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Fiction

Women who made their mark

Feature by Lauren Bufferd

Two events with a lasting effect on American culture are celebrating a centenary in 2016: the founding of Planned Parenthood and Georgia O’Keeffe’s fateful meeting with Alfred Stieglitz. The women at the center of these events are at the heart of two new works of historical fiction.

With the mission of Planned Parenthood being questioned almost as much today as it was at its inception, the timing is eerily apt for Terrible Virtue, Ellen Feldman’s powerful novel about the organization’s founder, Margaret Sanger. Sanger, whose personal life was as tumultuous as her political and social convictions, remains a controversial figure, held to current standards of ethical correctness just as she was held to impossible models of femininity during her lifetime. 

Watching her own mother succumb to an early death after bearing 13 children led Sanger to advocate for family planning, despite a limited formal education. Her desire to make a difference in the lives of poor and working-class women led her to Europe, where ideas about contraception were more progressive. After her return to the United States, she opened a clinic in Brooklyn—and was jailed for it.  

Feldman lets Sanger tell her own story, but separates the chapters with sections narrated by Sanger’s two husbands, her sister and her children. The voices of those who suffered under the singularity of Sanger’s purpose offer depth to Feldman’s vision of this complex figure—a reminder of what was gained, but also what was sacrificed.

A different kind of sacrifice was made by Georgia O’Keeffe in Dawn Tripp’s gorgeous novel, Georgia, which focuses on the years O’Keeffe spent with photographer Alfred Stieglitz. 

The love story of O’Keeffe and Stieglitz is well known. Their passionate affair and his incredible photographs of her, both clothed and nude, caused a sensation at the time and are still considered seminal in the history of photography. But Tripp suggests that O’Keeffe paid a price for that notoriety. The battle that rose between her and Stieglitz was ultimately about her work as an artist, especially her early abstractions, which she believed were overshadowed by the obvious eroticism of his photographs. O’Keeffe’s iron grip on her legacy and her need to reinvent herself in the Southwest is a key part of this exquisitely told story. 

Like Terrible Virtue, Georgia relies on a first-person narrative, but in this novel, there is no other voice but O’Keeffe’s. Though the novel opens and closes in 1979 in New Mexico, it quickly plunges into the years just before World War I. The arrival of the young art teacher at Stieglitz’s gallery in New York, the expansive family home on the shores of Lake George and O’Keeffe’s first glimpses of what would become the major inspiration for the second half of her life, are all beautifully told. 

Terrible Virtue and Georgia remind us that the ongoing culture wars are nothing new, but that life can be changed for the better with bravery, dedication and vision.

 

This article was originally published in the March 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Two events with a lasting effect on American culture are celebrating a centenary in 2016: the founding of Planned Parenthood and Georgia O’Keeffe’s fateful meeting with Alfred Stieglitz. The women at the center of these events are at the heart of two new works of historical fiction.
Romance

Hearts gone rogue

Feature by Lois Dyer

Romances set during England’s Regency period have long been a favorite of readers. Tales spun by the likes of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer are perfect examples of the allure of the Regency era, and this month, we’re highlighting three new titles that capture the draw of that dashing, scandalous Regency hero: the rogue.

THE SWORDMASTER AND THE LADY
USA Today bestselling author Katharine Ashe debuts her new Devil’s Duke series with The Rogue. Lady Constance Read, the daughter of a duke, has avoided renowned swordsman Evan Saint-André Sterling for six years. Their first meeting, when she was 18, was magical, but when he learned she was a noblewoman, they parted ways. Now Saint is rich and renowned as the best swordsman in England. He’s still passionately attracted to Constance, and given the heat that swirls between them, he’s unwilling to agree to her father’s request that he instruct her in fencing. However, when he realizes that she is afraid for her safety, he agrees. Despite their mutual determination to remain uninvolved, they’re forced to spend time training together, and it’s quickly apparent that passion threatens their ability to remain aloof. When Constance moves to solve a mystery and expose dangerous people, Saint make the only choice he can to keep her safe. She needs a warrior and a lover, and despite her noble birth, the lady is his.

This novel bridges Ashe’s new series with her wildly successful earlier series, The Falcon Club. Constance is the only female operative in The Falcon Club, and the author meshes these two worlds with marvelous ease. The mystery plotline is intriguing, the looming danger gripping, but the romance between Saint and Constance is truly stellar. Readers will thoroughly enjoy watching these two smart, wary characters set aside past hurts and find their way back to trust and love.

TRUE LOVE NEVER DIES
Once a high school English teacher in Houston’s inner city, bestselling author Shana Galen now writes wonderful historical romances. Her latest is I Kissed A Rogue, the third in the Covent Gardens Cubs series. The younger son of an earl, Sir Brook Derring is England’s best investigator. When Lady Lillian-Anne Lennox is kidnapped, her father, the Duke of Lennox, asks Brook to find her. Seven years earlier, Lila spurned Brook and broke his heart, and he bitterly resents both her and her father. Despite their past association, however, Brook instantly agrees to help. Brook expects to rescue the beautiful Lila and return her to her family before leaving, hoping never to see her again. However, what he couldn’t have anticipated was that the two of them would be forced to remain together. As Brook attempts to keep Lila safe from her escaped captor, it doesn’t take long for Brook to realize that Lila isn’t the spoiled, young debutante he remembers. Indeed, she’s grown into a kind, passionate woman that he cannot resist.

This endearing story of second chances, pride and prejudice, and two people clearly meant for each other is a delight. The action, adventure, sensuality and surprising twist at the end are all icing on a perfectly lovely cake.

SECRETS OF SEDUCTION   
Tennessee English professor and author Anna Harrington delivers a tale of danger and seduction in Along Came A Rogue, the second novel in The Secret Life of Scoundrels Series. The notorious lothario Major Nathaniel Grey once kissed Emily, his best friend Thomas’ little sister, and the repercussions changed her life forever. Now Thomas is critically wounded, and he wants his sister at his side. Nathaniel must fetch the young widow home to London, but what should have been a swift trip to the country becomes something else entirely when he’s met with bullets and a clearly frightened Emily. She insists he leave without her. He insists she return to London with him, and he can’t understand why she refuses. However, when the house is set afire and they barely escape with their lives, Nathaniel knows Emily has reason to be afraid. Even returning to Emily to her father’s home in London isn’t enough to keep her safe, for Emily has a secret, and someone wants her permanently silenced.

In this thoroughly entertaining story, seduction and adventure take center stage. Nathaniel is far more honorable than he will admit, and Emily far braver than she ever imagined. Together, they form a formidable pair that readers are certain to love.

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington.

This month, we’re highlighting three new titles that capture the draw of that dashing, scandalous Regency hero: the rogue.
Children's & YA

Countdown to Lemony Snicket fun!

Feature by Beth Allen

The months are whizzing by, bringing readers ever closer to getting their hands on a new book in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. For diehard fans who can't bear the wait until September when Book The Eleventh: The Grim Grotto will appear we're helping to pass the time with a recap of the first 10 books in this wonderfully original and wildly popular series.

Just how popular is Lemony Snicket? Books from the series recently held seven of the 10 slots on the New York Times bestseller list for children's chapter books. Despite Mr. Snicket's dire warnings that his books are "extremely unpleasant," more than 18 million readers worldwide have been daring enough to jump on Lemony's bandwagon. If you'd like to join the fun (or should we say the misery and woe?) of reading about the Baudelaire orphans, connect with our countdown and sample all the books in this special series.

This month, we're focusing on Book the Fourth: The Miserable Mill and Book the Fifth: The Austere Academy, where Lemony (aka Daniel Handler) really hits his stride. As Book Four opens, Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are on the move once again, this time to the town of Paltryville, deep in the Finite Forest. The orphans are put to work in the Lucky Smells lumber mill and, as always, must fend off the evil Count Olaf, who is frighteningly eager to get his hands on their vast inheritance. In The Austere Academy, the Baudelaires are shipped off to Prufrock Prep School, where they befriend fellow orphans Duncan and Isadora Quagmire. Unfortunately, Count Olaf (disguised as the school's coach) has plans for this unlucky duo and it doesn't involve playing kickball.

Join us next month as the Lemony countdown continues!

The months are whizzing by, bringing readers ever closer to getting their hands on a new book in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. For diehard fans who can't bear the wait until September when Book The Eleventh: The Grim Grotto will appear we're helping to pass the time with a recap of the first 10 books in this wonderfully original and wildly popular series.

Celebrating 20 years of Poetry Month

Feature by Julie Hale

This year marks an important literary milestone: the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month. Established by the Academy of American Poets, the annual event has blossomed into a worldwide celebration. We’re joining in the festivities by highlighting three terrific new collections. 

THE POLITICAL AND THE WHIMSICAL
Last year, Ohio appointed its first Poet Laureate, Amit Majmudar, who, despite his literary success, hasn’t quit his day job as a diagnostic nuclear radiologist. The son of Indian immigrants, Majmudar grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and in the innovative yet accessible poems collected in his superb new book, Dothead: Poems, he explores the experience of growing up as a cultural outsider among mostly white classmates and how his heritage shapes his everyday adult life. “It happens every trip, / at LaGuardia, Logan, and Washington Dulles, / the customary strip / is never enough for a young brown male,” he writes in “T.S.A.” This painful prejudice rears its head again in “The Star-Spangled Turban”: “Any towel, / any shawl will . . . mark me off as / not quite level- / headed. . . .” Along with his pointed cultural critique are stark, electrifying pieces like “Ode to a Drone” and inventive, playful poems like his celebratory ode to grammar in the sly “His Love of Semicolons” (“The comma is comely, the period, peerless, / but stack them one atop / the other, and I am in love”). Majmudar finds poetry in the modern world where we least expect it. 

A CAREER-CLOSING VOLUME
Larry Levis was only 49 when he died of a heart attack two decades ago, but his reputation as a rare and compassionate poet was already well established. The award-winning author of five collections of verse, Levis casts a long shadow over the poetry world, which makes the appearance of The Darkening Trapeze: Last Poems a cause for celebration. Edited by poet David St. John, this never-before-published volume features expansive works constructed from long, Whitmanesque lines and a cast of marginal characters that were a recurring thread in Levis’ verse. In “Elegy for the Infinite Wrapped in Tinfoil,” a drug-addled boy sets his girlfriend’s house on fire and goes walking “past eaves & lawns that flowed / Beside him then as if he’d loosened them / From every mooring but brimming moonlight.” A sense of the poet as a vulnerable figure searching for meaning in a tumultuous world permeates these works, including “The Space,” in which “The Self sounds like a guy raking leaves / Off his walk. It sounds like the scrape of the rake. / The soul is just a story the scraping tells.” This collection moves between poetic modes to reveal Levis’ breadth of vision. The Darkening Trapeze serves as a poignant final statement from a poet whose voice remains vital. 

NEWLY DISCOVERED NERUDA
Then Come Back: The Lost Neruda is a true treasure: a new group of poems by Nobel Prize-winning Chilean author and statesman Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), thoughtfully translated by American poet Forrest Gander. Discovered by the Pablo Neruda Foundation, these previously unseen works were written between the 1950s and the early 1970s. The 21 pieces—image-saturated, sensuous, earthy yet elegant—highlight Neruda’s unselfconscious ease as he explores themes that loomed large in his life: home, nature, exile, art. Ardency for nature enlivens “Poem 2,” which conjures “the corollas / of giant sunflowers, defeated / by their very fullness.” “Poem 10,” with its celebratory opening lines—“Marvelous ear, / double / butterfly, / hear / your praise”—brings to mind Neruda’s famous odes to other body parts (eye, liver, skull). Of poetry itself, Neruda writes, “All my life it’s coursed through my body / like my own blood.” Indeed, these beautifully unaffected poems serve as yet another testament to the fluency of Neruda’s genius. Photographs of his handwritten drafts are included throughout, lending an archival air to this essential collection.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

This year marks an important literary milestone: the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month. Established by the Academy of American Poets, the annual event has blossomed into a worldwide celebration. We’re joining in the festivities by highlighting three terrific new collections.
Fiction

A Brontë bicentennial

Feature by Stephenie Harrison

It’s hard to name a novel more beloved than Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Billed as one of the first feminist love stories, it has inspired countless sighs from lovers of literature over the centuries.

April 21, 2016, marks the 200th anniversary of Brontë’s birth, and two timely new releases honor Charlotte and her family’s enduring legacy. Though these two books have very different tones and approaches, their shared affection for the Brontës unites them. 

The setup of Catherine Lowell’s debut novel, The Madwoman Upstairs, is an English major’s fantasy come true. Heroine Samantha Whipple is an awkward bookworm who heads off to Oxford University to read literature—and just happens to be the Brontës’ last living descendent. As she butts heads with her brooding-yet-irresistible tutor, a mysterious package from her deceased father arrives. Suddenly Sam is on a scavenger hunt that promises to lead her to her inheritance: items belonging to the Brontë estate that Sam has always considered nothing but a rumor . . . until now. 

Crammed with myriad allusions to the entire Brontë clan’s canon, Lowell’s novel will appeal not only to Brontë megafans, but also to readers who like a healthy helping of literary criticism alongside their fiction. When Sam isn’t off solving her father’s cryptic clues, she’s arguing with her professor about how to correctly read literature in general—and the Brontës’ works in particular. 

Filled with hyperlexic ripostes and an academic heroine who is the dictionary definition of quirky, this is a story that will please readers of Marisha Pessl’s Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

Lyndsay Faye’s Jane Steele is a very different form of tribute. Just a few pages in, Faye’s Jane utters the line, “Reader, I murdered him,” which tells you exactly the kind of book you are in for. A somewhat satirical riff on Jane Eyre, the novel reimagines Brontë’s iconic heroine with not only a will of iron but also the heart of a hot-blooded killer. This Jane embraces her “wicked” side and isn’t afraid to avenge herself against those who do her wrong. (Watch out, teachers at Lowood.)

Readers worried that Jane Steele is simply a retread of Jane Eyre with more blood and gore, à la Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, fear not. Just when you think you know what is coming next, Jane Steele takes things in a completely different direction. Faye is also the author of four acclaimed historical mysteries, and she juxtaposes a textured Victorian setting with more modern (and thus, more ambiguous) morality. Jane Steele is equal parts irreverent and refreshing. It’s also, remarkably, no less of a page-turner than the classic to which it pays homage.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

April 21, 2016, marks the 200th anniversary of Brontë’s birth, and two timely new releases honor Charlotte and her family’s enduring legacy. Though these two books have very different tones and approaches, their shared affection for the Brontës unites them.
NonfictionNature

Take your reading to new heights

Feature by Lynn Green

Spring has arrived, and along with it comes a flock of books about our feathered friends. Here are three new titles that bird watchers will find especially intriguing.

Jennifer Ackerman, longtime nature writer and contributor to Scientific American, thinks it’s time to ditch the term “bird brain.” In The Genius of Birds, she offers compelling evidence that birds are far smarter than we previously thought. In fact, she writes, new research has found “bird species capable of mental feats comparable to those [of] primates.” Birds can recognize human faces, use geometry to navigate, learn new skills from one another (like how to open milk bottles) and even work puzzles. The author travels from the South Pacific—home of the world’s smartest bird, the New -Caledonian crow—to rural China as she explores the surprising cognitive abilities of birds. Ackerman is a pro at parsing scientific concepts in an accessible style, and her lyrical writing underscores her appreciation for the beauty and adaptability of birds.

NATURE’S CREATION
While bird brains are the focus of many new studies, there’s nothing more beautiful or delicate than a brightly colored bird’s egg. In The Most Perfect Thing: Inside (and Outside) a Bird’s Egg, ornithologist Tim Birkhead deconstructs every part of the egg to reveal how these small survival pods are “perfect in so many different ways.” From the shell (composed of upright crystals “packed against each other like a stack of fence posts”) to the albumen (the “absolutely remarkable, mysterious stuff” that most of us call the white part), the elements are described here in exquisite detail. Like a bird watcher who spots a rare specimen, the author shows palpable (and charming) excitement for his subject throughout, never losing his sense of wonder and admiration for nature’s “ingenious construction” of the egg.

IN THE NEST
A contributing editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest, Julie Zickefoose has a particular fascination with baby birds and enjoys painting these scrawny, screeching creatures from the moment they hatch to the day they leave the nest as fledglings. Baby Birds: An Artist Looks into the Nest offers a rare and meticulously chronicled portrait of baby birds’ day-to-day development, with the author’s lovely watercolor paintings adding a vivid visual dimension. In her introduction, Zickefoose describes Baby Birds as “an odd sort of book, like a Victorian-era curiosity.” Fans of the rediscovered 1970s bestseller The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady will happily agree.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Spring has arrived, and along with it comes a flock of books about our feathered friends. Here are three new titles that bird watchers will find especially intriguing.
Children's & YAPicture BookMiddle Grade

Vibrant introductions to poetry and wordplay

Feature by Hilli Levin

Spring into April with a new batch of children’s poetry books, just in time for the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month. From a “wow”-worthy batch of concrete poems that dance across the page to a poetic guessing game and a touching trip through the seasons, three new collections make for accessible and thoroughly modern introductions to an enduring art.

POEMS THAT POP
Bob Raczka’s newest book, Wet Cement: A Mix of Concrete Poems, “uses words like colors to paint pictures.” This playful collection of 21 poems takes inspiration from single words, similar to 2013’s Lemonade, and in the visually arresting style of classic concrete poets like E.E. Cummings or Carl Andre, brings his simple verse to life. Words slash the page in the shape of an electric bolt in “Lightning”; letters seem to thaw and drip into readers’ hands in “Icicles”; and the letters of “Hopscotch” skip across the page in the game’s instantly recognizable layout. But Raczka’s poems aren’t all whimsy. There are plenty of quiet moments where a sense of childlike awe shines through, as in wonderful “Dipper”: “Up here in the sky, / I’m a vessel of stars / my brim overflowing with night.” In today’s highly visual world, Raczka’s poems are a fantastic gateway into the genre.

WHO IN THE HAIKU?
The art of Japanese haiku and silly riddles collide in Deanna Caswell’s Guess Who, Haiku. Readers will love piecing together the clever clues for each animal and insect as each page asks, “Can you guess who from this haiku?” From a dairy cow—“new day on the farm / muffled mooing announces / a fresh pail of milk”—to a loyal dog— "Sitting for a treat / an eager tail smacks the ground / over and over"— Caswell runs through a cast of common critters, and her engaging bite-sized poems are just right for the preschool crowd. Bob Shea provides illustrations in his bold and lively graphic style, which make the big reveal of each mystery animal a pure delight. Caswell ends the book with a helpful note that breaks down exactly what haiku is, how it’s structured and how readers can recognize syllables, encouraging a deeper understanding of each line. Guess Who, Haiku makes a traditional form of poetry into a guessing game that almost feels like a poetic version of Fisher Price’s classic See ‘N Say toy, which is a sure sign that this could become a read-aloud favorite.

CELEBRATE THE SEASONS
The natural world’s seasonal transformations have been inspiring poets for centuries, and Julie Fogliano adds her own inspired collection to the mix with When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons. Beginning on the first day of spring with a cheerful bird’s song “poking / a tiny hole / through the edge of winter,” readers meet a diverse cast of children that explore, climb, swim and frolic their way through the days of all four seasons, and Fogliano devotes about a dozen reflective poems to each, all titled with a specific month and date. Pencil-and-gouache illustrations from Julie Morstad bring a delightfully vintage feel to scenes where wildflowers seem to blossom endlessly, piles of crisp fall leaves beckon and snow gently drifts outside of a window. From lazy summer days that are “hot and thick like honey” to the messy fun of pumpkin carving and the stillness of winter, this collection is sure to be one that little readers will love to pull off the shelf and flip through again and again.

Spring into April with a new batch of children’s poetry books, just in time for the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month. From a “wow”-worthy batch of concrete poems that dance across the page to a poetic guessing game and a touching trip through the seasons, three new collections make for accessible and thoroughly modern introductions to an enduring art.

Romance

The songs of love

Feature by Lois Dyer

Sexy guys with guitars—there’s a reason romance readers love them, and we’re covering three titles out this month that illustrate why rock stars make readers swoon. Put your hands together for Brennan, Calix and Jake and prepare to fall in love.

ARTISTIC DIFFERENCES
New York Times bestselling author Julia London takes readers to the lakeside resort town of East Beach, New York, for her latest novel, Suddenly In Love. Struggling artist Mia Lassiter reluctantly returns home to East Beach when she loses her job in Manhattan, but fortunately, her aunt offers her a position in her interior design shop. Working on a renovation project at a historic mansion on the shore of Lake Haven is a welcome challenge for Mia’s talents. Unfortunately, the owner’s reclusive son is in residence, and their first meetings are more hostile than friendly.

Guitarist Brennan Yates is stunned when he realizes pretty Mia has no idea that he’s really Everett Alden, lead singer of legendary rock group Tuesday’s End. Mia prefers Bach and rarely listens to rock ’n’ roll. Having a woman treat him no differently than any other guy is refreshing after 10-plus years of stardom, and he puts off telling her who he really is. He’s hiding out at his mother’s new house while he struggles to come to grips with stardom-burnout and a band member’s overdose. All too soon, however, he’s discovered, and the fallout from not being honest with Mia will have repercussions that shake both their worlds.

The sexy, reclusive rock star and passionate artist make a wonderfully romantic pair; both are wary after past disappointments, and both have artistic career choices to make. The bucolic setting of Lake Haven, crazy paparazzi and coping-with-fame moments, plus charming secondary characters, all add to the reading experience. This is the first installment in the Lake Haven series, and readers will surely be impatient for the second.  

COOKING UP TROUBLE
Erika Kelly serves up a delicious romance in Take Me Home Tonight, the third novel in her Rock Star Romance series. The daughter of a well-known restaurant owner, Mimi Romano desperately wants her father to hire her for his elite team of chefs. To prove her worth, she auditions for a spot on a reality-TV cooking competition. While she’s waiting to be accepted—or rejected—she stays with her best friend and works as chef for the rising rock band Blue Fire.

Keyboardist Calix Bourbon knows he should leave Mimi alone, but everything about her draws him like a magnet. She’s talented, intense, compassionate smart, and beautiful. But he has commitments to family that he can’t turn his back on, and he can’t make promises he knows he won’t be able to keep. Still, their mutual attraction in undeniable, and before long, both are swept up in a relationship that’s surely guaranteed to break both their hearts.

Intensely emotional and passionate, this latest entry in the series does not disappoint. Readers will fall in love with this couple as they struggle to deal with family issues and survive the obstacles thrown in their way.

ROCK STAR AND THE RESTAURATEUR 
Music and cooking are mixed together yet again in the first in fan-favorite Kristen Proby’s Fusion series, Listen to Me. Five best friends realize their dream when they open Seduction, a hot new restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The restaurant is beautiful ex-model Addison Wade’s main focus, and she has no time for other interests. But her friends decide to add live music to the restaurant when Jake Keller walks through the door. Addison has always adored Jake’s music, but the instant attraction she feels has her unsure if they should hire him.

Jake doesn’t need the money; he’s a sought after songwriter. He walked away from the glitz, glamour and deadly lifestyle of touring and rock stardom, however, he misses playing his music for a live audience. When he meets Addison, he immediately wants the gig at Seduction—he’ll have a chance to play again, and it will give him an excuse to get to know the beautiful restaurateur. Jake has a past that haunts him, however, and just when he can see a future with Addison, his history drives a wedge between them.

The backdrop of the world of rock music and the restaurant business is engaging, and the heat between Jake and Addison is off the charts, but the emotional connection that binds them is even stronger. 

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington

Sexy guys with guitars—there’s a reason romance readers love them, and we’re covering three titles out this month that illustrate why rock stars make readers swoon. Put your hands together for Brennan, Calix and Jake, and prepare to fall in love.
Fiction

Hidden turns of Jewish history

Feature by Lauren Bufferd

What would you do if you discovered a lost masterpiece that revealed the artist’s extreme prejudice? Or survived a war only to find yourself participating in political violence?

Ethical dilemmas and twists and turns of Jewish history are at the core of two new novels by Lauren Belfer and Stewart O’Nan. 

Belfer’s sprawling novel And After the Fire spans two continents and several centuries and concerns a fictional music manuscript. It opens as an American soldier in Weimar grabs some sheet music to take home as a souvenir. After his death decades later, his niece, Susanna Kessler, discovers a cryptic note and what appears to be an unknown Bach cantata: one with lyrics influenced by an anti-Semitic sermon. Susanna must weigh the pros and cons of publicizing a work whose contents, by any standard, are offensive. Her epic search for the manuscript’s original owners leads her from New York’s rare book libraries to present-day Germany. She also encounters two historians who vie for the manuscript—as well as her romantic attentions.

Susanna’s journey is interspersed with the history of the manuscript itself. Originally a gift from Bach’s son Wilhelm Friedrich to his most talented pupil, Sara Itzig Levy, the cantata remained in the Levy family’s hands over many turbulent decades. Though the manuscript is a fiction, Levy is not: The daughter of a prominent Jewish banker, she was the aunt of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn and at the forefront of salon culture during the Enlightenment.

And After the Fire is sprinkled with other real-life historical figures, and Belfer is adept at revealing the complex politics and sentiments, including the religious biases, of 18th-century Europe. The important questions Belfer poses regarding the ethical complexities of art are engrossing, though her characters never come fully to life. 

Stewart O’Nan’s gripping City of Secrets is also a moral thriller, but on a much different scale. It is tightly focused in time and place; the action takes place over the winter of 1946 and follows a handful of post-World War II refugees fighting for the creation of Israel against both Arab attack and Britain’s mandates. Recalling the novels of Graham Greene and Joseph Conrad, City of Secrets has a taut, noir-like flavor. Like O’Nan’s earlier novels, it features a displaced hero who, despite everything, still believes his life has purpose. 

City of Secrets follows Brand, a Latvian whose mechanical skills allowed him to survive the death camps, though he lost everything else. Brand slipped easily into Jerusalem, his new identity and job provided by the Jewish underground. Spending his days as a taxi driver taking tourists to religious sites, he remains loyal to the members of his Haganah cell, accepting missions that grow ever more dangerous under the cell’s elusive leader, Asher. By the time Brand realizes what’s at stake, it is almost too late. 

These compelling stories use history as a lens to examine issues that are still with us today.

 

This article was originally published in the May 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

What would you do if you discovered a lost masterpiece that revealed the artist’s extreme prejudice? Or survived a war only to find yourself participating in political violence?
Children's & YAPicture Book

Better than a bouquet

Feature by Julie Hale

This year, forget the flowers! Celebrate Mom with a story instead. Filled with humor, poetry and plenty of love, these fresh picture books pay tribute to mothers and their special magic.

PREPARING FOR MOTHERHOOD
Laura Krauss Melmed delivers a beautiful salute to the bond that exists between mother and child in Before We Met. Jing Jing Tsong’s breathtaking digital collage illustrations feature an evocative palette of violets, purples and blues—the deep hues of a night sky—to create a magical backdrop for a mother’s musings. The phrase “before we met” serves as a refrain in the book’s rhymed lines, turning the text into a lullaby: “Before we met, I dreamt I felt the beating of your heart. Before we met, I promised you I’d love you from the start,” the mother tells her newborn. Soon night gives way to day and a sun-drenched gardenscape filled with flitting birds and blooming flowers. This celebratory scene, signifying birth, is the perfect endnote for Melmed’s gorgeous, impressionistic story-poem. 

MOM ON A MISSION
Emma Levey’s delightful Hattie Peck features a one-of-a-kind mom—a broody chicken who longs for a family all her own. The only egg Hattie ever laid failed to hatch! She dreams of having eggs—lots and lots of them—and so she sets out on a quest. Her goal: round up all the abandoned eggs she can find and hatch them, “every last one!” Beginning this madcap mission in a rowboat, Hattie plumbs oceans, braves caves and climbs mountains, collecting a “colossal clutch” along the way. Back at home, she sits atop a pile of eggs and waits for the cracking to commence. Soon Hattie has hatched a veritable zoo that includes alligators, snakes, a penguin and a peacock. With so many critters to care for, Hattie is happy at last. Featuring colors that pop, Levey’s bold illustrations make this an extra-special story for families of every breed.

TWO OF A KIND
You Made Me a Mother captures the sense of nervous anticipation that precedes a baby’s arrival. Laurenne Sala’s buoyant story follows an excited mom-to-be as she prepares for her big day, studying baby guides and puzzling over new furniture for the nursery. When the tot finally arrives, the young mom naturally adjusts to her new role, making lovely discoveries about herself along the way: “I realized that I would spend my life doing things to make you happy. And that would make me happy,” she tells her little one. Over time, through trips to the playground and walks in the rain, mother and child learn from each other and grow together. Robin Preiss Glasser’s detailed ink-and-watercolor drawings are just right for this moving tribute to a mother’s unique capacity for love.

 

This article was originally published in the May 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

This year, forget the flowers! Celebrate Mom with a story instead. Filled with humor, poetry and plenty of love, these fresh picture books pay tribute to mothers and their special magic.
NonfictionFood & Drink

Hitting the rowdy road

Feature by Lynn Green

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! 

With summer fast approaching, it’s time to make plans for that great American tradition: the family road trip. Three new books will help you plan your itinerary for an unforgettable adventure.

PARK IT
What better place to spend a family vacation than one of our grand and glorious national parks? This year marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park System, a centennial that’s being celebrated with several new books, including Lonely Planet’s National Parks of America. From Acadia to Zion, this beautifully illustrated volume includes a multipage section on each of the 59 national parks, with “toolbox” tips on the best time to go, where to stay and what to see and do. Stunning photographs—from molten lava in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to Giant Sequoia trees in Kings Canyon—offer readers a before-you-go glimpse of the scenic wonders they’ll encounter. This is an excellent introduction to our priceless park system and might be best used as a first step in deciding which parks grab the imaginations of the young travelers in your family.

PLACES THAT MATTER
If your goal is planning a trip that’s educational as well as fun, consider the destinations in 50 Great American Places by Brent D. Glass, director emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. This well-written and carefully curated guide to our country’s “Essential Historic Sites” includes fascinating historical details about tried-and-true stops such as Boston’s Freedom Trail and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. But Glass also ventures further afield with unexpected choices like Willa Cather’s childhood home near Red Cloud, Nebraska, where the author soaked up impressions of the prairie that would color her acclaimed novels. In the book’s foreword, historian David McCullough recalls how early visits to historic sites influenced his career choice (“the experience opened my mind and imagination to history as nothing yet had”) and later provided lasting memories for his own children.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Music may soothe the savage beast, but nothing silences a car full of restless kids (and weary adults) like something good to eat. Great American Eating Experiences aims to acquaint readers with “delicious fare originating from across the 50 states, in small towns and city neighborhoods where tradition, creativity, and inspiration have created foods found nowhere else.” Organized by region and state, this colorful and mouthwatering guide catalogs the best local delicacies in each area and where to find them, with entries on such specialties as whoopie pie in Maine and the Juicy Lucy burger in Minnesota. You’ll also find pointers to food festivals, soda fountains, diners and more.

 

This article was originally published in the May 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! With summer fast approaching, it’s time to make plans for that great American tradition: the family road trip. Three new books will help you plan your itinerary for an unforgettable adventure.
Romance

Booking it to the altar

Feature by Lois Dyer

Every wedding season, starry-eyed brides wed their handsome grooms amid fairy-tale summer celebrations. But what happens during the months and days leading up to the magical day, you ask? Staggering emotional highs and terrifying, jumping-off-cliff lows, that’s what! We’ve picked three titles this month to immerse you in the ups and downs of saying “I do.”

CAROLINA COAST CELEBRATION
New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe returns to Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, and the Muir family in A Lowcountry Wedding, the final novel in her Lowcountry Summer series. Marietta “Mamaw” Muir, matriarch of the clan and grandmother to half-sisters Harper, Carson and Dora, welcomes the excitement of Carson and Harper’s upcoming weddings on the island.

Behind the scenes, however, all three sisters are confronted with potentially life-changing complications: Harper has a secret that will shock everyone; Carson struggles to deal with career and commitment issues; and, after enduring a difficult divorce, Dora isn’t convinced she’s truly ready to be in the serious relationship she’s found herself in. Fortunately, each sister is deeply in love with her partner, and as the couples confront their problems, it becomes increasingly clear that their hearts have chosen strong, wise and honorable men.

However, when a stranger knocks on Marietta’s door, she quickly realizes her family will be changed forever in unexpected ways. But with all the emotional stress of the weddings already upon them, will her granddaughters decide that the changes are good, or disastrous?

Sumptuously layered with authentic emotions and contemporary issues, this novel is rich in Southern charm. The lush setting of Charleston’s lowcountry is a palpable presence, while multigenerational characters add depth to the story. Fans and new readers alike will be enthralled with this complex and endearing story.

NEVER A BRIDE?
Former children’s book editor and journalist Lindsey Kelk delivers a witty and heartwarming read with Always the Bridesmaid. London event planner Maddie Fraser is 31 and single since her ex-boyfriend moved out two years earlier. She wants to move on and find a significant other, but it seems the only thing moving on is time. Then her work-centered, boring life explodes when one best friend plans to throw a wedding in an insane three months, her other best friend unexpectedly faces divorce, and Maddie’s boss is clearly determined to destroy any chance of Maddie winning a promotion. Oh, and Maddie meets a gorgeous guy and begins a passionate affair.

All of the above should have Maddie shouting “Stop!” but she can’t seem to say no when people need her help. The stress of planning Lauren’s wedding and supporting Sarah through the grief of divorce, along with the pressure of unreasonable demands at her job, strain Maddie’s multitasking abilities to the max. Fortunately, she has Will, the handsome new boyfriend who is wild about her. Or is he?

Maddie is warm, wonderful, smart and the best kind of friend. This delightful tale of the enduring value of friendship, self-discovery and life as a single woman in urban London will have readers laughing out loud.

KENTUCKY IS FOR LOVERS
USA Today bestselling author LuAnn McLane heads to the small town of Cricket Creek, Kentucky, in Wish Upon a Wedding, where upcoming nuptials draw two friends into an unexpected romance.

Beautician and makeup artist Sophia Gordon has been attracted to handsome Avery Dean for months. Avery, however, appears to still be getting over a broken engagement, and Sophia settles for a casual friendship. All of this changes when Avery’s sister plans her wedding with his ex-fiancée as her maid of honor and Avery as the best man. He’s aware that his ex, Ashley, wants him back, but she cheated on him, and Avery isn’t interested. He can’t hurt his sister by refusing to be part of her wedding, but he clearly needs a plan to deflect the determined Ashley.

The snarl of family and wedding issues couldn’t come at a worse time, because contrary to Sophia’s belief, Avery is definitely over Ashley, and he’s interested in dating Sophia. He catches a bit of luck when Sophia suggests they pretend she’s his girlfriend to throw Ashley off his trail. Sophia thinks they’re playing to the crowd, but the kisses they share seem all too real. She’s in danger of losing her heart to this sincere, charming man. Is there any chance he feels the same, or will family entanglements tear them apart?

The secondary romance between an older couple adds extra charm to this novel, which is filled with small-town characters and humor. Fans will thoroughly enjoy this tenth entry in the Cricket Creek series and eagerly anticipate the next installment.

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington

Every wedding season, starry-eyed brides wed their handsome grooms amid fairytale summer celebrations. But what happens during the months and days leading up to the magical day, you ask? Staggering emotional highs and terrifying jumping-off-cliff lows, that’s what! We’ve picked three titles this month to immerse you in the romance, ups and downs of saying “I do.”
Romance

Boys and their toys

Feature by Lois Dyer

There’s something breathtakingly sexy about a hot guy who can fly a fighter jet, ride a motorcycle or drive a fast car. We’re highlighting three titles that feature all of the above, plus lots of wonderfully steamy romance. Sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

ACE-HIGH STRAIGHT
Attorney and author Chanel Cleeton launches her Wild Aces series with Fly With Me. When 31-year-old Jordan Callahan lands in Las Vegas for her sister’s bachelorette party, she isn’t expecting to meet the love of her life. But then F-16 fighter pilot Noah Miller asks her to dance, and she quickly realizes he’s not like any other guy she’s dated. He’s handsome, sexy, smart and intense. They spend their few vacation days wrapped up in each other, but all too soon, they must return to normal life—Jordan to Florida and her successful boutique, Noah to the Oklahoma Air Force Base where he’s stationed.

Neither are ready to say goodbye for good, however, and Jordan flies to spend weekends in Oklahoma as often as she can. The Air Force is a mistress that rules Noah’s life, while Jordan can’t give up her beloved shop and Florida hometown. With their lives and careers so far apart, being together is complicated. They want to find a way to plan a shared future, but when Noah receives unexpected orders, their plans may go up in smoke. They are still struggling to resolve deployment issues when disaster strikes, sending them both reeling. Now Jordan will have to decide how much she’s willing to surrender to stay with Noah, while he must weigh the cost of their love.

The details of military life create an intriguing setting for this romance that begins with off-the-charts sexual attraction and progresses to an equally intense emotional connection. Starring a sexy, smart heroine and her match in a gorgeous, hot hero, fans of contemporary romance are going to love this novel.

SAVED BY A BIKER
New York Times bestselling author Laura Kaye delivers the first novel in a spinoff from her popular Hard Ink series with Ride Hard. Haven Randall has fled her abusive father and found sanctuary with the Raven Riders, a motorcycle club that protects the vulnerable. Haven had been a virtual prisoner in her father’s home, and as a result, she's not only emotionally wounded but also astonishingly innocent.

The Rider’s club president, Dare Kenyon, knows he’s far too jaded for Haven, but the attraction between them is instant and hot enough to singe each time they’re together. Falling in love isn’t something either of them planned, but they’re drawn together like lodestones. Protecting Haven may mean Dare has to let her go, however, and finding a way to a happy ending might prove impossible, especially when her father is willing to kill to reclaim her.

This is a riveting tale of the true meaning of family, loyalty and bravery. The well-written sexual tension enhances the romance, and fans will be delighted with this stellar beginning to the author’s latest series.

BODY SHOP BAD BOYS
Bestselling Oregon writer Marie Harte lures readers to Seattle in Test Drive, the first in a hot new contemporary series. Handsome and charming, mechanic Johnny Devlin fell hard for beautiful Lara Valley the first time he saw her pouring drinks behind the local bar. He immediately asked her out, but she won’t say yes to a date, even though he asks again each time he sees her.

Full-time nursing student and part-time bartender Lara knows a playboy when she sees him, and she won’t say yes to Johnny, despite being crazy attracted to him. Besides, she doesn’t have time to date, what with school, her job and her role helping her divorced sister with her two adorable kids. Lara barely has time to breathe, let alone chance dating a guy she instinctively knows could rock her world.

Then Lara is assaulted late one night at the bar, and Johnny comes to her rescue. Lara can no longer deny him or their attraction, and when she finally says yes to dating, she discovers there’s much more to Johnny than facile charm and compliments. In fact, she’s teetering on the brink of falling in love with the warm, caring, funny, intelligent guy beneath the sexy exterior. But the path to love is strewn with obstacles, and before Johnny and Lara can plan a future together, they’ll each have to face their own fears and insecurities.

This charming, sexy tale of two people falling backwards into love is pure fun. The love scenes are steamy, the family interactions endearing,and their struggles to mesh busy lives intriguing.

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington

There’s something breathtakingly sexy about a hot guy who can fly a fighter jet, ride a motorcycle or drive a fast car. We’re highlighting three titles that feature all of the above, plus lots of wonderfully steamy romance. Sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

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