COURTING MR. LINCOLN The double entendre of Louis Bayard’s title, Courting Mr. Lincoln, immediately alerts the reader to the duality of the novel’s subject matter.
THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS Okay, gentlemen, step back; The Wednesday Sisters, by its title alone, would suggest that it is written solely for the female reader.
THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS Lisa Wingate’s The Book of Lost Friends is a historical novel firmly grounded in historic poignancy and pain. For many
HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD C Pam Zhang juxtaposes nightmare with dream in her novel, How Much of These Hills Is Gold. Her
RUSSIAN WINTER Years and years ago, I was served a roasted onion. I’ve never forgotten the crisp softness as I peeled away the layers, the
THE FENCING MASTER Spanish author Arturo Perez-Reverte and his translator, Margaret Jull Costa, have created a novel that may best be described as a
MANY RESTLESS CONCERNS: THE VICTIMS OF THE COUNTESSS BÁTHORY SPEAK IN CHORUS Gayle Brandeis’ Many Restless Concerns: The Victims of Countess Báthory Speak in Chorus
THE GIVER OF STARS The Giver of Stars is a bright beginning for the new year. I, for one, wildly and enthusiastically recommend British writer
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Is it true that Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad “traces the terrible wounds of slavery,” as Michael Schaub wrote
A SINGLE SPY Writing A Single Spy, William Christie turns a historical footnote into a complicated novel of international intrigue. That footnote, found in Professor
RADIO GIRLS Sarah-Jane Stratford blends facts with fiction in Radio Girls, a novel describing the earliest days of the British Broadcasting Company (years before it
RED SPARROW- PLACE OF TREASON-THE KREMLIN’S CANDIDATE A twenty-first century John LeCarre! That is how I would describe Jason Matthews, author of the recently published
NEFERTITI: THE BOOK OF THE DEAD Recently, I’ve noticed that contemporary authors—especially mystery and thriller writers—are publishing more and more trilogies. Perhaps that suits our
CALEB’S CROSSING Caleb’s Crossing illustrates Geraldine Brooks’ affinity for little-known historical characters whose nearly-anonymous lives can be enhanced by her fictional imagination. Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the
HOMEGOING — Retrieval of family ties Not since Alex Haley’s Roots have I been so taken by a novel with characters spanning more than three
WORLD WAR I, KENYAN COFFEE, AND ROSETTI An unseasonable stormy day? Time to curl up with a good book? Lauren Willig’s The Ashford Affair is
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