March 10, 2023
New Fiction
Bookworm by Robin Yeatman – Victoria is unhappily married to an ambitious and controlling lawyer consumed with his career. Burdened with overbearing in-laws, a boring dead-end job she can’t seem to leave, and a best friend who doesn’t seem to understand her, Victoria finds solace from the daily grind in her beloved books and the stories she makes up in her head. One day, in a favorite café, she notices an attractive man reading the same bestselling novel she is. As a woman yearning for her own happy ending, Victoria is sure it’s fate. The handsome book lover must be her soul mate. There’s only one small problem: Victoria is already married. Frustrated and desperate to change her life, Victoria retreats to the dark places in her mind and thinks back to all the stories she’s ever read in hopes of finding a solution. She begins imaging nocturnal trysts with café man and creative ways (poisoned pickles were an inspired choice in Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres) of getting rid of the dreaded husband. It’s all just harmless fantasy borne of Victoria’s fevered imagination and her books- until, one night, fiction and reality blur, and suddenly it seems Victoria is about to get every she’s wished for.
The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes – Berlin, 1933. Following the success of her debut novel, American writer Althea James receives an invitation from Joseph Goebbels himself to participate in a cultural exchange program in Germany. To a girl from a small town in Maine, Berlin seems sparklingly cosmopolitan, blossoming in the midst of a great change with its charismatic new chancellor at the helm. When Althea meets a beautiful woman who promises to show her the real Berlin, she’s drawn into a group of resisters who make her questions everything she knows about her hosts-and herself. Paris, 1936. She may have escaped Berlin for Paris, but Hannah Brecht discovers the City of Lights is no refuge from the anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathizers she thought she’d left behind. Heartbroken and tormented by the role she played in the betrayal that destroyed her family, Hannah throws herself into her work at the German Library of Burned Books. Through the quiet power of books, she believes she can help counter the tide of fascism she sees rising across Europe and atone for her mistakes. But when a dear friend decides actions will speak louder than words, Hannah must decide what stories she is willing to live – or die-for. New York, 1944. Since her husband, Edward, was killed fighting the Nazis, Vivian Childs has been waging her own war: preventing a powerful senator’s attempts to censor the Armed Services Editions, portable paperbacks that are shipped by the millions to soldiers overseas. Viv knows just how much they mean to the men through the letters she receives – including the last one she got from Edward. She also knows the only way to win this battle is to counter the senator’s propaganda with a story of her own – at the heart of which lies the reclusive and mysterious woman tending the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books in Brooklyn. As Viv unknowingly brings her censorship fight crashing into the secrets of the recent past, the fates of these three women will converge, changing all of them forever.
Things We Hide From the Light by Lucy Score – Two bullets put a dent in that Southern Charm, but-thankfully-spared his spectacular rear end. He’s got his hands full with the man who shot him still on the loose, healing wounds, and citizens that think of the law as more of a “guideline.” Throw in the gloomy mood that clings to him and the last things he needs is a smart-mouthed, gorgeous new neighbour making him feel things he doesn’t have the energy to feel. Lina Solavita has her reasons for being in town. She’s on a mission, and the fewer people that find out about it, the better. She does her best work alone, and as soon as she finds what she’s after, she’s hitting the road for the next solo adventure. Too bad the town of Knockemout has other ideas. Soon, Lina finds herself sucked into small-town life. Dog Sitting…Saying yes to a bridesmaid dress. But when Nash finds out why she’s there, flirty friends become furious enemies. The sparks flying don’t know the difference between lust and hate. When danger forces them together, it’s only a matter of time before they both get burned.
Stars in an Italian Sky by Jill Santopolo – Genoa, Italy 1946. Vincenzo and Giovanna fall in love at twenty-one the moment they set eyes on each other. The son of a count and the daughter of a tailor, they belong to opposing worlds. Despite this, the undeniable spark between them quickly burns into a deep and passionate relationship spent exploring each other’s mind, body, and their city, as well as Vincenzo’s family’s sprawling vineyard, Villa Della Rosa – until shifts in political power force them each to choose a side and commit what the other believes is a betrayal, shattering the bright future they dreamed together. New York, 2017. Cassandra and Luca are in love. Although neither quite fits with the other’s family, Cass and Luca have always felt like a perfect match. But when Luca, an artist, convinces his grandfather and Cass’s grandmother to pose for a painting, past and present collide and reveal a secret that changes everything.