| The Other Side of Mrs. Wood by Lucy BarkerWhat it's about: In a late Victorian London obsessed with spiritualism, two ambitious women with very different approaches to their shared craft try to maintain the upper hand against each other while a skeptical journalist works tirelessly to expose spiritualism as fraudulent.
Reviewers say: The Other Side of Mrs. Wood is a "sly literary sleight of hand" (Kirkus Reviews).
Try this next: Rochester Knockings by Hubert Haddad; The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner. |
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| King of the Armadillos by Wendy Chin-TannerWhat it is: a compelling and character-driven debut novel about a young Chinese American man's coming-of-age after being quarantined for Hansen's Disease (known historically as leprosy) and the strange kind of freedom he finds away from his family.
Read it for: the complex characters and sincere portrayal of a lesser-known part of the immigrant experience.
For fans of: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. |
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| Hotel Laguna by Nicola HarrisonWhat it's about: Hazel Francis got a taste for freedom while building airplanes during the Allied war effort, and in an effort to keep her independence she reinvents herself, heading to a then bohemian community in Laguna Beach to make a life that's unquestionably her own.
Reviewers say: "Harrison's story of self-determination is one to savor" (Publishers Weekly).
About the author: Nicola Harrison's previous books include the Ziegfeld Follies novel The Show Girl and Montauk, which follows wealthy vacationers on Long Island on the cusp of the Great Depression. |
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| Do Tell by Lindsay LynchWhat it's about: Underemployed actress Edie O'Dare is working a side hustle as a gossip columnist in 1930s Hollywood when up-and-comer Sophie Melrose confides that she was sexually assaulted by a famous heartthrob.
Why you might like it: the well-crafted dialogue and engaging story make this tale of Hollywood's darker side go down a little smoother when dealing with sometimes dark, difficult issues.
For fans of: Big Red by Jerome Charyn. |
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| Alchemy of a Blackbird by Claire McMillanBased on: a formative period in the life and career of Spanish Mexican surrealist painter Remedios Varo during her flight from Nazi-occupied Paris to the French Riviera, discovering the occultist literature that would inspire her later work while awaiting an exit visa.
Appearances by: Dada artist Benjamin Péret; British Mexican painter and novelist Leonora Carrington; socialite and art collector Peggy Guggenheim, who was Varo's benefactor during the war years.
Reviewers say: Alchemy of a Blackbird is "entrancing, vivid, and lushly illuminating" and features a "scintillating cast of actual and imagined characters" (Booklist). |
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| The Apartment by Ana MenéndezWelcome to... The Helene, a 1940s art deco apartment building in South Miami Beach.
The people in 2B: Over seven decades, this apartment has had multiple residents, from Texas newlyweds to a troubled Vietnam veteran, and these interlinked tales showcase them all. But the book lingers longest on the latest to dwell there, a young Cuban woman.
Why you might like it: Featuring richly drawn characters and elegant writing, The Apartment examines memory, community, loneliness, and what makes a home. |
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| Three Fires by Denise MinaWhat it is: an atmospheric and character-driven portrayal of the rise and fall of 15th-century friar Girolamo Savonarola, whose religious fanaticism took Medici-dominated Florence by storm, culminating in the 1497 "Bonfire of the Vanities" and Savonarola's eventual execution.
Read it for: the vivid historical details and lyrical prose.
Reviewers say: "This is a triumph" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Queen of Exiles by Vanessa RileyWhat it's about: the imagined post-royal life of Haitian queen Marie-Louise Christophe, who fled to Europe in 1820 after the overthrow and death of her husband, King Henry I.
Read it for: the engaging exploration of the unique issues a woman in Marie-Louise's precarious position would face, from fending off fortune hunters to defining her relationship with her African heritage in her European exile.
About the author: Novelist Vanessa Riley writes romance and historical fiction, the latter of which includes her novels Island Queen and Sister Mother Warrior. |
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| The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club by Julia ThomasWhat it is: the moving, character-driven, and occasionally heartbreaking story of four young women from very different backgrounds and the refuge they find in a literature, each other, and the bookshop that brings them all together.
For fans of: The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer; the film Mona Lisa Smile starring Julia Roberts and Kirsten Dunst.
Reviewers say: "A story of female freedom and constraints that doesn't shy away from the trauma -- and joy -- that faced U.S. women in the 1950s" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| A Right Worthy Woman by Ruth P. WatsonWhat it's about: the true story of Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a former slave whose determination and business investment acumen led to her becoming the first Black woman to both charter a bank and to serve as a bank's president.
About the author: Ruth P. Watson is a novelist whose work includes plays, juvenile and adult fiction, the latter of which includes the Blackberry Days of Summer series.
You might also like: Carolina Built by Kianna Alexander; The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict. |
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