Molinard’s startling and surreal collection, first published in France in 1969, presents the pitfalls of mental illness in a world made foreign. Prolific yet terrorized by self-doubt, Molinard (1921–1986) destroyed everything she ever wrote, save for the stories preserved by her husband as well as h... Continue reading »

At the start of this first-class mystery from Goldman (the Nils Shapiro series), Joey Green, the owner of a Chicago jewelry company, returns to Beaufort, S.C., to visit his father, Marshall, who’s suffering from a disease that’s rapidly destroying his short-term memory. Joey offers to stay with Mars... Continue reading »

Bestseller Penelope (Requiem of Silence) launches her Bliss Wars series with a seamless blend of fantasy subgenres, wrenching action, and all-too-human characters. After 23-year-old Talia dies in an accident, she’s transported to a fantastical, post-apocalyptic world populated by powerful s... Continue reading »

Ledel (Wildflower Words) reunites ex-lovers in this elegant and understated historical romance. When Harriet Browning and Ava Clark met in college 15 years before the start of the novel, lumber heiress Harriet was a coolly elegant N.Y.C. socialite and Ava a kindhearted country mouse who hel... Continue reading »

Van Sciver (One Dirty Tree) pulls off an ambitious feat: a nuanced graphic biography of Mormonism’s founder. In 1825, treasure hunter Joseph Smith (1805–1844) tells Emma Hale about his visions of an ancient record etched on gold plates. Against her family’s wishes, they marry and return to ... Continue reading »

This excellent assemblage of the late Farrokhzad’s selected work brings the yearning and sensual lyricism of the modernist Iranian poet to a contemporary audience. Gray’s introduction provides useful context on Farrokhzad’s tragically short life, while her curation captures much of the arc and scope... Continue reading »

Four women discover that family comes in many forms in this gorgeous saga from Byrd (Lady of a Thousand Treasures). In 1958, Helen Devries, the widow of a Navy lieutenant, receives an unexpected call from Choi Eunhee, who says her recently deceased husband had been good friends with Helen’s... Continue reading »

Ovenden (Burning the Books), head of the Bodleian Library, and Tolkien archivist McIlwaine (Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth) take an illuminating look in this superior anthology at the work of J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher (1924–2020), who played a major part in his father’s lite... Continue reading »

Ceramicist Cobb (Mastering Hand Building) marries form and function in her masterful debut, a look at “the mysterious and magical world of clay.” She begins with an overview of best practices for posture and breathing at the wheel, as well as stretches to warm up one’s hands for working cla... Continue reading »

In this profound treatise, sixth-generation funeral director Wilde (Confessions of a Funeral Director) reflects on death and the hereafter in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Wilde outlines a “progressive view of the afterlife” that sees death as a “liminal” space in which the deceased live ... Continue reading »

MacGregor’s exhilarating debut follows white nonbinary 18-year-old Sam Sylvester, who is autistic, as they try to make a new life in Oregon after surviving a harrowing hate crime in their Montana hometown. Despite unwavering support from their father and burgeoning friendships at their new school, S... Continue reading »