Sarah Bernstein writes: “In the popular imagination, the grudge holder is a comical figure, absurd if not maligned, eventually relegated to the periphery of society because of their unwillingness to forgive and forget. But as I started to think about the grudge holders in these books, it became clear that these characters are serious and, accordingly, their grudges ought to be treated seriously. Because what is a grudge but a refusal to go along with social niceties for the comfort of others, to maintain the peace of the status quo? The grudge has a politics of its own.”