| The House Is on Fire by Rachel BeanlandWhat it's about: the devastating 1811 Richmond Theater Fire where 72 people, including Virginia governor George William Smith, lost their lives.
Starring: stage boy Jack, present in the rafters when the fire starts; Sally, who finds herself trapped on the third floor; Gilbert, a blacksmith and former slave who hears the chaos from outside the building and runs in to help; and Gilbert's niece Cecily, who sees the commotion as a chance to escape to freedom. |
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| All the Queen's Spies by Oliver ClementsSeries alert: All the Queen's Spies is the third entry in the Agents of the Crown series of thrillers, which imagines the Elizabethan espionage career of real-life English polymath John Dee.
This time: Dee travels to Prague on behalf of Queen Elizabeth's spymaster Francis Walsingham to recruit the Holy Roman Emperor's confidante as an agent and help England keep a vital alliance, but unanticipated religious and court intrigues will put both Dee's mission and his life in serious peril. |
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| The Great Reclamation by Rachel HengWhat it is: a moving, thought-provoking coming-of-age story about social, political, emotional, and environmental upheaval under the shadow of empire.
The setting: a fishing village in Singapore, where a young boy's unique skill set will tie his fate to the community's, from the Japanese occupation of the region in 1941 through the nation's journey into postwar self-government.
Reviewers say: The Great Reclamation is "like a drop of rain that holds the reflection of the world, crystalline and beautiful" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson JosephWhat it's about: the remarkable life of Charles Ignatius Sancho, a writer, composer, and abolitionist who escaped slavery to eventually become the first person of African descent to vote in Britain in 1774.
Read it for: the haunting tone and moving portrait of Sancho's complex and unique position in both British society and London's nascent Black community.
For fans of: Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. |
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| The Lost Wife by Susanna MooreHow it started: with Sarah Brinton, a woman running from an abusive marriage, arriving in the Minnesota Territory in 1855.
How it's going: Married now to a local doctor, Sarah finds unexpected kinship with women at a nearby Sioux reservation until the U.S. government's cruelty sets off a chain of events that leave Sarah and her community changed forever.
Reviewers say: The Lost Wife is a "masterwork of Americana" (Publishers Weekly) and a "devastating tale rendered with restrained serenity" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Ada's Room by Sharon Dodua OtooWhat it is: a generation and continent-spanning saga of four women named Ada who live, love, and share more connections than just their name.
The four Adas: a young African woman mourning the loss of her child just before the first European colonizers arrive in 1459; mathematician Ada Lovelace, who readers meet in 1838; a woman being subjected to horrific abuse in a concentration camp in 1945; a modern Ghanaian woman contemplating motherhood in post-Brexit Europe.
Is it for you? The leisurely paced story features a lyrical and stylistically complex style and structure that will appeal most to readers who enjoy literary fiction. |
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| The Covenant of Water by Abraham VergheseWhat it's about: Set in Kerala, India from 1900 to 1977, this atmospheric family saga follows a family of St. Thomas Christians (a local Christian community present in the region since late antiquity) that loses at least one member to drowning each generation.
About the author: Physician and award-winning author Abraham Verghese is known for his memoir My Own Country and two previous novels The Tennis Partner and Cutting for Stone.
Reviewers say: "Verghese outdoes himself with this grand and stunning tribute to 20th-century India" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Strangers in the Night by Heather WebbWhat it is: the romantic and dramatic story of the tumultuous relationship between Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra as they weathered career ups and downs, paparazzi pressure, and the volatile chemistry of their strong personalities.
For fans of: Big Red by Jerome Charyn, which follows the careers of and marriage between Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles.
Did you know? The two first met when Ava was still married to Mickey Rooney and Frank was still married to his first wife, Nancy Barbato. |
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