3 months ago
23
Lazy summer days offer a chance to lose yourself in the rhythms of a good book — family dramas, a page-turning thriller, memoirs to make you laugh and cry, and new historical fiction and fantasy from well-known authors.
‘Grown Women,’ by Sarai Johnson
Johnson’s engaging, character-driven saga examines the relationships between four generations of Black mothers and daughters and the truths and lies they tell themselves and each other. Kicked out of her upper middle-class home by her emotionally distant mother, pregnant 18-year-old Charlotte vows to raise her daughter, Corinna, with the support she missed in childhood. But it’s not long before the emotional scars from abuse prove too deep, and the cycles of violence and half-truths continue. When Corinna, too, becomes a teenage mother, the women reconnect and vow to do right by the baby, even if it means confronting family secrets and mistakes. (Harper)
‘The Black Bird Oracle,’ by Deborah Harkness
Harkness provides a satisfying return to the best-selling All Souls series that began in 2011 with “A Discovery of Witches.” The 7-year-old twins of witch Diana Bishop and vampire Matthew de Clermont receive an ominous summons to a magical aptitude test on the same day that a letter arrives from an unknown great-aunt inviting Diana to return “home.” When she arrives at Ravenswood, the place where her family has lived for generations, she must confront the dark secrets hiding in her preternatural heritage and grapple with her desire for dangerous power that threatens to overwhelm her unless she can control it. (Ballantine)
‘No Road Home,’ by John Fram
Toby Tucker, a lonely single father, tries to shield his queer son, Luca, from prejudice. But he may have put his sensitive boy in danger by marrying pediatrician Alyssa Wright, heiress to a televangelist empire. Upon arriving at the Wright’s Texas compound, Toby realizes that his new wife and her family have unsettling plans for Luca, who reports having conversations with the eerie “Mister Suit.” After a shocking murder, suspicion falls on Toby, who must race to clear his name while also protecting Luca from peril. A tinge of gothic chill adds a frightening layer to Fram’s suspenseful thriller. (Atria, July 23)
‘The Wedding People,’ by Alison Espach
Phoebe Stone arrives at a luxurious Rhode Island hotel in her best dress and with no luggage. A series of misfortunes have led her to this day, during which she plans to eat a delicious meal and then walk into the water and never come out. But her plan is thwarted by a closed kitchen and a wedding that has taken over the rest of the hotel. When the bride realizes Phoebe’s intentions could derail her week-long extravaganza, her attempt to manage the situation leads the two women to start confiding in each other. As Phoebe becomes swept up in the drama of other people’s lives, she finds her own path forward. Espach’s wit and warmth deliver a gratifying story about how people who have given up might find a reason to start caring again. (Holt, July 30)
‘The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards: A Memoir,’ by Jessica Waite
While grieving the untimely death of her husband, Waite discovered he had been keeping secrets, including infidelity, drug use and a pornography addiction. Her candid grief memoir vacillates between sorrow and white-hot rage as she seeks to reconcile her memory of the man she cared for — a beloved father to their 9-year-old son — with her feelings of betrayal. Each new revelation brings fresh pain, but as her understanding of circumstances surrounding his choices deepens, she learns new definitions of love, strength and forgiveness. (Atria, July 30)
‘Between Friends and Lovers,’ by Shirlene Obuobi
Josephine Boateng, or “Dr. Jojo” to her many Instagram followers, appears to have it all. But for years, she’s been secretly pining for her best friend-turned-Hollywood heartthrob Ezra Adelman, who is now dating Jo’s childhood bully. After a confession of her feelings to Ezra is derailed, Jo bumps into Malcom Waters, a rising literary star, sparking a connection that may be even deeper than it first appears. Obuobi’s emotionally insightful novel explores the tension between friendship and love, and whether the risk of placing trust in others is worth the reward. (Avon, July 30)
‘The Fertile Earth,’ by Ruthvika Rao
Rao’s heart-wrenching tale of forbidden love between the daughter of an aristocratic landowner and the son of a widowed villager transpires amid mid-century India’s brutal rural rebellion against elites. As children, Vijaya and Krishna develop a deep connection, but a catastrophe results in Krishna’s expulsion from their homeland. Years later, neither has forgotten the other, but as the shifting political climate ensnares the families they love, renewing a connection could prove dangerous. (Flatiron, Aug. 1)
‘How To Leave the House,’ by Nathan Newman
Taking place over 24 hours before the anxious narrator, Natwest, leaves for college, Newman’s entertaining debut feels fresh and young, portraying modern life with a mixture of humor and reflection. Searching for a misdirected and potentially embarrassing package, Natwest is forced to make the rounds of his English neighborhood, encountering an emotionally fraught ex, a teenager worried about her nudes being leaked online, his mother and her Ponzi-scheme peddling ex-boyfriend, and the town’s dentist, a wannabe artist whose exhibition featuring paintings of the human mouth is everyone’s evening destination. A television adaptation is already coming from the creators of “Chernobyl” and “True Detective.” (Viking, Aug. 13)
‘Manboobs: A Memoir of Musicals, Visas, Hope, and Cake,’ by Komail Aijazuddin
When Aijazuddin moved into his NYU dorm room in the early 2000s, he was sure his life could finally begin. He spent his Pakistani childhood feeling like an outsider: gay and overweight, his knowledge of marvel superheroes was eclipsed only by his mastery of Broadway show tunes. His screens had shown him an America where he could be accepted and free to love who he wanted; in reality it turned out to be another place where he felt like an outsider — a brown man from a Muslim country in a post-9/11 world. At once both humorous and heartbreaking, his memoir allows his bubbly personality to shine in a story about letting go of shame and finding self-acceptance. (Abrams, Aug. 13)
‘By Any Other Name,’ by Jodi Picoult
Picoult, known for exploring social issues in her best-selling fiction, returns with a thought-provoking tale of two female playwrights and the similar compromises they make 400 years apart. Emilia Bassano, mistress to Lord Chamberlain, has a sharp wit and a talent for writing but no outlet for her work, so she agrees to let a man publish her plays under his name, thereby writing herself out of history. Centuries later, Melina Green has written a play inspired by her ancestor, Emilia, and it wins a contest after she impulsively submits it under a male name, forcing her to decide whether she will allow her identity to be removed to ensure her work will be performed. In the end, both women must decide what price they will pay to satisfy their desires and ambitions. (Ballantine, Aug. 20)
English (US)