Category Archives: Fiction

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Best-selling historical fiction author of The Orphan Train and A Piece of the World transports the reader to 1840’s Australia where England sent away her prisoners – for some punishment, for others opportunity and redemption.

“Celebrating the bonds between women, the novel explores how lives that seem destined for pain might persevere.” — Real Simple

“Both uplifting and heartbreaking, this beautifully written novel doesn’t flinch from the ugliness of the penal system but celebrates the courage and resilience of both the first peoples and the settlers who came after, voluntarily or not, to create a new home for themselves and their children.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Monumental…This episode in history gets a top-notch treatment by Kline, one of our foremost historical novelists. This fascinating 19th-century take on Orange Is the New Black is subtle, intelligent, and thrillingly melodramatic.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

01 Saturday May 2021

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After she is abandoned by her mother, Noriko is taken in by her strict Japanese grandparents only to suffer stinging, chemical baths and regular confinement to the attic.  Life takes a new twist when her older half-brother (unbeknownst to her) comes to live with them.   The author’s new voice and storytelling won me over completely.

“Fifty Words for Rain is an impressive debut novel about a mixed-race girl growing up in post WWII Japan. Sensitive and bristling with closely-observed humanity, Asha Lemmie tells a story that we have not heard before with an ending that is as surprising as it is brutally honest.” —Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky

“[An] epic, twisty debut… Sometimes bleak, sometimes hopeful, Lemmie’s heartbreaking story of familial obligations packs an emotional wallop.” —Publishers Weekly

“Lemmie’s debut novel is a gripping historical tale that will transport readers through myriad emotions… Lemmie intimately draws the readers into every aspect of Noriko’s complex story, leading us through the decades and across the continents this adventure spans, bringing us to anger, tears, and small pockets of joy. A truly ambitious and remarkable debut.” —Booklist 

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We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

24 Saturday Apr 2021

Posted by in 20th century, crimes against, Fiction, homicide investigation, murder and investigation, suspense, thriller, United States

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“I LOVED this book. From the riveting plot to the beautiful writing. But mostly what kept me longing to get back to it each day were the characters, especially young Duchess. Fierce, brave, vulnerable, she leaps off the page fully formed. As does Walk. How aptly named. A chief of police on his own inexorable journey. This is a book to be read and reread and an author to be celebrated.”
—Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“It’s an instant classic….Let’s begin at the end. After you’ve turned the final page of Chris Whitaker’s magnificent new novel, you’ll struggle–I struggled, certainly–to describe the experience…it recalls the very best of Tana French and Dennis Lehane. Think of Duchess Day Radley as a twenty-first-century Scout Finch, tough and curious and good. In fact, think of We Begin at the End as a novel at the same time distinctly American and profoundly universal.”
—A.J. Finn, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Woman in the Window

“Two damaged children–one timid and sweet, the other foul-mouthed and furious–will break readers’ hearts in this well-plotted and perfectly-paced novel. If, like me, you love stories that kidnap your intended schedule because you can’t not keep turning the pages, then I wholeheartedly recommend Chris Whitaker’s We Begin at the End.”
—Wally Lamb, New York Times bestselling author of I Know This Much Is True

“This is an epic drama and a profound masterpiece. I’ll be amazed if I read a better novel this year.”
—Daily Mirror (UK)

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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

09 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by in Fiction, Future, Science fiction

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Klara and the Sun is a magnificent new novel from the Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro—author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day.  It is the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.  Klara is an Artificial Friend with keen observation skills and is an unforgettable narrator to this story.

“Moving and beautiful… an unequivocal return to form, a meditation in the subtlest shades on the subject of whether our species will be able to live with everything it has created… [A] feverish read, [a] one-sitter…  Few writers who’ve ever lived have been able to create moods of transience, loss and existential self-doubt as Ishiguro has — not art about the feelings, but the feelings themselves.”
—The Los Angeles Times

“As with Ishiguro’s other works, the rich inner reflections of his protagonists offer big takeaways, and Klara’s quiet but astute observations of human nature land with profound gravity . . . This dazzling genre-bending work is a delight.”—Publishers Weekly [starred review]

“There is something so steady and beautiful about the way Klara is always approaching connection, like a Zeno’s arrow of the heart. People will absolutely love this book, in part because it enacts the way we learn how to love. Klara and the Sun is wise like a child who decides, just for a little while, to love their doll. “What can children know about genuine love?” Klara asks. The answer, of course, is everything.”—Anne Enright, The Guardian

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Everything Sad is Untrue (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri

28 Sunday Mar 2021

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“At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls “Daniel”) stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny… But Khosrou’s stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy….and further back still to the Jasmine-scented city of Isfahan.”–Amazon.  While this beautifully written novel is aimed at children and young adults, adult readers will be astounded by this true story.

A modern masterpiece – as epic as the Iliad and Shahnameh, and as heartwarming as Charlotte’s Web. It’s for the kids at the lunch table; the heroes of tomorrow, just looking to survive the battle of adolescence. – NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Supple, sparkling and original. – THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“A distinctive voice. A rare treasure of a book.” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)

“A journey as intimate as it is epic.”BOOKLIST (starred review)

“A story that soars. Readers will be transported.”- BCCB (starred review)

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Code Name Hélène: A Novel by Ariel Lawhon

19 Friday Mar 2021

Posted by in Biographical fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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This engaging work of historical fiction is based on the real life figure of Nancy Wake. Raised in Australia, she works as a freelance journalist in Europe during the 1930s and falls in love with a French man. As the country enters World War II, Nancy is drawn into the French Resistance, where she uses her intelligence, strength, and wit to go on several dangerous missions. Nancy Wake — who went by many code names besides Hélène — lived an incredible life, reflected in this page-turner.

“Fascinating”
—NEW YORK POST “REQUIRED READING”

“A spellbinding work of historical fiction. . . [and] one of the most sensual romance novels you’ve ever read. . . She is real, this really did happen is the mantra you may find yourself repeating, in awe of every page.”—BOOKPAGE, *STARRED*

“Magnificent. . . Lawhon carries us into the heart of the French resistance [and] into the mind of a badass heroine with uncanny instincts who takes on the Nazis and men’s arrogant sexism with uncommon bravado. . . Even long after the last page is turned, this astonishing story of Wake’s accomplishments will hold readers in its grip.”—BOOKLIST, *STARRED*

“Readers will be transfixed by the story of a woman who should be a household name.”–LIBRARY JOURNAL *STARRED*

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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

13 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by in fantasy, Fiction, Future

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881 Holds on this book in Minuteman system! Nora wants to die when she finds herself with the opportunity to try out different versions of what her life could have been. Apart from the premise of a magical “midnight library” with an infinite number of possible lives, this novel is less fantasy and more about happiness, depression, and relationships. I loved this thought-provoking story.

“Haig is one of the most inspirational popular writers on mental health of our age and, in his latest novel, he has taken a clever, engaging concept and created a heart-warming story that offers wisdom in the same deceptively simple way as Mitch Albom’s best tales.” —Independent (UK)

“Although I don’t read fiction as much as I used to—because I’m always writing fiction—during these sad and difficult days in 2020 I broke that rule because I needed to ­escape into other people’s fictional worlds. One of my favorite books of the year was “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig, a powerful and uplifting story about regrets and the choices we make.”—Alice Hoffman, author of Magic Lessons and Practical Magic

“Haig’s latest (after the nonfiction collection Notes on a Nervous Planet, 2019) is a stunning contemporary story that explores the choices that make up a life, and the regrets that can stifle it. A compelling novel that will resonate with readers.” —Booklist (starred review)

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Charity’s Burden by Edith Maxwell (A Quaker Midwife Mystery, 4)

26 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by in detective, Fiction, mystery

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For readers looking for an absorbing, leisurely-paced story which centers around women’s lives and issues, this bittersweet novel won’t disappoint. The book won the 2020 Agatha Award (presented for the cozy mystery subgenre) for best historical mystery. It is the fourth novel in local author Edith Maxwell’s Quaker Midwife series set in Amesbury, Massachusetts in the late 19th century.

“An intriguing look at life in 19th-century New England, a heroine whose goodness guides all her decisions, and a mystery that surprises.”―Kirkus Reviews

“Rose Carroll is a richly crafted and appealing sleuth. A terrific historical read.”―Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author

“The historical setting is redolent and delicious, the townspeople engaging, and the plot a proper puzzle, but it’s Rose Carroll―midwife, Quaker, sleuth―who captivates in this irresistible series debut.”―Catriona McPherson, award-winning author of the Dandy Gilver series

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Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O’Farrell

19 Friday Feb 2021

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The title of Hamnet refers to William Shakespeare’s son, who died as a child and may have served as the inspiration for Hamlet. However, Shakespeare himself is not the main character of this novel, and is never even referred to by name. Instead, Shakespeare’s wife Agnes (commonly known as Anne) is the main character of this story. She is a fascinating character, and the book follows her as a young woman into adulthood, as she fights against society’s expectations, marries, and becomes a mother. I have loved all of Maggie O’Farrell’s books, and this was no exception. 

Hamnet was recently awarded the UK’s Women’s Prize for Fiction.

“Magnificent and searing… A family saga so bursting with life, touched by magic, and anchored in affection that I only wish it were true. Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare’s life, about whether he even wrote his own plays, here is a novel that matches him with a woman overwhelmingly more than worthy… I nearly drowned at the end of this book, and at some other spots besides. It would be wise to keep some tissues handy… So gorgeously written that it transports you from our own plague time right into another and makes you glad to be there.”
—The Boston Globe

“This striking, painfully lovely novel captures the very nature of grief.”—Booklist [starred review]

“A tour de force…Although more than 400 years have unspooled since Hamnet Shakespeare’s death, the story O’Farrell weaves in this moving novel is timeless and ever-relevant… O’Farrell brilliantly turns to historical fiction to confront a parent’s worst nightmare: the death of a child…Hamnet vividly captures the life-changing intensity of maternity in its myriad stages — from the pain of childbirth to the unassuagable grief of loss. Fierce emotions and lyrical prose are what we’ve come to expect of O’Farrell. But with this historical novel she has expanded her repertoire, enriching her narrative with atmospheric details of the sights, smells, and relentless daily toil involved in running a household in Elizabethan England — a domestic arena in which a few missing menstrual rags on washday is enough to alarm a mother of girls.”–NPR

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Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

13 Saturday Feb 2021

Posted by in 20th century, action, adventure, Fiction

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The premise of Migrations is one that doesn’t seem too far-fetched: in the not too distant future, many of the world’s animals have gone extinct. Franny, a woman determined to follow a rare flock of birds, convinces the captain of a fishing ship out of Greenland to take her along. As the journey progresses, the crew — and the reader — learn more about Franny’s complicated past. This book is beautifully written, and offers plenty of food for thought about our current climate change crisis.

For fans of Flight Behavior and Station Eleven, a novel set on the brink of catastrophe, as a young woman chases the world’s last birds―and her own final chance for redemption – Amazon

“[Migrations] could be taking place in two years or 20 years, but it could just as well be happening today…A consummate blend of issue and portrait, warning and affirmation, this heartbreaking, lushly written work is highly recommended.”―Library Journal (starred review)

“Transfixing, gorgeously precise…[The] evocation of a world bereft of wildlife is piercing; Franny’s otherworldliness is captivating, and her extreme misadventures and anguished secrets are gripping.”
―Booklist (starred review)

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