Archives of "The BookBrowse Review": Reviews, previews, back-stories, news

Dear BookBrowsers,

In this issue, we share some fabulous fiction titles newly available this fall, including Ann Patchett's Tom Lake. This captivating story portrays main character Lara recounting to her daughters experiences of her youth, such as starring in a production of Thornton Wilder's famous play Our Town, which we look at further in a connected Beyond the Book article.

Where There Was Fire, the harrowing but triumphant debut from John Manuel Arias, gradually reveals the insidious effects of an American corporation on multiple generations of Costa Rican women. In another domestic drama with elements of mystery, Angie Kim's Happiness Falls, a father goes missing and a family's flaws are laid bare. C Pam Zhang's Land of Milk and Honey creates suspense in a future setting, following a chef who seeks pleasure in food as Earth's plants and animals are vanishing, while Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel's Dayswork revels in pleasures of the mind, centering on one woman's obsession with Herman Melville. Check out our accompanying list of author homes to visit in Massachusetts — after all, autumn is the perfect time for a New England road trip!

Nathan Hill's Wellness, the tale of an unhappy married couple, will keep you entertained with its lively critique of modern pseudoscience and internet theories. Meanwhile, Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons (see our current book club discussion along with the review), a retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and Jessica Knoll's Bright Young Women, a fictionalization of Ted Bundy's crimes that spotlights his victims, use storytelling as cultural criticism by framing old narratives with contemporary insight.

We bring you many additional articles and reviews, previews of other noteworthy fall titles, a new Wordplay and more.

Thank you for being a BookBrowse member. We couldn't do this without you, and I am grateful to every one of you.

Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher

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Dear BookBrowsers,

In this issue, we bring you the long-anticipated latest work of fiction from Zadie Smith, The Fraud, a rich story of social and political intricacies that showcases Victorian London at the time of the "Tichbourne Case," when a man controversially claimed to be Sir Roger Tichbourne, the heir to a substantial fortune who was believed to be dead.

Another major historical novel, International Booker-winning novelist David Diop's Beyond the Door of No Return (translated from the French by Sam Taylor), follows a botanist's journey through 18th-century Senegal as he searches for a woman rumored to have escaped slavery there.

Two works of nonfiction we feature explore fascinating and vital environmental themes. Hannah Stowe's memoir Move Like Water examines marine life and ecology through her lifelong love for the sea. Ben Goldfarb's Crossings considers the damage roads have done to the natural world and how humans can build societies that better co-exist with other species in the future.

We also cover Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt, a vivid and complex short novel about a woman who rescues her granddaughter from an unstable home. Our accompanying Beyond the Book article focuses on New York Review Books, the publisher of this paperback original and also of the iconic NYRB Classics.

You can enjoy many other reviews and articles, enter our latest giveaway for a chance to win a copy of David McCloskey's Moscow X, check out previews of upcoming books and much more.

Thank you for being a BookBrowse member.

Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher

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Dear BookBrowsers,

In this issue, we review two inventive reimaginings of classic narratives: Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher's surprising, captivating take on the story of Sleeping Beauty, and Every Rising Sun, a unique spin on The Arabian Nights by Jamila Ahmed that focuses not just on the famed tales themselves but on their teller, Shaherazade.

James McBride's much-anticipated latest novel, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, gives readers a glimpse of powerful community bonds between Black and Jewish families in 1930s Pennsylvania. Another exciting historical fiction release drawn from approximately the same period is Lucy Ashe's The Dance of the Dolls, which follows twin sisters pursuing their dancing ambitions in London's pre-war ballet scene.

Reaching further back in time, Elizabeth Fremantle's Disobedient vividly depicts the personal experiences and artistic accomplishments of Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Our accompanying Beyond the Book article examines two different versions of her stunning masterpiece Judith Slaying Holofernes. Like Fremantle's novel, award-winning poet Shane McCrae's memoir Pulling the Chariot of the Sun, about his kidnapping by his white supremacist grandparents as a child, offers fodder for reflection on how painful events in an artist's early life may shape and inform their work later on.

Plus, you can explore many other reviews and articles, a new Wordplay, previews of upcoming fall releases and much more.

Thanks for being a BookBrowse member.

Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher

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Dear BookBrowsers,

In this issue, we review Mihret Sibhat's entertaining debut The History of a Difficult Child, which follows a humorously observant girl through infancy and the early years of her life as she grows up in a small town during an uneasy period after Ethiopia's socialist revolution.

Several other new releases also consider the impact of history or current events through intimate, personal perspectives. Thao Thai's Banyan Moon focuses on the experiences of three generations of Vietnamese American women, while Mona Susan Power's A Council of Dolls tells the story of three generations of Dakota women — and their childhood dolls. Promise, Rachel Eliza Griffiths' debut, portrays two Black sisters coming of age in a predominately white Maine town during the Civil Rights Movement. Waiting to Be Arrested at Night is Uyghur poet Tahir Hamut Izgil's harrowing account of escaping persecution in China.

In addition, we cover works of fiction that compellingly capture subtleties of contemporary life. Maud Ventura's debut My Husband, translated from the French by Emma Ramadan, is a domestic thriller about a Frenchwoman who is oddly obsessed with her husband. Jamel Brinkley's second story collection, Witness, examines the preoccupations of Black characters in Brooklyn grappling with how the world is shifting and changing around them. Our review of Ventura's novel is accompanied by a Beyond the Book article on the fascinating logistics of book translation, while Brinkley's work is paired with a piece on the timely subject of food delivery app work.

You can also enjoy many other reviews and articles, a new Wordplay, previews of upcoming releases and much more.

Thank you for being a BookBrowse member.

Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher

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Dear BookBrowsers,

In this issue, we review the latest from author Tania James. Loot follows a young Muslim woodcarver on an epic journey beginning in 18th-century India, while exploring colonialism, social marginalization and the power of art. Our accompanying Beyond the Book article features Tipu's Tiger, a real-life wooden automaton that inspired the novel.

Additional ambitious works of fiction we cover include Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, the intimate story of a contemporary Irish family struggling both financially and emotionally, and Edan Lepucki's Time's Mouth, a tale of multigenerational trauma involving time travel. Another novel that touches on the tendency of the past to linger is the delightfully entertaining but chilling literary thriller How Can I Help You by Laura Sims, in which two women working in a library to escape their previous lives find their existences unexpectedly intertwined.

We also bring you reviews of two nonfiction books that deftly examine the history and sociopolitical mechanisms behind current issues and experiences. David Lipsky's The Parrot and the Igloo delves into the subject of climate change denial, while Andrew Leland's The Country of the Blind ponders the significance of blindness in today's world.

Along with many other reviews and articles in this issue, we have a recommended reading list of informative and inspiring books about animals, a new literary quiz on strong women in historical novels, a Wordplay and much more for you to enjoy.

Thank you for supporting BookBrowse as a member.

Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher

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Dear BookBrowsers,

Solitude can be constricting and isolating. It can also be comforting and enjoyable. In this issue, we bring you reviews of several books that in some way address the joys or sorrows of being alone.

In Patrick deWitt's latest work of fiction, The Librarianist, a 71-year-old retired librarian living on his own makes the most of his love of reading. Mark Lawrence's The Book That Wouldn't Burn focuses on books and seclusion through an otherworldly lens, featuring a character who is trapped inside a magical library. Dominic Smith's Return to Valetto follows an author mourning the loss of his wife and mother while unraveling a historical mystery in central Italy. And in Mikki Brammer's debut The Collected Regrets of Clover, a 36-year-old death doula makes brief connections with her clients but eschews lasting relationships (an accompanying Beyond the Book article gives a glimpse of what the death doula profession entails).

Another first novel, Wendy Chin-Tanner's King of the Armadillos, follows teenage protagonist Victor Chin in the 1950s as he leaves his Chinese immigrant family in New York to be treated for Hansen's disease (commonly known as leprosy) at the Carville medical institute in Louisiana. Our corresponding article looks at the history of this community devoted to those diagnosed with a stigmatizing condition. Fae Myenne Ng's memoir Orphan Bachelors also deals with separation within a Chinese American family (her own), exploring how United States immigration policy created Chinatown bachelor societies, which we examine further through Louis Chu's mid-century classic novel Eat a Bowl of Tea.

We have many more reviews and articles, a new Wordplay, a recent Q&A with the cofounders of Paging Creatives, an online book club for creative business owners, and much more!

Thanks for being a BookBrowse member.

Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher

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Dear BookBrowsers,

In this issue, we're excited to bring you a lineup of brilliant debut novels. Nilima Rao's A Disappearance in Fiji is a satisfying mystery following the fate of a missing woman in colonial Fiji. Olivia Wolfgang-Smith's Glassworks presents characters of different generations held together by their connections to the medium of glass. Emma Törzs's Ink Blood Sister Scribe revolves around two sisters who can access special powers through magical texts.

Panther Gap by Edgar Award-winning author James A. McLaughlin, another novel following a unique pair of siblings, weaves a thrilling crime plot with stunning descriptions of remote Colorado; our accompanying Beyond the Book article looks at the beautiful San Juan Mountains. Also depicting the awesomeness of nature is David Grann's The Wager, which tells the true story of a 1741 shipwreck off of Cape Horn; the connecting article delves into the area's reputation for destructive weather.

Continuing this focus on nature and adventure, we review Melissa L. Sevigny's Brave the Wild River, an account of two female scientists who embarked on a 1938 journey to document plant species in the Grand Canyon, while also battling sexism from the press and their male colleagues.

Novelist T.C. Boyle's Blue Skies casts an everyday perspective on the natural world through a darkly humorous family drama set amidst the realities of climate change. And Better Living Through Birding, a multifaceted memoir by science and comics writer Christian Cooper — known by many from a 2020 viral video that sparked discussions about racism — explores the joys of birdwatching, among many other subjects.

We also bring you a list of World War II novels for adults that feature child protagonists, a new Wordplay and much more.

Thank you for being a BookBrowse member.

Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher

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