Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
McMorris’s novel flags at times, and some of the backstory feels unrealistic, but as the reporters close in on a dark underworld of mobsters, unscrupulous children’s homes, and characters broken by loss, the novel becomes compulsively readable. You’ll find yourself flying through the last third of the book, as desperate as Lilly and Ellis to find the lost children. Though the novel lacks the depth of other books on the era and at times tips into resolutions that border on magical thinking, the welfare of the children kept me reading till the end.
Send for Me by Lauren Fox
Powerfully conveyed through shifting narratives, SEND FOR ME is not a lament, but rather an ode to family and a love that transcends time and place. I recommend SEND FOR ME for fans of Kristin Hannah and Geraldine Brooks. Listen to my interview with Lauren Fox on Superior Reads, May 27 at 7:00 pm.
Promise by Minrose Gwin
A stark reminder that grief knows no color, that loss transcends class, but that man’s inhumanity to man even in the midst of a natural disaster remains constant. Minrose Gwin’s strength is in developing characters that we come to care about, in spite of their flaws.
The Street by Ann Petry
Petry’s voice is distinctive and the motivation of her characters is intelligible. The street is the real antagonist in the novel – a living thing hellbent on destroying its inhabitants through deprivation or exploitation. The street takes mothers away from their children as they go to and from their domestic jobs. The street is a playground for their unattended children, leaving them vulnerable to nefarious people and schemes.
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
RODHAM is a glorious mash up of the real with the imagined. Sittenfeld inserts real-life people, including Donald Trump, into her alternate history with some surprising outcomes. A satisfying read for those of us who wish that we could have a do-over of the 2016 election.
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
McBride shows deep affection for his characters – whether they be the Latinx or African American residents, the congregants of the Five Ends Baptist Church, the Italian mob, the cops investigating the crime, or King Kong- addled Sportcoat – under McBride’s watchful eye, they are all redeemable.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Erdrich’s novels are full of heart; every character in Night Watchman is richly drawn. The heartbreak of the historic displacement of Native Americans and the shame of a government hellbent on taking their land, resources, and identities stands in sharp relief against the integrity and courage of Thomas and the Turtle Mountain council as they fight to retain rights established through treaties made in good faith “for as long as the grasses shall grow, and the rivers run.”
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry
We Ride Upon Sticks is packed full of 80’s pop culture – from big hair to sugary breakfast cereals to blockbuster movies. The humor, the historical references, the creative plot, the empowerment of teenage girls, the push back against traditional gender roles . . . these things worked for me. Quan Barry is hilarious; her comedic timing is spot on. Her cultural references are the fun ones – the Kool Aid- dyed hair and shellacked bangs that defied gravity. One of the mothers sports shoulder pads “bigger than anything the New England Patriots’ offensive line ever wore.”
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Dutch House is a glorious read, as grand as its namesake and as luminous as the rest of Patchett’s oeuvre. I recommend The Dutch House for fans of The Big House by George Howe Colt, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and Patchett’s own Commonwealth.
Northernmost by Peter Geye
Northernmost is an expedition of heart and soul across continents and generations. With crystalline prose, Peter Geye chronicles Odd Einar’s gnawing hunger and piercing numbness as he traverses the Arctic alone while being stalked by an injured ice bear. Meanwhile, over a century later, Odd’s descendent Greta is navigating a lonely and icy existence in a loveless marriage until she discovers inspiration and courage from Odd’s story and takes a second chance at love
