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James McBride, author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.

Editorial Content for Thornhedge

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Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

T. Kingfisher has proven herself to be an enigma. She has displayed expertise as a writer of children’s stories along with a track record of some of the best written, most unsettling horror in recent years. Add to this a mastery of classic fairy tales teeming with adventure, and you will have some idea of what you can expect from her latest novel. Read More

Teaser

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story. Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? But nothing with fairies is ever simple. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold.

Promo

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story. Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? But nothing with fairies is ever simple. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold.

About the Book

From New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher, THORNHEDGE is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways.

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold.

Audiobook available, read by Jennifer Blom

Editorial Content for Delicate Condition

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Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

Danielle Valentine sets every pregnant woman’s worst fears against a very real villain in DELICATE CONDITION. This feminist ROSEMARY’S BABY proves that the most horrifying things in life aren’t monsters, cults or Satanists, but motherhood and pregnancy. Read More

Teaser

Anna Victoria Alcott is desperate to have a family. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life as an indie actress with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure that never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. Cryptic warnings have her jumping at shadows. And despite everything she's gone through to make this pregnancy a reality, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone is playing twisted games with her. Then her doctor tells her she's had a miscarriage --- except Anna is convinced she's still pregnant despite everything the grave-faced men around her claim. Vague warnings become direct threats as someone stalks her through the bleak ghost town of the snowy Hamptons.

Promo

Anna Victoria Alcott is desperate to have a family. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life as an indie actress with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure that never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. Cryptic warnings have her jumping at shadows. And despite everything she's gone through to make this pregnancy a reality, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone is playing twisted games with her. Then her doctor tells her she's had a miscarriage --- except Anna is convinced she's still pregnant despite everything the grave-faced men around her claim. Vague warnings become direct threats as someone stalks her through the bleak ghost town of the snowy Hamptons.

About the Book

Hush little baby, don't say a word…Mama's gonna show all the horrors she's endured.

Anna Victoria Alcott is desperate to have a family. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life as an indie actress with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure that never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. Cryptic warnings have her jumping at shadows. And despite everything she's gone through to make this pregnancy a reality, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone is playing twisted games with her.

Then her doctor tells her she's had a miscarriage --- except Anna is convinced she's still pregnant despite everything the grave-faced men around her claim. She can feel the baby moving inside her, can see the strain it's taking on her weakening body. Vague warnings become direct threats as someone stalks her through the bleak ghost town of the snowy Hamptons. As her symptoms and sense of danger grow ever more horrifying, Anna can't help but wonder what exactly she's carrying inside of her...and why no one will listen when she says something is horribly, painfully wrong.

Audiobook available, read by Hillary Huber

Editorial Content for Where the Dead Sleep

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Joshua Moehling’s terrific first novel, AND THERE HE KEPT HER, featured a unique protagonist who is openly gay. Deputy Ben Packard is back in this intriguing follow-up, WHERE THE DEAD SLEEP, which again takes place in the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake. Life changes significantly for Packard when he learns that the current sheriff has passed away following a lengthy battle with cancer, which means that he will take over as acting Sheriff. Read More

Teaser

When an early morning call brings Deputy Ben Packard to the scene of a home invasion, he finds Bill Sandersen shot in his bed. Bill was a well-liked local who chased easy money his whole life, leaving bad debts and broken hearts in his wake. As the investigation begins, tragedy strikes the Sheriff's department, forcing Packard to make a difficult choice about his future: step down as acting Sheriff and pursue a quiet life, or subject himself to the scrutiny of an election for the full-time role of Sheriff, a job he's not sure he wants. There's a hidden history to Sandy Lake that Packard can't see. Bad blood and old secrets run deep. But an attempt on Packard's life means he's getting uncomfortably close to the dangerous legacy of the quiet Minnesota town. And someone will do anything to keep it hidden.

Promo

When an early morning call brings Deputy Ben Packard to the scene of a home invasion, he finds Bill Sandersen shot in his bed. Bill was a well-liked local who chased easy money his whole life, leaving bad debts and broken hearts in his wake. As the investigation begins, tragedy strikes the Sheriff's department, forcing Packard to make a difficult choice about his future: step down as acting Sheriff and pursue a quiet life, or subject himself to the scrutiny of an election for the full-time role of Sheriff, a job he's not sure he wants. There's a hidden history to Sandy Lake that Packard can't see. Bad blood and old secrets run deep. But an attempt on Packard's life means he's getting uncomfortably close to the dangerous legacy of the quiet Minnesota town. And someone will do anything to keep it hidden.

About the Book

When an early morning call brings Deputy Ben Packard to the scene of a home invasion, he finds Bill Sandersen shot in his bed. Bill was a well-liked local who chased easy money his whole life, leaving bad debts and broken hearts in his wake. Everyone Packard talks to has a story about Bill, but no one has a clear motive for wanting him dead. The business partner. The ex-wife. The current wife. The high-stakes poker buddies. Any of them --- or none of them --- could be guilty.

As the investigation begins, tragedy strikes the Sheriff's department, forcing Packard to make a difficult choice about his future: step down as acting Sheriff and pursue the quiet life he came to Sandy Lake in search of, or subject himself to the scrutiny of an election for the full-time role of Sheriff, a job he's not sure he wants.

There's a hidden history to Sandy Lake that Packard, ever the outsider, can't see. Bad blood and old secrets run deep. But an attempt on Packard's life means he's getting uncomfortably close to the dangerous legacy of the quiet Minnesota town. And someone will do anything to keep it hidden.

Audiobook available, read by Linda Jones

Editorial Content for Spin a Black Yarn: Novellas

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

As a fan of all things supernatural, I can say with confidence that there are not many authors in the horror genre who consistently write at the level of Josh Malerman. BIRD BOX made Malerman a global sensation and was adapted into two Netflix films. He has continued to up the ante with each new release and now has given us a series of unsetting novellas collected in his latest book, SPIN A BLACK YARN. Read More

Teaser

Josh Malerman spins five twisted tales from the shadows of the human soul. A sister insists to her little brother that “Half the House Is Haunted” by a strange presence. But is it the house that’s haunted --- or their childhoods? In “Argyle,” a dying man confesses to homicides he never committed and reveals long-kept secrets far more sinister than murder. A tourist takes the ultimate trip to outer space in “The Jupiter Drop,” but the real journey is into his own dark past. In “Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer™,” a couple buys the latest home gadget only to find themselves trapped by their possessions, their history…and each other. And in “Egorov,” a wealthy old cretin murders a young man, not knowing the victim was a triplet. The two surviving brothers stage a savage faux-haunting with the aim of driving him mad.

Promo

Josh Malerman spins five twisted tales from the shadows of the human soul. A sister insists to her little brother that “Half the House Is Haunted” by a strange presence. But is it the house that’s haunted --- or their childhoods? In “Argyle,” a dying man confesses to homicides he never committed and reveals long-kept secrets far more sinister than murder. A tourist takes the ultimate trip to outer space in “The Jupiter Drop,” but the real journey is into his own dark past. In “Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer™,” a couple buys the latest home gadget only to find themselves trapped by their possessions, their history…and each other. And in “Egorov,” a wealthy old cretin murders a young man, not knowing the victim was a triplet. The two surviving brothers stage a savage faux-haunting with the aim of driving him mad.

About the Book

Five harrowing novellas of horror and speculative fiction from the singular mind of the New York Times bestselling author of BIRD BOX.

Josh Malerman is a master weaver of stories --- and in this spine-chilling collection, he spins five twisted tales from the shadows of the human soul: 

A sister insists to her little brother that “Half the House Is Haunted” by a strange presence. But is it the house that’s haunted --- or their childhoods? 

In “Argyle,” a dying man confesses to homicides he never committed, and he reveals long-kept secrets far more sinister than murder.

A tourist takes the ultimate trip to outer space in “The Jupiter Drop,” but the real journey is into his own dark past. 

In “Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer™,” a trendy married couple buys the latest home gadget only to find themselves trapped by their possessions, their history...and each other.

And in “Egorov,” a wealthy old cretin murders a young man, not knowing the victim was a triplet. The two surviving brothers stage a savage faux-haunting --- playing the ghost of their slain brother --- with the aim of driving the old murderer mad.

Audiobook available; read by Ashley Laurence, James Fouhey and Pete Bradbury

Editorial Content for The Weaver and the Witch Queen

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Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

Following the release of her bestselling debut, THE WITCH’S HEART, Genevieve Gornichec returns with THE WEAVER AND THE WITCH QUEEN, another mythology-influenced tale of magic, women and power. Turning to 900s CE Norway, Gornichec immerses readers in Viking Age history to introduce three unforgettable girls whose fates are intimately bound. Read More

Teaser

Oddny and Gunnhild meet as children in 10th-century Norway. After a visiting wisewoman makes an ominous prophecy that involves Oddny, her sister Signy, and Gunnhild, the three girls take a blood oath to always help one another. When Oddny’s farm is destroyed and Signy is kidnapped by Viking raiders, Oddny is set adrift from the life she imagined --- but she's determined to save her sister, even as she finds herself drawn to one of the raiders who participated in the attack. And in the far north, Gunnhild, who fled her home years ago to learn the ways of a witch, is surprised to find that her destiny seems to be linked with that of the formidable King Eirik. But the bonds that hold the two women together are strong, and when they find their way back to each other, these bonds will be tested in ways they never could have foreseen.

Promo

Oddny and Gunnhild meet as children in 10th-century Norway. After a visiting wisewoman makes an ominous prophecy that involves Oddny, her sister Signy, and Gunnhild, the three girls take a blood oath to always help one another. When Oddny’s farm is destroyed and Signy is kidnapped by Viking raiders, Oddny is set adrift from the life she imagined --- but she's determined to save her sister, even as she finds herself drawn to one of the raiders who participated in the attack. And in the far north, Gunnhild, who fled her home years ago to learn the ways of a witch, is surprised to find that her destiny seems to be linked with that of the formidable King Eirik. But the bonds that hold the two women together are strong, and when they find their way back to each other, these bonds will be tested in ways they never could have foreseen.

About the Book

The lives of two women --- one desperate only to save her missing sister, the other a witch destined to become queen of Norway --- intertwine in this spellbinding, powerful novel of Viking Age history and myth from the acclaimed author of THE WITCH'S HEART.

Oddny and Gunnhild meet as children in 10th-century Norway, and they could not be more different: Oddny hopes for a quiet life, while Gunnhild burns for power and longs to escape her cruel mother. But after a visiting wisewoman makes an ominous prophecy that involves Oddny, her sister Signy, and Gunnhild, the three girls take a blood oath to help one another always.

When Oddny’s farm is destroyed and Signy is kidnapped by Viking raiders, Oddny is set adrift from the life she imagined --- but she's determined to save her sister no matter the cost, even as she finds herself irresistibly drawn to one of the raiders who participated in the attack. And in the far north, Gunnhild, who fled her home years ago to learn the ways of a witch, is surprised to find her destiny seems to be linked with that of the formidable King Eirik, heir apparent to the ruler of all Norway.
 
But the bonds --- both enchanted and emotional --- that hold the two women together are strong, and when they find their way back to each other, these bonds will be tested in ways they never could have foreseen in this deeply moving novel of magic, history and sworn sisterhood.

Audiobook available, read by Nina Yndis

Editorial Content for The Trade Off

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Reviewer (text)

Pamela Kramer

The perfect summer (or anytime) read is one that is thrilling and so hard to put down that you want to finish it in one sitting. THE TRADE OFF by Sandie Jones certainly fits that bill, but it's also a story that, at its core, is about the deceptive practices and outright lying that go on in today's media. And while the book is set in the United Kingdom, those of us on this side of the pond can very well substitute some of our media outlets that use fictional "fake news" and other outlandish stories to keep viewers hooked. Read More

Teaser

For Stella, deputy editor of The Globe, the choice has always been clear. It doesn’t matter how low she has to stoop --- getting the best story is what she’s built her reputation on. For Jess, The Globe’s rookie reporter, the story stops when the truth does. But she knows that the dirty tricks of the tabloids will be hard to overturn. And when a celebrity is hounded by The Globe and pays the ultimate price, Jess wonders just how much Stella and the paper are responsible. Determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of, Jess will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth. But she needs to watch her back, because someone else is prepared to kill to bury it.

Promo

For Stella, deputy editor of The Globe, the choice has always been clear. It doesn’t matter how low she has to stoop --- getting the best story is what she’s built her reputation on. For Jess, The Globe’s rookie reporter, the story stops when the truth does. But she knows that the dirty tricks of the tabloids will be hard to overturn. And when a celebrity is hounded by The Globe and pays the ultimate price, Jess wonders just how much Stella and the paper are responsible. Determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of, Jess will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth. But she needs to watch her back, because someone else is prepared to kill to bury it.

About the Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese's Book Club pick THE OTHER WOMAN comes THE TRADE OFF, an electrifying new novel of suspense that begs the question: Would you tell a story, if you knew it was a lie? Or tell the truth and sleep at night?

For Stella, deputy editor of The Globe, the choice has always been clear. It doesn’t matter how low she has to stoop --- getting the best story is what she’s built her reputation on.

For Jess, The Globe’s rookie reporter, the story stops when the truth does. But she knows that the dirty tricks of the tabloids will be hard to overturn.

And when a celebrity is hounded by The Globe and pays the ultimate price, Jess wonders just how much Stella and the paper are responsible.

Determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of, Jess will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth, but she needs to watch her back, because someone else is prepared to kill to bury it.

Audiobook available, read by Nathalie Buscombe and Sofia Engstrand

Editorial Content for Sun Damage

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Reviewer (text)

Pamela Kramer

While I very much enjoyed SUN DAMAGE, the title doesn't provide even a hint as to what is really going on in Sabine Durrant’s exciting, tension-filled novel. I think a better title would be a phrase used in the book: "Risky Games." Those, after all, are exactly what Ali is engaged in for much of the story. Read More

Teaser

In a tiny village in Provence, nine guests arrive at a luxury holiday home. The visitors know each other well, or at least they think they do. The only stranger among them is Lulu, the young woman catering their stay. But Lulu is not exactly the woman on the video the guests thought they’d hired. It turns out Lulu has plenty to hide --- and nowhere to run as the heat rises. In this seemingly idyllic getaway, under the scorching sun, loyalties will be tested, secrets exposed, and tensions pushed to the brink.

Promo

In a tiny village in Provence, nine guests arrive at a luxury holiday home. The visitors know each other well, or at least they think they do. The only stranger among them is Lulu, the young woman catering their stay. But Lulu is not exactly the woman on the video the guests thought they’d hired. It turns out Lulu has plenty to hide --- and nowhere to run as the heat rises. In this seemingly idyllic getaway, under the scorching sun, loyalties will be tested, secrets exposed, and tensions pushed to the brink.

About the Book

Reminiscent of the works of Patricia Highsmith and Lucy Foley, a compulsive psychological thriller --- “the perfect poolside reading” (Guardian) --- involving gorgeous grifters on the loose in the south of France who prey on a group of unsuspecting vacationers...and each other.

The heat is intense. The secrets are stifling. And there is no escape.

In a tiny village in Provence, nine guests arrive at a luxury holiday home.

The visitors know each other well, or at least they think they do.

The only stranger among them is Lulu, the young woman catering their stay. But Lulu is not exactly the woman on the video the guests thought they’d hired. It turns out Lulu has plenty to hide --- and nowhere to run as the heat rises.

In this seemingly idyllic getaway, under the scorching sun, loyalties will be tested, secrets exposed, and tensions pushed to the brink.

Dripping in intrigue, SUN DAMAGE is a glamorous, witty and totally riveting story chock full of secrets, lies and...more lies.

Audiobook available, read by Sofia Zervudachi

Editorial Content for Still Born

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Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

Near the beginning of Guadalupe Nettel’s STILL BORN, Laura writes that she and her twenty-something friends could be divided into two camps: those who imagined one day having children and those who, like Laura and her friend Alina, “were prepared to accept the disgrace heaped on them by society and family as long as they could preserve their autonomy.” But as Laura and Alina enter their mid-30s, their paths begin to diverge. Laura, an academic in the midst of her thesis research, remains devoted to her independence and singleness. Read More

Teaser

Alina and Laura are independent and career-driven women in their mid-30s, neither of whom have built their future around the prospect of a family. Laura is so determined not to become a mother that she has made the drastic decision to have her tubes tied. But when she announces this to her friend, she learns that Alina has made the opposite decision and is preparing to have a child of her own. Alina's pregnancy shakes the women's lives, first creating distance and then a remarkable closeness between them. When Alina's daughter survives childbirth --- after a diagnosis that predicted the opposite --- and Laura becomes attached to her neighbor's son, both women are forced to reckon with the complexity of their emotions, their needs, and the needs of the people who are dependent upon them.

Promo

Alina and Laura are independent and career-driven women in their mid-30s, neither of whom have built their future around the prospect of a family. Laura is so determined not to become a mother that she has made the drastic decision to have her tubes tied. But when she announces this to her friend, she learns that Alina has made the opposite decision and is preparing to have a child of her own. Alina's pregnancy shakes the women's lives, first creating distance and then a remarkable closeness between them. When Alina's daughter survives childbirth --- after a diagnosis that predicted the opposite --- and Laura becomes attached to her neighbor's son, both women are forced to reckon with the complexity of their emotions, their needs, and the needs of the people who are dependent upon them.

About the Book

A profound novel about motherhood, friendship and the power of community from “one of the leading lights in contemporary Latin American literature” (Valeria Luiselli, author of LOST CHILDREN ARCHIVE).

Alina and Laura are independent and career-driven women in their mid-30s, neither of whom have built their future around the prospect of a family. Laura is so determined not to become a mother that she has made the drastic decision to have her tubes tied. But when she announces this to her friend, she learns that Alina has made the opposite decision and is preparing to have a child of her own.

Alina's pregnancy shakes the women's lives, first creating distance and then a remarkable closeness between them. When Alina's daughter survives childbirth --- after a diagnosis that predicted the opposite --- and Laura becomes attached to her neighbor's son, both women are forced to reckon with the complexity of their emotions, their needs, and the needs of the people who are dependent upon them.

In prose that is as gripping as it is insightful, Guadalupe Nettel explores maternal ambivalence with a surgeon's touch, carefully dissecting the contradictions that make up the lived experiences of women.

Audiobook available, read by Rachel Schwab

Editorial Content for The Museum of Human History

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Sam Johnson

A story of memory and fantasy, THE MUSEUM OF HUMAN HISTORY juggles multiple points of view and time jumps. In her debut novel, Rebekah Bergman wields the third-person perspective fiercely; oftentimes, the book reads like first person, with intimate details and imagery within an individual’s mind. Yet she uses the wide parameters of third person, loosening the confines of dwelling in one character’s head for a prolonged period of time. Read More

Teaser

After nearly drowning, eight-year-old Maeve Wilhelm falls into a strange comatose state. As years pass, it becomes clear that Maeve is not physically aging. A wide cast of characters finds themselves pulled toward Maeve, each believing that her mysterious “sleep” holds the answers to their life’s most pressing questions: Kevin Marks, a museum owner obsessed with preservation; Monique Gray, a refugee and performance artist; Lionel Wilhelm, an entomologist who dreamed of being an astrophysicist; and Evangeline Wilhelm, Maeve’s identical twin. As Maeve remains asleep, the characters grapple with a mysterious new technology and medical advances that promise to ease anxiety and end pain, but instead cause devastating side effects.

Promo

After nearly drowning, eight-year-old Maeve Wilhelm falls into a strange comatose state. As years pass, it becomes clear that Maeve is not physically aging. A wide cast of characters finds themselves pulled toward Maeve, each believing that her mysterious “sleep” holds the answers to their life’s most pressing questions: Kevin Marks, a museum owner obsessed with preservation; Monique Gray, a refugee and performance artist; Lionel Wilhelm, an entomologist who dreamed of being an astrophysicist; and Evangeline Wilhelm, Maeve’s identical twin. As Maeve remains asleep, the characters grapple with a mysterious new technology and medical advances that promise to ease anxiety and end pain, but instead cause devastating side effects.

About the Book

After nearly drowning, eight-year-old Maeve Wilhelm falls into a strange comatose state. As years pass, it becomes clear that Maeve is not physically aging.

A wide cast of characters finds themselves pulled toward Maeve, each believing that her mysterious “sleep” holds the answers to their life’s most pressing questions: Kevin Marks, a museum owner obsessed with preservation; Monique Gray, a refugee and performance artist; Lionel Wilhelm, an entomologist who dreamed of being an astrophysicist; and Evangeline Wilhelm, Maeve’s identical twin.

As Maeve remains asleep, the characters grapple with a mysterious new technology and medical advances that promise to ease anxiety and end pain, but instead cause devastating side effects.

Weaving together speculative elements and classic fables, and exploring urgent issues from the opioid epidemic to the hazards of biotech to the obsession with self-improvement and remaining forever young, Rebekah Bergman’s THE MUSEUM OF HUMAN HISTORY is a brilliant and fascinating novel about how time shapes us, asking what --- if anything --- we would be without it.

Audiobook available, read by Gilli Messer and Mark Bramhall