These are the fiction titles our reviewers liked best this month.
The Listeners, by Maggie Stiefvater
June Porter Hudson, general manager of the Avallon Hotel & Spa in the mountains of West Virginia, receives the assignment of a lifetime in 1942. She’s been told to prepare to “host” Axis-power diplomats, journalists, and businessmen until the U.S. State Department can secure their passage home. Fleet-footed writing, juicy characters, wartime tensions, and a bit of mystery make this a sensational summertime read. – Erin Douglass
Why We Wrote This
Our reviewers’ picks this month include two novels based on real-life events, a mystery set in Fiji, and an examination of the unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, set off by a Unite the Right rally in 2017.
A Shipwreck in Fiji, by Nilima Rao
In Nilima Rao’s second Sergeant Akal Singh mystery, set in 1915, the murder of an Indian small-business owner, plus rumors of German sailors skulking about Fiji’s islands, has Akal and his compatriots juggling leads. Rao’s winning characters ground the historical tale of community and identity. – Erin Douglass
Where the Rivers Merge, by Mary Alice Monroe
Mary Alice Monroe’s passion for the Low Country of the American South is woven through this shimmering novel. In it, Eliza Rivers battles to conserve and pass on the legacy of her family’s estate, secrets and all. The saga, the first of a duology, enthralls. – Stefanie Milligan
Endling, by Maria Reva
Maria Reva’s blistering debut novel stars Yeva, a malacologist, who by day crisscrosses Ukraine to rescue rare snails and by night works for a “boutique matchmaker” to pay the bills. As Russia’s 2022 attack begins, a kidnapping plot, a left turn into metafiction, and a race to save a singular gastropod propel the tale. It’s a shape-shifting, fist-shaking blast of a book. – Erin Douglass (Read our full review.)
Before Dorothy, by Hazel Gaynor
Hazel Gaynor imagines a backstory for Dorothy’s Auntie Em of “The Wizard of Oz.” Set during the Depression, the novel shows how “Emily” became the courageous woman who raised Dorothy. The harshness of the Dust Bowl gives rise to colorful and determined characters who anticipate those of Oz. – Stefanie Milligan
The Rarest Fruit, by Gaëlle Belém, translated by Hildegarde Serle
Black botanical genius Edmond Albius blooms beneath the gaze of Réunionese novelist Gaëlle Bélem. Raised by a white horticulturist on Bourbon Island in the 1830s, the enslaved child, delighted by all things flora, ends up cracking the mystery of the vanilla orchid’s pollination. Bélem transforms little-known history into an exquisite ode. – Erin Douglass
Crown, by Evanthia Bromiley
Evanthia Bromiley’s novel follows a pregnant mother and her 9-year-old twins facing eviction from a trailer park. When Jude goes into labor, she tells the twins to hide nearby. Fearing discovery, the children venture out to find a new home. Bromiley’s bold ensemble story vibrates with light and humanity. – Stefanie Milligan
These are the nonfiction titles our reviewers liked best this month.
The Spinach King, by John Seabrook
John Seabrook’s “The Spinach King” is a great American tragedy – about his own family. The Seabrooks revolutionized vegetable farming and the frozen food business in New Jersey, amassing a fortune. This reckoning with his family’s past encompasses ambition, ingenuity, and hard work, but also exploitation, greed, and corruption. – Heller McAlpin (Read our full review.)
Buckley, by Sam Tanenhaus
William F. Buckley Jr., editor of the National Review, shaped the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Joe McCarthy, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan were all indebted to Buckley’s intellectual leadership. Sam Tanenhaus brings the iconic figure to life in this evenhanded, insightful, and well-written biography. – Terry W. Hartle (Read our full review.)
Charlottesville, by Deborah Baker
Deborah Baker offers a compelling account of the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. The spark was a City Council vote to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park. Baker provides historical context for the unrest, and profiles activists and clergy who led the counterprotests. – Barbara Spindel
