose of hope thrown in at the end. And, like just about everyone else, I loved Julian Barnes’ lovely Booker Prize winner, “The Sense of an Ending.”