It has been more than half a century since Colm Tóibín (Enniscorthy, 1955) read his first Henry James (New York, 1843 - London, 1916). "I had just turned 19, and I entered that very particular world with The Portrait of a Lady –he recalls now–. It was in the summer, and I discovered it for pleasure, without anyone recommending it or demanding it as a university course reading. It interested me so much that I went on to read the rest of his work over the following years, and then I reread it, and I ended up writing many articles about it. Since The Portrait of a Lady, I have never stopped keeping James in mind".

What Maisie knew (1897) is a cult novel by Henry James (New York, 1843-London, 1916) which analyzes a corrupt, immoral, and hypocritical Victorian English society through the lens of the protagonist's parents: the selfish Ida and the vain Beale. They are the negligent parents of little Maisie, who will have to suffer the bitter divorce and the dire consequences of this traumatic separation.

The idea of having a conversation with one of your creative totems who have disappeared -recently or centuries ago- has motivated one of the most unique books of the summer, Interviews from beyond the grave published by Libros del Kultrum. The book's editor, Dan Crowe, brings together nearly thirty writers. "We all talk to the dead", he explains. "What kind of wicked desire fuels the need to interview someone who raises hollyhocks? We want the deceased to provide us with information, to reveal secrets to us, to explain to us what they were unaware of in life". Perhaps because the interviewer "needs to think that the dead person knows more than the living", sometimes the interviews end up drifting towards "advice and help".