Spring is just around the corner – the weather is slowly warming up, flowers will soon begin to blossom and there are many wonderful new books to read no matter what you’re in the mood for!
I enjoy reading a variety of genres so my recommendations for the best books to read spring 2024 include recently published works of contemporary fiction, non-fiction, historical fiction, romance, and mysteries that I have personally read and can recommend.
You Might Also Enjoy Reading:
21 of the Best New Books To Read Spring 2023
30 of the Best New Books To Read Spring 2022
15 Books for Your Spring 2021 Reading List
25 Books To Read This Spring: A Travel Inspired List (2020)
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1. The Secret Keeper by Genevieve Graham
Setting: Canada, Europe
Another fantastic Canadian historical fiction novel from Genevieve Graham who has become an auto-buy author for me! The Secret Keeper is the story of inseparable twin sisters, Dorothy and Margaret, from Oshawa, Ontario – better known as Dot and Dash – who join the war effort during World War II.
Told from the perspective of the two sisters, Dash is adventurous, outgoing and obsessed with flying planes while Dot is more reserved and prefers to read and solve puzzles with her dad. When war breaks out, Dash joins the WRENS as a mechanic but Dot is initially fearful about leaving home. She later follows in her sister’s footsteps joining the WRENS as a typist, however, her skills in Morse Code and problem solving soon lead her to Camp X (a top-secret Canadian location connected to Bletchley Park) where she is required to take an oath of secrecy.
The oath causes a rift between the two sisters when Dot is unable to return home during a family emergency or explain the reasons why. Unable to forgive her sister, Dash accepts a position flying transport planes as an ATA girl (Air Transport Auxiliary) in Europe while Dot becomes involved in the planning for Operation Overlord (D-Day). Both young women find love during the war but the romance story lines are secondary to the work that they do.
I have read and enjoyed several of Graham’s historical novels which are inspired by real-life stories and appreciate that they are well-researched and based in historical fact, well-written, tell a compelling story about unforgettable characters and highlight aspects of Canadian history that we didn’t learn in school. In this novel, we learn more about the war effort on the homefront during World War II and the important work done by the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service known as the WRENS. I was familiar with Bletchley Park in England and knew that women had worked there as codebreakers but had no idea that there were women doing similar work here in Canada at a top secret location.
The Secret Keeper is a heartwarming story about the bond between sisters and the courageous work undertaken by women during World War II that slowly builds to a heartpounding conclusion. Be sure to read the excellent Author’s Note at the end of the book to learn more about the courageous women who served in the Second World War. An engaging, informative read – this is my favourite of Graham’s so far!
2. The Twilight Garden by Sara Nisha Adams
Setting: London, England
The Twilight Garden is the story of feuding neighbours living in two London terrace houses with a shared garden. Winston lives with his partner, Lewis, in their rental house and works in a local shop but he’s lonely and grieving his mother’s death in India while avoiding calls from his concerned sister. Recently divorced Bernice has bought and renovated the house next door to Winston and Lewis and is living there with her young son hoping for a fresh start.
Winston and Bernice take an instant dislike to each other particularly over the shared use of their garden which has been neglected and overgrown for many years. Shortly after Bernice moves in, mysterious parcels begin arriving for both her and Winston containing decades-old photos of their garden along with newspaper clippings highlighting how it came to be used as a community garden. Inspired by these packages, Winston and Bernice gradually start working together to transform their garden.
There is a second timeline which takes place in the past beginning in the early ’70s about Alma, an abrasive middle-aged woman who lives in one of the houses, and Maya who rents next door who develop a close relationship over the years as they share and nurture the garden.
The Twilight Garden is a heartwarming story of community and found family. The pace is slow and it’s character driven with well-developed and relatable characters who will touch your heart as they deal with various hardships that life throws at them. An enjoyable read from the author of The Reading List which was one of my favourite books in 2021!
3. Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray
Setting: New York, Washington, DC
Becoming Madam Secretary is a captivating and informative historical novel about Frances Perkins who was the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the U.S. The novel begins in 1909 when Frances was living in New York City conducting research on maternal nutrition and advocating for social reforms to protect workers – especially women and children – and follows her career and personal life through to 1935.
Her work took her to Albany to lobby the state legislature for labour reforms which led to her working for Governor Smith and then Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his term as Governor. She became a trusted political advisor to FDR and when he was elected President in 1932 he appointed her Secretary of Labor. She served in that position for the 12 years of FDR’s presidency focusing through the Depression years on passing social security legislation and then on additional labour and immigration reforms.
Frances Perkins was a fascinating and ambitious woman who played a key role in U.S. history but who isn’t very well known and this well-researched and well-written historical fiction novel highlights her many accomplishments. This is a fictionalized account of the life of Frances Perkins, however, the author hasn’t strayed far from the facts. There’s an excellent Author’s Note at the end of the book where she explains which aspects of the story are factual and where she had to make assumptions due to lack of documentation particularly relating to the personal life of Perkins.
In addition to highlighting all that she achieved, the author makes Perkins relatable by showing how she struggled to balance her demanding career and her drive to help others with marriage, motherhood and the mental health issues that plagued her husband and later her daughter. The novel can be a bit slow at times but I appreciated the attention to historical detail and everything that I learned about this incredibly accomplished woman whose work had such an important impact on American society and who isn’t as well known as she should be. Overall an enjoyable and informative read!
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
4. Funny Story by Emily Henry
Setting: Fictional small town in Michigan
Daphne loves the story of how she met, fell in love with and moved with her fiancé, Peter, to the lakeside vacation town where he grew up in Michigan. She loves her job as a children’s librarian and their life together seems perfect. Until Peter announces mere weeks before their wedding that he is in love with his best friend, Petra. Daphne needs to move out of the home that Peter owns and has nowhere else to turn so she moves in with Petra’s heartbroken ex, Miles – a charming, easygoing man who is the opposite of reserved Daphne.
After receiving an invitation to Peter and Petra’s wedding, Daphne sends a drunken RSVP. When Peter calls the next day to clarify that she will be attending alone, Daphne blurts out that she’s dating Miles. Miles agrees to go along with the fake relationship to make Peter and Petra jealous but, as they spend more time together, Daphne realizes she’s becoming attracted to Miles. But she couldn’t possibly fall in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex, could she?
Funny Story is another enjoyable read from Emily Henry – a talented writer who excels at telling stories about slow burn relationships featuring witty banter and messy characters that you can’t help but care about.
This is a romance with a fun fake dating/opposites attract trope but, as with Henry’s previous books, she delves a bit deeper with characters dealing with their own issues/trauma. In Funny Story, Daphne has to learn to love herself as she grapples with a strained relationship with her father as well as the realization that she had built her entire life around Peter and no longer had her own friends or interests.
A bonus in this story is the sightseeing as Miles shows Daphne all the places he loves in and around their tourist town in Michigan. Waning Bay is a fictional town but I would love to visit one just like it!
5. The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton
Setting: South Florida
Chanel Cleeton’s lastest novel is a dual timeline historical mystery about several suspicious deaths that occur at an estate on Biscayne Bay in Miami told from the perspective of the mistress of the estate in 1918 and a young guest in 1941.
1918 – Shortly after the end of the Great War, wealthy industrialists like Robert Barnes flock to Florida hoping to capitalize on expanding business opportunities. Unbeknownst to his wife, Anna, Robert has planned their move from New York City to Miami and secretly hired an architect to design and build a glamorous estate called Marbrisa as a gift for her. Anna is not initially pleased but resigns herself to her new life at Marbrisa and the busy high society scene in Miami until tragedy strikes the house on Biscayne Bay.
1941 – In the aftermath of the tragedy, Marbrisa had been closed up and neglected for many years until Asher Wyatt and his wife, Carolina, purchased the property. Shortly after moving in, Carolina’s younger sister, Carmen Acosta, leaves Havana following the death of their parents and travels to Miami to live at Marbrisa. Mysterious and increasingly threatening incidents revive rumours that the estate is haunted or cursed and tragedy soon strikes again. Not knowing who she can trust, Carmen puts herself at risk as she tries to determine who is responsible and how it connects to the past.
The House on Biscayne Bay is an enjoyable slow-paced, atmospheric mystery that transports the reader to Florida in the ’20s and the ’40s. An intriguing story about secrets, lies and murder with a bit of a Gothic mansion vibe. Not my favourite from this author but still an entertaining read!
6. The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay
Setting: Berlin and Virginia/Washington, DC
An absorbing novel about the Cold War told from the perspective of one family torn apart by the construction of the Berlin Wall. The novel opens on Sunday August 13, 1961 when Monica Voekler is walking with her 3 year-old daughter, Luisa, to meet up with her parents and younger sister in their neighbourhood in the western sector only to discover that barriers have been constructed overnight to prevent movement back and forth between East and West Berlin.
In 1989, Luisa Voekler is a CIA codebreaker who believes that she moved to Washington, DC with her grandparents after her parents were killed in a car crash. When she discovers a cache of letters which she refers to as The Berlin Letters, she realizes that her father is actually alive in Berlin and has been writing to her grandfather for 25 years embedding secret messages within the text of the letters. The most recent letter from several months earlier reveals that her father is in trouble and, as protests spread across Eastern Europe, Luisa races to save her father.
After reading this thoroughly researched novel, I felt that I had a better understanding of how individual families were torn apart because of the Berlin Wall, how people existed with fear/paranoia about being watched by unknown informants for the government in Eastern bloc countries and how various geopolitical events in the late 1980s led to change. A captivating page-turner with the suspense of a political thriller that teaches history with an entertaining story!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
7. The Divorcées by Rowan Beaird
Setting: Reno, Nevada
In 1951, a sheltered young woman named Lois Saunders arrives on the train from Chicago for an extended stay at the Golden Yarrow Ranch in Reno, Nevada. The Golden Yarrow is one of the so-called “divorce ranches” where women (mostly the rich and famous) can stay for 6 weeks to meet the residency requirement that allows them to have a divorce granted in Nevada. Days are spent horseback riding or cooling off by the pool and nights are spent drinking, gambling and flirting with cowboys – passing time until they can move on with their lives.
Lois, who has always been insecure, feels like an outsider among the other would-be divorcées staying at the ranch and spends most of her time alone. But then beautiful and enigmatic Greer Lang arrives and befriends Lois drawing her into the group’s activities and encouraging her to push boundaries. Lois finds herself doing things she never would have in the past but how much can she trust her new friend and just how far is she willing to go to earn Greer’s approval?
The Divorcées is an interesting read about a period of time in American history when women had little control over their own lives and were often stuck in unhappy marriages because of the difficulty in getting a divorce in most parts of the country. The divorce ranch phenomenon arose after the Great Depression when the state of Nevada made the decision to facilitate economic recovery by amending both gambling laws and divorce laws in order to draw more visitors to the state.
The novel tells the story of one woman’s journey toward finding herself in the context of a period of time when women faced significant limitations on their lives. There’s not much in the way of plot but there is an element of mystery relating to who Greer is, what she’s up to and how it’s going to impact Lois. An entertaining book that’s ideal for pool-side reading!
8. A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Setting: Southern California
Shortly after their marriage, Ashok and Priya Shah immigrated from India to the U.S. and have now been living in Southern California for 20 years working and raising their three children – Deepa, Maya and Ajay. The family recently left behind their old neighbourhood and purchased a home in the gated community of Pacific Hills in an upscale neighbourhood that is a bit of a stretch for them financially. The family is still settling into their new home when Ashok and Priya receive a call while at a dinner party with friends informing them that their 12 year-old son, Ajay, has been arrested in a violent encounter with the police.
Told from multiple perspectives, A Great Country is a moving story about the challenges faced by an immigrant family after the arrest of their child. Over the period of just a couple of weeks, the lives of everyone in the Shah family are turned completely upside down as they try to deal with Ajay’s legal issues and the accompanying media storm.
The novel explores class and racial divides in Southern California, systemic racism and police attitudes toward minorities, and justice/injustice as well as considering what it means to be an immigrant in America and how little it takes to go from being a “model minority” to one who is looked at with suspicion. A well-written, hard to put down, thought-provoking read!!
9. All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore
Setting: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Set in pre-Civil War Philadelphia, All We Were Promised is the story of a housemaid with a dangerous family secret who conspires with a wealthy young abolitionist to help an enslaved girl escape.
After escaping from a plantation in Maryland four years earlier, Charlotte and her white-passing father are living in Philadelphia where he has established a successful business and Charlotte lives as his housemaid so as not to raise the suspicion of slave catchers. Charlotte is befriended by Nell, a young abolitionist from one of the city’s wealthiest Black families, who encourages Charlotte to become involved with the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society.
Just as Charlotte is starting to feel like she’s settling into a new life, she sees her old friend, Evie, at the market. Evie has been brought to the city by the plantation mistress and needs help from Charlotte and Nell as she is desperate to escape. In the midst of race riots and attacks on abolitionists, Charlotte and Nell make the difficult decision to help Evie even though they will be putting themselves at considerable risk.
Ashton Lattimore’s debut novel is a captivating historical novel told from the perspective of three young Black women in Philadelphia in 1837/38. The main characters in the novel are fictional but they interact with real-life historical figures and the plot also includes some factual events such as the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women that took place at Pennsylvania Hall in 1938.
This novel is interesting and I learned quite a bit from its portrayal of what life was like for Black people living in Philadelphia during this time period and the race-related problems that existed despite it being a “free” city in the North. Racial tensions were high with racially motivated violence common in Philadelphia which was geographically quite close to states where slavery was still legal. There were also class divides between the wealthy Black families who had been free for decades, the working class Blacks who were struggling to get by and runaways recently arrived in the city. I was surprised to learn that there were also laws in place that allowed Southerners to bring enslaved people to Philadelphia and keep them there provided they didn’t stay longer than six months.
This is a very strong historical fiction debut – the characters are well-written, it’s clear a great deal of effort went into research, it’s informative and the author has crafted a compelling story that keeps the pages turning. All We Were Promised is a thought-provoking story of friendship, courage and what it was like to be a Black person in a “free” state during this time period – it starts slowly but will have your heart pounding as it nears the conclusion!
10. Table for Two by Amor Towles
Setting: Moscow, New York City, Hollywood
Table for Two is a collection of six short stories and a novella that Amor Towles has written in the last ten years. The first short story begins in Moscow post-Revolution and moves to New York City and the remaining five take place in New York City around the year 2000. The novella (which is more than 200 pages) takes place in Los Angeles in 1938/9 and follows Evelyn Ross from Towles’ earlier novel, Rules of Civility.
I have never been a fan of short stories (they always leave me wanting more) but pre-ordered Table for Two for the simple reason that Amor Towles hasn’t disappointed me yet. I read Rules of Civility just a few weeks ago in anticipation of this publication and was most excited about the novella Eve in Hollywood.
When last we saw Eve, she was heading home to Indiana but extended her ticket to Los Angeles instead of getting off the train in Chicago where her parents were waiting for her. This novella picks up at that point where Eve makes the decision to stay on the train and continues with her arrival in Golden Age Hollywood where she soon befriends Olivia de Havilland. It’s not necessary to read Rules of Civility first to enjoy this novella but if you have then you will appreciate this opportunity to spend more time with the enigmatic Eve.
It’s no surprise that these short stories and novella were a pleasure to read. Towles is a masterful storyteller – his stories are well-crafted with keen observations on the human condition, his characters are well-drawn and his writing is superb – witty and charming with evocative turns of phrase and just the right amount of description. Table for Two is both entertaining and thought-provoking – a thoroughly satisfying reading experience!
11. A Game of Lies by Clare Macintosh
Setting: Wales
An enjoyable police procedural featuring Detective Ffion Morgan and a reality television show called Exposure filming on a mountain near the small town Cwm Coed in North Wales close to the English border.
Seven contestants believe that they have been selected for a survival show but are shocked to find out during the filming of the first episode that the show is actually about exposing each person’s deepest, darkest secrets live on air. One of the contestants goes missing after the first show and Ffion and her partner, Georgina, as well as DS Leo Brady (an English detective that Ffion has a romantic past with) are called in to conduct an investigation.
This is the second in the DC Morgan series but can be read as a standalone – I haven’t read the first book and enjoyed this one. A great premise, a great sense of place, solid plot and well-written with unexpected twists. The pace is steady and not particularly suspenseful until towards the end but still an enjoyable story. I liked Ffion with all her rough edges and difficulty showing emotion and her rescue dog, Dave, is the best.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
12. How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
Setting: Los Angeles, California
A steamy romance about two writers connected by a tragic accident in their senior year of high school who find themselves working together in Hollywood 13 years later.
Helen Zhang, a bestselling author of a YA series who has temporarily relocated from New York to Los Angeles to work on her book adaptation, is surprised to discover that her high school classmate, Grant Shepard, is one of the writers on the screenwriting team. Grant is a successful screenwriter who took this job despite misgivings and is hoping that he and Helen can work together notwithstanding their past. Tension between the two evolves quite quickly into attraction and they agree to a time-limited relationship that will end when the screenplay is finished.
I have enjoyed a number of romance novels that dealt with heavy issues that the main characters were experiencing but here the issues exist mostly in the background and aren’t fully explored. And the obstacle to their relationship is quite a doozy – I’m honestly not sure how anyone could move past it even with a lot of talking and therapy. The other issue that I had was that I wasn’t really invested in the relationship between Helen and Grant – it’s entirely insta-lust and I think it would have worked better for me as a slow burn romance and better development of the two characters.
This book was an okay read for me but I think my expectations were too high because of the Emily Henry connection (the author wrote the screenplay for the upcoming adaptation of Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation). While it wasn’t a great fit for me, a lot of people are loving this book so take my ambivalence with a grain of salt!
Content Warning: suicide, death of sibling
13. The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez
Setting: Panama
Set against the backdrop of the construction of the Panama Canal, The Great Divide tells the story of a group of people whose lives are impacted by this massive construction project. The story takes place over a period of a few weeks in 1907 when the canal project has been underway for more than two years.
The story is told from multiple points of view including: Panamanian fisherman Francisco Aquino who has a troubled relationship with his son; Francisco’s son, Omar, who is working on the canal against his father’s wishes; Francisco’s fishmonger friend, Joaquin, whose wife convinces him to travel to her hometown to protest orders that the entire town be moved elsewhere; John Oswald, a malaria researcher determined to eradicate the disease in Panama and secure his place in the history books; Oswald’s wife, Marian, a botanist who has set aside her own ambitions to support her husband; and Ada Bunting, a teenager from Barbados who stows away on a ship and arrives in Panama seeking employment.
Shortly after her arrival in Panama, Ada goes to the aid of a young man (Omar) who has collapsed in the street while a crowd watches in fear of catching malaria. John Oswald witnesses this act of compassion and hires Ada to care for his wife who has taken ill. This action leads to the interconnection of many of the characters’ story lines.
The Panama Canal, an artificial waterway which cuts across the Isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, is considered one of the world’s greatest feats of engineering but The Great Divide doesn’t focus on the construction project. Henriquez chooses instead to tell the story of the human cost of building the canal and the disruption it caused in the lives of Panamanians.
I enjoyed this character driven story with its beautiful narrative and descriptive writing that transported me to Panama and the canal zone early in the 20th century. The novel touches on the history of Panama leading up to the building of the canal by Americans after the separation of Panama from Columbia (and is clearly well-researched) but the focus remains firmly on the people impacted. It’s an ambitious novel telling an interesting and compelling story that will make you think about the people whose lives are impacted by historical events but whose stories are left out of history books.
14. Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson
Setting: England
In a small town in England, twenty-five year-old Kat Bennett arrives at a historic Victorian known as Shelley House to inquire about a room for rent in one of the building’s six flats and encounters long-time resident Dorothy Darling, a cantakerous busybody who keeps a close watch on the comings of goings of the other tenants and notes every infraction and lack of common sense that she observes. Dorothy takes an instant dislike to the young woman and her pink hair but Kat decides to rent Joseph’s extra room despite the frosty reception from Dorothy.
Kat is still settling into her new home when the tenants at Shelley House receive an eviction notice from their unscrupulous landlord who wants to demolish the historic building and build a block of modern flats. Shortly after the tenants meet to discuss a campaign to stop the eviction, one of their own is viciously attacked and Dorothy and Kat band together to save their home and find the criminal responsible for the violence.
Like Freya Sampson’s previous novel, The Lost Ticket, this is a heartwarming story of a disparate group of people coming together to form a community. Sampson has a knack for creating a charming cast of characters that readers grow to care about and, in this case, there’s also an adorable dog named Reggie who is an absolute scene stealer!
It’s impossible not to feel for these two women who have closed themselves off as they learn to let go of the past, forgive themselves and trust each other. A great choice for readers who enjoy an entertaining, feel-good story with a happy ending!
15. The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza
Setting: Sicily, Italy
Sara Marsala’s life is a mess – her restaurant failed, she’s going through a divorce, her husband is trying to get full custody of their 4 year-old daughter and now her great-aunt Rosie has died. Rosie has, however, left Sara the deed to a possibly valuable property in Sicily that the family knew nothing about as well as a plane ticket.
Rosie made all of the arrangements for Sara to travel to her family’s village in Sicily to make inquiries about selling the property and also to try and find out what actually happened to Rosie’s mother, Serafina Forte Marsala. The family has always believed that Serafina died from an illness before she was to join the family in America in 1925 but there’s a possibility that she was murdered. Sara arrives in Sicily and soon realizes that there are people who want her to go home without selling the property and her life might be in danger if she stays.
The story is told in a dual timeline – Sara in the present day and Serafina in the past (1908-1925) beginning when she’s 15 until her death at 32. Serafina was an ambitious and headstrong young woman who hoped to leave the village for further education but she discovers she’s pregnant at 15 and has no choice but to marry Gio. Gio emigrates to America to work and Sara stays behind to care for their children and eventually begins working as a healer in the village.
The Sicilian Inheritance is a gripping historical mystery inspired by the author’s own family history. The two timelines in this novel are equally suspenseful and twisty as both women are in danger in this small Sicilian village.
The historical aspect of Serafina’s story is also quite interesting as it touches on life in Sicily early in the 20th century with a tumultuous political situation resulting from the unification that made Sicily part of Italy, the control that the Cosa Nostra (mafia) had in the villages at the time, and the economic reality that sent a large percentage of working age men abroad leaving behind women who took on work outside the home to keep the keep villages functioning.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
16. The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota
Setting: Chesterfield, England
The Spoiled Heart is a story about grief, lies and secrets, race and class and one man’s tragic personal and professional downfall set against the backdrop of an election for the head of Britain’s largest union.
Nayan Olak is a well-respected factory manager in the town of Chesterfield running for the position of General Secretary of the union that has been the centre of his life since losing his family in a tragic fire twenty years earlier. The novel’s plot has two strands – the first centres on Nayan’s campaign for the union leadership while the second relates to his developing relationship with a white woman named Helen who left Chesterfield twenty years earlier and has only recently returned with her son, Brandon.
In the campaign for General Secretary, Nayan is running against a privileged young woman named Megha Sharma who has only recently joined the union as a diversity and equity officer. Nayan’s policy initiatives relate to class issues while Megha is focused on racial equity. After a couple of incidents, the campaign becomes heated and is soon spinning out of control threatening Nayan’s chances of winning the election and much more.
A beautifully written novel with well-developed characters by a two time Booker Prize nominee, The Spoiled Heart is in many ways a classic tragedy where a flawed man is destroyed at least in part by his own hubris. It’s also a thought-provoking and timely look at the conflict in left-leaning politics between traditionalists focused on class struggle and those raising concerns of race and gender. This is the first novel that I have read by Sahota and I quite enjoyed it so I’m now looking forward to exploring his backlist.
17. Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez
Setting: New York City, Rhode Island
Anita de Monte was an up and coming Cuban American artist until her tragic fall from the window of her 34th floor apartment in Greenwich Village in 1985. Her husband, the iconic minimalist sculptor Jack Martin, was charged with her murder but not convicted and Anita’s name gradually faded in art circles and her work forgotten.
In 1998, Raquel Toro is a 3rd year Art History major at Brown University in Rhode Island working with her advisor on a thesis about Jack Martin’s art. Raquel has never felt like she fits in at the predominantly white Ivy League university until she starts dating an older art student from a wealthy family – in a relationship that parallels Anita’s with Jack.
As Raquel researches Martin, she stumbles upon Anita’s story. Anita’s artwork resonates with Raquel and she is driven to learn more about the artist and to question why her courses have always focused on white male artists. The story is told from three points of view – Anita, Raquel and Jack – and takes a turn into the supernatural after Anita’s death with her ghost continuing to narrate.
Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a fictional take on the life of artist Ana Mendieta (an artist I wasn’t familiar with but was inspired to learn more about after reading this novel). It’s an interesting story that examines how the art world works – how woman and people of colour are treated and whose work is studied and considered worthwhile. It also looks at higher education, particularly the Ivy League universities, and the microaggressions and outright racism that POC students are subjected to.
Magical realism often doesn’t work for me but I thought it was well done in this case – I liked Anita as a ghost trying to get justice for herself and her work. Anita de Monte Laughs Last is well-written and easy to read, as engaging as it is thought-provoking.
18. Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Setting: NYC, Washington State, China, San Francisco Bay area
Real Americans was not at all what I was expecting but riveting nonetheless! The book is divided into three parts and each is narrated in the first person by a member of the Chen family at a different point of time.
Part One begins in New York City in 1999 with recent graduate Lily Chen struggling to make ends meet while working as an unpaid intern. Lily, the daughter of immigrants from China, meets and falls in love with Matthew who is the heir to a pharmaceutical empire.
Part Two begins in 2021 and is narrated by Lily’s son, Nick, who is a highschool student living alone with his mother on an isolated island in Washington State. Nick is biracial but looks nothing like his mother and wants more than anything to know who his father is.
Part Three takes place in San Francisco in 2030 and Lily’s elderly mother, Mai, who came of age during the Cultural Revolution in China is looking back on her life. Mai tells the story of her life in China, of fleeing and settling in the U.S. and of her work as a genetics researcher filling in some of the gaps on what happened to tear their family apart.
Real Americans is a well-written, imaginative and moving novel about three generations of an Asian-American family that has quite a lot going on. The main themes relate to identity but there are also issues relating to immigrants and parental expectations and there are scientific concepts relating to genetic research that are complicated but important to the plot.
The novel ponders the role that genetics plays in determining who we are as compared to other factors such as where we are born, how we are raised and choices we make. There are also issues relating to the life of immigrants to the U.S. – who is a “real American”? and who gets to decide? as well as issues facing first generation Americans like Lily who feel the weight of parental expectations to excel because of the sacrifices their parents made.
This is a complicated family drama with very well-drawn characters that includes coming of age aspects, some historical fiction related to the Cultural Revolution in Mao’s China and also science and genetics. A quiet yet gripping novel and a thought-provoking read!
19. James by Percival Everett
Setting: Missouri and along the Mississippi River
In this satirical reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view, Percival Everett takes a well-known character in American literature and gives him his own voice.
Set in 19th century America just before the Civil War, an enslaved man and a white boy run away from Hannibal, Missouri – Jim because he learned that Miss Watson planned to sell him to a man in New Orleans and Huck because he had faked his own death to escape his abusive father. The two build a raft and head out on the Mississippi River with a loose plan of travelling north to a free state where Jim can earn the money needed to buy freedom for his wife and daughter.
In Everett’s retelling, Jim (or James, the name he chooses) is intelligent and well-read (from his clandestine reading of the volumes in Judge Thatcher’s library) but he and the other enslaved people speak in a vernacular that they call a “slave filter” in front of white people so that they sound uneducated and won’t be perceived as any sort of threat. When Jim and Huck’s story was originally told from Huck’s perspective, their trip down the Mississippi was an adventure but when told from Jim’s perspective, the reader understands the ever present danger that he lived with. Instead of an adventurous tale about drifting down the river on a raft, it becomes a story about a man racing to find a way to save himself and his family.
I had a general idea of what happened in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn but this novel can be enjoyed without having read or knowing anything about Twain’s novel. It follows the plot of its source material quite closely at first but the same events have a different feel with the change in perspective and later in the book the plot diverges.
James is the first novel that I have read by Percival Everett and I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style. This is an author who clearly loves to play with language and it makes for a pleasurable read. Fast-paced and hard to put down, thought-provoking, and beautifully crafted – a memorable read that I expect will be one of my favourites of the year!
20. Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent is a delightful series of interview chats between actor/director Brendan O’Hea and Dame Judi Dench covering all of the Shakespearean roles that she has played over the course of her seven decade career.
Dench’s wit and mischievous sense of humour shines through as she provides thoughtful and honest observations and commentary about each Shakespearean play. The original interview style makes it feel closer and more personal than the typical memoir – it’s as if the reader is sitting down with Dame Judi over coffee and chatting about acting and Shakespeare. I could hear her voice in my head as she shared her memories about the productions and the roles she played as well as her thoughts on acting, theatre, Shakespeare and more.
I have always loved Shakespeare and expected to enjoy reading her thoughts on my favourite plays but found that I was equally fascinated reading about the unfamiliar plays as well. And now I want to see them all!
This is a beautiful tribute to the works of Shakespeare and the man himself and also to Dench’s illustrious career – a wonderful read for those who enjoy Shakespearean plays, theatre in general and for those who just adore adore Dame Judi!
21. Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles
Setting: France and New York City
Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade is a dual timeline World War I historical novel that highlights the accomplishments of the American Committee for Devastated France (known as CARD) founded by American philanthropist and heiress Anne Morgan. Jessie ‘Kit’ Carson is a librarian at the NYPL who travels to France early in 1918 to work with Morgan and CARD in establishing libraries in the northern regions of the country devastated by the ongoing war.
Jessie arrives at CARD headquarters which are set up only miles from the front and joins a group of women working to help devastated French civilians. Jessie is determined to contribute to their efforts and uses books to connect with the villagers and help them recover and rebuild. As the war rages on, the CARDS bravely risk their lives and at one point even lead evacuation efforts.
In the second 1987 timeline, Wendy Peterson is an aspiring young writer working in the Archives of the NYPL who comes across documents relating to the work of CARD and is determined to learn more about Carson and the other women who served with the organization.
Like the author’s previous novel, The Paris Library, this is a well-researched historical novel that highlights the little known role that librarians played in the war. I had no idea that this organization existed or about the work that they did in France during and after World War I so found it a fascinating read in that regard. There is an excellent detailed Author’s Note that provides additional information and is a must for readers who want to know more about the women the novel is based on.
I found the writing and the plot a bit simplistic and sentimental at times but the novel was so well-researched and I learned such a great deal that it was an enjoyable read regardless. This is a fascinating story about a little known aspect of World War I, the resilience of the human spirit and the power of literature (it’s packed with literary references that book lovers will enjoy) that will appeal to readers who love books and libraries as well as historical fiction fans. And the book cover is beautiful!
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
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