Book reviews & excerpts from exceptional books set mainly in the 1940s and 1950s.

Palaces of the Crow

A Novel

by Ray Nayler

Hardcover: May 2026

In Ray Nayler's speculative novel of the recent past, four young teens caught between Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the help of a flock of highly intelligent crows with a magnificent secret of their own to protect.

The Young Will Remember

by Eve J. Chung

Hardcover: May 2026

A sweeping novel about a correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War, and the women who help her find her way home, from the national bestselling author of Daughters of Shandong.

When I found the courage to lift my head, I ...

We Do Not Part

A Novel

by Han Kang

Hardcover: Jan 2025 | Paperback: Mar 2026

Han Kang's most revelatory book since The Vegetarian, We Do Not Part tells the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully reckoning with a hidden chapter of Korean history.

Nonesuch

A Novel

by Francis Spufford

Hardcover: Mar 2026

A spellbinding tale about an ambitious young woman who must thwart an occult plot by time-traveling fascists during the chaos of the London Blitz—from "one of our most powerful writers of wayward historical fiction" (The Washington Post).

Kin

A Novel

by Tayari Jones

Hardcover: Feb 2026

A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage—Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge...

Roman Year

A Memoir

by Andre Aciman

Hardcover: Oct 2024 | Paperback: Oct 2025

The author of Call Me by Your Name returns with a deeply romantic memoir of his time in Rome while on the cusp of adulthood.

The Barn

The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi

by Wright Thompson

Hardcover: Sep 2024 | Paperback: Sep 2025

A shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare how forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was erased for so long.

Fonseca

A Novel

by Jessica Francis Kane

Hardcover: Aug 2025 | Paperback: Aug 2026

The story acclaimed English author Penelope Fitzgerald never wrote, of her real-life journey to Mexico with her son in search of a much-needed inheritance, by Jessica Francis Kane, bestselling author of Rules for Visiting.

The Briar Club

A Novel

by Kate Quinn

Hardcover: Jul 2024 | Paperback: Jul 2025

The New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.

Daughters of Shandong

by Eve J. Chung

Hardcover: May 2024 | Paperback: May 2025

A propulsive, extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters' harrowing escape to Taiwan as the Communist revolution sweeps through China, by debut author Eve J. Chung, based on her family story.

Women of War

The Italian Assassins, Spies, and Couriers Who Fought the Nazis

by Suzanne Cope

Hardcover: Apr 2025

The gripping, true, and untold history of the Italian anti-fascist resistance during World War II, told through the stories of four spectacularly courageous women fighters.

Lessons in Chemistry

A Novel

by Bonnie Garmus

Hardcover: Apr 2022 | Paperback: Apr 2025

A must-read debut! Meet Elizabeth Zott: a "formidable, unapologetic and inspiring" (Parade) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is "irresistible,...