Week of Tuesday, January 5, 2021
The power of childhood memory to comfort and reassure while confronting difficult truths is a theme explored with exquisite sensitivity in some of my favorite books from 2020. Offering original perspectives on the art of remembering, these titles dazzle with resplendent covers and faraway stories both real and fantastical against the backdrop of historic world events.
Above Us the Milky Way (Deep Vellum, $28), Fowzia Karimi's semi-autobiographical debut novel, is structured around the alphabet, telling a story in 26 parts enriched with photos and illustrations by the author. Karimi invites readers to join five enchanting sisters, relocated to the U.S. after the 1980 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as they reminisce about the tastes and smells of a home that no longer exists. A precious collage of memory fragments, the novel more than fulfills the magical promise of its celestial-themed cover inlaid with gold stars.
The ghost of a young girl named Bahar narrates The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree (Europa, $18) by Shokoofeh Azar, translated from the Farsi by an anonymous translator and set in the immediate aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Persian folklore and recollections of forbidden works of literature and philosophy offer mental escape to Bahar's family as they seek refuge from Revolutionary Guards in the ancient forests of Northern Iran. The colorful, pattern-layered cover gives nothing away of the revolution's terrifying reach.
In contrast, the bold, vivid imagery on the cover of Wayétu Moore's stunning memoir, The Dragons, the Giant, the Women (Graywolf Press, $26) foretells the author and her family's daring escape out of Liberia during the country's first civil war in the 1980s. Paying tribute to the ancestral storytelling tradition of her elders, Moore shares mythically inspired childhood memories that helped her make sense of Liberia's upheaval. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer
The House on Vesper Sands
by Paraic O'Donnell
London, 1893: There's murder with a supernatural aspect afoot. The man on the beat has a high opinion of himself, a disarming sidekick and what one citizen calls "a weakness for certain exotic cases." No, The House on Vesper Sands is not a Sherlock Holmes mystery, but Paraic O'Donnell's sophomore effort is the next best thing.
On a snowy night, a seamstress at the home of Lord Strythe, the Earl of Maundley, throws herself out the window. The autopsy yields something remarkable: a cryptic phrase is embroidered directly on her skin. That same night, Gideon Bliss arrives at the London boardinghouse of his uncle, who has written to summon his nephew from Cambridge for a reason undisclosed. Not finding his uncle at home, Bliss takes shelter at a church, where he encounters Angela Tatton, a flower maker he befriended when he was last in London. Tatton is behaving strangely, as though she has been drugged. Before Bliss can fetch a doctor, he gets knocked out. When he wakes the next morning, Tatton is gone.
Bliss returns to his uncle's boardinghouse; still the man is not at home. In an act of subterfuge wildly out of character for a mild-mannered lapsed divinity student, Bliss poses as the officer assigned to the Metropolitan Police's Inspector Henry Cutter, another lodger. Bliss intends to convince Cutter to look into the disappearances of his uncle and Tatton. That Bliss is ill-suited for fighting crime isn't lost on Cutter. "You have the constitution of a consumptive poet" is among the gentler insults he lobs at Bliss.
O'Donnell, an Irish novelist, makes his U.S. debut with The House on Vesper Sands, a story that brings humor and darker themes into richly rewarding alignment. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer
Discover: This mystery, which revolves around the victimization of young working-class women, is set in Sherlock Holmes's place and time but told on gifted novelist Paraic O'Donnell's own terms.
The Sea Gate
by Jane Johnson
Reeling after her mother's death and her own cancer treatments, London artist Rebecca is at loose ends. Sorting through her mother's unopened mail, Becky finds a letter from an elderly cousin she barely remembers, a woman in Cornwall who seems to be in danger of losing her home. Impulsively, Becky hops a train to Penzance, to find Cousin Olivia Kitto--a tough old bird--in hospital and hiding more than a few secrets. Jane Johnson (Court of Lions) deftly weaves together Olivia's experiences as a young woman during World War II with Becky's present-day journey of discovery in her sixth historical novel, The Sea Gate.
As Becky begins exploring and renovating Chynalls, Olivia's enormous, dilapidated family home, she finds more questions than answers. Having piqued her readers' curiosity, Johnson begins another narrative, set in the 1940s: that of Olivia's experience as a teenager, left nearly alone at Chynalls while her father fights overseas and her French mother does mysterious war work in London. The appearance of several prisoners of war in the close-knit, all-white village, including a blond Austrian airman and a young Arab man from North Africa, will have devastating consequences for Olivia and her neighbors.
With its atmospheric setting, fast-paced dual narrative and vividly eccentric characters, The Sea Gate is a juicy novel perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Daphne du Maurier. But it's also an unflinching look at racism and sexism in England during the Second World War, a bittersweet love story and a tribute to unexpected courage under fire--both from its protagonists and its other characters. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams
Discover: Jane Johnson's atmospheric sixth novel explores a house of secrets on the Cornish coast.
The River Within
by Karen Powell
The River Within by Karen Powell is an atmospheric study of class and desire set in 1950s England. Richmond Hall is the backdrop, representing the dissipating post-World War II British caste system. Lady Richmond's memories frame the nonlinear action within. Her inclination to "follow the ways she knew, the old routine that gave her a sense of purpose and comfort," collides with a postwar generation with little interest in tradition.
The discovery of Danny Masters's body in the river unveils a complex dynamic among characters that offers ominous suggestions about his death. Danny loved Lennie, the enigmatic daughter of the Hall's overseer, since childhood. While Lennie's day-to-day actions embody classic feminine virtues of modesty and hard work, she also projects a strange, ethereal quality that distinguishes her from other women. In fact, Alexander, heir to Richmond Hall and Lennie's lover, tells her she's "a changeling... a fairy creature that had strayed from the woods." Alexander is part of the childhood group that included Danny and Lennie, but his position means that he avoids their obligations. He's mercurial and cruel, selfish in the way that privilege can manifest, and ultimately unforgivably betrays Lennie. Repressed emotions explode in the heart-breaking conclusion. "The river would flow on though, long after the earth had closed in around the bones of the past, and the land would become what it always had been: a palimpsest waiting for a new story to be told..." This precisely plotted dramatic mystery, with an extraordinarily personal gaze, is perfect for fans of Kate Atkinson and Susanna Clarke. --Cindy Pauldine, bookseller, the river's end bookstore, Oswego, N.Y.
Discover: This dramatic mystery follows a group of childhood friends into adulthood as they grapple with the effects of an outdated class system and the fallout from a suspicious death.
Outlawed
by Anna North
Outlawed by Anna North (America Pacifica; The Life and Death of Sophie Stark) is a wild, ripping western with a firm feminist bent, set in an alternative North America.
"In the year of our Lord 1894, I became an outlaw." Some decades ago, the Great Flu decimated the national population, the United States government collapsed and, in its place, the people established Independent Towns west of the Mississippi. Ada has grown up in the Independent Town of Fairchild, where she has lived a good enough life. Her mother is a skilled midwife; Ada excels in her own training in the profession and helps care for her beloved three younger sisters. She marries at 17, as girls do when they become able to reproduce, and so begins the serious and sacred work of trying to become pregnant. But when six months pass, then more, Ada begins to worry. To be barren in Fairchild is a crime punishable by death.
At the end of a year, her husband's family rejects her, and Ada's mother sends her to the Sisters of the Holy Child, hoping to keep her safe. In the nunnery's library Ada continues to read and study, seeking the truth about infertility; her mother had taught her, against popular belief, that barrenness was a medical condition and not witchcraft, but the details are not well understood. It is not a wish to have children herself, but Ada's hunger for knowledge that drives her from Holy Child and further west, to join up with the infamous Hole in the Wall Gang. This band of outlaws is led by the Kid, "nearly seven feet tall, the sheriff said, and as strong as three ordinary men put together. His eye was so keen he could shoot a man dead from a mile away, and his heart was so cold he’d steal the wedding ring from a widow or the silver spoon from a baby’s mouth." But like everything else Ada has been taught, these stories aren't quite accurate. The Kid is charismatic, beloved and possibly dangerous in entirely different ways than the rumors insist, and the outlaws are not what they are thought to be. It is only in the West that it occurs to Ada that "perhaps barren wives were not hanged for witches everywhere."
Outlawed is a delightful tale of adventure, rebellion, the importance of knowledge and the value of family--however family is made or defined. With the Hole in the Wall Gang, Ada finds unexpected freedoms and fluid gender roles, and is forced to consider what she has to offer her new friends and the world. "I don't think I'm much of a threat," she tells the Mother Superior when she leaves Holy Child, but her story is just beginning.
In her new life of crime, Ada learns to care for horses, to shoot and to be a member of a community she's chosen and loves. As the gang plans and attempts robberies, North's narrative is often lighthearted, with style, humor and a sense of fun, but her protagonist never forgets the high stakes. Ada meets men and women who are not what they seem, including an actor who's studied male dress, movements and mannerisms because "the male roles were the most prestigious." She becomes aware of not only gender but also race as a point of prejudice and contention in North's version of the Wild West. She learns new skills to supplement her midwife training; she treats gunshot wounds and mental illness and comes to be called Doctor. She learns to carry herself differently. But she never stops worrying about the sisters she's left behind in Fairchild, who are vulnerable to punishment simply for their relationship to Ada, "a barren woman, a discarded wife, an outlaw wanted for cursing women's wombs even though I had helped coax dozens of babies into the world." Ada does not take naturally to the business of holding up stagecoaches or robbing banks, but her devotion to her new group of friends forces her to take risks. Eventually she must choose to invest in their future, or strike out on her own again.
Part of the genius of Outlawed is that its feminist themes juxtapose neatly with the traditionally male-dominated western genre. In Ada's first-person narration, the critical significance of reproduction and fertility seems simply a background element, central to the workings of North's fictional world, which is in itself curious and thought-provoking. Ada's voice is perfectly authentic and easily believable: her developing rebellion is organic, born of her love for her family and friends. She is a maverick, and the best kind of heroine: adventurous, innovative, self-doubting but brave, with intense loyalty and a magnetic, compelling curiosity.
Outlawed boasts a lively, quick-paced plot, a well-constructed alternate-historical setting and an indomitable heroine. While North clearly has something to say about gender in society and the politics of reproduction, this novel is absolutely a work of energetic literary entertainment first. For all readers in all times. --Julia Kastner
Mystery & Thriller
The Wife Upstairs
by Rachel Hawkins
Rachel Hawkins makes her adult thriller debut with The Wife Upstairs, a deliciously gothic contemporary retelling of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Down-on-her-luck Jane is living with an odious young man, saving up for a place of her own and an escape from the horrors of her past, when she catches a break and is hired as a dog-walker by several people in a well-to-do neighborhood in Birmingham, Ala. Jane meets Eddie Rochester in a near-miss as he backs out of his driveway; the charismatic, handsome widower immediately sets to winning her over, even going so far as to adopt a puppy so he can hire her to walk it.
When Jane learns that not only is Eddie single but also a widower, readers discover the darker side of her desires and ambitions. "He's free, she's gone, and now I have an excuse to see him every week. An excuse to be in that gorgeous home in this gorgeous neighborhood." Their relationship develops quickly, and despite glimpses of Jane's darkness, it's easy to root for her as she describes her hardscrabble life and the ways wealthy women treat someone they view as less-than. But Jane also swipes the occasional piece of jewelry and bit of cash.
Readers familiar with Jane Eyre will be waiting to learn what happened to Eddie's first wife and, sure enough--Mrs. Rochester is alive, held captive by Eddie and narrating her side of the story in occasional chapters. The Wife Upstairs is a sure bet for anyone looking to curl up with a domestic thriller and stay up far too late. --Suzanne Krohn, editor, Love in Panels
Discover: This compelling retelling of Jane Eyre deftly serves up a delicious mystery with a side of biting social commentary.
We Hear Voices
by Evie Green
A mysterious pandemic, rampant income inequality, a planet ravaged by climate change--the world in We Hear Voices, the debut novel by British author Evie Green, doesn't look much different from the reality many people knew in 2020. Set in a vaguely futuristic London, the spaces occupied by the characters in this modern-day horror story feel simultaneously drab and threatening, familiar yet incomprehensible.
The virus causing the story's pandemic is simply called "the flu," a benign title that does not underscore its true awfulness. When Rachel's six-year-old son, Billy, miraculously recovers after a lengthy battle with the flu, she is so grateful that she disregards Billy's fascination with Delfy, his new imaginary friend--at least until Delfy begins "telling" Billy to do increasingly sinister things. As Rachel struggles to save her son and keep her family together, she must also reconcile her values with what she needs to do to survive--such as moving into "worklifeplus," a late-capitalist nightmare where labor is exploited in exchange for rent-free living.
In addition to Rachel, the story unfolds from the perspectives of Nina, Rachel's ambitious teenage daughter, and Graham Watson, the troubled psychologist who spearheads Billy's treatment. Green's snappy, straightforward prose reveals key pieces of information and draws surprising connections among characters in a fast-paced, natural way that makes this book incredibly immersive. There's also a sense that for many of the story's most unnerving aspects, Green simply held a mirror up to reality--and that may be the scariest part of all. --Angela Lutz, freelance reviewer
Discover: In this spooky debut novel, a little boy makes a miraculous recovery from a flu-like pandemic only to be entranced by an alarming imaginary friend.
Romance
Ten Things I Hate About the Duke
by Loretta Chase
In a thoroughly satisfying entry in the Difficult Dukes series (following A Duke in Shining Armor), acclaimed historical romance author Loretta Chase gives readers a stand-alone tale with a duo to adore. Lady Cassandra deGriffith is firmly on the shelf at age 29 and happily determined to remain so. Lucius Beckingham, the Duke of Ashmont, is frittering away his days with too much alcohol and wild escapades. Cassandra is an independent, outspoken lady; Lucius is very much an infamous, goodhearted rakehell. When one of his escapades accidentally injures Cassandra's longtime bodyguard, scandal looms, and the seemingly mismatched couple get caught up in a devious scheme to avoid social disaster. In a plot to foil society gossips, the two begin a pretend courtship, aided and abetted by his approving uncle and her reluctant father.
Lucius realizes shortly after their initial contretemps that Cassandra is an unexpected and undeserved gem. He wants a real marriage, but Cassandra is wary, for the duke has a truly shocking reputation. What are the chances he's reformed? Nevertheless, the two try their best to show the world they're enjoying a proper courtship. However, as Lucius bluntly declares, they both tend to act in an outrageous manner that flouts society's rules. Despite their best efforts, things are bound to go off the rails at some point.
This joyous romp will delight readers with its impeccable period setting, as well as its delicious dialogue in a duel of wits between a heroine of unquestionable character and a man with unexpected depths and ingenuity. --Lois Faye Dyer, writer and reviewer
Discover: An independent lady crosses paths with a duke of dubious reputation and learns there's more to life than political causes and good works.
Biography & Memoir
The Night Lake: A Young Priest Maps the Topography of Grief
by Liz Tichenor
It's been said there is nothing worse than the death of a child. When Liz Tichenor and her husband, Jesse--both in their late 20s--experienced the devastating loss of their son, Fritz, when he was just 40 days old, that idea became shatteringly profound reality.
"There was no making sense of what was before me," Tichenor writes in The Night Lake: A Young Priest Maps the Topography of Grief, as she painstakingly traces harrowing details that begin on a cold day in January 2014. Baby Fritz exhibits symptoms of an unspecific nature. The young family of four--Liz, Jesse, their inquisitive two-year-old daughter, Alice, and infant Fritz--share a tiny cabin in Camp Galilee, a remote Episcopal retreat center located on a sloping hill just east of beautiful Lake Tahoe. With medical care miles away, Liz drives Fritz--crying excessively and expelling a small amount of bile-colored spit-up--to the closest urgent care facility.
This launches the harrowing story of Liz's immense difficulty grappling with being an inconsolable wife and mother and, at the same time, a freshly ordained Episcopal minister, "someone professionally and academically trained to be present at heartrending times." Tichenor's courageous memoir is an exquisitely crafted, painfully beautiful chronicle of loss. She articulates the immensity of her feelings and emotions with unbridled candor that, at times, is difficult to read, but ultimately reveal moments of hope and grace. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines
Discover: A devastatingly beautiful memoir by a young mother and newly ordained Episcopal priest who is forced to reconcile the loss of her newborn son.
Science
Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding
by Daniel Lieberman
Discover: Impressive and engaging, Exercised looks at the paradoxical nature of an activity we never evolved to do.
House & Home
Martha Stewart's Very Good Things: Clever Tips & Genius Ideas for an Easier, More Enjoyable Life
by Martha Stewart
One of the most popular monthly features in the magazine Martha Stewart Living is "Good Things"--a collection of easy projects and clever tips that, according to Stewart, are "simple, smart, and sensible" in presenting novel ways to enliven homes and gatherings using easy-to-find materials. Martha Stewart's Very Good Things culls the best of the best from more than 30 years of Martha Stewart Living, resulting in a beautifully designed, lovingly photographed and immensely entertaining book.
The lushly illustrated book divides these tips, projects and ideas into six broad chapters: Decorating, Homekeeping (making household chores more manageable), Organizing, Cooking, Entertaining and Celebrating (holiday-specific tips and DIY projects). Happily, most of these projects and tips are extremely simple and explained in a single paragraph. Recipes usually have four or fewer steps. The projects are attractive, functional and surprisingly easy. Creating a floating bedside shelf is simple and useful, wallpapering stair risers adds excitement to a staircase, and replacing bed headboards with curtains mounted on the walls is innovative. The Cooking chapter focuses on time savers and eliminating waste. The Entertaining chapter highlights cooking-for-crowds favorites, grilling game changers and fuss-free desserts.
Sprinkled throughout are "Classic Good Thing" tips that should have readers muttering, "Why didn't I think of that?" For instance, a rubber band stretched over an open paint can to wipe excess paint off a brush. And only a fool will not photocopy (and laminate) the two-page stain chart which gives individual solutions to removing stains caused by grease, grass, wine, ink, blood and more. Stewart's beautifully designed and easy-to-use handbook is a very good thing. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant
Discover: Hundreds of clever tips and projects for making life easier are collected from three decades of Martha Stewart Living and illustrated with vibrant and tempting photos.
Art & Photography
Open Gaza: Architecture of Hope
by Michael Sorkin and Deen Sharp, editors
Open Gaza: Architecture of Hope, edited by architect Michael Sorkin (who died last year) and Deen Sharp of the Terreform Center for Advanced Urban Research, is an impressive, substantial collection of essays and speculative designs demonstrating how Gaza, considered one of the most beleaguered environments on Earth, may be renewed and positioned for a socially and spatially just future.
The underlying premise of Open Gaza is that the West Bank and Gaza are more than occupied territories under siege, and their existence is not defined solely by Israeli domination. Terreform, a nonprofit focused on socially equitable urbanism, brought together scholars, architects, planners and activists from Palestine, Israel, the U.S., India and elsewhere and challenged them to imagine how life could be improved for Gazans now within the limitations imposed by Israel, and to reach beyond the endless war and imagine the region in a future without conflict.
The result is an ingenious compilation of ideas, including photographic renderings of a "city of crystal" where glass is deployed as part of the rebuilding strategy to allow the region's destruction to remain visible. The irrepressible spirit of the Palestinian people serves as inspiration for media scholar Helga Tawil-Souri's proposed "Internet Pigeon Network," a self-reliant, Israel-free means of sending and receiving data in Gaza.
Open Gaza offers readers interested in the geo-political history of this region an opportunity to engage with creative projects that, even if they are never fully realized, are, merely by their existence, an act of resistance. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer
Discover: Scholars, architects and activists imagine the potential of war-ravaged Gaza through visionary design, including the blueprint for a solar-powered city.
Children's & Young Adult
A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology
by Dhonielle Clayton, editor
Through this inclusive We Need Diverse Books (Fresh Ink) fantasy anthology, editor Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles) shows that all children may be "destined for greatness" and that "every voice [should] be allowed into every kind of space."
A Universe of Wishes brings together accomplished YA fantasy and science fiction writers to present 15 stories for readers of all races, ethnic backgrounds, gender identities and sexual preferences. Acclaimed authors such as Samira Ahmed, Zoraida Córdova, Tochi Onyebuchi and Nic Stone contribute stories about magicians who make memories disappear, queer boys who harvest magic from dead bodies and spaceship captains who right the wrongs of colonization, one museum heist at a time. This collection prioritizes marginalized voices, including BIPOC and trans and nonbinary individuals, but it's also a mirror for people living in poverty and with chronic illness.
With a variety of authors comes a variety of themes, but most stories fall into these categories: romance, social justice and reimagined fairy tales. In Anne-Marie McLemore's "Cristal y Ceniza," a family of "los campesinos" sends their daughter to a transgender prince's ball so she can ask the royal family to protect her mothers from "la corrección"--forced marriages between queer men and women. McLemore easily infuses magic, romance, oppression and fighting injustice into this Cinderella reimagining. In addition to wholly original stories with new characters, readers will be pleased to also find new stories about beloved characters from familiar worlds: characters from V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series, Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy and Clayton's own Belles books all make welcome appearances. --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader
Discover: A Universe of Wishes is a noteworthy collection brimming with 15 empowering tales that confirm all readers deserve to have their stories told.
The Sea in Winter
by Christine Day
An injury tests a young dancer's resilience in this touching middle-grade slice-of-life, road-trip drama by Upper Skagit author Christine Day (I Can Make This Promise).
Maisie Cannon loves ballet, but after she tears her ACL, the 12-year-old Makah/Piscataway Seattleite trades the barre for rehabilitation exercises. As her friends text about exciting summer program auditions, Maisie begs her physical therapist to let her dance before the next school year. During family time with her mother, stepfather Jack and six-year-old half-brother, Connor, Maisie notices she feels "disconnected from myself. Like I'm not fully here." Her mood becomes volatile and, on a road trip around the Olympic Peninsula, her irritable outbursts surprise her family. While the beauty of the Washington coastline and Jack's stories of his people, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, provide what her mom calls "heart medicine," Maisie worries over the continuing pain in her knee but hides it from her family. When the unthinkable happens, Maisie must learn that the loss of one dream can make way for others.
Day achieves a beautifully nuanced portrayal of the interconnected nature of personal emotional struggles and outside circumstances as well as offering readers assurance that joy and confidence can return after great loss. Her realistic, compassionate portrayal of trauma and healing emphasizes the importance of Maisie's family support structure. The family's closeness gives Maisie a safe place to regain her footing after her devastating fall, and the resolution brings hope of closer ties with her paternal relatives. This thoughtful, honest sophomore novel invites readers to reckon with life's messy complexities while reassuring them that every ending brings the seeds of new beginnings. --Jaclyn Fulwood, youth services manager at Main Branch, Dayton Metro Library
Discover: Twelve-year-old Maisie struggles with depression brought on by the possible loss of her ballet career during a road trip with her family around Washington's Olympic Peninsula.