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Week of October 21, 2019

New in Paperback

Week of October 21, 2019

Paperback releases for the week of October 21st include NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney, a poignant and evocative crime novel that centers on a desperate cat-and-mouse chase across 1960s America --- a story of unexpected connections, daring possibilities and the hope of second chances --- set against the assassination of JFK; THE AGE OF LIGHT, Whitney Scharer's decadent and captivating debut novel that brings to light the life of Lee Miller, a little known but fearlessly original artist whose legacy remains largely unexplored, told in the alternating timelines of 1930s Paris and the battlefields of WWII; and WITNESS, in which Ariel Burger, a devoted protégé and friend of one of the world’s great thinkers, takes us into the sacred space of the classroom, showing Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel not only as an extraordinary human being, but as a master teacher.

The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer - Historical Fiction

October 22, 2019

THE AGE OF LIGHT tells the story of Vogue model turned renowned photographer Lee Miller, and her search to forge a new identity as an artist after a life spent as a muse. "I'd rather take a photograph than be one," she declares after she arrives in Paris in 1929, where she soon catches the eye of the famous Surrealist Man Ray. Though he wants to use her only as a model, Lee convinces him to take her on as his assistant and teach her everything he knows. But Man Ray turns out to be an egotistical, charismatic force, and as they work together in the darkroom, their personal and professional lives become intimately entwined, changing the course of Lee's life forever.

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl by Jean Thompson - Fiction

October 22, 2019

Spanning from World War II to the present, A CLOUD IN THE SHAPE OF A GIRL is about three generations of the Wise family --- Evelyn, Laura and Grace --- as they hunt for contentment amid chaos of their own making. We see these women and their trials, small and large: social slights and heartbreaks; marital disappointments and infidelities; familial dysfunction; mortality. One of the burning questions Jean Thompson asks is: By serving her family, is a woman destined to repeat the mistakes of previous generations, or can she transcend the expectations of a place, and a time? Can she truly be free?

Little by Edward Carey - Historical Fiction

October 22, 2019

In 1761, a tiny, odd-looking girl named Marie is born in a village in Switzerland. After the death of her parents, she is apprenticed to an eccentric wax sculptor and whisked off to the seamy streets of Paris, where they meet a domineering widow and her quiet, pale son. Together, they convert an abandoned monkey house into an exhibition hall for wax heads, and the spectacle becomes a sensation. As word of her artistic talent spreads, Marie is called to Versailles, where she tutors a princess and saves Marie Antoinette in childbirth. But outside the palace walls, Paris is roiling: The revolutionary mob is demanding heads, and…at the wax museum, heads are what they do.

Lives Laid Away: An August Snow Novel by Stephen Mack Jones - Mystery/Thriller

October 22, 2019

When the body of an unidentified young Hispanic woman is dredged from the Detroit River, the Wayne County coroner gives her photo to ex-police detective August Snow, insisting August ask around his native Mexicantown to see if anyone recognizes her. August’s good friend Elena, an advocate for undocumented immigrants, immediately pinpoints the girl as local teenager Isadora del Torres. It turns out Izzy isn’t the only young woman to have disappeared during an ICE raid only to turn up dead a few weeks later. Preyed upon by the law itself, the people of Mexicantown have no one to turn to but August. In a guns-blazing wild ride across Detroit, he will put his own life on the line to protect the community he loves.

November Road by Lou Berney - Historical Thriller

October 22, 2019

A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss, Carlos Marcello, Frank Guidry knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate --- a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish. When Guidry sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail.

Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times by Michael Beschloss - History/Politics

October 22, 2019

Ten years in the research and writing, PRESIDENTS OF WAR is a fresh, magisterial, intimate look at a procession of American leaders as they took the nation into conflict and mobilized their country for victory. It brings us into the room as they make the most difficult decisions that face any President, at times sending hundreds of thousands of American men and women to their deaths. From James Madison and the War of 1812 to recent times, we see them struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, their own advisors and antiwar protesters. We come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war --- both physically and emotionally --- or were broken by them.

Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom by Ariel Burger - Memoir

October 22, 2019

The world remembers Elie Wiesel --- Nobel laureate, activist and author of more than 40 books, including Oprah’s Book Club selection NIGHT --- as a great humanist. He passed away in July 2016. Ariel Burger first met Wiesel at age 15. They studied together and taught together. WITNESS chronicles the intimate conversations between these two men over decades, as Burger sought counsel on matters of intellect, spirituality and faith, while navigating his own personal journey from boyhood to manhood, from student and assistant to rabbi and, in time, teacher.