New Book Notes

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* New feature April 2008: click on the book jacket to link to CLAMS catalog page for this title *

July 2008

The Sister by Poppy Adams
Virginia (Ginny) is a scientist who studies moths. She resides in her family's large, cavernous estate that is located in the English countryside. As she ages, Ginny closes off several wings of the family home and sells most of its furniture. Her sister Vivian, who left the family 50 years ago, suddenly returns to stay. Vivian's return brings back long repressed childhood memories. Each sister has her own version of events. Who remembers correctly? "A fantastically chilling debut about how love is sometimes more powerful that memory."
Bookpage June 2008

Slumberland by Paul Beatty
D. J. Darky is a Los Angeles jazz musician who travels to Berlin, Germany to find his idol, Charles Stone. Darky sends a demo of his work to the Slumberland Bar and is immediately hired for the position of "jukebox sommelier." While at the bar, he begins collaborating with Charles Stone. "The narrative touches on oppression and the inexplicable, transcendent power of music. "
Library Journal May 1, 2008

Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
Dr. Leo Liebenstein is a New York City psychiatrist. He thinks the woman who looks like his wife...and says she is his wife...is an imposter. She has to be. She gave him a dog...and his wife hates dogs. He also thinks that Harvey, who is one of his patients, is part of the mystery. "This dense, brilliant novel should be in demand, especially for book groups eager for the challenge of dissecting and reconstructing clues."
Library Journal, May 1, 2008

Outtakes from a Marriage by Ann Leary
Julia Ferraro's husband has been nominated for a Golden Globe for best actor. Before he receives the award notification, Julia finds out that he has been seeing another woman. Julia plunges into insecurity and becomes obsessed with finding the out the identity of the woman. "A witty take on marital survival in Manhattan - with heart."
Kirkus Reviews April 15, 2008

Happy Family by Wendy lee
Hua Wu is a Chinese immigrant living in New York City. She works in a restaurant in Chinatown where she meets Jane Templeton and her Chinese daughter, Lily. Hua Wu soon begins babysitting for Lily and is hired as her nanny. Even though Lily becomes a part of the family she remains an outsider...the story grabs readers from the start and doesn't let go until the final page."
Booklist April 15, 2008

June 2008

Enlightenment by Maureen Freely
Within the complex web of social and political intricacies that define contemporary Turkey, a visiting American suddenly disappears. "Miss M," an American journalist visiting Turkey, starts asking questions and is soon drawn into an investigation involving international espionage. "A riveting narrative of cold war post 9/11 Turkey with a chilling unexpected revelation."
Booklist, April 15, 2008

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
In a bombed-out square in war-torn Sarajevo, an old man plays his cello for twenty-two days in memory of the of twenty-two people who were killed during a mortar attack. At the same time, a young woman sniper skillfully shoots soldier after soldier and young man darts through the dangerous city to get water for this family. Galloway "effectively creates another character in the city itself adding weight to his memorable novel."
Booklist, April 1, 2008

The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff
Marta Nedermann escapes from a Nazi prison camp and is sent to a hospital in a relocation camp to recover. Using a dead woman's visa, Marta leaves the camp and makes her way to London. In London she meets and marries a successful British diplomat. "Jenoff explores the immediate aftermath of World War II with sensitivity and compassion."
Library Journal, April 15, 2008

Evening is the Whole Day by Preets Samarasan
Chellam is a servant of a wealthy Indian family living in Malaysia who cares for six-year-old Aasha. When Chellam is suddenly dismissed for "unnamed crimes" Aasha is devastated. The firing has greater implications for the family than it could ever have imagined. "A surprisingly wise and beautiful debut novel."
Library Journal, April 15, 2008

December by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop
In this emotional portrait of a family in crisis, the reader soon learns that Ruth and Wilson's 11-year-old daughter has voluntarily and inexplicably stopped speaking. Ruth gives up her solo law practice to work with her daughter, but Wilson's angry outbursts cause the problem to escalate. "A captivating read, peopled with characters hard to forget."
Booklist, April 15, 2008

May 2008

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine
Alameddine assumes the role of a hakawati, a Middle Eastern storyteller, and weaves five separate narratives into one exquisite volume. Tales are drawn from the Koran, the Bible, and the Arabian Nights. "This magical novel is epic in proportion and will enchant readers everywhere."
Library Journal March 1, 2008

Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch
After growing up in Charleston, South Carolina and surviving many southern traditions including instruction in social skills and etiquette, a group of young debutantes go on to attend Ivy League schools and move to New York City. The girls make a series of bad decisions that are at times painful and funny. In the end they return to Charleston where they are there for each other. "A stylish debut from a refreshing new voice in fiction."
BookPage, April 2008

Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
Gwen Symon works in a quiet radio station in northern Canada. Mentored by a hard-drinking station manager she ends up working the late shift. Soon an engaging assortment of local characters begin calling in to the station to debate the dangers and environmental hazards involved in the building of a proposed gas pipeline. "Compellingly captures one of the many small moments in which the Canadian North began to lose its essence."
Library Journal, April 1, 2008

The German Bride by Joanna Hershon
After becoming involved with a traveling merchant, Eva Frank leaves her home in Berlin for Santa Fe on a sailing vessel during the 1860's. The man is a forceful figure. Full of charm he promises Eve the moon. When Eva reaches America, her arduous excursion continues across the plains until she reaches a small, dark adobe house. Far from home Eva must come to terms with her new life. "A beautifully written tale of small sufferings and redemptions."
Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2008

The House of Widows by Askold Melnyczuk
While studying at Oxford, a young American named James Pak learns why his Ukrainian-born father committed suicide when James was a child. Among other things, he also learns that his family was involved in human trafficking and that his uncle died alone in Gulag. "Despite its modest page count, this is a big novel. It's about love, war, duty, honor, betrayal, history, and politics."
Booklist, March 1, 2008

April 2008

Pravda by Edward Docx
Gabriel and Isabella are 32 year-old twins who work in unfulfilling jobs and have personal relationships that don't really engage them. Their mother, Maria is a Russian immigrant who is on a secret trip to the town of St. Petersburg to locate a child secretly abandoned when she was a young girl. Her sudden and mysterious death forces the family to confront many secrets that surround their family. "As in his previous book, the final twist is a stunner."
Kirkus Reviews January 15, 2008

The Blue Star by Tony Earley
Jim Glass returns (Jim the Boy, 2000) and is now a young adult living in the shadow of WWII. "Bucky" the son of a prominent family enlists in the Navy. While he is away, Jim becomes infatuated with Chrissie, Bucky's girlfriend. "It's a pleasure to report that Jim has returned…in this quietly moving, elegiac sequel."
BookPage, March 2008

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson
This southern storyteller tells the tale of Laurel Hawthorne, a high-end quilt maker who lives with her husband and 13-year-old daughter in an upscale development in Florida. Alone in the quiet of her bedroom one night, Laurel encounters the ghost of a sad little girl who leads her to the lifeless body of a small child floating in her backyard pool. "A veritable southern gothic."
Booklist December 1, 2007

Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Rebeck
Three beautiful granddaughters and the grandson of a famous literary critic became hot celebrities when they are featured on the cover of the New Yorker Magazine. They soon become hounded by paparazzi, invited to trendy nightclubs and booked for numerous photo shoots. "Rebeck hits the ground running with this fast-paced, wickedly funny satire on celebrity culture."
Booklist, February 1, 2008

Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer
In this engaging novel Wolitzer explores the contentious divide that often separates mothers who work outside the home with those who do not. With a cast of characters who have abandoned promising careers in favor of motherhood, Wolitzer brings their individual stories to light during weekly breakfasts out at a Manhattan restaurant. "Beautifully written and cleverly paced, this novel has a great story on many levels."
Booklist, December 15, 2007

March 2008

The Soul Thief by Charles Baxter
Nathaniel Mason is a graduate student whose life gradually falls apart after meeting an intrusive man, named Jerome Coolberg. Coolberg is a collector of facts who intently complies and stores personal information about individuals in order to use it against them at a later date. "Baxter has created a brooding, atmospheric work that lingers in the mind in a vaguely unsettling way."
BookPage, February 2008

Black Olives by Martha Tod Dudman
Virginia is a middle-aged woman who encounters a lost love, named David, while shopping for gourmet olives in the marketplace. A quirky, loveable heroine, Virginia quickly leaves the shop unseen, but ends up hiding in the back of David's Jeep. The author slowly unveils both the joys and sorrows of Virginia's present dilemma. "Dudman's new novel is a salty and succulent treat."
BookPage, February 2008

Beaufort by Ron Leshem
A thirteen-man Israeli commando unit is posted in Southern Lebanon and lead by a hot headed, twenty-something commander. Ordered to protect isolated and struggling Israeli settlements from attacks by Hezbullah, the team is soon discouraged when several men are either wounded or killed. "Through the diary of a young soldier, the reader experiences the harsh realities of war."
Library Journal, November 15, 2007

The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa
These three novellas, though not technically linked, are bound thematically. In each story, female characters explore the darker side of their otherwise successful lives. The first story examines the life of the daughter of a pastor who runs an orphanage. In the second, a young woman becomes intensely involved in her sister's eating habits. And, in the third story, a young wife begins a relationship with a triple-amputee while her husband is away. "A haunting collection, and a perfect example of the power of short fiction."
Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2007

Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West
Devastated by the sudden death of her mother, Renata, a young screenplay writer from California, sequesters herself in the seclusion of her grandmother's cottage in Point Clear. While still mourning her mother's death, her father decides to marry a younger woman who is found unconscious in a pool and Renata is the prime suspect.
"West has a knack for realistic and engaging characters."
Library Journal, November 15, 2007

February 2008

Go With Me by Castle Freeman
Alonzo "Whizzer" Boot is the proprietor of a 100-year-old mill that is dilapidated, falling down, and long past its prime. The mill attracts a wizened social circle of decrepit old men who spend their days together drinking beer and gossiping about people and the town. When a troubled new-comer shows up in the mill, the group bands together to help her out. "A gem of a novel."
Booklist, November 1, 2007

The Man Who Killed Shakespeare by Ken Hodgson
Shakespeare is a small town in New Mexico that has been devastated by the Great Depression. With so much time on their hands and little to do, the townspeople await the arrival of a man who has promised to start up a new gold mine that will pull the town out of poverty. "Told with an impish sense of humor."
Booklist, October 15, 2007

The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson
Set in the 1960's in a segregated town in Mississippi, this enlightened novel follows Dr. Cooper Connelly, a hard-line, white politician and doctor, and Dr, Reese Jackson, a black physician working in the basement of the local hospital. When a wounded, local hunter ends up in the segregated part of the hospital and dies of his wounds, an intense investigation into the circumstances of his death becomes a catalyst for change in the town. "An insightful take on human nature with an enduring cast of characters."
Booklist, November 15, 2007

At the City's Edge by Marcus Sakey
Jason Palmer, a decorated Iraq War veteran, returns home to Chicago to find his brother's south-side tavern burned to the ground. When his brother's corpse is found in the ashes, and it becomes clear that his brother's nine year-old son, Billy, who witnessed his father's murder, is a target, Jason assembles a squadron of friends he can trust to expose conspiracy and corruption. "It's fast paced from the get-go."
Library Journal, November 1, 2007

The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz
This fictionalization of the life of Haruko, the former Empress of Japan, is intimate and striking. Raised in a upper-class family, Haruko attended private schools, played tennis and in 1959 was selected as the first non-aristocratic woman to marry into the Japanese Monarchy. "A triumph … character driven as it is, it reads like a thriller; swift and complete."
New York Times Book Review

January 2008

Billy, Come Home
by Mary Rose Callaghan
A teenage girl is brutally murdered, and Billy, a schizophrenic, is accused. Angela, his faithful sister, fights for her mentally ill brother's rights. A compelling, dramatic story of schizophrenia, murder and the rush to judgement; a story of prejudice and consequent tragedy. "Family is the real mystery in this deft novel."
Kirkhus Reviews, October 1, 2007

Rivalry: A Geisha's Tale
by Kafu Nagal
Set in early twentieth-century Tokyo, Nagal's story follows a young woman named Komayo who, after the sudden death of her husband becomes involved with a former patron who is married and supports two other Geishas. Komayo's life becomes complicated when she becomes infatuated with a young actor. "This is the art of fiction operating at a very high level."
Booklist, October 15, 2007

Fire in the Blood
by Irene Nemirousky
In this human nature story the author recounts three interlocking tales of love and betrayal. Linked through blood and common history, the characters reside in a seemingly idyllic French community that is always alert for deviations from the proper social code. "If you loved Suite Francaise, you'll likewise take to this recently discovered treasure."
Library Journal, October 1, 2007

The Death Trust
by David Rollins
A shadowy international organization appears to be involved in the murder of General Abraham Scott, the son-in-law of the Vice President. Killed in a suspicious glider accident at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Scott's death triggers a high level alert and Major Vincent Cooper is flown in to investigate. "This book is a white-knuckle read on a par with James Patterson or Nelson DeMille.""
Library Journal, October 1, 2007

The Seventh Well
by Fred Wander
Translated by Michael Hoffmann. Until he was freed in 1945, Fred Wander experienced many cruel months of incarceration, hunger and exhaustion confined to the prisoner of war camp at Buchenwald. He writes intimately about the psychological aspects of incarceration and explores the brain's attempts to cope with extreme horror. "This novel is, while painful, also stunningly beautiful."
Booklist, October 1, 2007

November 2007

Away
By Amy Bloom
Lillian Leyb is a 22-year-old Jewish immigrant who lost her husband and parents when they were forced into a Russian prison camp. She was also separated from her 3-year-old daughter. Like thousands of other Jews, she managed to escape then make her way to New York's Lower East Side. With no money and few skills Lillian is forced to compete with other immigrants for jobs and little pay. The novel's "compact richness and dramatic foreshadowing" make this an "impressively original novel."
Kirkus Review June 15, 2007

Missing Witness
By Gordon Campbell
Douglas McKenzie, a recent law school graduate, passes up a job offer from a blue chip law firm to accept a position working with legendary defense attorney, Dan Morgan, a hard-drinking, chain-smoking ex-marine, who is working on a case involving a rich cattleman. This novel is "a page turner that is also a fascinating primer on the law."
Booklist, August 2007

Interred with Their Bones
By Jennifer Lee Carrell
Kate Shelton, the director of London's New Globe Theatre finds her old advisor, Roz, murdered and her body staged to re-create a scene from one of Shakespeare's tragedies. Other staged murders follow prompting Kate to pursue the clues left behind in the hope of exposing the murderer. "The fast-paced globe-trotting action will appeal to Robert Ludlum readers."
Library Journal, August 2007

The Farther Shore
By Matthew Eck
A small unit of young American soldiers is stranded in a war torn city in Africa. It is hot and sandy and the enemy is everywhere. People are starving, desperate, and violent. The formal rules of engagement are suspended resulting in many casualties. "Eck has created a contemporary version of The Red Badge of Courage in this tale of one young man's trial by fire."
Booklist, September 1, 2007

Tresspass
By Valerie Martin
Chloe Dale, wife and mother, has been commissioned to illustrate a new edition of Wuthering Heights. When her 21-year-old son meets and marries a young immigrant woman from Croatia, she has difficulty accepting her son's decision. "Martin describes the collapse of Yugoslavia in terms of haunting human stories."
Library Journal August 2007

October 2007

In a Pickle: A Family Farm Story
By Jerry Apps
Set in 1955, Apps' novel tells the story of 25-year-old Andy Meyer, a Korean War veteran, who returns home to Wisconsin to work on his father's farm and manage a pickle factory. After the war small local farmers are encouraged to plant bigger fields. When spot-rot hits a local cucumber farm and spreads to other, small farms, residents in the community face losing their livelihood. A conflict arises placing Andy between the family farm and a big corporation. "Apps invests his novel with realism, precise detail, and local color."
Booklist, August 2007

Red Sea
By Emily Benedek
Four jetliners crash and a plot to explode three nuclear warheads in the sea lanes approaching New York City is discovered. Marie Peterssen, an ambitious young aviation reporter, has a hunch about the four crashed jetliners. Her suspicions are confirmed when she is approached by Julian Granot, an Israeli airline-security expert and former Special Forces commando, who asks her to help foil the plot. "A very readable, densely plotted, and cagily realistic saga...squeezed into two heart-pounding weeks."
Library Journal, August 2007

High Season
By Jon Loomis
Frank Coffin, a long-time Baltimore homicide cop, returns home to Cape Cod to retire. When the body of a cross-dressing, TV evangelist washes-up on a desolate Provincetown beach and attracts nationwide news coverage, Coffin is put in charge of the investigation. "Written with humor and pathos...a terrific mystery debut."
Library Journal, August 2007

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
by Maggie O'Farrell
Iris Lockhart's life is completely transformed when she receives the power of attorney for a great aunt she never knew existed ---- a fact never mentioned by her grandmother Kitty. The aunt, Esme Lennox, has been locked away in a mental institution for over sixty years that is now closing down. "A gripping read with superbly crafted scenes that will blaze in the reader's memory."
Booklist, July 2007

The Rest of Her Life
By Laura Moriarty
Set in a small Kansas town, Moriarty tells the story of a young, middle-class family. Leading a seemingly perfect lifestyle, things suddenly fall apart when the family's 18-year-old daughter accidently kill a pedestrian. "Well-written, convincing and impossible to put down."
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2007

Summer 2007

The Song Before It Is Sung
By Justin Cartwright
Educated at Oxford in the 1930's, Alex von Gohberg returns to his home in Germany in 1944. When he arrives he is denounced as a Nazi by his friend and fellow scholar, Elya Mendel. Sixty years after Gohberg was executed for a suspected role in a plot to kill Hitler, Mendel entrusts his papers to a former student requesting that the student discover if he unjustly condemned his late friend. "The twin themes upon which this novel is constructed, personal betrayal and vicarious living, will entice the reader's interest."
Booklist, May 1, 2007

Mary Modern
By Camille DeAngelis
Lucy Morrigan's father is a geneticist involved in the research of cloning. After his sudden death, Lucy continues his work in the basement of their old home. After years of preparation Lucy decides to clone her grandmother. When things go horribly wrong, Lucy must consider the harsh truth about bioethics and social responsibility. "Lucy's story will appeal to book groups."
Booklist, May 1, 2007

Christopher's Ghosts
By Charles McCarry
Paul Christopher grew up in a small town in Northern Germany that was controlled by the Nazi government. Years later, as a top CIA agent and while on assignment in Berlin, Christopher encounters a former SS commander that he had known in his youth who had committed unspeakable atrocities in the town. "The book has much to recommend: the prose is elegantly literate and the plot unfolds clearly"
Library Journal, April 2007

Out Stealing Horses
By Per Petterson
After losing his wife in a car accident, Trond Sander returns to a remote cabin in Norway where he spent his childhood summers. In the cabin he recalls the sudden loss of a young friend and the tragic events that shaped his life. "The novel's incidents and lush but precise descriptions are on a par with those of Cather, Steinbeck and Hemingway."
Booklist, 2007

The Mark
by Jason Pinter
Working as a reporter for the New York Gazette, Henry Parker thinks he has landed his dream job. When an interview with a gang member goes wrong and a stranger is killed, Parker becomes the main suspect. Running form the police, Parker suddenly goes from being the writer of the story to, becoming the story itself. "From the opening sentence to the exhilarating conclusion, Pinter's debut thriller gets the reader's heart racing."
Library Journal, April 15, 2007

May 2007

Helpless
By Barbara Gowdy
Ron Clarkson, an insular and delusional appliance repairman, develops an unusual fascination with a local, nine-year-old girl. Convinced that the girl is being neglected by her hard-working mother, Clarkson abducts the girl and confines her to a hidden room he secretly constructed in his basement. "An assured, perceptive, and deftly delivered story.
Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2007

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
By Mohsin Hamid
This 9/11 novel is written from the perspective of a young Pakistani immigrant. A recent Princeton graduate, Changez works for an elite New York financial firm. He is successful, popular and is living the American dream. After the towers fall, his name and face cause intense personal scrutiny in public and at work and he eventually loses his job. "A superb cautionary tale."
Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2007

Like Trees, Walking
By Ravi Howard
In 1981 in the town of Mobile, Alabama, Roy Deacon, the 16-year-old African American son of a funeral director finds the body of a classmate hanging from a tree. Looking back twenty-two years Roy tells the story of the event that becomes the turning point in his life and in the life of the town. "Carefully researched, this book is a good choice for book clubs."
Library Journal, November 15, 2006

This Time of Dying
By Reina James
In October 1918, the body of Doctor Thomas Wey is found on a London street. In his pocket is an urgent warning addressed to local health officials concerning a probable influenza epidemic. The attending undertaker examines Way's body, finds the letter and impulsively decides not to forward it to the authorities. As the disease and death toll progresses, the undertaker finds himself overwhelmed with guilt. "A wonderfully engrossing read."
Library Journal, February 15, 2007

Visibility
By Boris Starling
London Detective Herbert Smith is assigned to investigate a suspicious drowning in a Hyde Park pond. The victim is a biochemist and son of a highly placed government official who, in the hours before his death, claimed to have control of information that could change the world. "Multi-layered fiction playing skillfully with shades of fact."
Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2006