Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Martha Woodroof

Martha Woodroof was born in the South, went to boarding school and college in New England, ran away to Texas for a while, then fetched up in Virginia. She has written for NPR, npr.org, Marketplace and Weekend America, and for the Virginia Foundation for Humanities Radio Feature Bureau. Her print essays have appeared in such newspapers as the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Woodroof's newly released Small Blessings is her debut novel.

Early this month I asked the author about what she was reading. Woodroof's reply:
At this moment, I'm reading J.K. Rowling's second Cormoran Strike novel, The Silkworm. As I live to lunch, this is my favorite quotation, so far: "They love their bloody lunches, book people," Strike said.

I recently read The Son by Philipp Meyer (cracking good story, recommended by a gym buddy) and Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 by Francine Prose, because I make a habit of reading anything Ms. Prose writes.

As a late-blooming first novelist (I'm 67) I also recently read MFA vs. NYC, edited by Chad Harbach, with great interest, as I spring from neither literary culture.

I think my greatest reading treat this year has been Ian Rankin's Saints of the Shadow Bible. Wow, are Inspector Rebus and Siobhan Clarke good company. Plus, when I tweet Ian Rankin, he tweets me back. Although I am careful not to abuse the honor.
Visit Martha Woodroof's website.

My Book, The Movie: Small Blessings.

The Page 69 Test: Small Blessings.

--Marshal Zeringue