In 1974, the 21-year-old author, motivated by the early death of his father from a heart attack, embarked on an ambitious attempt to answer two deceptively simple questions: How does one determine the optimal human diet, and what diet would one discover with that method? Spitz clarifies early on that he’s neither a physician nor […]
It’s the Sunday before Tess Lowell’s second wedding, but the painstaking planning for her union to practically perfect state Senate hopeful Warren Ashley didn’t prepare her for the drama that’s about to unfold over a week at her family’s Cape Cod estate. Because unbeknownst to Tess, her troublemaking brother, Sebastian, invited her ex-husband, Peter Hyun, […]
Apples, carrots, bread, chicken, cereal, granola bars, milk, peanut butter, potatoes, and rice: These are the only 10 foods that Zillah Scriven will eat. Her extreme pickiness is one of several attributes that make the 23-year-old Zillah feel like a child. She’s also only five feet tall and still lives at home with her mother, […]
Rosalind knows all too well what happens when patriarchs let their vanity spoil their stewardship of their families’ fortunes. Her own father’s disappearance left her nothing but a pile of bad debts. Although marrying Devon Winterbourne, son of the Duke of Casselmaine, would have secured her future, Rosalind chose the road less traveled, earning her […]
Mia’s got a brand-new diary—and a dream: joining Greenpeace “to save the baby seals.” But her mom is dating her algebra teacher, her crush barely knows she exists, and her dad’s just informed her that she must move to Genovia to learn to be a princess. It’s been decades since the 2000 release of The […]
Wayne, author of six previous novels, returns with an ingenious dissection of marriage, masculinity, and privilege, propelled by a gimlet-eyed wit. The opening scene—a Manhattan fundraiser where tuxedoed men “like inflatable penguins” mingle over wagyu sliders with their “spectral, hollow-cheeked wives”—establishes both the novel’s milieu and the lopsided dynamic between Steven, a 45-year-old writer living […]
It begins when Mike, newly demoted from investigator, sees flames half a mile away and rushes into a burning house, where he’s too late to rescue Jenna Malloy or her husband, gym owner Brian. The only survivor is a baby girl Mike finds in the arms of a neighbor, Karen Kershaw. Waldo County Sheriff’s Deputy […]
In the year 3989, Sook Joo begins her teen years living at an orphanage with her grandfather Ryu, a village surgeon and master practitioner of Orikido, an ancient form of martial arts that uses traditional techniques and locally fabricated steel weapons. When the gentle peace of the orphanage is broken by a group of “Slängers”—a […]
The author became engaged to a man named Sam at 17 years old with her “mother’s full support,” she recalls. When she tried to cut ties, Sam’s first manipulative suicide attempt convinced her that she was “responsible for him, for his life.” By the age of 19, she married him, solidifying Sam’s hold upon her. […]
Set in New York City, poet Bush’s novella follows Courtney, a teacher at a private preschool, over the course of one workday. Fresh off a “light nervous breakdown,” Courtney is contending with the ghosts of her past—a divorce; fraught family relationships; the death of her childhood best friend—while attempting to be fully engaged with her […]