Must Read Well

Elizabeth Miller, the 24-year-old Ph.D. candidate who narrates this subtle psychological thriller from Pall (Among the Ginzburgs), lacks one crucial interview for her dissertation about female novelists who have advanced the cause of women. Unfortunately, ill 89-year-old Anne Taussig Weil, whose 1965 blockbuster became a linchpin for feminists, has refused all interview requests. Elizabeth sees enough clues in an anonymous Craigslist ad seeking a “quiet female” to “read aloud to purblind landlady. . . . Must read well” to know it is Anne. The job comes with a private room and bathroom for $160 a month in Anne’s Greenwich Village apartment, but also a nondisclosure agreement. Anne wants Elizabeth to read from her many journals that are locked away, but only the passages detailing a passionate extramarital affair she had with a world-famous pianist. As Anne wrestles with her secrets, Elizabeth becomes judgmental of the author’s past while trying to figure out how to sneak out those journals. The emotional reading sessions skillfully reveal both women’s personalities. This story of ambition, love, generational differences, and the power of words will resonate with many. (Sept.)