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Anglophiles will find a lot to enjoy in this issue, which opens with The Last Confessions of Thomas Hawkins, set in 18th century London in all its stinking glory, and then moves to the scenic south-coast town of Rye in 1914, the setting for The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson, whose first novel Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is one of my all time favorites as it reminds me of my parents who lived in a Cotswold village very much like the Major's. We also have a list of 10 books set in Britain recommended for book clubs (which was the focus of the most recent issue of our Book Club newsletter - if you're not already subscribed to this and would like to be, click here to be added). But it's not all about Britain, we also feature the young adult novel The Serpent King and go beyond the book to explore snake handling in churches. And we follow two young women on their respective journeys - one from her parents' home in Russia to her eventual life as a housewife in the US; and the other an unknown art teacher on her way to New York and a life of fame as the celebrated artist Georgia O'Keeffe.
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  1. First Impressions: Members Recommend Each month we give away books to U.S. resident members to read and review. Members who choose to participate receive a free book about every three months. Here are their opinions on one recent release.  The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins
by Antonia Hodgson Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: Mar 2016
Historical Fiction, 400 pages
Number of reader reviews: 29
Readers' consensus: 4.6/5.0
Members Say "A mesmerizing, noteworthy historical mystery. I was immediately in its thrall caught by the fine writing, rich and vivid depictions of place and time evidencing thorough research as well as the compelling story. The novel is set in 1728 in a crowded, unsavory slum in Georgian-era London. The author has created such a vivid atmosphere one can almost smell the heady mixture of pleasant smells of mulled spiced wine as well as the repugnant byproducts of urban squalor... It certainly prompted me to order her debut novel The Devil in the Marshalsea." - Linda Hitchcock "When I received this book, I wasn't thrilled; novels where the story takes place hundreds of years ago are not my thing. Once I began reading this one, though, I was so wrapped up by the third chapter I even had to stay up nearly all night to finish it!" - Annie P. (Murrells Inlet, SC) "OMG! I couldn't put this book down! I loved the twists and turns that I couldn't possibly have guessed and all of the historical research made it feel very real. Will definitely look for this author again!" - Peggy H. (North East, PA)
More info | Read all the reviews Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie |
 2. Editor's Choice 
Forty Rooms by Olga Grushin
Hardcover (Feb 2016), 352 pages. Publisher: Marian Wood Books. BookBrowse Rating: 5/5, Critics' Consensus: 4.3/5 Buy at Amazon | B&N | IndieReviewed by Poornima Apte Is the path you're on now truly where you wanted to be at this station in life? Do you look back and wonder about the road not taken? These important questions weigh us down occasionally, but raising them is worth the effort as it helps us take stock and recalibrate our goals. Forty Rooms is rooted in just this kind of emotional minefield. It is a deeply introspective novel that explores the meaning of a life well lived, and one that teases out the razor-thin line between happiness and contentment. This brand of existential angst might have served as fodder for many a story before this fine one, but Grushin's book goes beyond the derivative. In a particularly impressive fashion, her novel presents one young girl's journey from her parents' home in Russia to that of a housewife in the United States as a series of vignettes in forty different rooms. For example, it is in a dacha bedroom, when she is talking to a close friend, that the unnamed narrator is convinced that what she does not want "is a small life, a life of mundane concerns." ... continued Full access to our reviews & beyond the book articles are for members only. But there are always four free Editor's Choice reviews and beyond the book articles available.
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3. Editor's Choice: Young Adult Novel 
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Hardcover (Mar 2016), 384 pages Publisher: Crown. BookBrowse Rating: 5/5, Critics' Consensus: 4.5/5 Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie
Reviewed by Brad Sides The teenage years. Everyone who's either living them now or has already survived them can vouch for the fact that they are some of the toughest years of life. High school drama is typically the biggest part of the problem. Unreliable friends, silly gossip, and unhealthy competition are enough to make anyone upset. For many young people - the lucky ones - life isn't all that bad outside of school. Home, with loving parents and a warm bed, is where they can recuperate. For others, though, the drama in classrooms and hallways is almost nothing compared to what they deal with at home. For these unlucky ones, home is full of unjustified guilt, inexplicable anger, and unimaginable responsibilities. Jeff Zentner's The Serpent King, set in rural Tennessee, follows the complicated life of teenager Dillard "Dill" Early Jr. As you can guess, he's one of the unlucky ones. ... continued Full access to our reviews & beyond the book articles are for members only. But there are always four free Editor's Choice reviews and beyond the book articles available.
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 4. A Snapshot of Snake Handlers Every time we review a book we also explore a related topic. Here is a recent "beyond the book" article for The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner  In the opening pages of Jeff Zentner's The Serpent King, we come to know about Dill Early's family history of snake handling. Uncovering the exact date that snake handling began in American churches is difficult to pinpoint; however, according to information from Christianity Today, there is a record from 1910 that proves that George W. "Little George" Hensley, an illiterate preacher from Tennessee, took a literal application to Mark 16: 17-18. The verses read: "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up the serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." After preaching a sermon based on the passage from Mark, Hensley concluded his service by retrieving a rattlesnake and passing it around his congregation. Word spread, and snake handling became a practice for some people in the Appalachian region of the U.S. ... continued Read in full | More about this book
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 5. Publishing Soon
Each month BookBrowse previews 80+ notable books. Here is one of these upcoming titles.  The Summer Before the War
by Helen SimonsonPublisher: Random House Publication Date: Mar 22, 2016 Historical Fiction, 496 pages Critic's Opinion: 5/5 Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie
The bestselling author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand returns with a breathtaking novel of love and war that reaches far beyond the small English town in which it is set.
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 6. A Spot of Britain We hear you: We miss Downton Abbey too. We miss the tightly knit story, the characters, the costumes, the accents and most of all -- the setting. Fret not. At BookBrowse, we have compiled our own special list of books that take you back to Britain, to the land of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. After all armchair travel, especially with a great book, is as close to the real thing as it can get. Even better, it's much less expensive. These cherry-picked recommendations will pair perfectly with a spot of tea or even the house's best curry (curry usually tops surveys of Britain's favorite dishes) to give you or your book club that extra dash of British panache. Each recommendation is backed by an excerpt, a reading guide, a range of media reviews and, for a limited time access to BookBrowse's full reviews and beyond the book articles. continued...
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 7. Win This Book
 Georgia by Dawn Tripp
Published Feb 2016, 336 pages
From the Jacket This is not a love story. If it were, we would have the same story. But he has his, and I have mine. In 1916, Georgia O'Keeffe is a young, unknown art teacher when she travels to New York to meet Stieglitz, the famed photographer and art dealer, who has discovered O'Keeffe's work and exhibits it in his gallery. Their connection is instantaneous. O'Keeffe is quickly drawn into Stieglitz's sophisticated world, becoming his mistress, protégé, and muse, as their attraction deepens into an intense and tempestuous relationship and his photographs of her, both clothed and nude, create a sensation. Yet as her own creative force develops, Georgia begins to push back against what critics and others are saying about her and her art. And soon she must make difficult choices to live a life she believes in. A breathtaking work of the imagination, Georgia is the story of a passionate young woman, her search for love and artistic freedom, the sacrifices she will face, and the bold vision that will make her a legend. Reviews "Complex and original ... Georgia conveys O'Keeffe's joys and disappointments, rendering both the woman and the artist with keenness and consideration." - The New York Times Book Review "As magical and provocative as O'Keeffe's lush paintings of flowers that upended the art world in the 1920s .... [Dawn] Tripp inhabits Georgia's psyche so deeply that the reader can practically feel the paintbrush in hand as she creates her abstract paintings and New Mexico landscapes." - USA Today 5 people will each win a hardcover copy of Georgia. This giveaway is open to residents of the USA only, unless you are a BookBrowse member, in which case you are eligible to win wherever you might live. Enter the giveaway Past Winners |
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