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Fiction A to Z November 2020
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| Leave the World Behind by Rumaan AlamWhat happens: A white family staying in a rented Hamptons home finds their idyllic vacation cut short by the arrival of the owners, an older Black couple hoping to take refuge from a power outage in New York City.
Then what? Though suspicion and resentment (on both sides) are their initial reactions, the two families form an uneasy alliance as it becomes clear that the blackout -- and other disquieting occurrences -- may be a sign of societal collapse.
Reviewers say: "This illuminating social novel offers piercing commentary on race, class and the luxurious mirage of safety" (Publishers Weekly). |
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A Girl is a Body of Water
by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Coming of age with the support of the women in her Ugandan village, a girl struggling with abandonment seeks answers at the side of a local witch who shares stories about their culture’s heritage of female strength.
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Red Pill
by Hari Kunzru
Navigating an existential crisis in a haunted Berlin suburb after accepting a prestigious writing fellowship, an aspiring author becomes locked in a cosmic, Darwinian rivalry against the creator of a popular television series. By the author of White Tears.
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| Missionaries by Phil KlayWhat it is: the debut novel from the author of the National Book Award-winning short story collection Redeployment.
What it's about: Set in Colombia and following the interconnected lives of four individuals -- two Columbians and two Americans -- affected by and connected to the turmoil there, Missionaries examines the globalization of violence and the realities of modern war.
Want a taste? "To talk about this part of my life is to talk about another person, like a person in a story." |
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Jack
by Marilynne Robinson
A conclusion to the story that began with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead traces the story of prodigal son John Ames Boughton, who pursues a star-crossed, interracial romance with a high school teacher who is also the son of a preacher.
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Bestiary
by Kristin Chang
Transforming into a manifestation of a tiger character from her Taiwanese heritage, Daughter falls in love with an equally remarkable girl while translating mysterious letters from female relatives who embody mythical archetypes. A first novel.
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| Memorial by Bryan WashingtonStarring: Mike, a Japanese American chef, and Ben, a Black daycare teacher; their rocky relationship is further tested when Mike goes to Japan to spend time with his estranged and dying father, leaving his visiting mother with Ben.
Why you might like it: Set in a vividly depicted Houston and told in three distinct sections narrated by either Mike or Ben, this bittersweet, complex novel portrays the messy, passionate, and sometimes painful relationships between lovers; the two men's difficult relationships with their fathers are also key to the story. |
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The Talented Miss Farwell
by Emily Gray Tedrowe
A seemingly unassuming and sensible community treasurer uses embezzled funds to finance a spiraling art habit that immerses her in the identity of a wealthy collector and renders her increasingly indebted to her unsuspecting neighbors.
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Daddy
by Emma Cline
An anthology of 10 stories by the award-winning author of The Girls includes three original entries and follows a theme of how fateful choices and other disturbances reveal the perversity and violence beneath the surface of everyday life.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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