| Miss Bates: Emma Revisited by Catherine CliffBoring, talkative Henrietta Bates is a spinster with little money in Emma. But in this debut novel and darker reimagining of Jane Austen's classic, readers follow Henrietta as she grows up, learning to ingratiate herself with others to survive. Turning into a cunning woman, she presents her public face to the world while sharing her sometimes vengeful thoughts here. For fans of: immersive novels starring Jane Austen characters. |
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| When Mikan Road Was Ours by D.K. FurutaniReeling from his father's death and his own cancer diagnosis, high school teacher Mr. Murano is in limbo. But everything changes after inheriting his great-uncle Benjiro's unpublished memoir, where Murano learns about his Japanese family, from their bucolic farm in 1930s California to their World War II internment and beyond. This is a well-researched debut and a poignant meditation on life and family. Try this next: Naomi Hirahara's Japantown historical mysteries. |
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Agrippa: A Novel of Ancient Rome's Descent Into Dictatorship
by Robert Harris
He was born feet first, a dangerous way to enter the world. His mother did not survive, and the nickname, Agrippa--mother killer--stuck. Agrippa was a mere commoner, a plebeian, his father a humble Stoic, but he earned the respect and fear of his peers. He defended a bullied young boy, Octavius, who turned out to be the nephew of Caesar himself, a chance encounter that would change the trajectory of his life. He eventually joined the ranks of the legionnaires and marched against their enemies. When Caesar was murdered in the Senate, Octavius inherited the empire in name only. To assume the mantle he would have to fight for it, and Agrippa, forever by his side, would be his closest advisor and the merciless agent of his military will. Robert Harris's monumental return to the world of ancient Rome on the precipice of dictatorship is a novel for our times.
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The Library of Leaving
by Emily Dunlay
In the wake of the Great War, American Helen Fox lives a solitary life in Switzerland as a librarian, cataloguing books left as bequests by diplomats and other expatriates. Bookish and buttoned up, Helen is shocked when she receives a package that hints at her far more colorful past: it's a draft chapter of a novel written by a man she knew intimately during the war--a soldier she nursed at a camp in the Alps for wounded Allied troops. Though he claims his book is fiction, Helen is afraid of what it might reveal about who she used to be, really, and whose side she might have been on. The Library of Leaving is both a story of a wartime romance and a meditation on how books read or written tell--and sometimes distort--the truth of a life.
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| Meet Me in the Garden by Nina LacourIn 1944 New Orleans, 18-year-old Odette, from a Creole family, and her cousin Delphine share secrets, including Odette's affair with a woman and Delphine's with a married white man. To avoid Jim Crow, Odette and her sisters move to California. Passing as white, Delphine moves, too, eventually running into Odette. Inspired by the author's Creole family, this novel is "a masterpiece" (Booklist). Read-alikes: Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul; Kin by Tayari Jones. |
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| Runner by Ashton LattimoreIn 1923 Martha's Vineyard, a mysterious shipwreck kills her father and his crew, so Lena Jameson takes over his rum-running business instead of attending college. With help from her brother, her on-and-off boyfriend, and a glamorous young woman with secrets, Lena branches out to Boston and Harlem while also investigating what caused her dad's shipwreck. For fans of: suspenseful Prohibition-era novels; atmospheric historical fiction featuring ground-breaking Black women. |
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The Newer World
by Sebastian Barry
Born into bondage in Union-leaning northwest Tennessee, Tennyson Bouguereau spends his days working the tobacco fields of a small farm, avoiding any action that might drive his pro-Confederate neighbors to the kind of unprovoked violence that killed his mother. But when, in the wake of emancipation, a gang of defeated rebels descends on the farm, his choice to defend it and the people within makes Tennyson a wanted man. He will now not have the chance to till the ten acres he and his sister, Rosalee, have been given as their own. Instead, he must leave the relative safety of the only home he's known and venture into the newer world.
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| The Parisian Heist by Jo PiazzaIn 1996 Paris, American art student Emma cleans the home of Stella Swanson, the widow of a notorious billionaire art dealer, who shares family secrets, leading Emma to plan an art museum heist. In 1891, newly widowed Jo van Gogh inherits worthless paintings by brother-in-law Vincent and champions them with help from new friend Claire. Narrated by Emma and Claire, this atmospheric dual-timeline novel is "a satisfying caper with brains and heart" (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: Joan Fernandez's Saving Vincent. |
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The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
by Ariel Lawhon
Grace O'Malley was born to be a sea captain. But despite her natural skill on the water, Grace learns early that her dreams of a life at the helm are not compatible with the expectations of her noble family. As the only daughter of a powerful chieftain, her role is to secure a strong alliance and bear children. But when she's sent to foster with a nearby clan, Grace falls for a clever and open-minded second son--a man she cannot have. Married off against her will to a brutal warrior, Grace performs her duty, all the while gathering followers loyal to her, and consolidating her husband's power, only to be ousted from his lands. But this betrayal offers Grace the opportunity to return to sea, finally leading clan O'Malley's mighty fleet. Just as she finds true independence, Queen Elizabeth's incursions into Ireland grow bolder and Grace must fight to defend her land, her ships, and the people she loves most against the cruel and power-hungry English deputies, who will stop at nothing to check her influence.
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