Dear BookBrowsers,
Who doesn't love a good mystery? In this issue, we bring you
Exiles, Jane Harper's suspenseful latest (and last) book featuring Federal Agent Aaron Falk, in which he investigates the disappearance of a woman in a small town — along with an accompanying Beyond the Book article on
South Australian wine country, where the story takes place. Our review of Harper's novel is made up of reader comments from our First Impressions program, which offers a selection of books to BookBrowse members each month to read and review (due to publisher restrictions, books are only available to those resident in the U.S.) You can find readers' opinions on these books in our First Impressions section (under the "New" tab in the main menu), but we also run special features in this magazine for titles that participants especially enjoy, such as
Exiles, rated an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
For a different kind of puzzle, dive into our review of
A Mystery of Mysteries, Mark Dawidziak's new biography of Edgar Allan Poe, who not only contributed to the foundations of the modern detective story but also died prematurely in a fashion mysterious enough to stump the cleverest investigator.
Two historical novels we review in this issue consider points of view not often present in mainstream history. Jamila Minnicks'
Moonrise Over New Jessup takes place in an all-Black Alabama town in the 1950s that wishes to resist oncoming racial integration, while Jennifer Rosner's
Once We Were Home (another book reviewed by our First Impressions readers) is based around the stories of children stolen away from their families, ostensibly for their own protection, during World War II. Our Beyond the Book article relating to Minnick's novel looks at
historic Black communities in the United States, and with Rosner's novel we present a reading list of more
World War II novels for adults focused on a child's perspective.
We also bring you a review of Bisi Adjapon's
Daughter in Exile, the story of Ghanaian immigrant Lola making her way in the US with few resources and connections. While Adjapon's novel tells a classic immigrant story of struggle and perseverance, it also grounds Lola's resilience and hope in the realities of her everyday life, ultimately offering much more than a tale of simple heroism.
Among much else to explore in this issue are the results of our survey to ascertain
The Most Popular Book Club Books of 2022, a new
Wordplay, and many more reviews and "beyond the book" articles.
Thank you for supporting BookBrowse by being a member.
Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher
Read This Issue