Tag Archives: interpersonal relations

The Scrapbook by Heather Clark (debut)

10 Monday Nov 2025

Posted by in Historical Fiction, History, mystery

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“What a novel. . . . Clark has achieved an impressive feat in this beautiful and powerful novel examining the nature of intergenerational trauma, inherited guilt and all-consuming love.” —The Jewish Chronicle

“Clark’s first novel combines historical fiction with a thoughtful examination of a classic rite of passage for many young adults: falling in unrequited love. . . . Clark deftly interweaves Anna and Christoph’s interactions with glimpses of their grandfathers’ lives during the war, adding depth to the story. . . . Clark is at her best.” —Library Journal

“Phenomenal. . . a unique blend of literary and historical fiction as well as a penetrating exploration of philosophy, art, historical responsibility and guilt in the context of war. . . . The Scrapbook is worthy of reading and rereading as Clark serves up romance, history and political philosophy in ways that could hardly be more relevant.” —BookPage (starred review)

“Historical fiction strikes a complicated balance, between a need to recreate with some accuracy events in the past while at the same time communicating the relevance of those facts to the present. Heather Clark situates a contemporary love story in the shadow of—and with capacious insight into—German history both during and immediately after the Second World War. Clark navigates difficult conceptual ground with remarkable ease, making the complex legacy of the war appreciable to readers in the present.” —Matthew Longo, author of The Picnic

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The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

20 Monday Oct 2025

Posted by in adventure, Fiction, Humor, Travel, United States

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Brought together by unusual circumstances, a family sets out on a road trip from Massachusetts to the West Coast accompanied by a very perceptive cat. The characters in this novel are all dealing with pain and tragedy, yet the book is quirky, funny, and ultimately uplifting. I loved this!

“A beautiful reminder that the world is full of tragedy, but life-changing joy and connection might be just around the corner.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Hartnett’s signature blend of humor and deep emotional resonance shines through on every page. Balancing whimsy with raw emotion, Hartnett has a gift for turning life’s messiest, saddest moments into something weirdly funny and downright beautiful. Hartnett’s fans will find much to love here.”—Booklist, starred review

“The Road to Tender Hearts is the ultimate road trip novel: a zany, heartfelt blend of dysfunction, humor, healing, and Annie Hartnett’s signature poignancy and wit. This story of family, forgiveness, and moving forward is a balm for anyone who’s ever been too hard on themselves, offering a compassionate reminder that we’re all just figuring it out as we go. I was moved, delighted, and captivated from start to finish.”—Emily Habeck, author of Shark Heart

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Antidote: a Novel by Karen Russell

02 Wednesday Jul 2025

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction, Historical Fiction, United States

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The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing–not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl drought, but beneath its own violent histories.  Excellent historical fiction – couldn’t put this book down.

“An inspired and unforgettable fusion of the gritty and the fantastic.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The Antidote blends speculative and fantasy elements with rich language and vivid characters in an effort not to escape reality but to comment even more thoughtfully on it. . . . Russell’s lyrical writing dazzles on every page.” —The New York Times

“An ardent work of encompassing and compassionate historical fiction supercharged with her signature imaginative, astutely calibrated supernatural twists. A dramatic and uncanny tale of the drastic consequences of our destruction of nature and Indigenous communities.” — Booklist (starred review)


“The most salient quality of The Antidote is the beauty and power of Russell’s writing. . . . The Antidote is clearly the work of a writer with prodigious gifts.” —The Guardian

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So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan

26 Monday Aug 2024

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Her writing is so brilliant describing quiet, everyday moments with beauty and clarity in these short stories. Definitely read her other three short books!

“A master class in precisely crafted short fiction… Keegan’s trenchant observations explode like bombshells, bringing menace and retribution to tales of romance delayed, denied, and even deadly.” — Booklist, starred review

“Each story in So Late in the Day offers readers the suspense one might feel when walking home alone late at night. Violence lurks in Keegan’s stories, just as it does in our real world, despite it being so late in the story of women and men.” —Washington Independent Review of Books

“Compact but deep explorations of human vulnerability from a master of the form.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review “Exquisite . . . These pristine stories demonstrate the author’s genius for economy. Keegan says in a paragraph what other writers take entire novels to reveal.” — Publishers Weekly

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Good Material by Dolly Alderton   

10 Wednesday Apr 2024

Posted by in Fiction, romance

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A funny, poignant romantic comedy about a couple trying to break up in London.

“Like Nora Ephron, with a British twist….Good Material…delivers the most delightful aspects of classic romantic comedy—snappy dialogue, realistic relationship dynamics, humorous meet-cutes and misunderstandings—and leaves behind the clichéd gender roles and traditional marriage plot…..Alderton excels at portraying nonromantic intimate relationships with tenderness and authenticity….Alderton deserves comparisons to rom-com legends like Hornby.”—The New York Times

“Like so many twentysomething women, I have turned to Dolly Alderton’s writing for solace… Written from the perspective of someone recently heartbroken, but this time it’s a man… The detail is luscious… Radical.”—Annie Lord, The Sunday Times (UK)

“Alderton is one of this generation’s preeminent oracles for love, romance, and heartbreak….[She] exposes the inevitable misfortunes of singledom while never neglecting its inherent beauty….To readers, she’s like an older sister, guiding us through breakups, fights, and first-date mishaps with something like grace.”—Swarna Gowtham, Elle 

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This is Happiness by Niall Williams

11 Saturday Mar 2023

Posted by in Fiction, meaning of life, nature

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How did I miss this book in 2019?! Travel back to a simpler time in a small Irish parish with a young boy/man living with his grandparents.  Niall Williams’ language and turn of phrase will keep you savoring every twist and turn of the character’s experiences made so real you will think you are right there with him. A portrait of community and the power of stories.

“Warm and whimsical, sometimes sorrowful, but always expressed in curlicues of Irish lyricism, this charming book makes varied use of its electrical metaphor, not least to express the flickering pulse of humanity. A story both little and large and one that pulls out all the Irish stops.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Williams has the eye of a poet and the raconteur’s knack for finding a tale in the most unpromising nook of everyday life.” ―The Daily Mail

“The beauty and power of Irish author Niall Williams’ writing lies in his ability to invest the quotidian with wonder. A truly peerless wordsmith, he even makes descriptions of gleaming white appliances and telephone wire sing…the book is hilarious among its many other virtues. Buy, rent, get your hands on this book somehow and savor every word of it. Its title says it all: Plunging into This is Happiness is happiness indeed.” ―BookPage, starred review

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Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

25 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction, United States, western

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Selection for August 2022 Novels at Night book club in Weston

“Brilliant and devastating, Four Treasures of the Sky tells the story of Daiyu, who is brought to America against her will and forced to hide who she is even as she grows into her true self. Weaving together myth and history, Zhang’s work is both timeless and utterly necessary right now.”
―Anna North, author of Outlawed

“Jenny Tinghui Zhang uses her considerable talents to illuminate the shocking injustices the Chinese in this country suffered in the 1800s, and in doing so, makes us stop and consider how much of that cruelty and injustice survive to this day. Four Treasures of the Sky is an engulfing, bighearted, and heartbreaking novel.”―Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House

“Zhang’s debut novel imaginatively illuminates an often overlooked aspect of American history that resonates powerfully today, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and concurrent anti-Asian violence… Zhang’s blend of history and magical realism will appeal to fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Water Dancer as well as Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement.”―Booklist (starred review)

“Fierce and moving…Zhang delves into the history of violence and prejudice against Chinese people in the U.S. with her debut, a lyrical and sweeping Bildungsroman…The author skillfully delineates the many characters and offers fascinating details on Chinese calligraphy and literature, along with an unsparing view of white supremacy.”―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The prides and prejudices of the Old West blaze to life in Zhang’s propulsive, fable-like novel…Zhang skillfully embellishes her novel with Chinese characters, suggesting that language is our most potent weapon against oppression.”―Oprah Daily

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True Biz by Sara Novic

09 Monday May 2022

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction, United States

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This novel takes place at a boarding school for the deaf and follows three main characters: two teens attending the school, and the headmistress. Each has their own history and experience in the deaf community, and while the book is a novel, it includes lots of diagrams and information about ASL. A page-turner that taught me a lot about an interesting topic.

“Goodness, I can’t even begin to put into words all the feelings this book provoked! . . . An eye-opening and heartfelt story about human connection and the beauty and adversity woven into the deaf community and culture. It is both an educational and electrifying peek into a family’s life as they fight to forge connections even as the outside world threatens to close the door on them. I loved this story so much, it is not one to miss.”—Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club April ’22 Pick)

“Part tender coming-of-age story, part electrifying tale of political awakening, part heartfelt love letter to Deaf culture, True Biz is wholly a wonder.”—Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere

“Sara Nović’s gifts for character, story, and language are evident from the first page. True Biz feels like the discovery of a new written form, a love letter to language itself.”—Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River

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Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

13 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by in Fiction

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Baby Frankie is born into an unusual family. Her mother is desperate to find someone to take care of her child and she doesn’t have much time. Noel doesn’t seem to be the most promising of fathers but despite everything, he could well be Frankie’s best hope. As for Lisa, she is prepared to give up everything for the man she loves; surely he’s going to love her back? And Moira is having none of it. She knows what’s right, and has the power to change the course of Frankie’s life . . . but Moira is hiding secrets of her own. Minding Frankie is a story about unconventional families, relationships which aren’t quite what they seem, and the child at the heart of everyone’s lives.

“Binchy’s worldview is a large, benevolent one, and the reader is happier for it. . . . Bless her big Irish heart.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Maeve Binchy has done it again [with] yet another warm tale of individual growth and human community, [in which] she assembles a large cast of characters and deploys them with her characteristic playfulness . . . Binchy specializes in exploring human foibles without spelling them out in tiresome detail . . . There’s a good chance that many readers, like this one, will consider Minding Frankie one of Binchy’s best novels yet.” —BookPage

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A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

07 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Five book leaders at the Wellesley Book Store posted that this was the best book they had read this year.  I join the chorus. Utterly absorbing – I read this book only when I had carefully set aside chunks of time to read uninterrupted –  to be immersed in the world of Count Rostov and his sentence to captivity for life in the grand hotel, the Metropol.  It’s been a very long time since I hugged a book to my heart at its conclusion with utter gratitude to the author for this gift of story, characters, and an ending that does not disappoint  – only that it is the final page.

-novelist Amor Towles continues to explore the question of how a person can lead an authentic life in a time when mere survival is a feat in itself . . . Towles’s tale, as lavishly filigreed as a Fabergé egg….—O, The Oprah Magazine

“Who will save Rostov from the intrusions of state if not the seamstress, chefs, bartenders and doormen? In the end, Towles’s greatest narrative effect is not the moments of wonder and synchronicity but the generous transformation of these peripheral workers, over the course of decades, into confidants, equals and, finally, friends.  With them around, a life sentence in these gilded halls might make Rostov the luckiest man in Russia.” –The New York Times Book Review

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