Author: Sarah M. Seltzer

A Romantic Novel That Acknowledges the Limits of Romance

Miriam Parker’s The Shortest Way Home goes deeper than its bubbly, clear surface, subtly questioning conventional definitions of success for its heroine, Hannah, who begins the novel with a lucrative job and a rich boyfriend.

The Patriarchy-Free Paradise of “Mamma Mia!”

Kalokairi, the fictional Greek island where Donna Sheridan decamps, is a matriarchal paradise: the animals are friendly and the men in thrall to the self-assured women who run things. It’s a place where “having it all” means having cake, dancing, and feeding other people cake while they dance.