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The Life to Come
by Michelle De Kretser
Set in Sydney, Paris and Sri Lanka, The Life to Come is a mesmerising novel about the stories we tell and don't tell ourselves as individuals, as societies and as nations. It feels at once firmly classic and exhilaratingly contemporary. Pippa is a writer who longs for success. Celeste tries to convince herself that her feelings for her married lover are reciprocated. Ash makes strategic use of his childhood in Sri Lanka but blots out the memory of a tragedy from that time. Driven by riveting stories and unforgettable characters, here is a dazzling meditation on intimacy, loneliness and our flawed perception of other people.
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| Smile: A Novel by Roddy DoyleUnemployed, recently separated, and at loose ends, Victor Forde is having a pint in his Dublin neighborhood pub when he's approached by a man who claims that they attended school together. Though Victor does not remember him, the association nevertheless forces Victor to recall brutal memories from the past, including those five years at school, where bullies and teachers alike made life miserable. In revealing Victor's past, Irish writer Roddy Doyle creates "a performance few writers could carry off" (The Washington Post). |
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| Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom HanksYou already know Tom Hanks as a two-time Oscar-winning actor; now get to know him as a short story writer obsessed with typewriters. Well, let's be honest -- while it's true that a typewriter features in each tale (and there are 14 photos of the typewriters in question), the focus is actually on the all-too-human characters and the situations they find themselves in. From a tale of four friends building a rocket to visit the moon ("Alan Bean Plus Four") to an ultimately doomed romantic relationship ("Three Exhausting Weeks"), Hanks "writes like a writer, not a movie star" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Seven Days of Us by Francesca HornakFor the first time in years, the Birch family will be spending the holidays together in their drafty old home in the English countryside. While the plan is to quarantine themselves (following eldest daughter Olivia's time treating highly contagious patients in Liberia), nothing is simple in this semi-dysfunctional family. Each of the four is hiding a secret -- and their blinkered understanding of each other leads to constant bickering. Quarantine is going to be hard enough, but when youngest daughter Phoebe's fiancé crashes the party (as does a visiting American), all bets are off. Warmly funny, with shifting perspectives and believably flawed characters, Seven Days of Us is a quick, enjoyable read for the pre-holiday run-up. |
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Mrs. M: An Imagined History
by Luke Slattery
Elizabeth Macquarie, widow of the disgraced former Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, is in mourning - not only for her husband, but the loss of their shared dream to transform the penal colony into a bright new world. Over the course of one long sleepless night on the windswept isle of Mull, she remembers her life in that wild and strange country; a revolution of ideas as dramatic as any in history; and her dangerous alliance with the brilliant, mercurial Francis Greenway, the colony's maverick architect. A stirring, provocative and thrilling novel of passion, ideas, reforming zeal and desire.
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| New Boy by Tracy ChevalierThis retelling of Shakespeare's Othello is set in a Washington, D.C., suburb in the 1970s, a place where even the elementary school is beset by racism, betrayal, and jealousy. Osei Kokote, the son of a Ghanaian diplomat, is starting his fourth school in six years; though he's immediately ostracized (he's the first black kid in the all-white school), a friendship blossoms between him and the most popular girl in school, setting off bullies who feel the need to police -- and destroy -- this burgeoning relationship. The resulting tragedy unfolds over a single day. |
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| Nutshell: A Novel by Ian McEwanIn a nutshell, here's the plot of Ian McEwan's Nutshell, according to The Washington Post: "a crime of passion based on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” narrated by a fetus." Yup, you read that right -- Whitbread Award-winning McEwan has written an interpretation of the classic tragedy with a wholly unique narrator. Though there are certainly moments of wit (our narrator has paid attention as his mother listens to her educational podcasts), disaster looms -- for how can an unborn baby prevent the murder of his father at the hands of his mother and her lover, his uncle? |
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Stories: The Collected Short Fiction
by Helen Garner
This new edition of Helen Garner’s collected short fiction celebrates the seventy-fifth birthday of one of Australia’s most loved authors. These stories - that delve into the complexities of love and longing, of the pain, darkness and joy of life - are all told with her characteristic sharpness of observation, honesty and humor. Each one a perfect piece, together they showcase Garner’s mastery of the form. (Booktopia)
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At First Light
by Vanessa LaFaye
1993, Key West, Florida. When a Ku Klux Klan official is shot in broad daylight, all eyes turn to the person holding the gun: a 96-year-old Cuban woman who will say nothing except to admit her guilt. 1919. Mixed-race Alicia Cortez arrives in Key West exiled in disgrace from her family in Havana. At the same time, damaged war hero John Morales returns home on the last US troop ship from Europe. As love draws them closer in this time of racial segregation, people are watching, including Dwayne Campbell, poised on the brink of manhood and struggling to do what's right. And then the Ku Klux Klan comes to town...
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The Erstwhile
by Brian Catlin
In London and Germany, strange beings are reanimating themselves. They are the Erstwhile, the angels that failed to protect the Tree of Knowledge, and their reawakening will have major consequences. A child of mixed race has been found abandoned in a remote cottage. Her origins are unknown, but she has powers beyond her own understanding. Conflict is coming, as the old and new, human and inhuman are set on a collision course. Once again blending the real and the imagined, The Erstwhile brings historical figures such as William Blake and places such as the Bedlam Asylum, as well as ingenious creations such as The Kin (a family of robots) together to create unforgettable novel of births and burials, excavations and disappearances.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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