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Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Anita de Monte Laughs Last

1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City. But by 1998, Anita’s name has been all but forgotten --- certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student, is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret. But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist.

Week of March 3, 2025

Paperback releases for the week of March 3rd include DARLING GIRLS by Sally Hepworth, a thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love and murder; THE FURY, a masterfully paced thriller from Alex Michaelides about a reclusive ex-movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a homicide; Helen Simonson's THE HAZELBOURNE LADIES MOTORCYCLE AND FLYING CLUB, a timeless comedy of manners about a generation of young women facing the seismic changes brought on by war and dreaming of the boundless possibilities of their future; 3 SHADES OF BLUE by James Kaplan, the story of three towering artists --- Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Bill Evans --- and how they came together to create the most iconic jazz album of all time; and Cory Leadbeater's THE UPTOWN LOCAL, a brilliant debut memoir about a young writer --- struggling with depression, family issues and addiction --- and his life-changing decade working for Joan Didion.