2book multi

Fiction

My mother before me

Feature by Barbara Clark

Four compelling stories of mothers and daughters center on secrets revealed and secrets kept, with powerful consequences that reverberate through the years.

A wealth of history turns Wunderland into a novel that’s both beautiful and devastating. Author Jennifer Cody Epstein (The Painter From Shanghai ) taps into the 1930s prewar era, laying out an unsparing narrative that details tragic events and horrifying legacies.

Renate and Ilse, Jew and Gentile, are best friends in pre-World War II Germany, but they’re driven apart in the terrible buildup to war when Ilse joins Bund Deutscher Mädel, the female division of the Hitler Youth movement. Many years later, in 1989 New York City, Ilse’s estranged daughter, Ava Fischer, receives her mother’s ashes and a trove of letters, addressed to Renate but never sent, that reveal her mother’s terrible secrets. In turn, Ava resists sharing Ilse’s history with her own daughter, Sophie, and Ava realizes that she “has kept Sophie from her own story.” 

The narrative unfolds from several characters’ perspectives, making plain “the things we lie about to make our crimes bearable,” while also opening a new door that may lead to redemption and joy for future generations.

The Daughter’s Tale is a detailed, immersive chronicle of World War II’s tragedy, the power of love and the lengths to which a mother will go to save her children when there are no choices left. With his second novel, Armando Lucas Correa (The German Girl ) depicts the meager options available to Jewish people caught in the vise of war, highlighting two real historical events: the ill-fated voyage of the liner St. Louis, in which Jews were not allowed to debark at their destination of Havana, Cuba; and the 1944 SS massacre of French villagers in the town of Oradour-sur-Glane, where only a few survived.

In the novel, a Jewish woman named Amanda Sternberg flees Germany in 1939 with her two daughters, Lina and Viera, but she makes a fateful decision that separates the children and forever alters their lives. Viera is sent to Cuba, but Correa’s novel follows the youngest daughter, Lina, as she escapes wartime imprisonment to begin a different life in France, where her relative freedom is short-lived. Correa starkly portrays the many horrors that were visited on an innocent citizenry.

In her new novel, Feast Your Eyes, Myla Goldberg, author of the 2001 bestseller Bee Season, has again turned her talent for detail into a powerful story about gifted yet flawed characters who can’t escape tragic missteps.

Lillian Preston is a singularly talented photographer whose early work runs afoul of obscenity laws in the 1950s. Photographs of her seminaked 6-year-old daughter, Samantha, lead to trial, tragedy and a rift between mother and daughter that never quite heals. The book is structured like an exhibition catalog that Samantha has organized for a retrospective of her mother’s work. Through the diaries and letters of Lillian’s loved ones, Samantha uncovers Lillian’s gifts, her struggles and intense ambition, tempered by sorrow and love for her daughter. 

Like a photograph that captures the inner light of its subject, Feast Your Eyes catches such moments on the page, illuminating the power of both beauty and heartbreak. Goldberg unsparingly reveals a driven artist whose propulsive talent is also her Achilles’ heel.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, the fourth novel from Balli Kaur Jaswal (Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows), is an absolute delight. It interweaves multiple family stories within the colorful panorama of a journey to India, resulting in a novel that is sad, joyful and exciting all at the same time.

Jaswal’s narrative entwines the stories of three adult sisters whose disparate lives are catapulted on a new and completely different trajectory when their mother makes a request. With her death only hours away, India-born Sita Kaur Shergill, who raised her children in England, says she wants her daughters to undertake a pilgrimage to India—one she was unable to take—and provides detailed instructions for the trip that are daunting, life-changing and often hilarious.

The Shergill sisters—Rajni, Jezmeen and Shirina—live very separate lives, each with its own secrets. The author enfolds readers in deceptively simple stories that reveal the hidden depth, humor and pathos of each sister’s life, as little by little they learn and accept each other’s stories. The teeming, textured setting of India is captured through the author’s evocative scenes, as the sisters navigate on-the-ground travel as well as their own inner terrain. 

Four compelling stories of mothers and daughters center on secrets revealed and secrets kept, with powerful consequences that reverberate through the years.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Tales of sun, sand and surf

Feature by Julie Hale

Get little readers ready for a great summer vacation with one of these four picks.

Waiting for Chicken Smith, written and illustrated by David Mackintosh, is a quirky, touching book that captures the essence of summertime friendships. At the beach, a young boy awaits the arrival of his pal Chicken Smith, who stays in a nearby cabin each year with his father. The boy looks back on summers spent in the company of Chicken and his dog, Jelly, as they trekked to the lighthouse in hopes of seeing a whale. “Chicken Smith knows the beach like the back of his hand, and I do too,” the boy says. But Chicken never shows, and a rental sign appears on the house he usually stays in. On the bright side, the boy connects with his own pesky little sister, Mary Ann. Mackintosh’s charming line drawings are deceptively simple, and the story’s text appears to have been pecked out on a typewriter. Innovative visuals and a poignant plot make this story a winner.

Sea Glass Summer, written by Michelle Houts and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is a beautifully depicted story about family, discovery and the mysteries of nature. Thomas is spending the summer with his grandmother at her island home. Down on the beach, they pick up bits of sea glass, and Thomas wonders how the pieces got there. “I’m not sure,” his grandmother says, “but your grandfather used to say that each piece of sea glass has a story all its own.” At night, Thomas dreams about the origins of the glass. In one dream, a schooner sinks into the sea, taking with it broken jars and bits of crockery. Ibatoulline’s gorgeous, realistic illustrations capture the fine details of the natural world and Thomas’ sense of excitement. Readers will be intrigued by this tale and the lessons it imparts about being attentive to the wonders of the great outdoors.

An essential book for young beachcombers, Seashells: More Than a Home provides a fascinating overview of 13 kinds of shells. In her accessible text, author Melissa Stewart covers the form, function and native habitat of each shellfish, from the beautifully curved chambered nautilus and the heart-shaped cockle to the Atlantic bay scallop with its rows of fine ridges. Stewart uses analogies from everyday life to help readers understand how these “treasures from a secret world beneath the waves” house clams, snails, oysters and other creatures. Artist Sarah S. Brannen brings the narrative to life through watercolor scenes of boys and girls exploring the seashore and collecting specimens. Precise sketches and diagrams of the shells lend a naturalist feel to the proceedings. Suggestions for further reading and a listing of mollusk types round out the volume. This fun, fact-filled book will inspire up-and-coming collectors while equipping them with important information.

A friendship is born in author and illustrator Kate Pugsley’s sweet seaside story, Mermaid Dreams. Little Maya arrives at the beach with her parents on a picture-perfect day. She’s eager to play, but they’re ready to relax. Left to her own devices, Maya climbs on her turtle float and falls asleep. She dreams that she’s riding on the turtle’s back in the ocean. Together, they dive down into the sea and find “a secret underwater world” filled with bright fish of every imaginable kind. There, Maya becomes a mermaid with a gorgeous blue tail. She swims among the coral and meets an octopus and a group of seahorses, and she even meets another mermaid. When Maya wakes up from her dream, she’s no longer in the watery wonderland, but a little girl named Pearl is standing by her turtle float, ready to play. Pugsley’s illustrations have a naive, childlike simplicity that kids will connect with. Bursting with color and a sense of adventure, Pugsley’s book has the makings of a summertime classic.

Get little readers ready for a great summer vacation with one of these four picks.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Calling all cat lovers

Feature by Julie Hale

From the fluffy Persian to the sleek Siamese, these fictional cats will capture young readers’ hearts.

Kathi Appelt’s Max Attacks is an uproarious chronicle of crazy cat behavior. Max, depicted by illustrator Penelope Dullaghan as a blue kitty with black stripes and wide whiskers, is a practiced prankster. Over the course of the book, he scales the screen of a window in pursuit of a lizard, chews up a pile of dirty socks, toys with a loose shoestring and topples a bowl filled with fish. Small wonder, then, that by book’s end, this cat is ready for a nap. Appelt tells the story through rhymed lines of verse: “Max’s paws are made for pounces. Max’s legs are built for trounces.” Filled with unexpected perspectives (check out the close-up of Max with his nose pressed against the fishbowl), the illustrations by Dullaghan are colorful and dynamic. No doubt about it: Readers will be mad about Max.

Acclaimed adult author Joyce Carol Oates is also a pro when it comes to writing children’s books, as she proves with The New Kitten. The only cat in the Smith household, Cherie is something of a feline matriarch—mature, with a purr “as loud as a motor” and very territorial. But when a new kitten named Cleopatra arrives in the Smith household, Cherie is appalled as she watches the interloper chase balls, climb the cat tree and play with her food. Yet the Smiths adore Cleopatra. Feeling left out and unloved, Cherie runs into the woods. She follows a bunny, who disappears into a burrow. After she gets trapped in a tree by two fierce foxes, Cherie realizes it’s time to go home—and time to make peace with Cleopatra. Artist Dave Mottram contrasts the two felines in his winning illustrations: Cherie is big and commanding, while Cleopatra has shining eyes and plenty of kitten appeal. This heartwarming story is sure to become a cat classic.

An unlikely pair of critters become pals in Coll Muir’s fun, fanciful Can Cat and Bird Be Friends?. When Cat (big and black, with considerable claws) first encounters Bird (small as a golf ball and just as round), he’s ready for a snack. Yet he’s met with a question: Why do cats eat birds? “I don’t know,” Cat replies. “It’s always been like that.” Forgoing tradition, the two decide to be friends, only to discover that they don’t have much in common. Cat likes to stretch; Bird prefers to fly. Cat grooms himself; Bird would rather bathe in water. They’re about to give up and go their separate ways when Bird mentions a hobby (painting!) that Cat also happens to enjoy. In the blink of an eye, a bond is formed, and the pair are next seen with easels and brushes, working side by side. Muir’s spare yet expressive illustrations perfectly complement this droll narrative of unexpected connection. Here’s to odd couples! 

In Caroline Magerl’s lovely Maya and the Lost Cat, a little girl gains a new feline friend. Through her window, Maya spies a cat perched high on a rooftop. She uses every lure imaginable to coax the creature back to safety—to no avail—until she sets out a tin of fish. Then, “Pad pad thump. In perfectly quiet fur boots, Cat came to see—and ate every oily silver morsel!” Maya starts knocking on doors in an effort to locate Cat’s human parents. With a little direction from her furry companion, she eventually comes to a houseboat bobbing at the end of a windswept pier that’s home to Fritz and Irma, who are overjoyed to see their lost friend. Before Maya departs, Cat brings her a special present—a kitten she can call her own. Magerl’s charming watercolor pictures make this title especially memorable.

Never fear—Ghost Cat, written and illustrated by Kevan Atteberry, is nowhere near as eerie as the title implies. A young boy senses the presence of a cat that seems remarkably similar to the one he used to have but has since lost. He can never actually catch the spectral animal, as it is “a quick, dark blur. Here, and then not here,” the boy says. When strange incidents start happening—a bowl crashes in the kitchen; a book falls in the den—it becomes clear that there’s a creature in the house making mischief. Atteberry portrays the trickster kitty as a sleek, blue figure outlined in white. This mystery has a happy ending, as the ghost leads the boy to discover a living kitten, making them a happy group of three. Readers will be intrigued by Atteberry’s whimsical tale of feline love.

From the fluffy Persian to the sleek Siamese, these fictional cats will capture young readers’ hearts.
YA FictionYA

Find your summer fling

Feature by Alice Cary

Whether you’re headed to the beach for a sun-soaked vacation, working a summer job or just stuck at your house, these stories are guaranteed to provide thrills, swoon-worthy romance and pure entertainment. 

In the first pages of Happily and Madly, we learn that a fortuneteller once gave 17-year-old Maris Brown good and bad news: She will fall “happily and madly in love,” but she will probably be dead before her 18th birthday. As she approaches that fateful day, Maris loves “living fast, taking risks, and playing the odds for love,” but her risk-taking is finally catching up with her. After her second arrest, Maris is shipped across the country to spend the summer at the beach with her estranged father and his new family. After she rescues a mysterious, alluring boy who’s running for his life, Maris becomes entangled in an increasingly dangerous, complicated web involving lavish wealth, pharmaceutical deaths, undercover agents and sexy secret romance. In addition to superbly capturing the myriad difficulties facing teens in blended families, author Alexis Bass’ snappy writing will keep you turning pages until the bullet-riddled, jaw-dropping end.

When an act of violence by her mother’s live-in boyfriend results in the death of her beloved kitten, Selina Kyle drops out of school and takes to the streets of Gotham City in this graphic novel retelling of Catwoman’s backstory, Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale. Bestselling author Lauren Myracle brings a fresh vibe to the iconic tale with an adroitly crafted blend of emotional depth and superhero action. After a homeless kid welcomes Selina into his small gang and teaches her parkour, she transforms herself into Catgirl. Issac Goodhart’s moody black and blue illustrations make every moment count, capturing Selina’s journey from vulnerability and despair (which includes cutting) to self-reliance and empowerment. As Selina wrestles with decisions about whom to trust, readers will welcome the fact that there’s more to come. “After all, cats have nine lives. I’ve only just begun,” she teases.

A spring break trip to Kyoto, Japan, to meet her estranged grandparents turns into a romantic adventure for high school senior Kimi Nakamura in I Love You So Mochi, a sweet, fun novel that also features absorbing details about Japanese culture. The timing is perfect when Kimi’s grandfather unexpectedly sends her a plane ticket to Kyoto, as Kimi is at a crossroads. She’s been accepted into a prestigious art school, but her heart is in fashion design. But once she arrives in Kyoto, she meets a dreamy boy named Akira who is also torn between two worlds. He dreams of becoming a doctor, but he’s feeling pressured to help his uncle with his mochi stand. Together, the two teens tour the city as they fall in love and try to navigate the difficulties that arise when one’s dream doesn’t align with family expectations and needs. This easygoing romance goes down sweet.

In Jennifer Dugan’s sparkling summer romance, Hot Dog Girl, bisexual teen Elouise Parker wants the summer before her senior year of high school to be epic, but instead it “just feels like everything is changing all at once, in a bad way.” Elouise’s mother abandoned the family years ago, and Elouise and her supportive father are still finding their way without her. Elouise is thrilled to be working once again at Magic Castle Playland, the amusement park she loves, but she’s devastated to learn that it will soon be closing for good. As Elouise does her daily rounds dressed as a giant hot dog, she plots to keep the park open and schemes to win the heart of Nick, a pirate diver, without realizing that her best friend, Seeley, is in love with her. Dugan’s amusement-park setting is entertaining, as is her likable cast of characters.

“Being dumped feels like food poisoning,” says 17-year-old Frederica “Freddy” Riley, who has an on-again, off-again relationship with her captivating but cheating girlfriend, Laura Dean. Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, drags her to a psychic, who urges Freddy to get out of the relationship once and for all. Freddy struggles to follow this advice in Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, award-winning author Mariko Tamaki’s emotionally swirling graphic novel set in Berkeley, California. Freddy is so caught up in Laura Dean’s vortex that she nearly loses Doodle, who’s facing a terrible crisis of her own. Thankfully, Freddy writes to an advice columnist, who responds with wise words that will resonate with anyone stuck in a toxic relationship. Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s illustrations perfectly pair with this story of a diverse group of teens struggling with a wide range of issues, including pregnancy and sexual identity.

Whether you’re headed to the beach for a sun-soaked vacation, working a summer job or just stuck at your house, these stories are guaranteed to provide thrills, swoon-worthy romance and pure entertainment. 

NonfictionFictionMemoirComing of Age

Summer reading 2019: Your sweetest escape

Feature by BookPage contributors

Summer days were made for getting lost in a good book. We’ve gathered a few of the season’s hottest novels—stories of romance, adventure and suspense—that are just right for whiling away a few lazy hours. Grab a cold drink, find a spot in the shade, and get ready to read.

Cape May
By Chip Cheek
In Chip Cheek’s debut novel, the year is 1957. Young Henry and Effie from tiny Signal Creek, Georgia, are on a two-week honeymoon in Cape May, New Jersey. By the end of their first awkward week of marriage, Effie wants to go home early, and Henry, defeated, assents. But the night before they are to leave this coastal ghost town, they spot signs of life—signs of a party, no less—and decide to stop in. Cheek paints a graphic and sensuous portrait of an fragile marriage embattled well before its time. Cape May is a besotted picnic of a novel—day-drunk and languid, shadowed by ever-threatening storm clouds. —Kathryn Justice Leache

Cari Mora
By Thomas Harris
If it’s a thriller you seek for summer reading, look no further than Cari Mora by Thomas Harris, author of The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal Rising. Beautiful young Cari Mora is an immigrant caretaker of a house in Miami Beach with a fortune hidden beneath it: millions of dollars in cartel gold. When Hans-Peter Schneider—a psychopath who thrives on violence—comes after the treasure, he develops a sinister interest in Cari. But she’s a fighter at heart, has experienced war and knows how to look after herself. Harris explores the dark side of human passion in this pulse-pounding novel. His first book in 13 years, Cari Mora will not disappoint fans of disturbing, taut thrillers. —Julie Hale

The Flatshare
By Beth O’Leary
If the idea of flatmates sharing a bed at alternate hours without meeting sounds too far-fetched, hold your skepticism. If it sounds like a meet-cute waiting to happen, you’re in luck. Regardless of your starting point, The Flatshare is a charming love story to warm your heart. After Tiffy’s boyfriend dumps her, she’s desperate to find a new flat. Night nurse Leon needs extra cash, and he’s willing to get creative. The flatmates follow a strict schedule to ensure that they won’t overlap, but as they begin to get to know each other through notes, their curiosity about each other grows. Even skeptical readers will be surprised by the thoughtful way Beth O’Leary faces not only new love but also the traces of individual pasts. —Carla Jean Whitley

How Not to Die Alone
By Richard Roper
Filled with humor and heart, How Not to Die Alone, Richard Roper’s debut novel, tells the story of Andrew, a solitary soul whose public health job entails tracking down the next of kin of people who die alone. Due to a misunderstanding, Andrew’s co-workers think he’s a happily married father of two. In truth, his only family is a distant sister, and he leads a generally isolated existence. When Peggy joins his team at work, Andrew feels an attraction that she seems to share. But coming clean about his life could mean the end of his career and his reputation. What’s a lonely guy to do? A brisk, compelling read, Roper’s book is a rom-com with substance. —Julie Hale

Into the Jungle
By Erica Ferencik
Delve into the heart of the Amazon in Erica Ferencik’s second action-packed thriller. In 2010, while living in a hostel in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Lily Bushwold, a Boston native, meets Omar, an Amazon hunter turned motorcycle mechanic. Two scrappy yet tender kindred spirits, they quickly fall in love. When Omar is summoned back to his jungle village, Ayachero, to avenge his mourning family, Lily accompanies him. Little does she know it’s not just Omar she follows, but a mystical calling to discover her ca’ah, her life’s purpose, intrinsically bound up with the fragile jungle ecosystem. A chilling journey into jungle life, Into the Jungle is also a deep probe into environmental ethics and love. —Mari Carlson

Monsieur Mediocre
By John von Sothen
Ah, Paris! There’s no city quite like it. And these days, when Americans are finding vacations as scarce as video rental stores, it’s hard not to look with longing at the six weeks’ getaway still in vogue across the pond. But American-­born columnist John von Sothen didn’t come to France for the vacations. Fifteen years ago, he fell in love with a French actress and moved to Paris. Now the father of two teens, he has penned an entertaining memoir of his life as a husband, father and constantly surprised expat. Monsieur Mediocre offers thoughtful observations about everything from politics to family life with irresistible charm. —Deborah Hopkinson

Mr. Know-It-All
By John Waters
If you’re a person who’s easily offended, take it from me: Don’t even read the reviews, much less crack open the cover of John Waters’ latest book. A whip-smart (he’d no doubt like that description), funny, multitalented and unique cultural icon, Waters is also an artist and book collector, and these essays reflect his endless assortment of interests—ranging from his movie-making memories (Patty Hearst thought he was kidding when he asked her to be in a movie) to his planning of and taking what he calls “a senior-citizen acid trip.” While it’s certainly not a book for everyone, Waters’ legion of admirers will be lining up in droves to hop aboard the Mr. Know-It-All bus. —Alice Cary

Mrs. Everything
By Jennifer Weiner
At the outset, Jennifer Weiner’s new novel pays homage to Little Women: Older sister Jo, a tomboy and athlete, wants to be a writer, while younger sister Bethie just wants to be a sweet, pretty daughter. But in Alcott terms, these two sisters are more like Jo and Amy—sometimes they just don’t get along. Mrs. Everything follows the two sisters from their Jewish girlhood in post-World War II Detroit through the present and into the near future, 71 years in all. With its long timespan and focus on cultural change, Mrs. Everything is a departure for Weiner, but she still delivers flawed but approachable female characters, well-­examined friendships and romantic relationships and often-joyful sex scenes. —Sarah McCraw Crow

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune
By Roselle Lim
Summer beckons a reading list that is as light, fun and feel-good as the season itself. Roselle Lim’s Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune definitely fits that need. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Lim’s debut is the story of 20-something Natalie, who has just returned home to the worst news possible: the unexpected passing of her mother, Miranda. Her shock and sadness are compounded by the guilt of parting ways seven years ago over a disagreement which now seems extraneous. But this is a story of luck and fortune, so it isn’t long before Natalie is given a chance to fix it all. —Chika Gujarathi

Necessary People
By Anna Pitoniak
Two complex women inhabit Necessary People, Anna Pitoniak’s second psychologically astute novel. College graduates Stella Bradley and Violet Trapp have become the closest of friends, though they’re opposites in so many ways. When their longtime friendship gives way to ambition, Pitoniak perceptively traces the fracture of their sisterlike bond, leading to a denouement the reader will not anticipate. An insightful glimpse into the competitive world of TV news and Pitoniak’s spot-on portraits of these two women come together in a gripping novel that’s sure to be a popular summer read. —Deborah Donovan

Nuking the Moon
By Vince Houghton
One category of “beach read” that’s criminally neglected is the “dad beach read.” Vince Houghton tackles this genre head-on in his curious, delightful new book, Nuking the Moon. At the height of World War II and the Cold War, national governments the world over devised missions and schemes that never came to fruition—because they were very bad. Houghton, a curator at the International Spy Museum in Washington, roasts these failed plots one by one. “Why not use a live cat to spy on the Russians?” someone at the CIA once asked without a hint of irony. “I’ll tell you exactly why,” Houghton responds, to readers’ delight. —Christy Lynch

Out East
By John Glynn
This memoir relates the travails of a group of privileged New England kids as they navigate an indulgent, raucous summer in Montauk in their late 20s. (Of course, references to The Great Gatsby abound.) When feelings for a male friend develop into something more, author John Glynn finds himself bearing the weight of a secret about his sexual identity. What follows is a charming portrait of how deeply human it is to be uncertain, to be driving a hundred miles an hour toward nowhere and longing to have a buddy in the car. Out East is a heart-wrenching reminder of the precarious emotional inner life that undulates just beneath the surface, even for people who seem as though they have it all. —Kelly Blewett

Passion on Park Avenue
By Lauren Layne
The title says it all: Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne is a Big Apple romance brimming with sophisticated fun. At 29, Naomi Powell is spirited, independent and oh-so-successful. The daughter of a housekeeper, she holds the rank of CEO at a major jewelry company—a position that gives her access to the rarefied world of the Upper East Side. Yet Naomi isn’t quite accepted by the city’s well-to-do. When handsome Oliver Cunningham—the son of a family who once employed her mother—enters the picture, she has a new distraction on her hands. The first entry in Layne’s new Central Park Pact Series, Passion on Park Avenue is the perfect summer escape. —Julie Hale

Recursion
By Blake Crouch
Blake Crouch’s follow-up to his breakout bestseller, Dark Matter, has an instantly compelling premise—across the country, people have begun experiencing vivid, emotional memories of alternate lives. Solving the mystery of False Memory Syndrome would be enough to drive Recursion forward, but the second you think the book has settled into a holding pattern, it pinwheels off in an entirely unexpected direction. Early on, Crouch lets the reader in on the secret of the syndrome’s origins through frequent flashbacks to 11 years before the disease started to spread, and the two timelines play off each other in increasingly poignant ways. It’s early, but Recursion may be the smartest, most surprising thriller of the summer. —Savanna Walker

The Scent Keeper
By Erica Bauermeister
Emmeline and her scientist father live a somewhat idyllic, if Spartan, existence on a remote island off Canada’s west coast. He’s invented a mysterious machine, the Nightingale, a kind of olfactory Polaroid camera that captures scent moments on specialized paper. But paradise, like childhood, has a fixed term, and one traumatic incident whisks Emmeline off her island into a society that she finds finds both intriguing and terrifying. Reminiscent of Vianne Rocher from Joanne Harris’ beloved Chocolat, Emmeline is persistent, engaging and a savant in her chosen field. All she has to do is to take her father’s advice: follow her nose, and then get out of its way. —Thane Tierney

Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered
By Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark
Fans of the wildly popular “My Favorite Murder” podcast already know the heart, hilarity and horror embodied by hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. But even those who have been living under a rock will enjoy their new book, Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered. Kilgariff and Hardstark delve into comedy’s darker, more vulnerable underbelly in these essays, detailing adolescent escapades with drugs, creeps, eating disorders and more. Confessional, wise and more than a little obscene, this book is for anyone whose path to adulthood is littered with blunders. These authors will show you how to remember them and laugh. —Christy Lynch

Summer Hours
By Amy Mason Doan
Summer Hours is a sweet, satisfying love story. Growing up, Becc always played by the rules, getting good grades and preparing for a journalism career. But a college romance with the irresistible Cal derailed her plans and damaged an important friendship. Years later, as she travels to California for a wedding, Becc is accompanied by a special guy whom she hasn’t seen in ages (we won’t spoil the story by revealing his identity!). Memories of the time she spent with him come flooding back, but he doesn’t seem to share her enthusiasm for the past. Should Becc ignore her feelings, or follow her heart? Doan spins an unforgettable tale of old-fashioned romance in this winning novel. —Julie Hale

Time After Time
By Lisa Grunwald
Fans of historical fiction will savor Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald. In 1937, Joe, a railway man working in Grand Central Station, crosses paths with Nora, a mysterious young woman who doesn’t quite fit in with her surroundings—because she’s a ghost. The real Nora was an art student who died in a subway crash in 1925. As a spirit, she reappears in Grand Central Station every now and again, but when she and Joe fall in love, they’re determined to find a way to build a life together. An unforgettable tale of otherworldly romance, Grunwald’s book is a true page-turner. Pick up a copy and prepare to be transported. —Julie Hale

What are you reading this summer? Check out these must-reads for long, lazy days . . .
NonfictionSocial ScienceMemoir

The wisdom of fathers

Feature by Jon Little

Four new memoirs—by fathers writing to their children and children writing about their fathers—show how a father’s love can temper personal and cultural sorrows.

Pondering the importance of fathers in our lives, philosopher Frederich Nietzsche said, “Whoever does not have a good father should procure one.” While the market for good fathers may be slim, and procuring a father at market may be less than legal, there’s a spate of great nonfiction coming out by and about remarkable fathers just in time for Father’s Day.

Take Canadian novelist David Chariandy’s I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You, a slim but touching missive to his teenage daughter. It opens with three dramatic events: President Trump’s election, a fatal shooting at a Canadian mosque and the casual racism of a white Canadian who cut in front of the dark-skinned Chariandy with the searing words, “I’m from here. I belong here.”

Struggling to counsel his daughter as she begins to face these modern realities, Chariandy turns to story—in this case, his own. He walks his daughter through the precarious and nurturing places, both geographic and psychic, that have marked his life. But this is no self-seeking memoir of struggle. Chariandy recounts the taunts he faced as a child alongside the history of slavery and indentured labor that brought his ancestors to Trinidad from Africa and South Asia. The result is a remarkable story of place and relation, of ancestry and association. In turn damning and hopeful, I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You reminds us of the deep history and connectedness of all human life.

After twice attempting to row across the Atlantic Ocean, English journalist Jonathan Gornall had his second child. He was 58. With the specter of mortality looming, he struck upon an idea: He’d build his daughter a wooden boat. By hand. 

In the opening, and strongest, chapter of How to Build a Boat, Gornall addresses his daughter, explaining this decision. He muses on his love of the ocean, expounds on the open sea as a metaphor for the dramatic unknown that stretches out before us all and explains his boatbuilding as an exercise in perseverance, striking out with nothing more than grit and determination to guide him.

How to Build a Boat starts as a letter to his daughter but soon morphs into the story of the author’s yearlong battle to construct a clinker-built boat. Though Gornall’s prose is tight and he offers interesting historical asides on boatbuilding and rowing, the sheer density of boatbuilding detail may restrict this book’s appeal to boatwrights and woodworking enthusiasts.

In her memoir All That You Leave Behind, Erin Lee Carr, a video journalist and documentarian, traces her relationship with her father and mentor, the late David Carr. Best known as a New York Times journalist, Mr. Carr was also an addict. It wasn’t until Erin and her twin sister turned 8 months old that he checked himself in to a treatment center and got clean.

Even while we hear of the younger Carr’s own battles with addiction and her struggle to step out of her father’s shadow and make a name for herself, David Carr remains the star of this memoir. His instant messages, emails and letters are woven throughout, and every scrap of his writing is astounding. Even offhand texts are things of linguistic beauty, but more than that, it’s the wisdom, tender support and love found within them that make his words so powerful. Erin Lee Carr gives us an intimate view of a truly remarkable father and man.

Yousef Bashir, Palestinian-American author of The Words of My Father, grew up in Gaza on his family’s ancestral farm. Across a highway was an Israeli settlement, and an Israeli military base stood next door—a delicate situation, to say the least. Yet when other Palestinians abandoned their homes for fear of violence, Bashir’s family stayed. His father insisted upon it. When Israeli soldiers pounded at their door, demanding they leave, Bashir’s father didn’t waver. Rather, he opened the door wide, inviting the soldiers into his home as guests. 

In they came, and in they stayed. For five long years, soldiers occupied the top two stories of the Bashir family home. Yet Bashir’s father still preached peace and coexistence. Even when Bashir was shot in the back by an Israeli soldier, his father refused to recant or relent. Now Bashir is a peace activist in his own right, and The Words of My Father is the inspirational story of his struggle to understand and live up to his father’s singular example. His memoir is an absolute must-read.

Four new memoirs—by fathers writing to their children and children writing about their fathers—show how a father’s love can temper personal and cultural sorrows.

Mystery

Whodunit: June 2019

Feature by Bruce Tierney

Starred review
Ragnar Jonasson’s second Hulda Hermannsdóttir novel, The Island, finds the 50-ish Reykjavík detective investigating the connections between two murders. One was supposedly solved 10 years past, and the second, a modern-­day killing, appears to have been an accidental fall—until ligature marks characteristic of strangling are identified on the victim’s throat. The story of the first death is simple enough. In 1987, a girl and her soon-to-be lover go off to the fjords for a romantic weekend. It begins blissfully and ends with the girl lying dead on the floor of their summer home and the boy fleeing the scene. Her father is arrested for the crime and commits suicide while in custody. Open and shut, but there are some nagging suspicions. More than one person is aware that the presiding officer, something of a climber in the police department, tampered ever so slightly with the evidence. Fast-forward 10 years to 1997, and the dead girl’s friends, including the aforementioned lover, go off to a remote island together for a reunion. One will not survive the outing, and Detective Inspector Hermannsdóttir will investigate, uncovering layer after layer of deceit. The Island was short-listed for Crime Novel of the Year Award in Iceland. Read it, and you will see why.

I read a lot of suspense novels, and Martin Walker’s Bruno Courreges (aka Bruno, Chief of Police) ranks near the top of my list of fictional characters I would like to be friends with—for his kindness and good humor, as well as his exemplary culinary skills, the fruits of which I would dearly love to sample and which are tantalizingly detailed in each installment of the series. The opening of his latest adventure, The Body in the Castle Well, finds him halfway down a cistern, peering downward into the dark toward an agitated kitten perched atop a floating entity that appears to be a body. The body turns out to be that of Claudia, a young American art student who was conducting a quiet investigation of noted art scholar and collector Monsieur de Bourdeille. The extensive fortune of well-regarded, elderly and reclusive Bourdeille may have been built on the shaky foundations of deliberate false attributions, a scandal that Claudia was on the verge of revealing. As always, Walker deftly weaves disparate storylines into the narrative, this time incorporating the wartime French Resistance, chanteuse Josephine Baker and a brief history of falconry as a pastime of noblemen. As is the case with all the Bruno novels, The Body in the Castle Well is not to be missed.

Mark Billingham’s Detective Inspector Tom Thorne is akin to Ian Rankin’s John Rebus and Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole: a deeply flawed character with a plethora of personal and professional problems, but a damned fine investigator in his own way. In Their Little Secret, Thorne delves deeper than warranted into the seemingly clear-cut suicide of Philippa Goodwin, a woman who threw herself in front of a train. The victim had ample reason, having been bilked of her life savings by an enterprising con man who preys upon middle-aged women. Although it isn’t strictly in Thorne’s purview, he cannot help but put some effort into the “why” of the suicide, and he quickly discovers that there is a lot hiding beneath the tip of that iceberg. The murder of a young man at a nearby beach yields DNA that matches the unidentified con man, but then another, seemingly unrelated killing strongly suggests that there are two murderers at work in tandem, perhaps with the unwitting help of one or more outsiders. With lots of surprises and some very crisp, staccato storytelling, it’s impossible to put down Their Little Secret.

On one level, Owen Laukkanen’s Deception Cove is the story of a man and his dog. But let’s not confuse this with a feel-good narrative, because the man, Mason Burke, is an ex-con recently released from prison for first-degree murder, and his dog, Lucy, is a frightened yet aggressive pit bull mix rescue. Deception Cove is also the story of Jess Winslow, a female ex-Marine whose demons grew too strong for her to control, resulting in her being shipped back from Afghanistan to her home in America to deal with her PTSD as best she could. Mason trained Lucy while he was in prison, and Jess received the dog as a service animal to help her deal with her condition. Little did any of them—least of all Lucy—realize how their lives would become inextricably intertwined via a drug deal gone bad, a small-town police station full to the brim with corrupt cops and a Nigerian mercenary with a very itchy trigger finger. Mason and Jess are well fleshed-out characters with backstory galore. Their interactions are at first laced with distrust, but then the two guarded individuals gel in unexpected ways, hustling them toward an exceptionally intense climax. Here’s hoping we meet them again, and soon.

Starred review
Ragnar Jonasson’s second Hulda Hermannsdóttir novel, The Island, finds the 50-ish Reykjavík detective investigating the connections between two murders. One was supposedly solved 10 years past, and the second, a modern-­day killing, appears to have been an accidental fall—until ligature…

NonfictionFictionAudioMemoir

The art of audiobooks

Feature by bookpagedev

Three authors and two audiobooks readers share a peek behind the curtain for Audiobook Month.

Lisa SeeLisa See on crafting dialogue for The Island of Sea Women

Writing is a solitary activity, and much of what I do is completely in my head. It’s for this reason that I often speak the words as I’m writing. (This, more than anything else, is a good reason that I have an office in my home, where my mutterings about the sea, women, love and tragedy are heard only by the four walls that surround me.) Once the first draft is done, I read all the following drafts aloud. I want to hear how certain phrases sound, listen to the pacing and rhythms of the plot and get a sense of the pattern of each character’s voice.

When I get to my final draft, my sister Clara comes over, and we sit at my kitchen table and act out the entire book. This is especially helpful when there are several people in a scene. The divers in The Island of Sea Women meet in a special stone structure built right on the beach, where they change clothes, warm up by the fire, eat and trade stories. In real life and in my novel, these women love to banter. Clara and I play out these scenes—sometimes improvising new lines, sometimes deepening a joke or, conversely, a sad story. My belief in getting to the truth of how my characters speak not only improves the novel but also makes for a fabulous audiobook.

Scott BrickScott Brick on becoming the new reader of the Jack Reacher series

Learning I’d been approved to narrate the Jack Reacher series after longtime narrator Dick Hill’s retirement left me lightheaded, as I’ve been a fan of Lee Child’s work for years. When Dick got in touch to give his full support, I was positively gobsmacked. I am hugely indebted to him for the massive body of work he’s left behind, and while I may be the narrator blessed to walk beside Reacher on his future adventures, Dick will always walk with us in spirit.

Child is a master choreographer of both brutality and necessity, from the ruthlessness of Reacher’s opponents to his commitment to doing only what he must to settle the scales. Having been a fight choreographer myself for stage and screen, I recognize the rhythm in Reacher’s battles, from the moment they begin until the moment when he recognizes—and exploits—a vital weakness. I was absolutely thrilled when I showed up to narrate my first Reacher novel, Past Tense, because reading those fight scenes aloud was like pulling on the most comfortable sweatshirt I’ve ever worn. Reacher proves himself to be a man of great resilience and optimism but also a man who will end any fight if necessary.

There’s another Reacher adventure coming in just a few months, and as I did last time, I will show up in the studio wearing jeans that’ve been pressed beneath a mattress and carrying only a travel toothbrush, and I will treasure each and every moment.

Stephanie LandStephanie Land on narrating her own memoir, Maid

When I sat down in a cramped studio to record the audiobook for Maid, it’d been over half a year since I’d read the book in its entirety. There were still several long months until publication, and the anticipation of what people would think of my story as a single mom on every type of government assistance program made me jumpy with nervousness. Not only was it my first book, but it also was the first piece I’d written that was longer than 20 pages. Imposter syndrome was high.

The recording process took a couple of weeks. I learned a lot about every noise my mouth and stomach make. I strained to not slip up on words, often holding my breath. I thankfully found no typos. On the day I read the chapter in which my daughter and I experience a devastating loss, I struggled to keep my voice even.

But something beautiful happened as I read this story, my story, this episode of my life that was so vulnerable and raw and scary to put out there. I’d read a paragraph or two, or sometimes an entire chapter, and think, Wow, this is actually really good! As writers, we sit with these stories, we bear down and go through dozens of rounds of edits until the sight of the title makes us cringe. Reading it out loud with such intensity and purpose made me grow confident in my story’s power to possibly change the world a little bit.

Julia WhelanJulia Whelan on narrating Linda Holmes’ novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over

I’ve been a fan of Linda’s for about a decade and lucky enough to call her a friend for a few years. Her “Monkey See” column at NPR was reliably delightful, funny and unexpectedly wise. So when, after we came to know each other personally, she sent me the novel she’d just finished, I’ll admit to being nervous. What if her journalistic voice only worked in, well, journalism? But five pages in, I laughed. Ten pages in, I texted her a blisteringly brilliant sentence she’d written. Twenty pages in, I texted her, I HAVE TO NARRATE THIS. 

This book is about the absence of things that should be there: grief, mothers, even sexual attraction to a person who, in all other respects, might be your soul mate. We, as readers, want to bring these things back, to right what seems to be a narrative wrong. But Linda so ably shows us that sometimes—sorry, but it’s true—things are just missing. The trick in life is to figure out which absent things you actually want and then go get them. 

Like her pop-culture writing that I fell in love with all those years ago, Evvie Drake Starts Over is delightful, funny and unexpectedly wise, and I treasure the three days I had in the booth with it. I began missing Evvie and Dean as soon as I started recording the end credits. Linda was there for much of the recording process, and at the end, I walked out and looked at her and sighed. “I’m going to miss them,” I said. She nodded and replied, “I’m going to miss them, too.”

Patti Callahan HenryPatti Callahan Henry on her friendship with Joshilyn Jackson, narrator of The Favorite Daughter

When I write a book, I rarely imagine my character’s voices. I see them; I feel them; I know their pains and wants. And I do hear them, but not in any kind of audible way, more in an intuitive sense of what they would say and how they would say it. But if I had imagined Colleen Donohue’s voice, I would have chosen my friend Joshilyn Jackson’s audible narration. To have her read the audio version is simply more than serendipitous; it feels meant-to-be.

Joshilyn and I met when our first books came out a million years ago. I mean, 15 years ago. We first crossed paths when we were both speaking at a theater in Perry, Georgia. I had rarely, if ever, been on a large stage to speak, and was quite nervous. Joshilyn, on the other hand, seemed to command the stage, to hold the audience in the palm of her hand. I was in awe. When she later told me that she’d majored in theater, it comforted me a bit, but not enough to feel good about my own performance that afternoon.

Through the years, through moves and life and children and slumps and highs, we’ve walked alongside each other in this journey of both life and writing. And now, Joshilyn is alongside me in a way I never imagined: Her beautiful storytelling voice animates my character, Colleen Donohue.

I am thrilled. Colleen is spunky, witty and kind—just like Joshilyn.

 

See photo by Patricia Williams / Land photo by Nicol Biesek / Henry photo by Beth Hontzas

Three authors and two audiobooks readers share a peek behind the curtain for Audiobook Month.

NonfictionAudioMemoir

The Hold List: Laugh-out-loud audiobooks

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
By Mindy Kaling
Actress, comedy writer and producer Kaling makes social anxiety charming in her first memoir. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? is an entertaining collection of personal essays, humorous lists (like film franchises Kaling would like to reboot) and glimpses into the twisted world of LA celebrity. Though this isn’t exactly groundbreaking territory for a celebrity memoir, it’s hard to notice while listening to Kaling read her own work in her bright, chirpy voice. As you’d expect from a writer who honed her skills on “The Office,” Kaling’s comedic timing is on point, and her chatty style and focus on pop culture make listening to the audiobook feel like dishing with a friend who happens to be the best storyteller around. Listen to this one on a long drive, and let the miles fly by. 

—Trisha, Publisher

My Life as a Goddess
By Guy Branum
Is there anything more satisfying than an incredibly articulate complaint? Those who can pick a subject and eviscerate it, not cruelly but with utter realness, deserve every opportunity to rant at will. My Life as a Goddess, comedian Branum’s candid collection of essays about his small-town Californian upbringing and his coming-out coming of age, is hilarious, and his audacious performance unfolds with the blistering pace of a stand-up comic. He offers riotous hindsight, only to soften at poignant moments of self-awareness, when this “survival guide” really does explore his fight to survive the world’s treatment of a fat young gay man. His acerbic footnotes roll out like natural asides, and he even lets a self-deprecating laugh fly from time to time. Beneath it all is a love of words that any audiobook listener will relish. 

—Cat, Deputy Editor

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
By David Sedaris
If there’s one author whose voice is inseparable from his writing, it’s David Sedaris. He rose to fame as both a performer and writer, first as a guest on NPR’s “This American Life” and then as a headliner for sold-out theaters. When you read Sedaris’ writing, it’s difficult not to hear his familiar cadence and inflection in your head, so why not skip the paper cuts and get right to the source? All of his audiobooks are exceptional—like hilarious radio productions with jazz interludes and guest appearances by the author’s sister Amy Sedaris—but Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is a fine place to start. It’s laugh-out-loud funny one minute and gut-punch poignant the next: Sedaris at his best and most beloved. 

—Christy, Associate Editor

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.
By Samantha Irby
The loose, freewheeling essays in Irby’s second collection, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life., are just as likely to stop you in your tracks with razor-­sharp observations as they are to spin out into hilarious, unexpected digressions. The first essay takes the form of Irby’s application to be a contestant on “The Bachelor” but makes several stops along the way to talk about why men are just as catty and self-­obsessed as women and to justifiably roast the Bachelor franchise for its absurd lack of diversity. As Irby reads her pieces on dating in her late 30s and entering what she describes as a mutually codependent relationship with her rescue cat, her relaxed deadpan serves as the deceptively unruffled foundation for her twists into the absurd and perfectly setup punch lines. 

—Savanna, Assistant Editor

If you’re gearing up for summer vacation, don’t even think about embarking on that 10-hour drive without downloading an excellent audiobook (or two, or five) to pass the time. Buckle up! These are our picks for great books that are even better on audiobook.
NonfictionFictionSatireMemoir

Book Clubs: June 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Ingrid Rojas Contreras' impressive first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, takes place in 1990s Bogotá, Colombia, when Pablo Escobar held the country in a grip of terror. The novel is narrated mainly by 7-year-old Chula Santiago, who lives with her family in the comfort of a gated community thanks to the money her father makes as an oil worker. When a maid named Petrona comes to work for the Santiagos, Chula befriends her. Petrona, who is 13, grew up in a slum. Terrorists kidnapped her father and brothers, and she is trying to support the rest of her family. As the situation worsens in Bagotá, Chula's family is able to leave. Petrona, meanwhile, becomes involved with a suspicious young man nammed Gorrión. Contreras juxtaposes the two girls' worlds with authenticity and covincing detail, and her portrayal of the social divisions and dangers of Colombian life is riveting and remarkably assured. 

French Exit by Patrick deWitt

Affluent widow Frances Price comes to terms with the loss of her fortune while her son meets up with the woman he loves—and her fiancé—in deWitt's sly, sophisticated novel.

Southernmost by Silas House

In House's latest novel, small-town pastor Asher Sharp upsets his congregation when he tries to help a gay couple after a disastrous flood, an act that affects his relationship with his conservative wife and their young son and makes Asher question his own faith.

Still Livesby Maria Hummel

Kim Lord's self-portraits, inspired by female murder victims are the talk of the LA art scene. But when Kim goes missing, a young editor becomes enmeshed in the mystery of this stylish, suspenseful thriller. 

Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively
In this delightful, beautifully wrought memoir, Lively meditates on how gardening has impacted her personal evolution and her work. 

 

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Ingrid Rojas Contreras' impressive first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, takes place in 1990s Bogotá, Colombia, when Pablo Escobar held the country in a grip of terror. The novel is narrated mainly by 7-year-old Chula Santiago,…

Fiction

Best historical fiction of the summer

Feature by Cat, Deputy Editor

Best casts:

In West Mills by De’Shawn Charles Winslow (Bloomsbury, 6/4)
Residents of West Mills, North Carolina, joke that their town never changes. Yet there’s never a dull moment for these stubborn, loyal characters. Read our review.

Deep River by Karl Marlantes (Atlantic Monthly, 7/2)
This sprawling tale, following a Finnish family in their journey to the Pacific Northwest, is something of a masterpiece. Read our review.

Best revelations about characters’ pasts:

The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung (Ecco, 6/18)
A genius mathematician travels to Germany to discover the tangled truth behind her parents’ relationship. Read our review.

The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith (Sarah Crichton, 6/4)
In the early 1960s, a young graduate student encourages a retired French filmmaker to recall his role in the making of an early cinematic treasure. Read our review.

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins (HarperCollins, 5/21)
Former enslaved person Frannie is awaiting trial for the murder of her employer, Benham, and his wife, Marguerite. What Frannie can’t account for is how she wound up covered in their blood. Read our review.

Wunderland by Jennifer Cody Epstein (Crown, 4/23)
A mother’s secrets in pre-World War II Germany come back to haunt future generations. Read our review.

Best World War II:

The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer (Knopf, 5/7)
Mixing historical fact with imaginative fiction, Orringer explores the story of Varian Fry, a young Harvard-educated journalist and editor who worked for the American Emergency Rescue Committee during World War II. His primary goal was to prevent notable artists, writers and political exiles, many of them Jewish, from being interned in concentration camps. Read our review.

Dragonfly by Leila Meacham (Grand Central, 7/9)
Five idealistic young Americans are recruited at the height of World War II to assume secret identities in Paris and spy for the Allies. But as the group looks back on their mission, did one of them really die? Read our review.

Most fun:

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (Riverhead, 6/4)
Enjoyment, bliss, satisfaction—these emotions and more form the core of this big-hearted, rollicking new novel about a gaggle of lively New York showgirls. Read our interview with Gilbert.

The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams (William Morrow, 7/9)
In 1941, the island of Nassau, Bahamas, “is terrible for gossip,” recently widowed Lulu Randolph admits. As a society columnist for Metropolitan, Lulu is tasked with getting close to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, for whom Americans have “an insatiable appetite. Read our review.

Discover even more historical fiction recommendations from BookPage!

Set your Out of Office as “Currently on vacation to another place and time and absolutely will not be responding to emails,” because this season’s historical fiction books are some of the best. Read on for our 10 favorites.

FictionSatire

Book Clubs: July 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

Starred review
The story of a friendship that spans decades and continents, Frances de Pontes Peebles’ The Air You Breathe is the perfect poolside read. The novel is narrated by wealthy, elderly Dores, who recalls her childhood in the 1930s on a sugar plantation in Brazil and her strong connection with Graça. Dores works in the kitchen, while Graça, whose family owns the plantation, enjoys all the advantages money can provide. The two girls become close, develop a passion for music and move to Rio. Dores proves to be a gifted songwriter, while Graça is a singer of rare talent. Making herself over as Sofía Salvador, Graça becomes a samba queen of world renown. The novel charts the course of the two friends’ lives—years marked by competitiveness and jealousy, romantic affairs and mutual love. De Pontes Peebles moves skillfully through eras and settings, from Miami to Rio to Hollywood, capturing the essence of each. Fans of Elena Ferrante will find much to relish in this richly realized tale.

So Much Life Left Over by Louis de Berni`eres
De Bernières traces the lives of army pilot Daniel Pitt; Rosie, to whom he’s unhappily married; and his brother, Archie, who’s in love with Rosie, in this richly detailed historical novel set in the 1920s and ’30s.

A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen
New York City professor Andrei finds himself reassessing his life while attempting to get his bearings as he cares for his grandmother in Moscow.

The Reservoir Tapes by John McGregor
In this innovative novel, a reporter talks with the town’s inhabitants about the days leading up to a teenage girl’s disappearance. The process of grieving, the importance of storytelling and the bonds of community all come into play in McGregor’s poignant story.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
Alex and Suzette have tested their 7-year-old, Hanna, for a range of disabilities, but in truth, Hanna enjoys causing Suzette grief by not speaking. The fraught relationship between mother and daughter takes a twisted turn in this disturbing novel.

Starred review
The story of a friendship that spans decades and continents, Frances de Pontes Peebles’ The Air You Breathe is the perfect poolside read. The novel is narrated by wealthy, elderly Dores, who recalls her childhood in the 1930s on a sugar plantation in…

FictionMysteryGothic Fiction

8 killer page-turners scarier than sunburn

Feature by G. Robert Frazier & Julie Hale

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
If your dream vacation is getting cozy in a tiny English village

Jackson Brodie returns to bookshelves after a nine-year hiatus in Big Sky. Brodie is doing the typical PI work of spying on an unfaithful husband in the village of North Yorkshire when he encounters a man about to jump to his death from a cliff. Brodie intervenes and, in doing so, becomes embroiled in a complex case of murder, betrayal and sex trafficking. Meanwhile, police detectives Reggie Chase and Ronnie Dibicki are also caught up in the dizzying plot when their routine assignment to interview witnesses in a cold case brings them into contact with some of the same individuals as those in Brodie’s case. Atkinson expertly balances plotlines and viewpoints from chapter to chapter, giving readers a panoramic understanding of the characters, their motivations and the consequences of their actions. All of it coalesces into a wild, frantic finish in which each plotline is neatly tied together.

★ Your Life Is Mine by Nathan Ripley
For fans of “My Favorite Murder,” I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and all things Manson-­related

Blanche Potter thought she had put her past behind her. She never talked about what happened when she was 7 years old. She changed her last name. She moved to a new city. She started a life of her own. But as the daughter of Chuck Varner, a deranged mass shooter, Blanche realizes the past may be buried, but it never goes away completely. Blanche learns that lesson the hard way in Nathan Ripley’s shocking new novel, Your Life Is Mine. Things are going well in her career as an up-and-coming filmmaker when she is told that her estranged mother, Crissy, has been shot and killed at her trailer home. News of Crissy’s death, brought to Blanche by a sleazy journalist who knows of her past, opens the floodgates of her memories and traumatic childhood. But as she tries to reconcile her past experiences with the recent death of her mother, someone else is gunning for her as well. The cult of Chuck Varner lives on, and it’s up to Blanche to stop it before his crazed follower can strike again. Ripley pulls no punches here, creating a tense and atmospheric story of personal identity and survival, while asking whether you can ever escape your past.

Gone Too Long by Lori Roy
If you’re looking  for a mystery that’s almost too real

Lori Roy portrays the rise of white supremacy movements to chilling effect in Gone Too Long. Set in modern-­day Simmonsville, Georgia, the story follows Imogene Coulter, the daughter of a Ku Klux Klan member, as she buries the sins of her father but unearths an even darker mystery. While sorting through her father’s KKK hideout, Imogene discovers a young boy. Along with Beth, a child abducted 10 years ago who has been raising the boy during their captivity, Imogene begins to discern the truth about her father’s role in the ordeal. But with another Klan member determined to reassert control of the situation, Imogene’s own life and the lives of her family are in peril. This darkly addictive tale is ultimately an engrossing portrait of survival and perseverance. With richly detailed prose, Roy pulls readers close into Imogene’s and Beth’s perspectives, creating empathy for both characters as their trauma and the threats against them, past and present, unfold.

Murder in Bel-Air by Cara Black
If your dream vacation is stylishly stalking through the streets of Paris

Sydney Leduc had one job: pick up her granddaughter from her play group and bring her home. But when Sydney fails to show up, her daughter Aimée is thrust into a convoluted case of murder and international intrigue in her attempt to find Sydney. Author Cara Black swiftly builds up the tension in her riveting new Aimée Leduc mystery, Murder in Bel-Air, en route to an action-packed finale. While retrieving her daughter in Sydney’s place, Aimée witnesses police investigating the death of a homeless woman at a nearby convent’s soup kitchen. She quickly learns that the last person to speak with the victim was none other than her own mother, adding to the mystery of Sydney’s whereabouts. The discovery of a bundle of cash stashed away in the convent’s laundry further complicates matters. Before long, Aimée and her unique cast of teammates are caught up in an international conspiracy involving a potential coup, a downed airplane and a dirty bomb. Hounding her every move are agents of the DGSE (France’s external intelligence agency), the CIA and a mercenary known as the Crocodile. Rich in Parisian settings and vernacular, Murder in Bel-Air is easily accessible and enjoyable to new and longtime series readers alike. 

The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell
For fans of Fingersmith and Alias Grace

Laura Purcell captures the menace and gloom of Victorian-era England in The Poison Thread. Dorothea Truelove is rich, attractive and intelligent. As an act of philanthropy, she spends time with the women incarcerated at Oakgate Prison. Dorothea’s pet fascination is phrenology—using the shape of an individual’s skull as a gauge for temperament and disposition—and she believes the technique can reveal criminal inclinations. When she meets prisoner Ruth Butterham, Dorothea is keen to test her theory. Ruth, who has been charged with murdering the owner of the dress shop where she was employed, is resolute in her claim that she can kill through the power of her stitches. The tale is narrated in turns by the two women, and Purcell skillfully contrasts their voices and stories, spinning a fascinating mystery that’s rich in disquieting detail and atmosphere.

Wherever She Goes by Kelley Armstrong
If you’re looking for a mystery with a deeply emotional hook

Kelley Armstrong’s gripping thriller, Wherever She Goes, is narrated by librarian and troubled mother Aubrey Finch. Aubrey’s marriage to successful lawyer Paul is strained, but they’re still raising their 3-year-old daughter together. Haunted by memories of past mistakes and her parents’ deaths, Aubrey finds that the life she’s built with her family is slowly eroding away. At the park one day, Aubrey watches helplessly as a little boy is forced into an SUV. She contacts the police, but when no further information about the abduction surfaces, they question her claims—and her mental health. A practiced hacker, Aubrey begins hunting for the child via computer, putting her own safety and reputation on the line. Armstrong balances the mystery of the kidnapping and the tension of Aubrey’s inner conflicts with moving scenes of a fragile marriage as Aubrey and Paul work to save their relationship. The latest from the bestselling author of Watcher in the Woods makes for pulse-racing summer reading.

★ Tell Me Everything by Cambria Brockman
For fans of The Secret History and Gone Girl 

Cambria Brockman’s riveting debut, Tell Me Everything, takes place on the campus of an exclusive New England college, where six friends form a destructive connection. Introvert Malin comes out of her shell at Hawthorne College, bonding with five other students: Ruby, Max, John, Khaled and Gemma. They’re a close-knit group, but as graduation approaches, their relationships begin to unravel. Gemma drinks too much, and John is increasingly cruel to Ruby, who is now his girlfriend. Malin, meanwhile, excels academically while concealing her very dark past. The anxieties of senior year peak at semester’s end as she struggles to uphold her self-assured facade. She isn’t the only one in the circle who’s hiding something, and when a murder occurs, the six friends’ lives change forever. Narrated by Malin, whose intelligence and cunning drive the story, Tell Me Everything is an edgy exploration of loyalty and human desire. Readers in search of a true page-turner will savor this electrifying novel.

★ The Other Mrs. Miller by Allison Dickson
If you’re looking for a thriller you absolutely cannot predict

Fans of Paula Hawkins will be thrilled by Allison Dickson’s The Other Mrs. Miller. Phoebe Miller is starting to believe her best years are behind her. Heiress to a fortune left by her philandering late father, she passes the days in a haze of alcohol. Arguments with her husband, Wyatt, add to her feelings of discontent. But her life takes an unexpected turn after the Napiers move in across the street. Ron, a doctor; Vicki, his wife; and Jake, their attractive and flirtatious teenage son, appear to be a model family. Vicki is eager to be friends, but Phoebe doesn’t quite trust her. She also suspects she’s being watched by the driver of a car that keeps returning to the neighborhood. When Phoebe receives a series of frightening notes that may have some connection to her father, she begins to fear for her life. With an impossible-to-predict plot and a very unexpected murder, Dickson’s book is required reading for suspense addicts. 

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson If your dream vacation is getting cozy in a tiny English village Jackson Brodie returns to bookshelves after a nine-year hiatus in Big Sky. Brodie is doing the typical PI work of spying on an unfaithful husband in the village…

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