Our First Impressions readers were delighted with this speculative novel by Susanna Clarke, her first since the bestselling Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell in 2004.
What it's about:
Piranesi lives in a world enclosed by walls confining an ocean, a vast labyrinthine structure that he calls ...
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)
In Susannah Clarke's novel Piranesi, the titular character lives in a fantastical, labyrinthine home filled with endless hallways, rooms, statues and even an ocean. It's a remarkably inventive setting, and, as our savvy First Impressions reader Lorraine D. noticed, the protagonist's name is a ...
Read ArticleA legend from Lars Mytting's Norwegian hometown tells of two centuries-old church bells that, like conjoined twins, were never meant to be separated. Inspired by that story and by the real-life move of a stave church from Norway to what is now Poland (see Beyond the Book), he embarked on a set of ...
Read ReviewIt's no secret that Lars Mytting loves trees. He wrote a novel titled The Sixteen Trees of the Somme (2017), and is known for his international bestseller Norwegian Wood (2015), a nonfiction guide to sources of firewood that gives instructions on how to chop, stack and cure wood for burning. ...
Read ArticleAmanda, Clay and their two teenage children have rented a remote vacation home in Long Island to escape the stresses of daily life. In the dead of night, the spell is broken by a knock at the door. It heralds the arrival of Ruth and G.H., an older Black couple who claim to own the property. They ...
Read ReviewWith his novel Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam explores how a group of isolated strangers react to an unspecified threat that is sweeping across New York. By hinting at the disaster's cause and effect, but depriving both his characters and his readers of concrete answers, he is able to tap into ...
Read ArticleThey say life begins at 40, but after reading The Thursday Murder Club, I'd say there's a strong argument that life actually begins after 65. Richard Osman's debut mystery novel centers around an upscale retirement community called Coopers Chase in the English county of Kent and the members of the "...
Read ReviewA Brief History of Trade Unions in the U.K.
In Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club, the residents of the Coopers Chase retirement community are, in some ways, very much like any other group of retirees. They fawn over their grandchildren, they gather to discuss various aches and pains, and they frequently misunderstand technology. And ...
Read ArticleThe Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen explores love, family, mental illness and the intricate ways each can weave into the other over a lifetime. Set predominately on a small island off the west coast of Ireland and unfolding over a timespan of almost four decades, the novel introduces readers to the ...
Read ReviewInis Óg, the island home of the Moone family in The Dazzling Truth, might be a fictional location, but exploring the real small coastal islands of Ireland can offer an idea of what it would be like to live where the characters do. Well-known examples include the Aran Islands, three ...
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An enthralling epic about two trailblazing female doctors in nineteenth-century New York from the international bestselling author of The Gilded Hour.
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"And Now She's Gone should be at the top of your must-read list."
—Michele Campbell
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BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
