June 25, 2021
New Fiction
Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand – On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three, is killed in a big and run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond, where she’s assigned to a Person named Martha, who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on Earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, daughter Carson partying until all hours, and son Leo currently “off again” with his high-maintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully about how to use them. From the Beyond, Vivi watches “the chief” Ed Kapenash investigate her death, but her greatest worry is her final book, which contains a secret from her youth that could be disastrous for her reputation. When hidden truths come to light, Vivi’s family will have to sort out their past and present mistakes – with or without a nudge form above – while Vivi finally lets them grow without her.
Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger – A seat at the anchor desk of the most-watched morning show. Recognized by millions across the country, thanks in part to her flawless blond highlights and Botox-smoothed skin. An adoring husband and a Princeton-bound daughter. Peyton is that woman. She has it all. Until… Skye, her sister, is a stay-at-home mom living in a glitzy suburb of New York. She has degrees from all the right schools and can helicopter-parent with the best of them. But Skye is different from the rest. She’s looking for something real and dreams of a life beyond the PTA and pickup. Until… Max, Peyton’s bright and quirky seventeen-year-old daughter, is posed to kiss her fancy private school goodbye and head off to pursue her dreams in film. She’s waited her entire life for this opportunity. Until… One little lie. That’s all it takes. For the illusions to crack. For resentments to surface. Suddenly the grass doesn’t look so green. And they’re left wondering: will they have what it takes to survive the truth?
The Sister’s Tale by Beth Powning – With the trial of a murderer darkening the news, the respected wife of a New Brunswick sea captain is drawn into the troubling case of a British home child. Mortified that she must purchase the beautiful teenager in a pauper auction to save her from lechery and abuse, Josephine Galloway finds herself unexpectedly the proprietor of a boarding house maintained by the sweat and tears of a curious collection of women. Among them is the English girl, Flora Salford, haunted by a missing piece of her life that she fears lost forever. Struggling to earn her place in this strange new country, Flora must decide is she can be the pillar Josephine’s household desperately needs when tragedy strikes.
The Stepsisters by Susan Mallery – Once upon a time, when her dad married Sage’s mom, Daisy was thrilled to get a bright and shiny new sister. But Sage was beautiful and popular, everything Daisy was not, and she made sure Daisy knew it. Sage didn’t have Daisy’s smarts – she had to go back a grade to enrol in the fancy rich-kid school. So she used her popularity as a weapon, putting Daisy down to elevate herself. After the divorce, the stepsisters’ rivalry continued until the final, improbable straw: Daisy married Sage’s first love, and Sage fled California. Eighteen years, two kids and one troubled marriage later, Daisy never expects –or wants-to see Sage again. But when the little sister they have in common needs them both, they put aside their differences to care for Cassidy. As long-buried truths are revealed, no one is more surprised than they when friendship blossoms. Their fragile truce is threatened by one careless act that could have devastating consequences. They could turn their backs on each other again…or they could learn to forgive once and for all and finally become true sisters of the heart.