Anita Brookner Pages: 184 Published: 1984
The book: Edith Hope lives in London and writes romance novels under the pen name Vanessa Wilde. After she has an “unfortunate lapse,” her friends send her off to the Hotel Du Lac in Switzerland to give her time to consider her behavior and see the error of her ways. But will she? Read more
Louise Erdrich Pages: 372 Published: 2016
The book: In North Dakota, an Ojibwe man, Landreaux Iron, goes hunting. He takes aim at a buck and fires. He realizes that he hit something other than the deer. He killed Dusty, the five-year-old son of his neighbor, Peter Ravich.
The Irons and Ravichs are related by marriage and have always been close. The two families agree to follow an ancient Indian tradition. Landreaux and his wife Emmaline give their youngest son, LaRose, to Peter and his wife Nola.
How will this play out? Will the two families cope? Where will it end? Read more
Walter Mosley Pages: 223 Published: 1990
The book: The story begins in Los Angeles in 1948. Easy Rawlins, a black war veteran, has been laid off from his job due to a disagreement with his boss. He’s having a drink in a bar when he’s introduced by the bar owner to a large white man, dressed in a white linen suit, DeWitt Albright. He offers to pay Rawlins to find a blonde woman who likes to hang out in black jazz clubs. Rawlins feels something’s not quite right and does not trust Albright, but he has a mortgage to pay and no paycheck. Will he take the job? Is Albright to be trusted? Read more
Mary Paulson-Ellis Pages: 435 Published: 2016
The book: It’s 2011 and Margaret Penny, a middle-aged woman, returns penniless to Edinburgh. She’s been away more than ten years. With no money and little welcome from her aging and combative mother, Margaret must find some sort of employment. She gets a job working for the Office of Lost People. Margaret’s first task: confirm the identity and find the family of an old woman who died in her apartment a few days before Margaret arrived in Edinburgh. Will Margaret be able to work out the identity of the unknown woman and find her family? Will her relationship with her mother improve? Read more