Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #737, Spring Chillers
by muffy
The New Girl (also in downloadable eBook) by Harriet Walker, the fashion editor for The Times of London, follows the intertwined lives of three women, and “movingly portrays the fragility of friendship and the corrosive effect of mistrust and recriminations in a wickedly funny psychological thriller that's in turn brutal and tender.” (Publishers Weekly)
Margot, a fashion editor and her lifelong friend Winnie are both expecting but when Winnie loses her baby, their friendship suffers. Maggie, Margot’s handpicked maternity temp - bright, plucky and ambitious, turns out to be good at her job, and emerges as the darling of the fashion world. As Margot becomes increasingly jealous and paranoid, Winnie sets her sights on revenge, and Maggie schemes to make her temporary job permanent. Each woman's alternating narrative offers her own perspective on the unfolding events, from which no one escapes unscathed.
Ghosts of Harvard * (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) by Frances Serritella, co-author of Chick Wit, a column in The Philadelphia Inquirer (with her mother Lisa Scottoline). This “many-faceted first novel… begins as a thriller and ends as a story of personal growth and redemption.” (Library Journal)
Harvard freshman Cady Archer arrives on campus searching for answers to her brother, Eric, a schizophrenic genius who leapt from his dorm room window the year before. While struggling under the enormous pressure of college, she investigates her brother’s final year, armed only with a blue notebook of Eric’s cryptic notes. As the clues that she unearths grow increasingly sinister, she begins to hear voices - three ghosts from different eras of American history that walked the halls of Harvard.
“Serritella makes keen use of quantum theories about time and simultaneity in this busily plotted, emotionally astute, thoughtfully paranormal, witty, and suspenseful drama involving historical figures, academic ruthlessness, and the tragic riddles of mental illness.” (Booklist)
The Fire Thief by Debra Bokur, launches a new police procedural series featuring Maui detective Kali Māhoe. When Police Captain Walter Alaka'i discovers the body of a teenage surfer among the lava rocks, he calls in his niece, Detective Kali Māhoe, the granddaughter of one of Hawaii's most respected spiritual leaders, and herself on the transcendent path to becoming a kahu herself. What initially appears to be an accident, Kali suspects a ritual murder. Then another body washes ashore, Kali must draw on her own knowledge of the legends of the Islands to track down the killer.
“Bokur nimbly contrasts the Hawaii of sun and golden beaches with its less well-known underbelly of poverty, discrimination, and crime. Fans of strong female cops will look forward to Kali's further adventures.” (Publishers Weekly)
* = Starred review
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #736
by muffy
“My idea of good company...is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.' 'You are mistaken,' said he gently, 'that is not good company, that is the best.” ~ Jane Austen, Persuasion
The Jane Austen Society by Oakville (ON) bookstore owner Natalie Jenner (Bustle’s Pick and Indie Next Pick for May) is a must-read for fans of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a “charming and memorable debut, which reminds us of the universal language of literature and the power of books to unite and heal." ~ Pam Jenoff
1945, as England was trying to rebuild after WWII, a disparate group of individuals banded together to attempt something remarkable - to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy.
For decades, tourists and Austen enthusiasts have made pilgrimage to the village of Chawton, to the country cottage on the Knight family estate, where Austen spent the last eight years of her life, and where she penned the last three of her novels.
As the estate is about to be passed onto an unidentified male heir with the death of old Mr. Knight, the Jane Austen Society members - a farm laborer, a housemaid, the local doctor, a young widow, the spinster Frances Knight, the Knights' solicitor, a Hollywood movie star and her Sotheby's auctioneer friend must attempt the impossible - to raise enough funds to save the Knight library where Jane certainly would have made extensive use of, and to turn her cottage into a museum.
“Just like a story written by Austen herself, Jenner's first novel is brimming with charming moments, endearing characters, and nuanced relationships, all largely set within and reflecting the often intrusive atmosphere of a small country community.” (Booklist)
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #735, “He had a confused sense that she must have cost a great deal to make, that a great many dull and ugly people must, in some mysterious way, have been sacrificed to produce her.” ~ Edith Wharton
by muffy
Called “one of the buzziest debuts of the year”(Vogue), If I Had Your Face * (in downloadable eBook and audiobook) by Frances Cha (Dartmouth, MFA Columbia), is set in contemporary Seoul, the Plastic Surgery Capital of the World, where four young women in an apartment building, struggle to make their way in a male-dominated society, defined by the impossibly high standards of beauty.
Beautiful Kyuri, the object of desire and envy, entertains businessmen while they drink at 10%, an exclusive “room salon”. Much sought-after with the rich clientele, she is racking up debts for additional surgeries and beauty treatment to maintain her status. Her roommate Miho, a talented artist who studied in New York on a scholarship, is trying to exorcise the suicide of a good friend through her work, and to establish a foothold in Seoul’s competitive art market.
Down the hall lives hairstylist Ara, mute from a brutal attack and bullied at work, is hopelessly infatuated with the star of a K-pop boy band. Her roommate, beauty-obsessed Sujin is counting on extreme plastic surgery to change the course of her life. One floor below is Wonna, a married office worker, desperate for motherhood, though she is not sure how she could afford to raise a child in the cutthroat economy.
When Kyuri’s impulsive blunder with a client threatens her livelihood; Miho’s discovery that her boyfriend - the heir to one of Korea’s biggest companies is less than genuine; and Wonna’s husband leaves her in her darkest hour, it is their friendship, however tentative and mercurial, that may well be their saving grace.
“(Former travel and culture digital producer for CNN in Seoul) Cha navigates the obstacles of her characters' lives with ease and heartbreaking realism, showing the lengths these women are willing to go to pursue their dreams in a country where they are told they "do not live for tomorrow." This is an insightful, powerful story from a promising new voice.” (Publishers Weekly) Check out The Washington Post review.
* = Starred review
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #734
by muffy
The Coyotes of Carthage by Steven Wright (in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a blistering political thriller, (a) “thoughtful, sharp-edged fare for the upcoming election year.”(Library Journal)
Political consultant (An)Dre Ross, instead of the prospect of making junior partner in his DC firm, is being dispatched to the backwoods of South Carolina, with $250,000 of dark money to introduce a ballot initiative on behalf of a mining company, a last ditch effort to save his career after his aggressive tactics in a recent gubernatorial campaign backfired. In 13 weeks, Dre must manipulate the locals into voting to sell their pristine public land to the highest bidder.
In God-fearing, gun-toting, flag-waving Carthage County (SC), Dre, being an African-American outsider, needs a straw man to collect the signatures needed to get on the ballot, so he hires local barkeep Tyler Lee and his pious wife, Chalene. They plan to disguise the land grab as a righteous fight for faith and liberty. In the process, lines are crossed, careers are ruined and lives threatened.
“Pungent with dark humor and cynicism, Wright's nuanced portrait shows how the campaign not only pulls apart the town but threatens to drive a wedge between Dre's career ambitions and his humanity. “ (Publishers Weekly)
“Wright (a clinical associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, and a trial attorney in the Voting Section of the United States Department of Justice) has created a sharply contemporary Faustian tragicomedy with parallels to the TV series Scandal.” (Booklist)
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #733
by muffy
The Mountains Sing, * * * first novel in English by celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyen Quế Mai Phan (in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a multigenerational saga of the Trần family. Narrated in tandem by Tran Dieu Lan and her granddaughter, it spans much of the 20th century, through decades of occupations and war.
Born into one of the wealthiest farming families in Nghệ An Province, Dieu Lan lived through the French Occupation, only to witness her father’s gruesome murder at the hands of a brutal Japanese soldier. Surviving on wild fruits and insects during the Great Famine of 1945, she had to give away her 6 children during the Land Reform, escaping execution only through the kindness of a longtime family retainer, her brother not so lucky. Through humiliating work and ingenuity, she managed to prosper and to reunite her family, only to watch them join the NVA to fight against the South and the US Army.
The novel opens with a harrowing scene of the bombing of Hanoi in 1972, when Dieu Lan was again doing everything possible to keep a loved one alive - this time her 12 year-old granddaughter Huong “fragrance”, and gradually "opened the door of her childhood" with stories - believing “(i)f our stories survive, we will not die.”
The title of the novel references a hand-carved wooden bird, Huong’s only tangible remembrance of her father. This bird -the son ca “The Mountain Sings", would keep company with the soldiers as they walked into battle. The Vietnamese believe its songs can reach heaven and bring back the souls of the dead.
“Recalling Min Jin Lee and Lisa See, Nguyen displays a lush and captivating storyteller’s gift as she effortlessly transports readers to another world, leaving them wishing for more.“ (Library Journal)
* * * = 3 starred reviews
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #732, “Here the oppression of women is very subtle... But here it is done psychologically and by education.” ~ Nawal El Saadawi
by muffy
Named one of the most anticipated debuts of 2020, The Illness Lesson * * by Bard Fiction Prize winner Clare Beams (in downloadable OverDrive eBook and audiobook) is what the New York Times Book Reviewer called “(a)stoundingly original.”
Ashwell (MA), on the site of a previously failed utopian commune, scholar/philosopher Samuel Hood opened a school for young women, offering a classical education, uncommon in post-Civil War America. Named “Trilling Heart” after a mysterious flock of red birds, Samuel enlisted his daughter Caroline, and David, a return veteran as teachers.
Among the students was Eliza, whose father, Miles Pearson penned The Darkening Glass, a popular gothic romance rumored to be autobiographical, and involved a beautiful young woman, modeled after Caroline’s mother. When the students, one after another, began to manifest bizarre physical symptoms of rashes, fits and sleepwalking, Caroline suspected Eliza, until she herself fell victim to the illness. Fearing reprisal from the parents, Samuel sent for his friend Dr. Hawkins, whose exploitative and malevolent treatments made Caroline question the judgment and integrity of those she trusted.
“This suspenseful and vividly evocative tale expertly explores women's oppression as well as their sexuality through the eyes of a heroine who is sometimes maddening, at other times sympathetic, and always wholly compelling and beautifully rendered.” (Booklist)
Soon to be released is Catherine House * * by Elisabeth Thomas, (The June Indie Next List), gothic-infused debut of literary suspense, set within a small, highly selective college, and following a dangerously curious, rebellious undergraduate, Ines Murillo who uncovers a shocking secret about an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige.
“Surreal imagery, spare characterization, and artful, hypnotic prose lend Thomas's tale a delirious air, but at the book's core lies a profound portrait of depression and adolescent turmoil. Fans of Donna Tartt's The Secret History will devour this philosophical fever dream.” (Publishers Weekly)
Readers might also like to explore: The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister (in eBook and audiobook) - a moving and evocative coming-of-age novel about secrets and lies, families lost and found, and how a fragrance conjures memories capable of shaping the course of our lives; and The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (in eBook and audiobook) is about desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, spanning much of the 18th and 19th centuries.
* * = 2 starred reviews
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #731
by muffy
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau * * * by Michael Zapata (in downloadable OverDrive eBook and audiobook) is the unlikely story of how two strangers are connected by a manuscript destroyed decades ago. This “an enchanting blend of history, science, and fairy tale” (Booklist) is also about the preservation of memory, the resilience of the human spirit, the bind of family, and the power of friendship.
New Orleans, 1929. A Dominican immigrant, identified only as Dominicana, married to a pirate, wrote The Lost City, a science fiction masterpiece about alternate realities, but she fell gravely ill before the sequel A Model Earth, could be published. The author instructed her son, 10-year old Maxwell, to burn the only copy of the manuscript upon her death.
Chicago, 2005. Saul Drower just lost his grandfather Ben, who adopted him after his parents were killed in a terrorist attack when he was just 5. Among Ben’s effects was a package addressed to theoretical physicist Dr. Maxwell Moreau at a university in Chile. When the package returned undeliverable, Saul saw that it was a manuscript to A Model Earth. With the help of his investigative journalist friend Javier Silva, they tracked down Maxwell to New Orleans. Hoping to fulfill his grandfather’s last wish and to unearth Ben’s link to the manuscript, Saul and Javier drove right into a city laid waste by Hurricane Katrina.
“A heady literary and genre-bending novel for fans of Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Fuentes, and Adolfo Bioy Caseres.” (Library Journal) Check out the reviews in the The New York Times and NPR.
* * * = 3 starred reviews
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #730
by muffy
Oona Out of Order * by Margarita Montimore (in downloadable OverDrive eBook and audiobook) opens on New Year's Eve 1982, when Oona Lockhart is looking forward to turning 19 and the amazing year ahead - whether she chooses to tour with her boyfriend Dale and their rock band, or a year abroad at the London School of Economics.
But at the stroke of midnight, Oona awakes (she blames it on too much champagne) to find herself in her 51-year-old self in 2015, a bit lumpy, but immensely wealthy. Thanks to her faithful personal assistant Kenzie, a letter left from her earlier self, and her mother Madeleine, Oona learns that she will be bouncing around in time through all the years of her life, hitting each only once.
And so begins Oona Out of Order - from clubbing with a fringe group, traveling the world, being married to a man she does not remember, to losing the love of her life. While she mourns missed opportunities and unfulfilled relationships, Oona is determined to truly live in the moment, and to fully appreciate the love of family.
“In the end, we must give credit to Oona for finding joy and even humor in her situation and to Montimore for developing a complex narrative held together by simple truths. Read this to get a bit lost, to root for a character with a strong love for herself, and to connect on a deeply human level with the fear of leading an incomplete life… A heartfelt novel that celebrates its implausibility with a unique joie de vivre. “ (Kirkus Reviews)
For fans of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (in eBook and audiobook). Readers might also enjoy Overseas by Beatriz Williams (in eBook) (2012), and Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald (in eBook and audiobook) (2019).
* =Starred review
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #729, “Baseball is the most perfect of games, solid, true, pure and precious as diamonds. If only life were so simple.” ~ W.P. Kinsella
by muffy
The Cactus League (in downloadable OverDrive eBook) by the editor of the Paris Review, Emily Nemens opens with the 2011 spring training of the Los Angeles Lions at their new state-of-the-art facility in Scottsdale, Ariz. At the center of the novel is their “movie-star handsome, paparazzi famous and spectacularly talented” outfielder Jason Goodyear. This recently divorced Golden Glove winner and American League MVP runner-up seems to be coming apart at the seams.
In a series of interconnected stories, we come to know the individuals who orbit around Jason: a sportswriter going after a sensational story; a batting coach dealing with a domestic crisis; a fortysomething cleat chaser eager to test her charm; with a big Nike deal on the table, an agent hopes to keep his client out of the tabloids; an owner who allows his personal agenda to shape the season; an ill-paid stadium organist; a young boy at the mercy of his mother’s addiction; and Jason’s fellow players who are willing to do what it takes, just to play.
“Nemens has... written a novel about baseball and how it shapes the lives of athletes as much as the town that supports it - and a beautiful one at that. Like the best sportswriting, this bighearted, finely observed novel is about far more than the game.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Emily Nemens grew up a Seattle Mariners fan. Her family’s trips to spring training in Arizona informed the setting. In a recent interview with Kirkus, she shared the three baseball books that inspired The Cactus League.
Another baseball book this spring that is definitely not JUST about the game is Gish Jen’s The Resisters. The author needs no introduction. Her latest is the story, set in a near-future dystopian America, of one family’s struggle to maintain its humanity and normalcy in circumstances that threaten their every value--as well as their very existence.
At the heart is young Gwen, born with a golden arm, she plays in secret in an underground league all of her young life. When her talent is discovered, and is recruited by the university for the privileged, her moral and personal resolve will be severely tested.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #728
by muffy
Saint X * by Alexis Schaitkin (in downloadable eBook and audiobook) On the last night of their family vacation on the Caribbean island of Saint X, college-aged Alison Thomas disappeared, and her body was later discovered in a remote cay. Two local men, employees of the resort, Clive Richardson and Edwin Hastie last seen at a watering hole with Alison were arrested but were released for lack of evidence.
Eighteen years later, Alison’s younger sister Claire who was only seven at the time of the incident, is now working in Manhattan. One night, she finds herself in Clive Richardson’s cab. Obsessed with learning what happened to Alison, she stalks Clive and embeds herself in his life. As she waits for the slip that will reveal the truth, an unlikely attachment develops between them.
“As the novel gradually shifts to Clive's point of view, Schaitkin subverts the other characters' assumptions about the lives and intentions of strangers.” (Publishers Weekly) Most striking of all is Alison’s diary, astonishing in its raw depiction of a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation.
“This killer debut is both a thriller with a vivid setting and an insightful study of race, class, and obsession.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Check out the EW interview with the author, and the The Washington Post book review.
For readers of Emma Cline’s The Girls and Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies. You might also enjoy Mathilda Savitch by Victor Lodato and Sister by Rosamund Lupton.
* = Starred review