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April 19, 2016 |
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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of April 18th and April 25th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar. This week, we are calling attention to our Women's Fiction Author Spotlight of THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett. Readers can enter for a chance to win a copy of the book and share their comments on it.
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Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
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This Week's Bonus News: Our Women's Fiction Author Spotlight of THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett --- Enter to Win a Copy and Share Your Comments on It
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We have 25 copies of THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett to give away to readers who would like to read the book, which releases on May 3rd, and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, April 28th at noon ET.
THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett (Fiction)
In one moment, two lives will be changed forever...and forever...and forever.
The one thing that’s certain is they met on a Cambridge street by chance and felt a connection that would last a lifetime. But as for what happened next... They fell wildly in love, or went their separate ways. They kissed, or they thought better of it. They married soon after, or were together for a few weeks before splitting up. They grew distracted and disappointed with their daily lives together, or found solace together only after hard years spent apart.
With THE VERSIONS OF US, Laura Barnett has created a world as magical and affecting as those that captivated readers in ONE DAY and LIFE AFTER LIFE. It is a tale of possibilities and consequences that rings across the shifting decades, from the '50s, '60s, '70s and on to the present, showing how even the smallest choices can define the course of our lives.
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Click here to read more in our Women's Fiction Author Spotlight and enter the contest. |
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On Sale the Week of April 18th in Hardcover
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April 18th
BRILLIANT BEACONS: A History of the American Lighthouse by Eric Jay Dolin (History)
Set against the backdrop of an expanding nation, BRILLIANT BEACONS traces the evolution of America's lighthouse system from its earliest days, highlighting the political, military and technological battles fought to illuminate the nation's hardscrabble coastlines. Beginning with "Boston Light," America's first lighthouse, Eric Jay Dolin shows how the story of America --- from colony to regional backwater, to fledgling nation, and eventually to global industrial power --- can be illustrated through its lighthouses.
Liveright * 9780871406682
LIFE WITHOUT A RECIPE: A Memoir of Food and Family by Diana Abu-Jaber (Memoir)
On one side, there is Grace: prize-winning author Diana Abu-Jaber’s tough, independent sugar-fiend of a German grandmother, wielding a suitcase full of holiday cookies. On the other, Bud: a flamboyant, spice-obsessed Arab father, full of passionate argument. The two could not agree on anything: not about food, work, or especially about what Diana should do with her life. Grace warned her away from children. Bud wanted her married above all --- even if he had to provide the ring. Caught between cultures and lavished with contradictory “advice” from both sides of her family, Diana spent years learning how to ignore others’ well-intentioned prescriptions.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393249095
April 19th
APPROVAL JUNKIE: Adventures in Caring Too Much by Faith Salie (Humor/Essays)
Faith Salie has done it all in the name of validation. Whether it’s trying to impress her parents with a perfect GPA, undergoing an exorcism in the hopes of saving her toxic marriage, or maintaining the BMI of “a flapper with a touch of dysentery,” Salie is the ultimate approval seeker --- an “approval junkie,” if you will. With thoughtful irreverence, Salie reflects on why she tries so hard to please others, and herself, highlighting a phenomenon that many people --- especially women --- experience at home and in the workplace.
Crown Archetype * 9780553419931
BEFORE THE WIND by Jim Lynch (Fiction)
For Joshua Johannssen and his two siblings, their backyard was the Puget sound and sailing their DNA. But both his sister and brother fled many years ago: Ruby to Africa and Bernard to god-knows-where at sea. Suddenly 31, Josh --- who repairs boats of all kinds on the south of Seattle --- is pained and confused by whatever went wrong with his family that split them apart. When the Johannssens unexpectedly reunite for the most important race in these waters --- all of them together on a classic vessel they made decades ago --- they will be carried to destinies and heart-shattering revelation uniting past and present.
Knopf * 9780307958983
BEFORE WE VISIT THE GODDESS by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Fiction)
The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single, unforgiveable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover --- but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she’d imagined. As the marriage crumbles and Bela is forced to forge her own path, she unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with indelible lessons about freedom, heartbreak and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476792002
THE BLACKBIRDS by Eric Jerome Dickey (Romance)
They call themselves the Blackbirds. Kwanzaa Browne, Indigo Abdulrahaman, Destiny Jones and Ericka Stockwell are four best friends who are closer than sisters, and will go to the ends of the earth for one another. Yet even their deep bond can’t heal all wounds from their individual pasts, as the collegiate and post-collegiate women struggle with their own demons, drama and desires. As they try to overcome --- or give into --- their impulses, they find not only themselves tested, but the one thing they always considered unbreakable: their friendship.
Dutton * 9781101984109
THE DARK LADY’S MASK: A Novel of Shakespeare's Muse by Mary Sharratt (Historical Fiction)
Aemilia Bassano Lanier is beautiful and accomplished, but her societal conformity ends there. She frequently cross-dresses to escape her loveless marriage and to gain freedoms only men enjoy, but a chance encounter with a ragged, little-known poet named Shakespeare changes everything. They begin secretly writing comedies together and fall in love, but their collaborative affair comes to a devastating end. Will gains fame and fortune for their plays in London and years later publishes the sonnets mocking his former muse. Not one to stand by in humiliation, Aemilia takes up her own pen in her defense and in defense of all women.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * 9780544300767
DAUGHTER OF ALBION: A Novel of Ancient Britain by Ilka Tampke (Historical Fantasy)
A baby girl is abandoned on the doorstep of the Tribequeen’s kitchen. Cookmother takes her in and names her Ailia. Despite being an outsider in her village, Ailia grows up an intelligent and brave young woman, serving the Tribequeen of her township until the day when an encounter with an enigmatic man named Taliesin leads Ailia to the Mothers, the tribal ancestors, who have chosen her for another path. Ailia’s growing awareness of her future role as the tribal protector and her relationships with the two very different men she loves will be utterly tested by the imminent threat of Emperor Claudius preparing to take the island.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250081094
DESIGN FOR DYING: A Lillian Frost & Edith Head Novel by Renee Patrick (Historical Mystery)
Los Angeles, 1937. Lillian Frost has traded dreams of stardom for security as a department store salesgirl...until she discovers she's a suspect in the murder of her former roommate, Ruby Carroll. Party girl Ruby died wearing a gown she stole from the wardrobe department at Paramount Pictures, domain of Edith Head. Edith has yet to win the first of her eight Academy Awards; right now she's barely hanging on to her job, and a scandal is the last thing she needs. To clear Lillian's name and save Edith's career, the two women join forces.
Forge Books * 9780765381842
ELIGIBLE: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld (Fiction)
This version of the Bennet family --- and Mr. Darcy --- is one that you have and haven’t met before. Liz is a magazine writer in her late 30s who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help --- and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.
Random House * 9781400068326
THE EXCELLENT LOMBARDS by Jane Hamilton (Fiction)
Mary Frances "Frankie" Lombard is fiercely in love with her family's sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave. Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie's roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455564224
JOIN by Steve Toutonghi (Science Fiction/Thriller)
What if you could live multiple lives simultaneously; have constant, perfect companionship; and never die? That’s the promise of Join, a revolutionary technology that allows small groups of minds to unite, forming a single consciousness that experiences the world through multiple bodies. But as two best friends discover, the light of that miracle may be blinding the world to its horrors. Chance and Leap are jolted out of their professional routines by a terrifying stranger --- a remorseless killer who freely manipulates the networks that regulate life in the post-Join world.
Soho Press * 9781616956707
THE LAST MILE by David Baldacci (Thriller)
Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution --- for the violent killing of his parents 20 years earlier --- when he's granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime. Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars' case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now? But when a member of Decker's team disappears, it becomes clear that something much larger --- and more sinister --- than just one convicted criminal's life hangs in the balance.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455586455
THE LETTER WRITER by Dan Fesperman (Historical Thriller)
When Woodrow Cain leaves North Carolina for New York City, he also leaves behind a wife who had left him, a daughter in the care of his sister, and a career as a police officer marred by questions surrounding his partner’s murder. He gets a job with the NYPD --- hoping to start anew --- but comes into contact with a man who calls himself Danzinger. He speaks five languages and has the appearance of a “crackpot,” yet he is the only person who can help Cain identity a body just found floating in the Hudson. Who is this mysterious man, and how does he know so much about Cain? The more Cain and Danzinger investigate, the nearer they come to the center of a citywide web of traitorous corruption from which neither of them may get out alive.
Knopf * 9781101875063
MAESTRA by L. S. Hilton (Psychological Thriller)
By day, Judith Rashleigh is a put-upon assistant at a prestigious London art house. By night, she’s a hostess at one of the capital’s notorious champagne bars, although her work there pales against her activities on nights off. Feeling reckless, she accompanies one of the champagne bar’s biggest clients to the French Riviera, only to find herself alone again after a fatal accident. Tired of striving and the slow crawl to the top, Judith has a realization: If you need to turn yourself into someone else, loneliness is a good place to start. And she’s been lonely a long time.
G.P. Putnam's Sons * 9780399184260
MIDNIGHT IN BERLIN by James MacManus (Historical Fiction)
While Hitler is preparing for war, Colonel Noel Macrae, a British diplomat, plans the ultimate sacrifice to stop him. Since the West’s appeasement policies have failed, there is only one alternative: assassination. The Gestapo, aware of Macrae’s hostility, seeks to compromise him in their infamous brothel. There Macrae meets and falls in love with Sara, a Jewish woman blackmailed into becoming a Nazi courtesan. Macrae finds himself trapped between the blind policies of his government and the dark world of betrayal and deception in Berlin. As he seeks to save the woman he loves from the brutality of the Gestapo, he defies his government and plans direct action to avert what he knows will be a global war.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250079404
MOTHERING SUNDAY: A Romance by Graham Swift (Romance)
Twenty-two-year-old Jane Fairchild has worked as a maid at an English country house since she was 16. For almost all of those years, she has been the clandestine lover to Paul Sheringham, young heir of a neighboring house. The two now meet on an unseasonably warm March day --- Mothering Sunday --- a day that will change Jane’s life forever. As the narrative moves back and forth from 1924 to the end of the century, what we know and understand about Jane expands with every vividly captured moment.
Knopf * 9781101947524
NOBLE CHASE by Michael Rudolph (Legal Thriller)
Young lawyer Beth Swahn makes a rookie mistake: she believes her client. While basking in the glory of winning a hundred-million-dollar judgment for a U.S. division of C. K. Leung’s Chinese conglomerate, Beth realizes that because of her naïveté, Leonard Sloane, president of the division, has absconded to the Caribbean with his banker girlfriend and $70 million of the judgment money. Shortly thereafter, they are both presumed dead when a Mayday call to the Coast Guard reports the sinking of their yacht. Determined to retrieve Leung’s money and save her firm from bankruptcy, Beth investigates her way through a maze of money laundering and white-collar corruption.
Ballantine Books * 9781101884379
ONLY IN NAPLES: Lessons in Food and Famiglia from My Italian Mother-in-Law by Katherine Wilson (Memoir)
Full of lighthearted humor, sumptuous food, the wisdom of an Italian mother-in-law, and all the atmosphere of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, this warm and witty memoir follows American-born Katherine Wilson on her adventures abroad. Thanks to a surprising romance --- and a spirited woman who teaches her to laugh, to seize joy, and to love --- a three-month rite of passage in Naples turns into a permanent embrace of this boisterous city on the Mediterranean.
Random House * 9780812998160
’TIL DEATH DO US PART by Amanda Quick (Historical Romantic Suspense)
Calista Langley operates an exclusive “introduction” agency in Victorian London, catering to respectable ladies and gentlemen who find themselves alone in the world. But now, a dangerously obsessed individual has begun sending her trinkets and gifts suitable only for those in deepest mourning. Desperate for help and fearing that the police will be of no assistance, Calista turns to Trent Hastings, a reclusive author of popular crime novels. As Trent and Calista comb through files of rejected clients in hopes of identifying her tormentor, it becomes clear that the danger may be coming from Calista’s own secret past.
Berkley * 9780399174469
WAR HAWK: A Tucker Wayne Novel by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood (Thriller/Adventure)
Tucker Wayne’s past and his present collide when a former army colleague comes to him for help. She’s on the run from brutal assassins hunting her and her son. To keep them safe, Tucker must discover who killed a brilliant young idealist --- a crime that leads back to the most powerful figures in the U.S. government. From the haunted ruins of a plantation in the deep South to the beachheads of a savage civil war in Trinidad, Tucker and Kane must discover the truth behind a mystery that leads back to World War II, to a true event that is even now changing the world…and will redefine what it means to be human.
William Morrow * 9780062135278 |
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On Sale the Week of April 18th in Paperback
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April 19th
AND SOMETIMES I WONDER ABOUT YOU: A Leonid McGill Mystery by Walter Mosley (Mystery)
P.I. Leonid McGill isn’t usually one to refuse a case. But when Hiram Stent, a man down on his luck, begs him to find a cousin who is about to inherit millions of dollars, he senses something fishy. His instincts prove right: The night after he turns Hiram away, Hiram is found dead and Leonid’s office is broken into. Feeling partly responsible for this bizarre turn of events, Leonid is forced to open an investigation that will pull him into the lurid history of an old-money New York family.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard * 9780804172097
BENEATH THE SURFACE: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrove, with Howard Chua-Eoan (Nature & Ecology)
When two fellow trainers were killed by orcas in marine parks, John Hargrove decided that SeaWorld's wildly popular programs were both detrimental to the whales and ultimately unsafe for trainers. After leaving SeaWorld, he became one of the stars of the controversial documentary "Blackfish" and now contributes his expertise to an advocacy movement that is convincing both federal and state governments to act. In BENEATH THE SURFACE, Hargrove paints a compelling portrait of these highly intelligent and social creatures.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250081407
CAPITAL DAMES: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868 by Cokie Roberts (History)
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Washington, D.C. found itself caught between warring sides in a four-year battle that would determine the future of the United States. With their husbands, brothers and fathers marching off to war, the women of Washington, D.C. joined the cause as well. Cokie Roberts chronicles their increasing independence, their political empowerment, their indispensable role in keeping the Union unified through the war, and in helping heal it once the fighting was done.
Harper Perennial * 9780062002778
THE CHERRY HARVEST by Lucy Sanna (Historical Fiction)
With food rationed and money scarce, Charlotte struggles to keep her family well fed during World War II. When their upcoming cherry harvest is threatened, she helps persuade local authorities to allow German war prisoners from a nearby camp to pick the fruit. But when Charlotte’s husband befriends one of the prisoners, a teacher named Karl, and invites him to tutor their daughter, the implications of Charlotte’s decision become apparent --- especially when she finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Karl.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062343635
THE DIG by John Preston (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
In the long, hot summer of 1939, Britain is preparing for war, but on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind. Mrs. Pretty, the widowed owner of the farm, has had her hunch confirmed that the mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As the dig proceeds, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary find. This fictional recreation of the famed Sutton Hoo dig follows three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure.
Other Press * 9781590517802
DRAWING DEAD: A Cross Novel by Andrew Vachss (Supernatural Thriller)
Paperback Original
Even the deadliest gangs in Chicagoland fear the Cross Crew and carefully avoid their cinderblock bunker headquarters.The Crew is notorious for its ruthless efficiency and cold-blooded cunning. Why, then, would anyone be foolhardy enough to threaten them --- and, even more dangerously, their loved ones? As Cross catches the scent of a far-reaching conspiracy, he realizes that it all connects to an unexplained event in his past: a massacre from which he emerged inexplicably unscathed, save for the blue mark on his face that pulses when danger is near. If he's reading the signs accurately, Cross might find himself again facing a terrible menace that is not altogether human.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard * 9781101970294
ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES by Graham Swift (Fiction/Short Stories)
Graham Swift presents a vision of a country, England, that is both a crucible of history and a maze of contemporary confusions. Moving from the 17th century to the present day, from world-shaking events to domestic dramas and frequently mixing tragedy with comedy, ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES is bound together by an underlying instinct for the story of us all: an evocation of that mysterious thing, a nation, enriched by a clear-eyed compassion for how human individuals find or lose their way in the nationless territory of birth, growing up, sex, aging and death.
Vintage * 9781101872383
IF YOU FIND THIS LETTER: My Journey to Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters to Strangers by Hannah Brencher (Memoir)
Fresh out of college, Hannah Brencher moved to New York, where she found herself lonely and depressed. When she noticed a woman who looked like she felt the same way on the subway, Hannah did something strange --- she wrote the woman a letter. She folded it, scribbled “If you find this letter, it’s for you...” on the front and left it behind. When she realized that it made her feel better, she started writing and leaving love notes all over the city. She found solace in the idea that her words might brighten someone’s day.
Howard Books * 9781476784106
IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware (Psychological Thriller)
Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her “nest” of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead.
Gallery/Scout Press * 9781501112331
THE MELODY LINGERS ON by Mary Higgins Clark (Thriller)
As the sole assistant to a famous upscale interior designer, Lane Harmon is accustomed to visiting opulent homes. When called upon to assist in redecorating a modest townhouse in Bergen County, she learns the home belongs to the wife of notorious and disgraced financier Parker Bennett, who has been missing for two years. Gradually, Lane finds herself drawn to Eric, the Bennetts’ son, who is determined to prove that his father is not guilty. Lane doesn’t know that the closer she gets to the Bennetts, the more she puts her life --- and her daughter's life --- in jeopardy.
Pocket Books * 9781476749129
ONE NIGHT CHARMER: A Copper Ridge Novel by Maisey Yates (Romance)
Paperback Original
Ace Thompson is the last person Sierra West wants to ask for a bartending job, but she has no choice. Ever since discovering that her "perfect" family is built on a lie, Sierra has been determined to make it on her own. Resisting her new boss should be easy when they're always bickering. Until one night, the squabbling stops…and something far more dangerous takes over. Ace has a personal policy against messing around with staff --- or with spoiled rich girls. But there's a steel backbone beneath Sierra's silver-spoon upbringing. She's tougher than he thought, and so much more tempting.
HQN Books * 9780373789658
A PERFECT HERITAGE by Penny Vincenzi (Fiction)
The House of Farrell is a prolific skincare company and home of The Cream, an iconic face product. But the world of cosmetics is changing, and the once glorious House of Farrell is now in decline, its customers tempted away by more fashionable brands. With no idea how to right the ship, company figurehead Athina Farrell hires Bianca Bailey, a formidable businesswoman. Athina and Bianca lock horns over the future of the House of Farrell, but it’s the past that tells its devastating tale of ambition and ego, passion and wonder.
The Overlook Press * 9781468312614
RE JANE by Patricia Park (Fiction)
For Jane Re, half-Korean, half-American orphan, Flushing, Queens, is the place she’s been trying to escape from her whole life. So she’s thrilled to become the au pair for the Mazer-Farleys, two Brooklyn English professors and their adopted Chinese daughter. Jane is the recipient of Beth Mazer’s feminist lectures and Ed Farley’s very male attention. But when a family death interrupts Jane and Ed’s blossoming affair, she flies off to Seoul. Reconnecting with family and struggling to learn the ways of modern-day Korea, Jane begins to wonder if Ed Farley is really the man for her.
Penguin Books * 9780143107941
THE SEMPER SONNET by Seth Margolis (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Lee Nicholson takes the academic world by storm, seemingly unearthing a never-before published sonnet by William Shakespeare. When she reads the poem on the air, her words are ignored by all but a small group of people. Buried in the language of the sonnet, in its allusions and wordplay, secrets have been hidden dating back to Elizabethan times, shared by the queen and her doctor, by men who seek the crown and men who seek the world. If the riddles are solved, it could explode what the world knows of the monarchy. Or it could release a pandemic more deadly than the world has ever seen.
Diversion Publishing * 9781682300565
WHAT COMES NEXT AND HOW TO LIKE IT: A Memoir by Abigail Thomas (Memoir)
What comes next? What comes after the devastating loss of Abigail Thomas’ husband, a process both sudden and slow? What form does her lifelong platonic friendship take after a certain line is crossed? How to cope with her daughter’s diagnosed illness? Or the death of her beloved dog? And how to like it? How to accept, appreciate, enjoy? Who are our most trusted, valuable companions, and what will we do for them?
Scribner * 9781476785066
WHERE THEY FOUND HER by Kimberly McCreight (Psychological Suspense)
No one knows the identity of a newborn whose body has just been discovered in the woods or what ended her very short life. Freelance journalist Molly Sanderson is unexpectedly called upon to cover the news for her local paper. A severe depression followed the loss of her own baby, and this assignment could unearth memories she has tried hard to bury. But the disturbing history Molly uncovers is not her own. Her investigation reveals a decades-old trail of dark secrets hiding behind Ridgedale's white picket fences.
Harper Perennial * 9780062225474
YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST): A Memoir by Felicia Day (Memoir)
Felicia Day is a violinist, filmmaker, Internet entrepreneur, compulsive gamer, hoagie specialist, and former lonely homeschooled girl who overcame her isolated childhood to become at least semi-influential in the world of Internet geeks and Goodreads book clubs. She moved to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress and was immediately typecast as a crazy cat-lady secretary. But her misadventures in Hollywood led her to produce her own web series, own her very own production company, and become an Internet star.
Touchstone * 9781476785660
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On Sale the Week of April 25th in Hardcover
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April 26th
AMERICAN PHAROAH: The Untold Story of the Triple Crown Winner's Legendary Rise by Joe Drape (Sports)
Written by an award-winning New York Times sportswriter, AMERICAN PHAROAH is the definitive account not only of how the ethereal colt won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, but how he changed lives. Through extensive interviews, Joe Drape explores the making of an exceptional racehorse, chronicling key events en route to history. Covering everything from the flamboyant owner's successful track record, the jockey's earlier heartbreaking losses, and the Hall of Fame trainer's intensity, Drape paints a stirring portrait of a horse for the ages and the people around him.
Hachette Books * 9780316268844
THE BIG SHOWDOWN: A Caleb York Western by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (Western)
Caleb York has made up his mind and packed his bags. He'll be on the next stage, bound for San Diego and a new life as a Pinkerton man. But before Caleb can say a proper goodbye to his sweetheart, Willa, a peaceful morning erupts into blazing gunfire. Someone has to bring law and order to the wild little town of Trinidad, even as a band of outlaw brothers rides the vengeance trail and a new cattle baron sets his sights on more land…and on Willa, too. With his Colt loaded for justice and a sheriff's badge on his chest, Caleb York emerges as a classic Western hero who knows just how to stand up to the deadliest of enemies --- and win.
Kensington * 9781617735967
CITY OF SECRETS by Stewart O'Nan (Historical Thriller)
In 1945, with no homes to return to, Jewish refugees by the tens of thousands set out for Palestine. Those who made it were hunted as illegals by the British mandatory authorities there and relied on the underground to shelter them. Taking fake names, they blended with the population, joining the wildly different factions fighting for the independence of Israel. CITY OF SECRETS follows one survivor, Brand, as he tries to regain himself after losing everyone he's ever loved.
Viking * 9780670785964
EXTREME PREY by John Sandford (Thriller)
After the events in GATHERING PREY, Lucas Davenport finds himself in a very unusual situation --- no longer employed by the Minnesota BCA. His friend the governor is just cranking up a presidential campaign, though, and he invites Lucas to come along as part of his campaign staff. “Should be fun!” Lucas says, and it kind of is --- until they find they have a shadow: an armed man intent on killing the governor…and anyone who gets in the way.
Putnam * 9780399176050
FATHER'S DAY by Simon Van Booy (Fiction)
At the age of six, a little girl named Harvey learns that her parents have died in a car accident. As she struggles to understand, a kindly social worker named Wanda introduces her to her only living relative: her uncle Jason, a disabled felon with a violent past and a criminal record. Despite his limitations --- and his resistance --- Wanda follows a hunch and cajoles Jason into becoming her legal guardian, convinced that each may be the other’s last chance.
Harper * 9780062408945
HER AGAIN: Becoming Meryl Streep by Michael Schulman (Biography)
In HER AGAIN, an intimate look at the artistic coming-of-age of the greatest actress of her generation, New Yorker contributor Michael Schulman brings into focus Meryl Streep’s heady rise to stardom on the New York stage; her passionate, tragically short-lived love affair with fellow actor John Cazale; her marriage to sculptor Don Gummer; and her evolution as a young woman of the 1970s wrestling with changing ideas of feminism, marriage, love and sacrifice.
Harper * 9780062342843
HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Dark Fantasy/Horror)
Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a 17th-century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters homes at will. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened, or the consequences will be too terrible to bear. The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated by being kept in lockdown, the town's teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting. But, in so doing, they send the town spiraling into dark, medieval practices of the distant past.
Tor Books * 9780765378804
HIDE AWAY: An Eve Duncan Novel by Iris Johansen (Thriller)
World-famous forensic sculptor Eve Duncan has landed in a well-guarded hospital room in Carmel, California. But hidden danger looms for Eve, her beloved Joe Quinn, and Cara Delaney, the young girl they’ve both sworn to protect. With Cara’s enemies on the move, Eve has no choice but to flee the hospital. She turns to her daughter, Jane MacGuire, for help in getting out of the country. For years, Jane has been avoiding pressure to find a treasure thought to be buried in Scotland, but she’s finally succumbed to John MacDuff’s pleas to track it down. Eve and Cara join Jane in the remote mountains, but soon realize that nowhere is far enough away from the ruthless predators who are on their trail.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250075826
IN THE COLD DARK GROUND by Stuart MacBride (Mystery)
Sergeant Logan McRae’s missing-persons investigation has just turned up a dead body in the woods. The Major Investigation Team charges up from Aberdeen, under the beady eye of Logan’s ex-boss, Detective Chief Inspector Steel. A new Superintendent is on her way up from the Serious Organised Crime Task Force, hell-bent on making Logan’s life miserable; Professional Standards are gunning for Steel; and Wee Hamish Mowat, head of Aberdeen’s criminal underbelly, is dying --- leaving rival gangs from all over the UK eying his territory. There’s a war brewing, and Logan is trapped right in the middle.
HarperCollins * 9780008144890
MOCKINGBIRD: A Portrait of Harper Lee: From Scout to Go Set a Watchman by Charles J. Shields (Biography)
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD --- the 20th century's most widely read American novel --- has sold 30 million copies and still sells a million yearly. In this in-depth biography, first published in 2006, Charles J. Shields brings to life the woman who gave us two of American literature's most unforgettable characters: Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout. Now, 10 years after its initial publication --- with revisions throughout the book and a new epilogue --- Shields finishes the story of Harper Lee's life, up to its end.
Henry Holt and Co. * 9781250115836
MURDER AT THE 42nd STREET LIBRARY by Con Lehane (Mystery)
MURDER AT THE 42nd STREET LIBRARY follows librarian (and reluctant sleuth) Raymond Ambler and his partners in crime-solving as they track down a killer, shining a light on the dark deeds and secret relationships that are hidden deep inside the famous flagship building at the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. In their search for the reasons behind the murder, Ambler and his crew uncover sinister, and profoundly disturbing, relationships among the scholars studying in the iconic library.
Minotaur Books * 9781250009968
THE OTHER WIDOW by Susan Crawford (Psychological Thriller)
It isn’t safe. That’s what Joe tells Dorrie when he ends their affair --- moments before their car skids off an icy road in a blinding snowstorm and hits a tree. Desperate to keep her life intact, Dorrie will do everything she can to protect herself. Joe’s death has left his wife in free fall as well. Trying to cope with grief is devastating enough without the constant fear that someone is watching you. Insurance investigator Maggie Devlin is suspicious of the latest claim that’s landed on her desk --- a man dying on an icy road shortly after buying a lucrative life insurance policy. As the fates of these three women become more tightly entwined, layers of lies and deception begin to peel away.
William Morrow * 9780062362889
REVOLUTIONARY DISSENT: How the Founding Generation Created the Freedom of Speech by Stephen D. Solomon (History)
When members of the founding generation protested against British authority, debated separation, and then ratified the Constitution, they formed the American political character we know today --- raucous, intemperate and often mean-spirited. REVOLUTIONARY DISSENT brings alive a world of colorful and stormy protests that included effigies, pamphlets, songs, sermons, cartoons, letters and liberty trees. Stephen D. Solomon explores through a series of chronological narratives how Americans of the Revolutionary period employed robust speech against the British and against each other.
St. Martin's Press * 9780230342064
THE STATESMAN AND THE STORYTELLER: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism by Mark Zwonitzer (History/Biography)
John Hay, famous as Lincoln’s private secretary and later as secretary of state under presidents McKinley and Roosevelt, and Samuel Langhorne Clemens, famous for being “Mark Twain,” grew up 50 miles apart in the same rural antebellum stew of race and class and want. This shared history helped draw them together when they first met as up-and-coming young men in the late 1860s, and their mutual admiration never waned in spite of sharp differences in personality, worldview and public conduct. In THE STATESMAN AND THE STORYTELLER, the last decade of their lives plays out against the tumultuous events of the day.
Algonquin Books * 9781565129894
TEXAS RANGER: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde by John Boessenecker (Biography)
From the horseback days of the Old West through the gangster days of the 1930s, Frank Hamer (known only as the “villain” of the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde) stood on the frontlines of some of the most important and exciting periods in American history. He participated in the Bandit War of 1915, survived the climactic gunfight in the last blood feud of the Old West, battled the Mexican Revolution’s spillover across the border, protected African Americans from lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan, and ran down gangsters, bootleggers and Communists. When at last his career came to an end, it was only when he ran up against another legendary Texan: Lyndon B. Johnson.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250069986
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On Sale the Week of April 25th in Paperback
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April 26th
THE ALASKAN LAUNDRY by Brendan Jones (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Tara Marconi has made her way from Philly to “the Rock,” a remote island in Alaska governed by the seasons. Her mother’s death left her unmoored, with a seemingly impassable rift between her and her father. But in this majestic, rugged frontier, she works her way up the commercial fishing ladder --- from hatchery assistant all the way to king crabber. Disciplined from years as a young boxer, she learns anew what it means to work, to connect, and --- through an unlikely old tugboat --- how to make a home she knows is her own.
Mariner Books * 9780544325265
AURORA by Kim Stanley Robinson (Science Fiction)
A major novel from one of science fiction's most powerful voices, AURORA tells the incredible story of our first voyage beyond the solar system. Brilliantly imagined and beautifully told, it is the work of a writer at the height of his powers.
Orbit * 9780316098090
BARBARIAN DAYS: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (Memoir)
Raised in California and Hawaii, William Finnegan started surfing as a child. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia and Africa. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter. BARBARIAN DAYS takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds and immerses us in the edgy camaraderie of close male friendships annealed in challenging waves.
Penguin Books * 9780143109396
BEST OF MY LOVE: A Fool's Gold Romance by Susan Mallery (Romance)
Paperback Original
To overcome her painful past, baker Shelby Gilmore goes on the hunt for a friend --- a male friend --- to convince her stubborn psyche that men can be trusted. But where in a town as small as Fool's Gold will the petite blonde find a guy willing to not date her? Dark, charming Aidan Mitchell puts the "adventure" in Mitchell Adventure Tours…and into the beds of his many willing female tourists. Maybe Shelby's boy/girl experiment will help him see women as more than just conquests so he can change his ways and win back his self-respect.
HQN Books * 9780373789191
CONSTANT FEAR by Daniel Palmer (Thriller)
When Jake Dent’s dreams of baseball glory fell apart, his marriage did too. A popular survivalist blog ended up helping to restore his sense of control, and he raised his diabetic son, Andy, to be ready for any sudden catastrophe. Now a student at a prestigious academy where Jake works as a custodian, Andy has a secret --- he’s part of a computer club that redistributes money from the obscenely wealthy to the needy. But this time, they’ve stolen from the wrong people: a vicious drug cartel that is coming to get its money back.
Pinnacle/Kensington * 9780786033836
THE DARKLING CHILD: The Defenders of Shannara by Terry Brooks (Fantasy)
In THE DARKLING CHILD, the second stand-alone Shannara novel in the Defenders of Shannara series (following THE HIGH DRUID’S BLADE), Paxon Leah has joined the Druid Order as a paladin, tasked with protecting the Druids with the aid of his magical sword. But Paxon’s toughest assignment will come when he must track down a young musician with newly manifested magic before a rival sorcerer can corrupt the boy.
Del Rey * 9780345540812
DINNER WITH BUDDHA by Roland Merullo (Fiction)
If life is a journey --- with detours, paths from which to choose, and myriad roadblocks to overcome --- then Otto Ringling is most certainly on the journey of a lifetime. His first 50 or so years were pretty good. He felt he had it all, until one day he didn’t. Seeking understanding, he calls on Volya Rinpoche, a wise man and spiritual leader. But it turns out that Rinpoche is experiencing his own time of doubt. In hopes of finding answers to life’s mysteries, the two embark on a journey through America, an amusing and enlightening road trip that becomes a lesson in love and gratitude.
Algonquin Books * 9781616205997
THE DROWNING GIRLS by Paula Treick DeBoard (Thriller)
Paperback Original
In the luxurious gated community of The Palms, Liz McGinnis soon discovers that even the friendliest residents can't be trusted. When the gorgeous girl next door befriends Liz’s daughter, Danielle, Liz can't help but find sophisticated Kelsey's interest in her shy and slightly nerdy daughter a bit suspicious. But while Kelsey quickly becomes a fixture in the McGinnis home, Liz's relationships with both Danielle and her husband, Phil, grow strained. Now even her own family seems to be hiding things, and it's not long before their dream of living the high life quickly spirals out of control.
Mira * 9780778318378
DRY BONES: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson (Mystery)
When Jen, the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, surfaces in Sherriff Walt Longmire’s jurisdiction, it appears to be a windfall for the High Plains Dinosaur Museum --- until Danny Lone Elk, the Cheyenne rancher on whose property the remains were discovered, turns up dead. With millions of dollars at stake, a number of groups step forward to claim her, including Danny’s family, the tribe and the federal government. Walt is determined to find out who would benefit from Danny’s death.
Penguin Books * 9780143108184
FEAR THE DARKNESS by Becky Masterman (Thriller)
After her sister-in-law dies, retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn’s niece, Gemma Kate, comes to live with her and her husband, Carlo. There's always been something unsettling about Gemma Kate, but family is family. Meanwhile, Brigid agrees to help a local couple by investigating the death of their son --- until dangerous things start to happen. As the menace comes closer and closer to home, Brigid begins to wonder if she can trust anyone.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250073938
THE GILDED LIFE OF MATILDA DUPLAINE by Alex Brunkhorst (Fiction)
When young journalist Thomas Cleary is sent to dig up quotes for the obituary of a legendary film producer, the man's eccentric daughter offers him entrée into the exclusive upper echelons of Hollywood society. Then he meets Matilda Duplaine, a beautiful and mysterious young woman, and the two begin a secret love affair. But what starts as an enchanted romance soon unravels a web of secrets and lies that could destroy their lives --- and the lives of everyone around them --- forever.
Mira * 9780778318873
HITMAN ANDERS AND THE MEANING OF IT ALL by Jonas Jonasson (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In a former brothel turned low-rent hotel, the lives of three unusual strangers --- a former female priest, recently fired from her church; the ruined grandson of an ex-millionaire working as a receptionist; and Killer-Anders, a murderer newly released from prison --- accidently collide with darkly hilarious results. HITMAN ANDERS AND THE MEANING OF IT ALL is a story of idealism and fanaticism, gangsters and entrepreneurs, sensationalism and spirituality, that explores the values that matter in contemporary life.
Ecco * 9780062458179
HOLD STILL: A Memoir with Photographs by Sally Mann (Memoir/Photography)
In HOLD STILL, a unique interplay of narrative and image, Sally Mann's preoccupation with family, race, mortality and the storied landscape of the American South are revealed as almost genetically predetermined, written into her DNA by the family history that precedes her. In lyrical prose and startlingly revealing photographs, she crafts a totally original form of personal history that has the page-turning drama of a great novel but is firmly rooted in the fertile soil of her own life.
Back Bay Books * 9780316247757
IT TAKES ONE: An Audrey Harte Novel by Kate Kessler (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
Criminal psychologist Audrey Harte is returning home after seven years. She'll have to face the whispers and the rumors that have haunted her family since she left. Because when Audrey was 13, she and her best friend, Maggie, killed Maggie's abusive father. Her first night back in town ends in a fight with a drunken Maggie, with her old crush Jake to witness it all. Audrey can't believe it can get worse. Then Maggie turns up dead.
Redhook * 9780316302500
THE LAST BOOKANEER by Matthew Pearl (Historical Fiction)
Pen Davenport is the most infamous bookaneer in Europe. A master of disguise, he makes his living stalking harbors, coffeehouses and print shops for the latest manuscript to steal. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: books could be published without an author’s permission. Yet on the eve of the 20th century, the bookaneers are on the verge of extinction, as a new international treaty is signed to grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. THE LAST BOOKANEER tells the astonishing story of these literary thieves’ epic final heist.
Penguin Books * 9780143108092
THE LEGEND OF CALEB YORK by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (Western)
Crooked Sheriff Harry Gauge rules the town of Trinidad, New Mexico, with an iron fist. His latest scheme is to force rancher George Cullen into selling his spread and to take Cullen's beautiful daughter, Willa, for his bride --- whether she's willing or not. The old man isn't about to go down without a fight. He sends out a telegram to hire the west's toughest gunslinger to kill the sheriff. But when a stranger rides into Trinidad, no one's sure who he is --- but it's deadly clear he's a man who won't be pushed.
Pinnacle/Kensington * 9780786036141
LONE HEART PASS: A Ransom Canyon Romance by Jodi Thomas (Romance)
Paperback Original
Jubilee Hamilton has inherited a run-down Texas farm and is forced to hire an abrasive foreman. Every time Charley Collins has let a woman get close, he's been burned. So Lone Heart Ranch and the contrary woman who owns it are merely a means to an end, until Jubilee tempts him to take another risk --- to stop resisting the attraction drawing them together despite all his hard-learned logic. Desperation is all young Thatcher Jones knows. And when he finds himself mixed up in a murder investigation, his only protection is the shelter of a man and woman who --- just like him --- need someone to trust.
HQN Books * 9780373789214
LOVE LIES BENEATH by Ellen Hopkins (Mystery/Romance)
Tara lives in an impeccably restored Russian Hill mansion in San Francisco. Once a widow, twice divorced, she’s a woman with a past she prefers keeping to herself. Enter Cavin Lattimore, the surgeon assigned to Tara following a ski accident in Lake Tahoe. In the weeks it takes her to recover, Cavin sweeps her off her feet and their relationship blossoms into something Tara had never imagined possible. But then she begins to notice some strange things. However perfect Tara’s life appears, things are starting to get messy.
Atria Books * 9781476743660
LUSITANIA: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age by Greg King and Penny Wilson (History)
A hundred years after her sinking, Lusitania remains an evocative ship of mystery. Was she carrying munitions that exploded? Did Winston Churchill engineer a conspiracy that doomed the liner? Lost amid these tangled skeins is the romantic, vibrant and finally heartrending tale of the passengers who sailed aboard her. Authors Greg King and Penny Wilson resurrect this lost, glittering world to show the golden age of travel and illuminate the most prominent of Lusitania’s passengers.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250080356
METERNITY by Meghann Foye (Fiction)
Paperback Original
At 31, editor Liz Buckley has plateaued at Paddy Cakes, a glossy baby magazine that flogs thousand-dollar strollers to entitled, hypercompetitive spawn-havers. Liz has spent years working a gazillion hours a week picking up the slack for co-workers with kids, and she's tired of it. So one day, when her stress-related nausea is mistaken for morning sickness by her bosses, Liz is promoted to the mommy track. She decides to run with it and plans to use her paid time off to figure out her life; it'll be her "meternity" leave. But how long can she keep up her charade…and hide it from the guy who might just be The One?
Mira * 9780778319306
PRETTY GIRLS by Karin Slaughter (Psychological Thriller)
More than 20 years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister, Julia, vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss --- a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed. The surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago…and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.
William Morrow * 9780062429070
SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY: A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle by Kristen Green (History)
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, Virginia’s Prince Edward County refused to obey the law. Rather than desegregate, the county closed its public schools. Kristen Green grew up in Farmville and attended Prince Edward Academy, which didn’t open its doors to black students until 1986. Thirty-four years after the Supreme Court ended school segregation, Green first began to learn the truth about her hometown’s shameful history. As she peels back the layers of this haunting period in our nation’s past, her own family’s role comes to light.
Harper Perennial * 9780062268686
A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD by Anne Tyler (Fiction)
Abby and Red Whitshank, and their four grown children, have accumulated not only tender moments, laughter and celebrations, but also jealousies, disappointments and carefully guarded secrets. From Red’s father and mother, newly arrived in Baltimore in the 1920s, to Abby and Red’s grandchildren carrying the family legacy boisterously into the 21st century, here are four generations of Whitshanks, their lives unfolding in and around the sprawling, lovingly worn Baltimore house that has always been their anchor.
Ballantine Books * 9780553394399
TAIL GAIT: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown (Mystery)
Spring has sprung in Crozet, Virginia --- a time for old friends to gather and bid farewell to the doldrums of winter. Harry and her husband, Fair, are enjoying a cozy dinner with some of the town’s leading citizens, including beloved University of Virginia history professor Greg “Ginger” McConnell and several members of UVA’s celebrated 1959 football team. But beneath the cloak of conviviality lurks a sinister specter from the distant past that threatens to put all their lives in jeopardy.
Bantam * 9780553392456
TRAP by Robert K. Tanenbaum (Legal Thriller)
A tremendous fatal blast rocks a book-signing event where supporters have gathered to see the inspirational leading advocate for New York City charter schools, a Holocaust survivor. A neo-Nazi is the prime suspect, but District Attorney Butch Karp believes the hate crime may be a cover-up for a more sinister plot. The treacherous teacher’s union president has long been furious at the unqualified successes of the charter school movement, which threatens to expose his corrupt practices. But is there another motive behind the attack that could derail the case?
Pocket Books * 9781476793184
UNDERCOVER by Danielle Steel (Romantic Suspense)
For DEA Special Agent Marshall Everett, life as he knows it is over once a gunshot wound renders his arm useless. He’s called to action in the most unlikely of places when he stumbles upon a beautiful girl burying an old steel box in a Parisian park. Drawn into the mystery, Marshall soon discovers that she is Ariana Gregory, daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Argentina, who is trying to find herself again after being kidnapped and brainwashed by radical revolutionaries. But there are powerful forces at large who will not rest until they secure revenge.
Dell * 9781101966914
THE WATER MUSEUM: Stories by Luis Alberto Urrea (Fiction/Short Stories)
Examining the borders between one nation and another, between one person and another, Luis Alberto Urrea reveals his mastery of the short form. Suffused with wanderlust, compassion, and no small amount of rock and roll, this collection includes the Edgar Award-winning "Amapola" and his now-classic "Bid Farewell to Her Many Horses," which had the honor of being chosen for NPR's "Selected Shorts" not once but twice.
Back Bay Books * 9780316334396
WHEN THE MOON IS LOW by Nadia Hashimi (Fiction)
Mahmoud's passion for his wife Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she's ever known. But their happy, middle-class world implodes when their country is engulfed in war, and the Taliban rises to power. Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered. Forced to flee Kabul with her three children, Fereiba has one hope to survive: she must find a way to cross Europe and reach her sister's family in England.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062369611
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