The family begins saving eggshells in January, carefully blowing out the yolks and whites through small holes. By the time Easter nears, they’ve collected 100 empty shells, ready to be painted in bright, vibrant colors. Next, the family members fill each egg with confetti and seal the holes with glue and tissue paper. It’s hard […]
The author begins the story of her beloved brother in 1993 with the striking observation that, even though they were both grown adults now, the AIDS virus has shrunk her brother’s body, leaving him “lost in the folds of an over-washed, white hospital gown.” When they were children in 1969, Olaf (as Boulanger lovingly called […]
Five years ago, in 1984, Viktoria made a horrible mistake—during a moment of distraction, she let her 5-year-old sister disappear in the bog behind their house, a place where such events are common. Now Anna has returned, but she hasn’t aged. She can’t explain where she’s been, and the bog seems to call her back. […]
Activist Jiménez’s childhood in Quito abruptly ends when her sister dies and Ecuador’s deteriorating economy forces her parents to make an unexpected choice: to leave their beloved country to immigrate to the United States. The family moves to Queens, New York, where, as undocumented immigrants, they strive to hide their status by working hard, avoiding […]
Amélie comes from a noble family that has fallen on hard times, which is how she came to be in a miserable marriage to simple merchant Hans. While her frugal and pragmatic husband spends most of his time in his library or at his raucous merchant’s guild, Amélie grudgingly tends to the domestic chores expected […]
FBI forensic linguist Raisa Susanto greets the news that her sister, Isabel Parker, has died in prison with a combination of relief and skepticism. Could the nightmare that began when 15-year-old Isabel killed her parents and brother—in The Lies You Wrote (2024)—and then embarked on a quarter-century career of murder finally have come to an […]
Mark Smeaton is born into inauspicious circumstances; his father is a poor carpenter, which, for most, would set one’s destiny in stone. However, he’s also a prodigiously talented musician—a composer, singer, and lutenist—and becomes a court musician for the king, who admires his abilities. He impresses Anne Boleyn as well, a beautiful woman of “silken […]
The spaceship Titan’s maiden voyage is a weeklong journey from Earth to Mars. The more than 500 passengers include paying customers, who are enjoying a first-class experience, the crew, who are stressed about keeping the aforementioned group happy, and some journalists and scientists. Petrified aliens, found preserved in permafrost, are on display in cases. The […]
Karl Marx, historian Hartman writes, was fascinated by the U.S. as “the nation most committed to the economic and social systems formed by capitalism.” He had fleeting hope that his concept of freedom as encompassing economic independence would find a home in the U.S., even as Abraham Lincoln—who, casual readers might not know, was the […]
The book opens during a hot August on Daisy’s 18th birthday, although she feels too miserable to enjoy the celebration. David is her second love after the recorder, but now he’s broken up with her. When school begins, Daisy meets new classmate Flora, who’s from Dublin and has her own passion for music as an […]