Ten Books of Disability Fiction You Should Read
With the restrictions brought on by the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, many
people are finding themselves reading more than ever before. As the editor of Wordgathering for thirteen years, I have had the opportunity to
read and review a great many books. While
there are many wonderful books that I could recommend, I would like to offer
the following list. All of the following
are novels or short story collections either about disability or by writers who
identify as disabled. They are by no
means the only ones that I could recommend but I believe that the diversity of
the list speaks for itself.
For each of the books I have provided a brief description. All of the books, with one exception, have
been reviewed in Wordgathering, so
links to those reviews are provided to give anyone interested a more thorough
preview of the book. With brick and
mortar stores closed, this is a great opportunity to support writer with
disabilities – who can certainly use it in these times. Besides, they are all
great reads.
Shahd Alshammari – Notes on the
Flesh
Faraxa Publishing, 2018
This biomythography explores the impact of disability on women in
Islamic culture by following a young Palestinian Kuwaiti woman who is diagnosed
with multiple sclerosis – its impact on
her family, her friendships and her prospects for the future.
Ann Finger – A Woman in Bed
Cinco Puntos Press, 2018
From noted memoirist and fiction
writer Ann Finger, this novel almost transcends genre. Situated in Paris during World War II, it follows the
effects of Parkinson’s on a woman who finds herself caught up in the French
resistance. Fingers ability at wordplay,
satire and descriptions of the body are on full display.
Suzanne Kamata – Gadget Girl
Gemma Press, 2013
Aiko is a teenager with a Japanese father and an American mother. She
also has cerebral palsy. When her artist mother is pulled to Paris for work, Aiko goes along trying to
pursue her own dream of being a manga artist and accompanying setbacks along
the way.
Maya Augelli – Johanna’s Secrets
Book Baby, (2019)
An
aspiring writer moves to New England to work on her first novel and try to jumpstart her life. She discovers
quickly that the house she had rented holds secrets to an unsolved local crime. In the course of digging for clues, she also
begins to regain faith in herself.
Dora Raymaker – Hoshi and the Red City
Circuit
Argawarga Press, 2018
The events in this multi-layered
cyperpunk mystery novel are viewed through the eyes of an autistic protagonist
call upon to solve a landscape in which those with autism are essential to the
maintenance of the cities information info structure while being reviled by its
inhabitants.
J. L. Powers – This Thing Called
the Future
Cinco Puntos Press, 2011
Khosi is a fourteen year-old girl who lives with her family in a
destitute town on the edge of Pietermartizburg,
South Africa. When her mother is diagnosed with AIDS she is
called upon to abandon her dreams of attending medical school to become a
traditional healer, confronting a range
of dangers that surround her.
Liesl Jobson – Ride the Tortoise
Jacana Media, 2013
In a series of complex and powerfully written short stories Jobson
explores women’s mental health and the attempts of the female protagonists
to cope amidst the sexual bias and racial complexities of South Africa.
Nicola Griffith – Hild
Farar, Strauss and Giroux, 2013
A tour-de-force of historical fiction writing, Hild imagines the life
of St. Hilda as the seer to a tribal king in ninth century Britain. Griffith’s
mastery of the language use of the time as well as details of the customs and
physical environment is mesmerizing.
Sheila Black, Annabelle Hayse, Michael Northen – The Right Way
to Be Crippled and Naked
Cinco Puntos Press, 2018
A first of its kind, this anthology introduces readers to the diverse
field of disability short fiction by gathering together some of its best
fiction both by established writers and new voices. The wide range of form and subject matter are
on full display.
Beacon House Teen Authors – The
Day Tajon Got Shot
Shout Mouth Press, 2017
Perhaps even more relevant now than when it was written, Tajon views
the shooting of a black teenager through the eyes of a variety of
observers. Co-written by teenage writers
at Beacon House in Washington,
D.C. it will engage both teenage
readers and adult – and provoke some important discussions.
posted by EMMLP at 6:25 AM
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