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Virgil Wander: A Novel by Leif Enger

October 10, 2018

virgil

Greenstone, Minnesota is a hard luck little town. Once known for its taconite mines it has settled into a slow decline when Virgil Wander’s car goes over a cliff and into the lake one night in the midst of an unexpected snowstorm. He’s only alive because the local junkman was on the shore, dove in and saved him, but he suffers brain trauma that leaves him with vertigo, an ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Grove Press, literary, magical realism

Gone So Long: A Novel

October 8, 2018

gone

Gone So Long is both the title and the main situation in this new novel from Andre DuBus III. Daniel Ahearn is dying of cancer. He lives a quiet life alone in a small New England town and works repairing fine furniture. Before he dies he is determined to find his daughter, whom he hasn’t seen in 40 years. Twenty-five of those years were spent in prison for murdering his wife, ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, family, literary, New England, W.W. Norton

The Golden State

September 19, 2018

golden

At first glance, Daphne has a great life. She’s in her early thirties, lives in San Francisco, is mother to a beautiful 16-month-old daughter, Honey, and is happily married, with a job that may not be the most satisfying, but pays well. The only problem? Thanks to Immigration officer intimidation at SFO airport her husband, Engin, had his green card taken away and was deported ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, literary, Macmillan, women

She Would Be King

September 17, 2018

she

An unlikely trio comes together in the fight for a new nation in She Would Be King, Wayétu Moore’s debut novel about Liberia. There is 18-year-old Gbessa, exiled from her small West African village as a witch, who survives the bite of a poisonous snake.  June Dey is a 15-year-old Virginian slave, who kills two men while trying to save the woman who raised him. When others try ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Africa, book clubs, debut, historical fiction, literary, magical realism

Foe: A Novel by Iain Reid

September 6, 2018

foe

Junior and Henrietta live on a small farm. They are isolated from everyone, but close to each other. When Terrance arrives and tells them that Junior has been selected to participate in a program building a much-needed space community they are puzzled by the news, but accept Terrance’s assurances that it is an amazing opportunity. He tells them they have two years before Junior ... Read More...

14 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, literary, marriage, science fiction, Scout Press

The Mere Wife by Maria Headley

July 30, 2018

mere

  Maybe every monster is a miracle meant to change the world... Author Maria Headley dives into a modern-day retelling of Beowolf beginning with its title, The Mere Wife. This is no novel about a slight wife, a minor presence, a smudge of a life. No, the women in this tale are, for better or worse, ferocious in the pursuit of their goals. They are giants of ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary fiction, Farrar Straus Giroux, literary, retellings, women

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