The Book of Knowledge: A Novel

by Doris Grumbach

Meeting in 1929 on the brink of adolescence, four children who were raised in isolation by a widowed mother grow into young men and women whose lives are marked by incest, homosexuality, and celibacy.

Genres: Novels

248 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

Doris Grumbach is an American novelist, biographer, literary critic, and essayist. She taught at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, and was literary editor of the The New Republic for several years. Since 1985, she has had a bookstore, Wayward Books, in Sargentville, Maine, that she operates with her partner, Sybil Pike.

Reviews

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhhhhhh. What I was in the mood for was a Doris Grumbach memoir, but I think I've read all of them, so I chose this instead. And, well... I enjoyed her writing. I always do. But the characters and story were...? Not speaking to me. Also I was not prepared for the incest and it made me uncomfortable.

[Grecia Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written.