In this beguilingly atmospheric midcentury gothic set in 1960s Italy, an ambitious American actress and single mother snags the starring role in a mysterious horror movie shooting on location in a crumbling medieval castle outside Rome—Readers who enjoy the moody gothic allure of Kate Morton and Silvia Moreno-Garcia or the immersive settings of Lucinda Riley and Fiona Davis will be enthralled by Kelsey James’ spellbinding web of intriguing mystery, family secrets, forbidden love, and midcentury Italian flair.
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LAST TO EAT, LAST TO LEARN: MY LIFE IN AFGHANISTAN FIGHTING TO EDUCATE WOMEN
Pashtana Durrani grew up in a Pakistan refugee camp, but she was raised in a school. A third-generation refugee, she was one of 4 million Afghans displaced by decades of war in the camp where her father, a tribal leader, founded a community school within their home. Those who lived in the house were recruited as staff, and when Pashtana was seven, she too began to teach. Her students were other girls from the camp — girls without running water and electricity. Girls who were hungry and illiterate, who never left the camp and once they married, wouldn’t even leave their homes. Fueled by her father’s insistence that despite being a girl, she deserved an education at any cost, Pashtana believed against impossible odds that she could help these girls forge a different path—¦Full of optimism and heart even in a world that subjugates the physical and intellectual nourishment of girls and women, Last to Eat, Last to Learn is the story of how just one educated woman can transform a family, a tribe, a country. It’s a testament to the power of learning and, above all, the value of educators in their many forms — from teachers, mentors, and role models, to fathers, mothers, and any one of us with the drive to stand against ignorance.
Gigi, Listening
In this charming, witty new novel from Chantel Guertin, author of the PopSugar Beach Reads Selection and BookBub Best Book of June Instamom, an impulsive trip across the pond becomes a life-changing journey . . . Book lovers come to Gigi Rutherford’s bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when they’re looking for romance novels. But beyond her shop’s walls, Gigi’s out of stock when it comes to potential love interests. That’s all about to change, though, when Gigi’s best friends surprise her with a trip to England for her 30th birthday. And it’s not just any trip: the 10-day bus tour through the most picturesque towns in England is led by her favorite audiobook narrator—on whom she’s harboring a secret crush. When Gigi misses the bus, she’s offered a seat on a different tour, and the promise she can join the original tour when they cross paths later in the trip. In the meantime, she’s stuck with a hodge-podge of travelers that includes the recently widowed Charlotte, the fact-obsessed Francis, and Jenny, an influencer documenting every detail for her social media followers. And then there’s the disgruntled yet complicated bus driver, Taj . . .Both laugh out loud funny and deeply emotional, Gigi, Listening will remind you that life’s most memorable moments can be found in the most unexpected places, ever when it seems like everything has gone wrong.
Georgie, All Along
In this heartfelt tale of one woman’s quest to reinvent herself, the acclaimed author of Love Lettering and Love at First delivers a poignant, witty reflection on how the hopes, dreams, and stories from our past shape our future . . .Longtime personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy has made a career out of putting others before herself. When an unexpected upheaval sends her away from her hectic job in L.A. and back to her hometown, Georgie must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page. But then Georgie comes across a forgotten artifact—a friendfic diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. To an overwhelmed Georgie, the diary’s simple, small-scale ideas are a lifeline—a guidebook for getting started on a new path. Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate—Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit. But this quiet, grouchy man is more than just his reputation, and he offers to help Georgie with her quest. As the two make their way through her wishlist, Georgie begins to realize that what she truly wants might not be in the pages of her diary after all, but right by her side—if only they can both find a way to let go of the pasts that hold them back. Honest and deeply emotional, Georgie, All Along is a smart, tender must-read for everyone who’s ever wondered about the life that got away . . .
The Boxing Baroness
Of questionable birth, but made for greatness, the Regency-era heroines in Minerva Spencer’s thrilling new historical romance series possess both clever minds and unusual skills that enable them to go head-to-head—and heart to heart—with the best of men, including those of the ton.
Magnetic and educated, Marianne Simpson has the manner of a lady and the looks of a lover, not a fighter. Neither of which explains her occupation as a boxer in her uncle’s circus, Farnham’s Fantastical Female Fayre. Nonetheless, when St. John Powell, the exquisitely handsome Duke of Staunton, begins turning up at her shows, she finds herself dangerously distracted by the powerful peer’s mysterious presence. With her safety at stake, Marianne’s days in the ring are numbered. But how long can she fight her attraction to the man the ton calls Lord Flawless? St. John Powell doesn’t just want Marianne Simpson, he needs her to rescue his brother, who is being held for ransom by a treasonous English baron—the man all of Britain knows as the Rake of Rakes. No matter how little Marianne wants to see her duplicitous ex-lover, the man responsible for the humiliating nickname the Boxing Baroness, St. John must convince her. Even if it means climbing into the ring with the beautiful boxer and taking everything she’s got.
Such a Pretty Girl
Exploring the often-flickering line between woman and girl, this vividly lyrical drama alternates between a West Village artists community in 1970s New York and present day, as a former child star is forced to confront the darkest secrets of her youth when a controversial photo taken of her as a preteen on the night of the 1977 blackout ignites a media firestorm.
Living peacefully in Vermont, Ryan Flannigan is shocked when a text from her oldest friend alerts her to a devastating news item. A controversial photo of her as a pre-teen has been found in the possession of a wealthy investor recently revealed as a pedophile and a sex trafficker—with an inscription to him from Ryan’s mother on the back.
In the Time of Our History
The prodigal daughter of Iranian immigrants returns to her family home for the one year anniversary of her sister’s tragic death in an intimate story of identity and duty set in late-1990s San Francisco and New Jersey. Inspired by her own family’s experiences after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Susanne Pari explores the entangled lives of an Iranian American family grappling with generational culture lashes, the roles of women, and the conflicting desire to carve our own path in the world even as we long for the place we once called home…
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
In her most powerful novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Ellen Marie Wiseman masterfully and viscerally evokes the real-life Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, New York, the state-run institution for children with disabilities that shocked the nation when it was exposed in the 1970s—more than a decade before it was finally shut down—for its horrendous abuses, neglect, overcrowding, unethical practices, and medical experiments. Taking readers behind the imposing doors of this notorious dumping ground for unwanted children, Wiseman’s gripping narrative conjures Girl, Interrupted meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by way of “Cropsey” in a harrowing yet moving story of social injustice, survival, and a young woman’s determination to find her sister…
People still search the woods for the remains of lost children.
THE SECRET LIFE OF ALBERT ENTWISTLE
In a humorous, charmingly wise #OwnVoices novel perfect for fans of Fredrik Backman, the forced retirement of a shy, closeted postman creates the opportunity for him to track down his lost love, embrace his true self, connect with his community, and finally experience his life’s great adventure. Albert Entwistle is a private man with a quiet, simple life. He lives alone with his cat Gracie. And he’s a postman. At least he *was* a postman until, three months before his sixty-fifth birthday, he receives a letter from the Royal Mail thanking him for decades of service and stating he is being forced into retirement. At once, Albert’s sole connection with his world unravels. Every day as a mail carrier, he would make his way through the streets of his small English town, delivering letters and parcels and returning greetings with a quick wave and a how do? Without the work that fills his days, what will be the point? He has no friends, family, or hobbies—just a past he never speaks of, and a lost love that fills him with regret. And so, rather than continue his lonely existence, Albert forms a brave plan to start truly living. It’s finally time to be honest about who he is. To seek the happiness he’s always denied himself. And to find the courage to look for George, the man that, many years ago, he loved and lost—but has never forgotten. As he does, something extraordinary happens. Albert finds unlikely allies, new friends, and proves it’s never too late to live, to hope, and to love.
In the Face of the Sun
At the height of the Civil Rights Movement amidst an America convulsed by the 1960s, a pregnant young woman and her brash, profane aunt embark upon an audacious road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles to confront a decades-old mystery from 1920’s Black Hollywood in this haunting novel of historical fiction from the author of Wild Women and the Blues.
A lime-gold Ford Mustang is parked outside my building. Unmistakable. My Aunt Daisy, the driver, is an audacious woman that no one in our family actually speaks to. They only speak about her—and not glowingly. Still, she is part of my escape plan… 1928, Los Angeles: The newly-built Hotel Somerville is the hotspot for the city’s glittering African-American elite. It embodies prosperity and dreams of equality for all—especially Daisy Washington. An up-and-coming journalist, Daisy anonymously chronicles fierce activism and behind-the-scenes Hollywood scandals in order to save her family from poverty. But power in the City of Angels is also fueled by racism, greed, and betrayal. And even the most determined young woman can play too many secrets too far… 1968, Chicago: For Frankie Saunders, fleeing across America is her only escape from an abusive husband. But her rescuer is her reckless, profane Aunt Daisy, still reeling from her own shattered past. Frankie doesn’t want to know what her aunt is up to so long as Daisy can get her to LA—and safety. But Frankie finds there’s no hiding from long-held secrets—or her own surprising strength. Daisy will do whatever it takes to settle old scores and resolve the past—no matter the damage. And Frankie will come up against hard choices in the face of unexpected passion. Both must come to grips with what they need, what they’ve left behind—and all that lies ahead . . .