The Seaboard Review of Books
Volume 3, Issue 2 of The Seaboard Review of Books, January 12, 2026
In this issue:
Billy Crawford’s Double Play by Brad Smith (Fiction)
Black Creek by Susan Grundy (Fiction)
Mrs. Walford by Brenda Tyedmers (Fiction)
Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community by Maggie Helwig (Non-Fiction)
Ordinary Moving: A Memoir in Verse by Penn Kemp (Poetry, Memoir)
Thanks for reading this issue of The Seaboard Review of Books!
James M. Fisher, editor-in-chief
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Poetry
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
A tale of subterfuge and intrigue set in the hills and farmland inspired by the Vézère valley in France. Kushner lampoons all classes, all creeds with her apolitical, and possibly amoral main character. A true cipher, Sadie Smith is a spy for our time, a realpolitic speck of force moving between the wheels of agricultural corporations, the government, small farmers, ecoactivists, and revolutionaries. Kushner absolutely nails the idealism and ineffectiveness of movements like the hippies, showing how excellent intentions almost inevitably run off course due to power struggles and inertia. In other words, human nature.
This is a story that reads as easily as pulp fiction, but that carries the heft of big ideas and has a sweep of time. Kushner maps human activity against a much bigger span than the now we live in, contrasting humans with the vanished Neanderthals. The politics of those Sadie hunts seem farcical, especially when contrasted with the lyrical thoughts of the mysterious Bruno, who inspired radicals and then shambled off to live alone with stars and voices and thoughts. Kushner’s work is fast, rife with hilarious apt observations and devastatingly satirical. Notable for an especially fierce takedown of French author Michel Houellebecq. Food for the brain and the soul, not to be missed. (Contributed by Emily Weedon)
Contributor News
Lisa Timpf recently had a couple of pieces published in Little Old Lady Comedy, “Must-See Additions to the Bowl Game Season,” (https://www.littleoldladycomedy.com/all-works/kgnsbhovby6o5zc5sd2cpypnt37zdh) and “Welcome to Spin Class,” (https://www.littleoldladycomedy.com/all-works/r8bgjt0kf9w8j45xng1d7whwkv0dhy)
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