The Dutch House is my introduction to Ann Patchett, which, after reading it, surprises me. I had only heard of her in passing, while always on the way to another author, another novel, never really turning her way. Why did it take me so long to discover her? As I see it now, Patchett is one of those...
Read ReviewThe Stories That Houses Can Hold
Having moved 17 times in the wake of my late father being transferred at his job, I don't have a nostalgic connection to anywhere I've lived. The connection many people feel in their bones, heart and soul to a specific home is a mere curiosity to me—an interest in what people remember, how ...
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A quiet atmosphere of dread permeates Simon Han's subdued debut novel Nights When Nothing Happened. It begins with an anxiety inducing premise — 11-year-old Jack Cheng has discovered that his five-year-old sister Annabel is sleepwalking at night, once even strolling out the front door of their...
Read ReviewEast Asian Populations in Plano, Texas
Simon Han's debut novel Nights When Nothing Happened is set in Plano, Texas, located about 20 miles north of Dallas and 50 miles northeast of Fort Worth. The Chengs, who are Chinese American, have chosen to live in Plano because it is a safe community with good schools, but what's not stated overtly...
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In Kia Abdullah's novel Take It Back, sexual violence advisor Zara Kaleel becomes involved in a case where 16-year-old Jodie Wolfe is accusing four classmates of rape. Jodie has long been ostracized for having severe facial deformities resulting from a genetic condition, and she fears her claim will...
Read ReviewIn Kia Abdullah's courtroom drama Take It Back, the prosecution relies on a forensic technique called DNA profiling. Also known as genetic fingerprinting, the process can be used to match bodily material found at a crime scene to a suspect, to identify a person's relatives, to determine one's ...
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Named after Lamorna Cove in her mother's rural home county of Cornwall (located in southwestern Britain), Lamorna Ash has always felt drawn to the area, despite having grown up in cosmopolitan London. Finally taking the plunge, she makes the move to Newlyn in an attempt to connect with her heritage,...
Read ReviewFound on the Cornish coast, five miles from the port town of Penzance in Southwestern Britain, Lamorna Cove is a picture-perfect beauty spot. Adored by locals and much admired by visitors from far and wide, its charm has made it a sought-after location for TV and movies, perhaps most notably in the ...
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For a long time, my favorite movie was Love Songs, a French musical film directed by Christophe Honoré that tells an oddly beautiful story of death, love and uncertainty. Its sadder elements are balanced by its forthright innocence, attention to detail and unrelenting drift towards romance at ...
Read ReviewAgege (pronounced 'a-GAY-gay') bread is a sweet white bread known for its unique soft and dense texture. It is a common food in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos, where it is produced by local bakeries and sold by vendors on the streets. In Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi, Taiye attempts ...
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When The House on Vesper Sands begins, the reader meets Esther Tull, a seamstress reporting to her employer's house on a wintry night in London, 1893. By chapter's end she has sewn a cryptic message into her skin ("MY SOUL DOTH MAGNIFY THE LORD") and jumped to her death from a second-story window. ...
Read ReviewSpiritualism in Victorian London
Though the movement of Spiritualism — the belief that the spirits of the dead are able to communicate with the living — was born in New York in 1848 with the Fox sisters, it quickly took hold of the Victorian imagination when it arrived in England in the mid-19th century. Maria Hayden, a...
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Waiting for the Night Song
by Julie Carrick Dalton
Cadie Kessler has spent decades trying to cover up one truth. One moment. But deep down, didn't she always know her secret would surface?
An urgent message ...
Solve this clue:
and be entered to win...
Introducing a detective duo for the ages who unlock the secrets of a startling Victorian mystery.
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