Customer Reviews

Zeeland, Or, Elective Concurrences: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
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Both the threads in this novel, one set after the Paris Commune, and the other in the Second World War, are interesting. The author has done a wonderful thing : wrapping complexity in a narrative that carries you through with pleasure. The exploration of coincidence, concurrence is interesting, and reminds us how often we pattern our lives with attention to this aspect. Be sure I noted that the most important female character shared a name with my aunt. These little things stand out in our lives.

I picked up Zeeland when I was still reading McCullough's John Adams bio, thinking I would skim through, get a feel for it, and set it aside. I couldn't put it down. The strong narrative voice drew me in within a few pages and the characters kept me involved. Zeeland is easily the most readable novel I've picked up this year, and this had been a competitive year! I plan to recommend it to my men's book club.

Koning writes so cleanly, without extraneous words, that it is hard to put his books down. The story just moves right along without digressions. And his style of writing short chapters makes his books even cleaner to read. Just a great novel.