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The Ornatrix: A Novel

December 5, 2016

ornatrix

  Those of us in the contemporary world often believe that our problems are new to civilization and have never been experienced before, but Kate Howard shatters that belief in her debut novel The Ornatrix. She takes three women and seals their fate to their faces in this gothic tale of beauty set in Italy in the 16th century.  Flavia is a country girl whose face is half ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, historical fiction, Italy, The Overlook Press, W.W. Norton

The Mothers: A Novel

October 10, 2016

mothers

Upper Room Chapel is a church that is at the center of a Southern California black community in Brit Bennett’s debut novel, The Mothers. In the last year, it is where Nadia Turner’s mother was last seen alive before she killed herself, where her father, Robert goes every day to volunteer his truck in an effort to assuage his grief and where her friend Aubrey appeared, crying ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, family, friendship, literary, Riverhead Books

Adnan’s Story: The Search for Truth and Justice after Serial

September 19, 2016

adnan's story

  If you were one of the millions of people like me who were addicted to the podcast Serial then you may remember Rabia Chaudry. A family friend of the Syeds she is also a lawyer and has been a tireless advocate for Adnan since he was convicted in 2000 of murdering his former girlfriend Hae Min Lee. If Serial left you wanting to know more about Syed’s case then you need ... Read More...

11 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: American life, book clubs, murder, St. Martin's Press, true crime

Mischling

September 8, 2016

mischling

  It’s hard to imagine there is a place more horrible than Auschwitz but Affinity Konar has found the horror within the horror by setting her novel Mischling in Josef Mengele’s lab. Pearl and Stasha, twelve-year-old identical twins, entwined heart and soul from the womb, arrive at Auschwitz in 1944 to find themselves faced with the man whose sole goal is to tear them ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, Europe, historical fiction, Lee Boudreaux Books, literary, WWII

Invincible Summer

August 10, 2016

invincible summer

  Less than a quarter of the way into Invincible Summer and I realize why the novel feels so comfortable—I’ve superimposed the characters from Four Weddings and Funeral over the ones Alice Adams creates. This is not a bad thing because the story is not derivative, but you do have a small, tightly knit, British group of friends who get together once a year, not for ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, friendship, Little Brown and Company, London

Break in Case of Emergency

July 17, 2016

break in case

  Poor Jen. She was an artist while in college, but gave up after school and got a communications job at a non-profit. Which then hit hard times and laid her off. Now she’s at a new foundation started by Leora Infinitas (that’s not a typo on my part), a former sitcom star who achieved her wealth by marrying old money. Literally, her husband was old. And then he died and ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Brooklyn, debut, friendship, Knopf, literary, marriage, satire

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