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"If the house hadn't been a mansion, if the death hadn't been a suicide, if Violet Devohr's dark, refined beauty hadn't smoldered down from that massive oil portrait, it wouldn't have been a ghost story at all." ~ from Rebecca Makkai's The Hundred-Year House
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| Alice & Oliver: A Novel by Charles BockIn this riveting, emotional book, a dynamic young woman -- a fashion designer, wife, and new mother -- is struck down by a mysterious and hard-hitting illness that turns out to be leukemia. As her brutal treatment progresses, what had been a happy, strong marriage is weakened by her physical deterioration, a labyrinthine healthcare system, and fear. From the very beginning, the heart-wrenching narrative will enthrall, so realistic is the depiction -- with good reason, as author Charles Bock writes from personal experience. |
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| The Decent Proposal: A Novel by Kemper DonovanFans of odd-couple romantic comedies like Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project will enjoy this sweet debut, in which two very different people are offered a cash bonanza -- if they spend at least two hours a week together for a year. The anonymous benefactor doesn't explain why, just that his/her desire is for conservative, hardworking Elizabeth Santiago and good-natured ladies' man Richard Baumbach to spend time together. With a humming Los Angeles as a vivid background, the two start a book and movie club, and their awkward interactions soon become something they look forward to. Not that they'd admit that, of course. |
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| Before the Wind by Jim LynchThe Johannssen family has always had sailing in their blood; Puget Sound has always been their playground. But something happened to split their family apart, and now Josh is the only one of three siblings left in Seattle -- and even he has managed to avoid the family sailing legacy. In a last-ditch effort to bring his splintered family back together, he refurbishes a classic sailboat built by his father and enters the biggest race in the area. With beautifully described details of sailing and Puget Sound itself, as well as fully realized characters, this tale of a dysfunctional family is "as bracing as salt spray during an autumn sail" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Daredevils by Shawn VestalFifteen-year-old Loretta has a secret boyfriend and dreams of leaving her restrictive Mormon community with him. But when her parents learn that she's been sneaking out, she is married off to a fundamentalist with one wife already. Repulsed by her new life, Loretta is constantly on the lookout for a way to escape, and finds it in her new husband's nephew, the Evel Knievel-obsessed Jason. Together, they take off for Arizona in search of a cache of gold -- and freedom. If you're in search of an adventure, this debut set in the 1970s American West might do it for you. |
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| Last Man In Tower by Aravind AdigaThe Vishram Society was the first of its kind in its part of Mumbai -- a cooperative apartment building that ushered in, many years later, several more middle-class housing options in an otherwise iffy part of the city. But now it is under threat by a developer who wishes to tear down the historic building to make way for luxurious condos, and the sense of community built by the Society's residents is torn apart by the vast sum the developer has offered each resident. Each of the residents is fully realized, their struggles and very natures revealed in luxurious, detailed prose by Man Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga. |
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| Black Rabbit Hall by Eve ChaseIn the 1960s, the Alton family loved their time at their Cornwall manor, nicknamed Black Rabbit Hall by locals, until a tragedy changed everything. Thirty years later, Lorna Dunaway comes upon it as a possible venue for her upcoming wedding. And while it is literally falling apart, there's something about it that tugs at her memories from childhood, and she's determined not only to find out its secrets, but to have her wedding there. Fans of Gothic fiction like Kate Morton's The Lake House or Kate Riordan's Fiercombe Manor will enjoy this compelling tale. |
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| The Turner House by Angela FlournoyThe Turner family has owned their home on Detroit's East Side for more than 50 years, but their traditionally black, working-class neighborhood has deteriorated and they now owe more on their mortgage than the building is worth. Focusing on three of the 13 Turner siblings, this engaging family saga traces both family and social history, incorporating flashbacks of their now-deceased father's early years in Detroit after the Great Migration. If you enjoyed the sweep of history found in Ayana Mathis' The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, you'll likely enjoy this engrossing, character-driven debut as well. |
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| The Hundred-Year House: A Novel by Rebecca MakkaiThis clever, intriguing novel has not only an unusual setting (a possibly haunted estate that used to be an artists' colony) but also offbeat characters crammed into close quarters (the coach house) and a fascinating structure (each chapter steps back in time over the span of a century). A creepy oil painting of an ancestor who may have killed herself, a secretive matriarch, her slowly unraveling daughter, and the revealing of long-kept secrets are only the beginning -- the complex, layered narrative demands a close read, but darkly witty prose and a Gothic sensibility make for "delightful twists that surprise and satisfy" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Slade House: A Novel by David MitchellThis one's for readers who like to walk on the wild side: Slade House combines a literary writing style with elements of fantasy and horror. It follows the stories of five different people, each of whom has discovered a door in an unassuming London alley -- a door that appears only once every nine years. Once they're through the door, they fall prey to the mind-bending shifting of Slade House and its owners, the sinister, soul-eating Grayer twins. Fans of author David Mitchell's other books will recognize certain references; if you're unfamiliar with his work, this unsettling novel offers an easy entrée. |
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| A Sudden Light by Garth SteinTrevor Riddell is 14 the year that his parents try a trial separation and he and his father move to Riddell House, a 100-year-old wooden mansion outside of Seattle. It's inhabited by Trevor's grandfather, who doesn't want to acquiesce to his children's demands that he move out and sell the land to developers. And the more Trevor learns, the more he sides with his grandfather. Part coming-of-age story, part family saga -- and throw in a ghost, to boot -- and this novel is a good choice if you're looking for something that combines a sophisticated writing style with a witty narrative voice. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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