“Unfinished Desires”

Spanning a century, Godwin’s latest novel follows a group of rabble-rousers in a remote North Carolinian town, from a Catholic girls’ school to a reunion in their seventies. The characters in “Unfinished Desires” are sharp, quick-tongued and engaging, and their tongues gleefully paint the canvas of the book. “The cadences of Godwin’s characters are distinctly white Southern, which is to say unpredictable, syncopated, peppered with Latin and French, and class-conscious, ” writes the Washington Post. NPR says, “Today’s snarky gossip girls have nothing on the hotbed of 1950s ‘bitchery and intrigue’ spawned by 13-year-olds in Gail Godwin’s sumptuous and spicy new novel.” The book is concerned with the intricacies and dynamics of female power, unpredictable forces handled by Godwin with ease and insight. With compelling characters and a multilayered plot, “Unfinished Desires” won’t disappoint Godwin’s fans.