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Fiction A to Z October 2020
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| Homeland Elegies by Ayad AkhtarWhat it is: A thought-provoking literary novel-in-stories about being Pakistani-American before and after 9/11, with clear parallels to the author's own life.
About the author: Ayad Akhtar is, like his protagonist, the son of Muslim immigrants from Pakistan and a Pulitzer-winning playwright known for a complex, controversial play about being Muslim-American after 9/11.
What reviewers say: It's "a provocative and urgent examination of the political and economic conditions that shape personal identity, especially for immigrants and communities of color" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa GyasiStarring: Ghanaian American Gifty, a neuroscience PhD candidate studying neural pathways in mice as a way of understanding the loss and suffering in her family -- though she insists that's not what she's doing.
Why you might like it: Gifty's a reflective and observant narrator, nimbly moving from analyzing previous relationships or her childhood church's entrenched racism to noting her lab mate's quirks or her mother's struggles.
Read it for: A complex, non-linear story that examines faith and science, addiction and grief. |
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| Sisters by Daisy JohnsonStarring: September and July, teen sisters who are perceived to be abnormally close by their teachers. After an incident so destructive that July, who helps narrate, cannot remember it, their mother moves them back to a tumbledown family home on England's North York Moors.
What happens: Essentially abandoned by their mother, who is fighting her own demons, the relationship between the two girls shifts...but to say more would ruin this unsettling novel.
For fans of: Dark, character-driven stories with overtones of Gothic fiction or horror. |
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| His Only Wife by Peace Adzo MedieStarring: Young Ghanaian Afi Tekple, who escapes poverty with an arranged marriage to wealthy Eli, who does not attend his own wedding and prioritizes his business (and his mistress) over Afi.
What happens: Making full use of her new family's connections, Afi learns new skills and gains confidence -- and soon wants to be the only woman in her husband's life.
What reviewers say: "an emotional rollercoaster" (Booklist). |
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| The Turner House by Angela FlournoyWhere it's set: The Turner family has owned their home on Detroit's East Side for more than 50 years, but their historically Black, working-class neighborhood has deteriorated badly and it may be time to let go of the now empty house.
What it's about: Focusing on three of the 13 Turner siblings, this engaging family saga traces both family and social history, incorporating a family ghost and flashbacks of their late father's early years in Detroit after the Great Migration.
For fans of: The sweep of history found in Ayana Mathis' The Twelve Tribes of Hattie; the importance of home in Naima Coster's Halsey Street and Ann Patchett's The Dutch House. |
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| Lost and Wanted by Nell FreudenbergerWhat it's about: Wealthy, stylish Charlie (who is Black) and nerdy scholarship student Helen (who is white) were best friends and roommates in college. Twenty years later, Charlie is dead...but Helen continues to receive texts from her.
Is it for you? This complex, leisurely paced novel is as much a character study of Helen, now a respected scientist, as it is a story of female friendship. Deep discussions of physics add an intriguing layer of appeal. |
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The Ghost Clause
by Howard A Norman
What it's about: Haunting his former home, now occupied by a rookie detective and his wife, ghost Simon witnesses the impact of a child's disappearance on the couple's relationship.
Reviewers say: “Thoughtful, elegiac, a good book to read by the fireside with a snifter of bourbon” (Library Journal). “This is an astute, beautifully written novel” (Publishers Weekly).
About the author: Howard Norman's The Bird Artist was a National Book Award finalist and his books have been translated into 12 languages.
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| Past Perfect by Danielle SteelWhat it's about: A wealthy family has moved from Manhattan to San Francisco, but their new home, grand as it is, seems still to be occupied by a family who used to live there...a century ago.
What happens: The 21st-century Gregory family and the ghostly Butterfields of the early 1900s get along just fine, dressing for dinner, sharing the gossip of their day, and learning about each other's times.
Read it for: A story of family and friendship, and detailed depictions of life for the rich and famous in 1917 -- just be willing to suspend your disbelief before jumping in to this fantastical tale. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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