After 13 years as president and publisher of Random House Children's Books, Barbara Marcus is stepping down, and Mallory Loehr, executive v-p and publisher, Random House Books for Young Readers Group, will become president of Random House Children's Books. Both moves are effective May 1.

Barbara Marcus (Ben Asen Photography)

Before joining Random House in 2012, Marcus was a consultant for seven years, and earlier was at Scholastic for 22 years, part of that time as president of children's book publishing and distribution. Among other accomplishments at Scholastic, she directed the acquisition of the Harry Potter series and the publication of the first six books in the series.

In a memo to staff about the changes, Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya wrote in part about Marcus, "Throughout these years, I have been impressed by the breadth of her experience and knowledge, her drive to always improve and do better, her energy to pursue new ideas and challenge the status quo, and her incredible network--she knows literally everyone in children's publishing. She is always seeking out new opportunities and pathways to publish and to reach young readers. Barbara's boundless curiosity, drive, and leadership have been a constant force in her extraordinary career, and propelled Random House Children's Books to new heights.

"In partnership with her strong and seasoned team, Barbara consistently grew the revenue and profit of RHCB throughout her tenure. Her sharp eye on the market led to the launch of new imprints and growth in picture books, middle grade, nonfiction, graphic novels, diverse voices, and young adult romance, and to the development of franchises and brands with wide consumer appeal....

"Barbara's unparalleled focus is matched in strength by her steadfast dedication to creating books for all readers. She has long been motivated by the belief that it matters not what a child reads but simply that we get them reading and meet them wherever they are with a story that has the chance to turn them into lifelong readers. This is a mission that has inspired her both professionally and personally. Over the years, she has devoted herself to many charitable organizations whose work centers on child literacy, education, and welfare."

Mallory Loehr (Ben Asen Photography)

Mallory Loehr has been at Random House Children's Books for more than 30 years. Malaviya wrote in part, "Mallory has played a seminal role in the development of this business. She embodies creativity and open-mindedness and leads with an innate warmth that brings people together, making her a trusted and reliable partner to so many across the company. Mallory and I connected over our commitment to learning and growing, deep thinking and reflecting, and exploring new ideas. She's a homegrown talent who truly believes in constantly evolving our approach to work in a way that can change cultures and thinking....

"If you have met Mallory, you know that she has an infectious love for children's books, that she is passionate about supporting the talent that creates them, and that she is equally passionate about supporting the teams of colleagues that bring them to market. Mallory is uniquely committed to the people she works with--to their potential, growth, and success."

In the third quarter ended February 28, revenues at Scholastic rose 3.6%, to $335.4 million, and the net loss was $3.6 million compared to a net loss of $26.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Peter Warwick, president and CEO, said that "Scholastic achieved modest revenue growth and improved operating results in the third quarter. Despite increasing pressure on family and school spending on books and educational materials, strong performance by School Book Fairs and Clubs, successful new titles and the addition of 9 Story Media Group contributed to positive results."

He lauded some of the company's "global children's franchises," including Dav Pilkey's Dog Man series whose 13th title, Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, was "the top-selling book in the U.S. and major English-speaking markets since its release in early December," and Sunrise on the Reaping, the fifth book in Suzanne Collins's Hunger Game series, "which is already topping some bestseller lists based on pre-orders" and will help fourth-quarter results. In the third quarter, backlist sales were lower "as increasing pressure on consumer spending led to softness in the retail book market."

In other areas, book fairs revenues rose 7.8%, to $110.7 million, book clubs revenues rose 14.3%, to $15.2 million, consolidated trade revenues rose 0.4%, to $77.4 million, and international revenues rose 0.3%, to $59.3 million (excluding unfavorable exchange rates, international revenues rose 5%).

Scholastic lowered its forecast for full-year growth to "modest" from the earlier prediction of 4%-6% growth.

Desierto Books, a new, used, and rare bookstore, will have a soft opening this weekend at the MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida Del Convento,in Tucson, Ariz. In an Instagram post announcing the debut, owner Cheron Taylor noted: "Come say hello so we can learn your name and offer you a warm welcome into your latest community space! And thank you for visiting as we continue to place hundreds more books throughout the week."

Taylor told This Is Tucson that she envisions a space where the community can connect with both the written word and the cultural tapestry of the region, offering a curated collection that highlights both contemporary and classic authors from the area.

"We wanted to create a space that reflects the unique stories and voices of this region," Taylor said. "The Southwest has such a rich literary history, and we believe there's a growing interest in works that dive into the complexities of this landscape, culture and history. Our collection will reflect that, with everything from contemporary writers to books that explore local history, folklore and the land itself."

Desierto Books will also feature a children's section. "We want to make sure that children have access to books that not only entertain but also educate and inspire," Taylor noted. "Our children's section will offer a wide variety of stories--from timeless classics to newer works by emerging authors. We believe in the power of books to open young minds and we're excited to be part of that journey."

Desierto Books is committed to being a community hub where book lovers can come together to celebrate their shared love of literature. "We want to create a space that feels like home for people," Taylor added. "It's about building connections and fostering a community around books and ideas. We're really looking forward to bringing people together and contributing to the cultural vibrancy of Tucson."

Phoenix Rising, in Port Townsend, Wash., closed permanently at the beginning of the month. Jill Spier, who had owned the bookstore since 1987, was unable to find a buyer and is moving to Sri Lanka, where with a partner, she plans to start an orphanage and meditation center, an organic farm, and a version of Phoenix Rising, according to the Port Townsend Leader.

In a Facebook post, Spier wrote, "With great sadness and deep gratitude, I am closing Phoenix Rising after nearly 40 years. Sadness on behalf of Phoenix Rising, which has been a healing source for me as well as thousands of others, gratitude for the warmth, support and love from customers, friends, workers and the Port Townsend community."

And she told the Leader, "For 38 years, my home community has supported my mission and kept my business afloat. I've always felt like I fit in here. This is a place that welcomes misfits, I think."

The paper noted that Spier has practiced meditation "since 1984, and of all her business' accomplishments, she's proudest of having helped so many others find peace and enlightenment through meditation." For years, she regularly spent at least several months annually in India.

Phoenix Rising carried books in the areas of spirituality, the supernatural, divination, and self-improvement. The store also stocked jewelry, clothing, music, crystals, statues, bells, bowls, cushions for meditating, tarot cards, incense, and more.

Canadian indie bookseller Massy Books, Vancouver B.C., featured a "Tariff Update" on the bookshop's website, noting, in part: "Tariffs are expected to be applied by Canada to books coming into Canada from the U.S. starting April 2, 2025. Books were not listed in the first round of tariffs, but they are now. This is a Canadian tariff intended to retaliate on the recent U.S. tariffs, to cause enough hardship for the U.S. so that they will back off. Most books, by Canadian authors or otherwise, will also be subject to the new tariff because they are warehoused in the U.S. by major publishers and distributors. Although most books sold by Canadian booksellers originate from the U.S., many books by Canadian authors are also warehoused in the U.S. and therefore subject to the tariff."

Noting that the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association is working with indie bookstores, Indigo, and Canadian publishers to coordinate a response to the Canadian government, Massy Books cautioned: "It is not clear whether or not they are working on requesting a remission on tariffs from books and goods entering Canada from the U.S. or not, but we are actively monitoring the situation and will keep you updated as we learn more information.

"Depending on the outcome, starting April 2nd, you may see the cost of some items increase. We’re aiming to reduce additional costs as much as possible, but the reality is we may be forced to increase our prices to ensure our little shop survives this ridiculous tariff war."

Chris Brayshaw, owner of Vancouver's Pulpfiction Books, told CityNews Vancouver: "We think that if a 25% tariff is placed on books entering Canada that it has the potential to instantly destabilize, and potentially permanently cripple the Canadian publishing and bookselling industry. It would be catastrophic....

"I'll believe it when I see it. Part of the U.S. federal government's current playbook is these kinds of rapid-fire threats, which are then walked back, or moderated, or indefinitely suspended. I'll believe it when I see it, but I would be a bad businessperson if I didn't plan for the worst."

Laughing Oyster Bookshop, Courtenay, B.C., posted a message on Facebook to customers: "We can say with confidence that this deadly blow to readers, writers, publishers, libraries, schools, and bookstores in Canada is unlikely to impact the decisions made by the American Republican Party in any way. We believe that the ramifications for our small but culturally impactful industry have been overlooked, and could be saved with the stroke of a pen at no political cost. That's why we are asking you to help us communicate the concern at hand to the Canadian government."

---

Amazon has launched Amazon.ie in Ireland, offering a Prime membership option for €6.99 (about $7.60) per month. Customers in Ireland who have U.K. Prime memberships can switch, and will automatically have their U.K. Prime membership canceled and refunded. 

Meryl Halls, managing director of the Booksellers Association of the U.K. & Ireland, posted on social media: "Amazon today launches its .ie site. Irish booksellers all too aware of potential threats to main streets and health of retailers it represents." 

Halls cited an Irish Times article ("Yes, Amazon.ie will give Irish shoppers choice. But no, it’s not 'good news for all' ") that reported "consumers will have decisions to make: shopping exclusively with Amazon at the expense of local retailers will be as perilous as it is foolhardy.... Amazon.ie should be welcomed into the Irish retail mix but if the online giant ultimately sounds the death knell for many small and medium-sized Irish retailers who are the lifeblood of communities nationwide, we will all end up the poorer."

Kennys Bookshop & Art Gallery in Galway posted: "Irish businesses will struggle to compete with Amazon ie, both online and in the high street. Shop direct with your Irish retailers, who already exist. Support local, not the billionaires."

Little Deer Comics in Dublin posted on Bluesky: "As you probably heard, Amazon is coming for Ireland. It'll come for our small shops, it'll come for our department stores, and it'll come for our media, our journalism, and our democracy.... It offers convenience so it can depress wages with its warehouse workers, so it can break AnPost unions with its drivers, so its delivery drones can have more rights than women. All so Jeff Bezos can die with unspent billions for others to fight over."  --Robert Gray

David G. Hessayon, who was "widely recognized as the world's bestselling gardening writer, although many people outside Britain may not recognize his name," died January 16, the New York Times reported. He was 96. In his country, Hessayon "was the Agatha Christie" of the gardening genre, and like "Christie's whodunits, Dr. Hessayon's books followed a strict formula."

Beginning with Be Your Own Gardening Expert (1959), which sold six million copies, Hessayon published about 60 books, not including revised editions. His work "was descriptive, prescriptive, comprehensive, encyclopedic and exhaustive, written in a no-nonsense tone that some called bossy," the Times noted.

The Guardian once reported that the look of his books, which he designed himself, could be best characterized as "1980 East German tourist brochure," but without the exuberance.

His books include Be Your Own House Plant Expert (1960); The New Flower Expert (1999); The Complete Garden Expert (2012); The Indoor Plant & Flower Expert (2013); and The New Fruit Expert (2015).

"The real secret of my work is that people feel at ease," he once said of his books. "I'm writing for the man in the semidetached."

By 2008, it was estimated that half of the households in Britain had at least one of his books. At his death, sales had exceeded 50 million copies. "But for most of his career, he had a day job as an executive at Pan Britannica Industries, a manufacturer of garden and agricultural chemicals," the Times wrote.

Hessayon studied botany and chemistry at the University of Leeds and earned a Ph.D. in soil ecology at the University of Manchester in 1954. He joined Pan Britannica the following year, and remained with the company until his retirement in 1993. When he initially had an idea for a gardening manual in the late 1950s, he asked his company to publish it, offering to pay for the eventual bestseller himself if it didn't sell. 

In 2007, Hessayon was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In 2013, he announced that he would produce no more gardening guides: "You should give up while you still remember what your name is."

Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, Va., hosted a SIBA March Madness event this week, and guests included booksellers, authors, and book influencers. Pictured: (back row) Demetrius Frazier, Resist Booksellers, (2nd row from back, l.-r.) author Meg Medina, author Sara Raasch, Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore, Andi Richardson, Fountain Bookstore & SIBA, influencer Lindsey, (3rd row from back, l.-r.) influencer Mallory, Kirwin Patmon, The Lit Bae Bookshop, author Alex Travis, author MK England, influencer Gabby, Sandra Caruso, The Book Dragon, Faith, Resist Booksellers, (front row) Mariela Gavino, ILYSM Books, Berkley McDaniel, Shelf Life Books. (photo: Julia Lewis of Fountain Bookstore)

Posted on Facebook by King's Books, Tacoma, Wash.: "Mew Cats! Who Dis? We have mews, er, news! We just adopted two new feline booksellers from our friends at @TacomaHumane & @CatffeinatedTacoma. If you live near Tacoma, you have a chance to Name That Cat! But you can only vote in store. Contest runs through 3/31 and winners get a $100 gift certificate (literary names highly encouraged). Cats are still acclimating, so you may or may not see them on visit." 

"This might be our favorite video... EVER!" Booksellers at Morgenstern Books, Bloomington, Ind., tried to estimate how much they have spent at the bookstore since they started working there.

"Here comes the sun {do do do do}," River Bend Bookshop, Glastonbury, Conn., posted on Facebook. "Spring is that you? We love the way the sunshine illuminates the bookshop. While you're out for a walk or drive in this gorgeous weather, swing by to visit the books (and booksellers!). Our shelves are full of new releases! We are also featuring women's history titles, spring holiday books, and new puzzles and greeting cards."

I'll Never Call Him Dad Again: Turning Our Family Trauma of Sexual Assault and Chemical Submission into a Collective Fight by Caroline Darian (Sourcebooks).

Today:
NPR's Science Friday: John Green, author of Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection (Crash Course Books, $28, 9780525426059).

Taika Waititi and Mia Wasikowska will star in Fing!, the Sky Original film based on the bestselling children's book by David Walliams, Deadline reported. They join a cast that includes Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey), Walliams (Little Britain), Richard Roxburgh (Elvis), Robyn Nevin (Sting), Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners), and Iona Bell.

Co-written by Walliams and Kevin Cecil (Veep) and directed by Jeffrey Walker (The Artful Dodger), the project has begun principal filming at Queensland Studios in Brisbane, Australia.

Waititi said: "When I read the script, I instantly felt David's unique and quirky wit jump off the page. There's a dark humor and edge to Fing! and I'm excited to bring the eccentric Viscount to the screen."

Winners of the National Book Critics Circle awards were announced last night at a 50th anniversary celebration. NBCC president Heather Scott Partington declared, "Never has there been a more urgent need for criticism, for free speech, for writing that questions, talks back to, and interprets other writing... The NBCC affirms the right of every person to see themselves reflected in books. As the NBCC moves into our next chapter, we stand with the organizations fighting to protect our rights to write and read."

The winners, with comments:

Autobiography: Patriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny, translated from the Russian by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel (Knopf). "Patriot is the personal story of one man standing up to authoritarianism and paying the ultimate price. A prison memoir, an eyewitness account of history, and a work of moral imperative and literary intelligence, Patriot is a masterpiece." -- Rebecca Hussey

Biography: Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar by Cynthia Carr (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). "Cynthia Carr has written an absorbing account of an unforgettable woman in a fascinating time, a lonely icon who tried to find a place for herself in a world that couldn't hold her." --Justin Torres

Criticism: There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib (Random House). "An innovative and lively assertion of the personal as political--rendered by examining the allure of sports culture over the state of Ohio." --J. Howard Rosier

Fiction: My Friends by Hisham Matar (Random House). "A gripping and beautiful story of exile, literary obsession, and political intrigue [that] chronicles a Libyan man's three decades in London and the friendships he makes there while involuntarily estranged from his family and homeland." --David Varno

Nonfiction: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham (Avid Reader). "Surprisingly propulsive in form and shocking in the facts it reveals, Challenger is a story of incompetence fostered when government agencies are invaded by corporate decision-makers." --Jo Livingstone

Poetry: Wrong Norma by Anne Carson (New Directions). Carson's "magnificently witty and desolate pieces attest to a struggle to represent not only the reality of others but a self that, in its mortal decline and self-reflexive unknowability, may be the most exquisitely difficult to encompass of all." --David Woo

Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize: A Last Supper of Queer Apostles by Pedro Lemebel, translated from the Spanish by Gwendolyn Harper (Penguin Classics). "This thrilling collection of essays--or crónicas--by the late Chilean literary activist and queer icon Pedro Lemebel is beautifully supported by Gwendolyn Harper's supple translation." --Mandana Chaffa

John Leonard Prize: Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux). This "genre-bending work merges beautiful art and marvelous storytelling to examine three generations of women: the author's grandmother, Sun Yi, her mother, Rose, and Hulls herself. Along the way, it explores mental illness, Chinese history, and inherited trauma." --Adam Dalva

photo: Nina Subin

Bridgett M. Davis is the author of Love, Rita: An American Story of Sisterhood, Joy, Loss and Legacy (Harper Books, March 11, 2025), which is a family memoir of her beloved older sister Rita. Her first memoir, The World According to Fannie Davis, was a New York Times Editors' Choice, a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, a Kirkus Best Book of 2019, and was featured as a clue on the quiz show Jeopardy! Davis is also writer/director of the 1996 award-winning feature film Naked Acts. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with her family.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

Love, Rita is a tribute to my sister Rita and to sisterhood, even as it explores the complex fragility of Black lives by asking the question: Why Rita?

On your nightstand now:

I love to read nonfiction and memoir alongside poetry and fiction. My brain likes to mix it up. So, I'm about to finish The Black Utopians by Aaron Robertson, which is about African American intentional communities and their utopian quests, and it's equal parts riveting and revelatory. For sheer pleasure I'm rereading Annell López's I'll Give You a Reason, a deftly crafted short-story debut filled with tough and vulnerable and funny immigrant women characters, each indelible. Also, I love a book I can dip in and out of, so I'm also reading award-winning poet Ross Gay's The Book of Delights, his mini prose-poems/essays written over one year, chronicling small joys that are, thanks to his genius, somehow both quotidian and arresting.

Favorite book when you were a child:

My favorite book was Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether, which I read when I was about 10 or 11. Even though it wasn't a children's book, it WAS a book with a Black girl like me as the main character, which up to that point I'd never before experienced. Also, my mother was a numbers runner just like the father of the book's title. That blew me away--that Francie, the girl in the book, and I shared the same secret!

Your top five authors:

If I was on that proverbial desert island, whose books would I take with me? Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Gabriel García Márquez, Tayari Jones, and Arundhati Roy. All revel in language, all are truth-telling, and all teach me how to move better through the world.

Book you've faked reading:

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I was supposed to read it in college, then write an essay, but I just couldn't get through the book. Still haven't. And that essay got a very low grade.

Book you're an evangelist for:

Notes from a Black Woman's Diary by Kathleen Collins, who was a visionary Black woman writer; she also made a seminal feature film, Losing Ground. The book is a compilation of her short stories, screenplays, stage plays, a novel excerpt, letters, as well as her diaries. Collins was not well-known in her lifetime, sadly; this is always my go-to gift for friends. The world should know her name.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Aaron Robertson's The Black Utopians has such a gorgeous cover: an arresting image of an Afro-ed woman against a gold-leaf backdrop--painted by the late artist Barkley L. Hendricks. I bought a second copy to put on display like a coffee-table book. I just pre-ordered Honorée Fanonne Jeffers's newest book, Misbehaving at the Crossroads, because its exquisite cover art of three Black women is from a painting by the artist Elizabeth Catlett. Also, in honor of James Baldwin's 100th birthday, I bought a newly issued copy of Giovanni's Room because its cover boasts Beauford Delany's beautiful painted portrait of Baldwin. I do love seeing the works of Black artists on book covers. My dream is to have a Mickalene Thomas artwork on the cover of my next book.

Book you hid from your parents:

Dopefiend by Donald Goines. Goines was a Detroit-based author who wrote prolifically and truthfully about life in the streets of 1960s and 1970s Detroit. I was probably too young to be reading his gritty and explicit books, but I devoured them, right alongside Jacqueline Susann's novels.

Book that changed your life:

My life was never the same after I read Toni Morrison's Sula, the first book by her I ever read. It was a revelation--the startling and rich cadence of her prose, the centering of two Black women's friendship, the complex world she revealed in this small Ohio town, the unapologetic approach to rendering Black life in all its complexities. This is what literature could be?! I've never recovered.

Favorite line from a book:

"Had she paints, or clay, or knew the discipline of the dance, or strings, had she anything to engage her tremendous curiosity and her gift for metaphor, she might have exchanged the restlessness and preoccupation with whim for an activity that provided her with all she yearned for." --Sula by Toni Morrison

Five books you'll never part with:

Daddy Was a Number Runner--the original hardcover first edition and the actual book my mother gave to me when I was a child. It has a foreword by James Baldwin. Forty-five years after its publication, I met the author, Louise Meriwether. She signed my copy: "To Bridgett, my Daddy, your Momma were Number Runners and we are soul sisters. Keep writing the truth in your own beautiful way. Love, Louise Meriwether."

Sula--the original, first edition hardcover from 1974.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston--a 1991 hardcover edition with cover art illustrated by the late great illustrator and children's book author Jerry Pinkney, and with a foreword by Ruby Dee.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez--a well-worn paperback copy that sat on our bookshelf when I was growing up, and that belonged to my older sister Deborah. She loved that book, and I couldn't wait to grow up and read it so I could love it too. I did and I do!

Beloved--Morrison autographed it at a reading she gave when the book was newly released. I read the novel on the plane en route to West Africa, and I'll always equate those two profound experiences in my life--reading Beloved and traveling to the Mother Land.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is so stunning and haunting and enthralling. Roy is a genius storyteller. I've reread this novel again and again, and always enjoy it, but as the Sade song goes, it's never as good as the first time.

Book that made you want to become a writer:

Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara. This is a collection of short stories by Bambara, which she wrote throughout the '60s and early '70s. I discovered it in my early 20s when I was still thinking my urge to write could be satisfied by being a journalist. But when I read "The Lesson," I stopped fooling myself. The story is told from the first person in the present tense by a Black girl narrator. The girl's voice is in what Bambara used to call her "straight up" style, and what critics back then described as "the Black Style." It was a revelation to meet a voice on the page so honest and unvarnished, yet highly crafted. The first short story I ever wrote was an homage to "The Lesson" in voice and POV. That story and Toni Cade Bambara herself--whom I had the great fortune of studying with years later--cemented my commitment to becoming a "real" writer.

Katie Kitamura's spectacular Audition examines the enigmatic relationship between a middle-aged woman and a younger man, until readers "can no longer distinguish between what is real and what is not real." Kitamura (A Separation) divides her spare, Manhattan-set novel into two distinct parts that open and close in the exact same settings--a "large establishment in the financial district" and a theater stage. Both feature the same main cast: an unnamed actor; her husband, Tomas; director Anne; playwright Max; and Xavier. While the actor claims the definitive "I"-voice throughout, the linchpin is actually Xavier, as the mutability of who he is drives both narratives, with unpredictable results.

In Part I, the actor agrees to lunch with Xavier but once the plates are cleared, she tells him, "I don't think we should see each other again.... No relationship between us can be possible." During their uncomfortable exchange, Tomas enters the same restaurant, may or may not see them, and promptly walks out again. Later, the actor will comment, "After that day... things were never entirely the same between Tomas and me." The actor and Xavier first met each other two weeks previously, when Xavier appeared at the theater where the actor works. Over coffee he tells her, "I think you might be my mother." She recalls her past--abortion, miscarriage--suggesting an impossibility to his claims.

Part II unexpectedly mutates what was initially presented as a physical impossibility into an altered reality in progress: months later, the actor, Xavier, and Tomas are seated together at the same restaurant. The actor, freshly successful from the latest production, mulls over the play's pivotal scene, "the transition from the first half of the play into the second, the instant of transformation--the play's hinge." The novel is undergoing exactly that as the actor is now "Xavier's mother," their relationship comprising "the affinities and understandings built over a lifetime." With his lease expiring, Xavier asks to move back home with the actor and Tomas; he's warmly welcomed into his old room. The trio is restored--albeit the reunion is fraught with missed cues and disruptive exits.

Kitamura offers a virtuoso performance of sly agility, presented in elliptical, elegant prose. "There are always two stories taking place at once, the narrative inside the play and the narrative around it," the actor observes about the theater, "and the boundary between the two is more porous than you might think." Provocatively perplexing and utterly beguiling, Audition deftly captures that playacting magic on every page. --Terry Hong

Shelf Talker: Katie Kitamura's spare, captivating Audition provocatively spotlights an enigmatic, transformative relationship between a middle-aged woman and a younger man.