Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, Max Porter, Graywolf Press – A father and his sons try to live through their grief after the death of their wife and mother.
Diane Slocum
Diane Slocum has been a newspaper reporter and editor and authored an historical book. As a freelance writer, she contributes regularly to magazines and newspapers. She writes features on authors and a column for writers and readers in Lifestyle magazine. She is assigned to write interviews of first-time novelists and bestselling authors for Authorlink®
Stories of Women and Girls Struggling Within Their Roles
Goodnight, Beautiful Women, Anna Noyes, Grove Press – Joni’s husband drowns in a quarry, a dad fears for his daughter when another girl is raped, ten-year-old Collette learns of her sister’s affair with an older neighbor – Noyes’ debut collection follows women through times of change and discovery.
Woman Struggles to Find Life’s Meaning in a New Mexico Desert
The Atomic Weight of Love, Elizabeth J. Church, Algonquin Books) – Meridian loved studying birds and hoped to get her Masters in ornithology. She also loved Alden, a brilliant professor of physics.
Young Nigerian Comes of Age amidst Political and Religious Turmoil
Born on a Tuesday, Elnathan John, – When Dantala leaves his Quranic studies and falls in with a street gang, he experiences firsthand the violence of Nigerian politics.
Young Woman Fights to Make a Life for Herself in Alaska
The Alaskan Laundry, Brendan Jones, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – Grieving her mother’s death and her father’s rejection, Tara leaves her Philadelphia home for an uncertain Alaskan future with only a promised job in a fish hatchery.
Chee’s Novel Rips Open the World of French Opera and Politics
The Queen of the Night, Alexander Chee, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt –Tragedy throws a young Minnesota farm girl with an incredible voice and equestrian skills in with a circus bound for Europe.
Bookstore Setting Brings Small Town Back to Life
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, Katrina Bivald, Sourcebooks – Sara and Amy are pen pals – Amy in small town Iowa, Sara in Sweden. Across the seas, they share their love of books and Amy’s stories of the inhabitants of Broken Wheel.
Belief and Disbelief Tangle in Expanded Lives of Biblical Characters
This is Why I Came, Mary Rakow, Counterpoint – A woman waits to go into confessional after decades of being away. She carries a small volume of Bible stories as she has embellished them, filling in the blanks.
Jewish Girl Seeks Favor with Persian King to Save Her People
Esther, Rebecca Kanner, Howard Books – Esther is a teenage Jewish orphan when she is rounded up by King Xerxes’ Immortals and brought to the royal harem.
Debut Novel sees Birth of Communism through Eyes of Mrs. Engels
Mrs. Engels, Gavin McCrea–Lizzie Burns and her sister, Mary, were textile factory workers in Manchester when the owner’s son, Frederick, came on board. Of all the girls who were swooning over him, he chose Mary
