It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting. So when her mum returns from her latest trip to Ghana, Maddie seizes the chance to move out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts.” But when tragedy strikes, Maddie is forced to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils --- and rewards --- of putting her heart on the line.

“The first thing we did was change our names. We were going to be Sappho.” So begins Selby Wynn Schwartz’s debut novel, centuries after the Greek poet penned her lyric verse. Ignited by the same muse, a myriad of women break from their small, predetermined lives for seemingly disparate paths. In 1892, Rina Faccio trades her needlepoint for a pen; in 1902, Romaine Brooks sails for Capri with nothing but her clotted paintbrushes; and in 1923, Virginia Woolf writes, “I want to make life fuller and fuller.” Writing in cascading vignettes, Schwartz spins an invigorating tale of women whose narratives converge and splinter as they forge queer identities and claim the right to their own lives.

Abby, a young feminist economist, is anxious that she is grossly underprepared for a talk she is presenting the next day on optimism and John Maynard Keynes. So she has resolved to practice by using an ancient rhetorical method of assigning parts of her speech to different rooms in her house and has brought along a comforting, albeit imaginary, companion to keep her on track --- Keynes himself. Yet, as she wanders with increasing alarm through the rooms of her own consciousness, Abby finds herself straying from her prepared remarks. Instead she undertakes a quest through her memories to ideas hidden in the corners of her mind as she asks what a better world would look like if we told our stories with more honest and hopeful imaginations.

A queer, mixed-race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments. Each essay in their debut collection profiles one such creature: the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs, the Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution and dams, the bizarre Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena), and other uncanny creatures lurking in the deep ocean, far below where the light reaches. Imbler discovers that some of the most radical models of family, community and care can be found in the sea.

Set in 1982, in rural, racially divided Ricksville, Mississippi, WADE IN THE WATER tells the story of Ella, a Black, unloved, precocious 11-year-old, and Ms. St. James, a mysterious white woman from Princeton who appears in Ella’s community to carry out some research. Soon, Ms. St. James befriends Ella, who is willing to risk everything to keep her new friend in a town that does not want her there. The relationship between Ella and Ms. St. James, at times loving and funny and other times tense and cautious, becomes more fraught and complex as Ella unwittingly pushes at Ms. St. James’ carefully constructed boundaries that guard a complicated past, and dangerous secrets that could have devastating consequences.

From the New York Times bestselling author of THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS comes a collection of steamy, STEMinist novellas featuring a trio of engineers and their loves in loathing --- with a special bonus chapter! An environmental engineer discovers that scientists should never cohabitate when she finds herself stuck with the roommate from hell --- a detestable big-oil lawyer who won’t leave the thermostat alone. A civil engineer and her nemesis take their rivalry --- and love --- to the next level when they get stuck in a New York elevator. A NASA aerospace engineer's frozen heart melts as she lies injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station, and the only person willing to undertake the dangerous rescue mission is her longtime rival.

In WEIGHTLESS, acclaimed writer Evette Dionne explores the minefields that fat Black woman are forced to navigate in the course of everyday life. From her early experiences of harassment to adolescent self-discovery in internet chat rooms to diagnosis with heart failure at age 29, Dionne tracks her relationships with friendship, sex, motherhood, agoraphobia, health, pop culture and self-image. Along the way, she lifts back the curtain to reveal the subtle, insidious forms of surveillance and control levied at fat women. But Dionne’s unflinching account of our deeply held prejudices is matched by her fierce belief in the power of self-love.

Five years ago, Geeta’s no-good husband walked out on her, and she has no idea where he is. But in her remote village in India, rumor has it that Geeta killed him. It turns out that being known as a “self-made” widow comes with some perks. No one messes with her, harasses her or tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It’s even been good for business; no one dares to not buy her jewelry. And now other women are asking for her “expertise,” making her an unwitting consultant for husband disposal. With Geeta’s dangerous reputation becoming a double-edged sword, she has to find a way to protect the life she’s built. But what happens next sets in motion a chain of events that will change everything --- not just for Geeta, but for all the women in their village.

When former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis returns home to Milwaukee after her mother's unexpected death, she expects to inherit the family estate, the Elf House. But with the discovery that her mother's will bequeathed the Elf House to a man with whom Saskia shares a complicated history, she is forced to reexamine her own past --- and the romantic relationship that changed the course of her life --- for answers. Can she find a way to claim her heritage while keeping her secrets buried, or will the fallout from digging too deep destroy her? Set against a post #MeToo landscape, THE INGENUE delves into mother-daughter relationships, the expectations of talent, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when the things that once made you special are taken from you.

Manhattan’s East Village, 1993. Crime is high, but rent is low, luring hopeful, creative kids from sleepy suburbs around the country. One of these is Jack S., a young New Jersey rock musician. Just a few days before his band’s biggest gig, their lead singer goes missing with Jack’s prized bass, presumably to hock it to feed his junk habit. Jack’s search for his buddy uncovers a sinister entanglement of crimes tied to local real estate barons looking to remake New York City --- and who also might be connected to the recent death of Jack’s punk rock mentor. Along the way, Jack encounters a cast of colorful characters, including a tough-talking cop who fancies himself a retro-cool icon of the homicide squad but is harboring a surprising secret.