Y: A Novel by Marjorie Celona

For the first sixteen years of her life, Shannon never knew her parents. Left by her mother on the steps of a YMCA just hours after her birth, the young girl’s abandonment is witnessed by only one man. Her destiny remained bleak and uncertain as she was shuffled through foster homes, her name altered and her childhood a blur.

Y is the captivating story of Shannon’s plight to come to terms with the hand she’s been dealt. It’s a remarkable narrative on life and the perpetual question of "why", examining what drives us to make life-altering decisions. The novel follows Shannon as she finally finds a permanent home with a strong-willed single mother, struggles with the weight of her little life, and eventually commits to the decision to find her parents. The biggest danger becomes whether her search will uncover things best left alone. Alternating between Shannon’s young life and the story of her mother, Yula, the novel delves into the bond between mothers and daughters, and the unforeseeable connections they share.

A House Near Luccoli by D. M. Denton

Alessandro Stradella was a legend in his time, a celebrated composer who took Italy in the 17th century by storm; wrestled from fame to infamy, Stradella received accolades and evictions alike, finally coming to Genoa after being sent from Rome, Turin, and Venice. Despite his scandals, his seductive genius for Baroque music and his overwhelming charm reserved for him a place of esteem within the nobility of Genoa. In D.M. Denton’s languid new novel, A House Near Luccoli, the author examines the famed composer’s time in Genoa through the lens of fiction, centering her story on the house near Luccoli Street where Stradella rented an apartment and filling it with her own brand of characters. Among them is the novel’s protagonist, Donatella. Plain and a confirmed spinster, Donatella resides in and tends to the house near Luccoli along with her ailing grandmother and domineering aunt. When Stradella sweeps into the quiet house Donatella becomes enraptured with the world he offers, so much different than the life she planned to live with her bloom fading before even having the chance to fully blossom.

The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields

In the first decade of the 1900s Edith Wharton’s name begins to rise amid the literary world as her novel The House of Mirth sees great success, thanks in part to the aid of her devoted secretary, her former governess and greatest friend, Anna Bahlmann. Living with the Whartons as a servant and yet held in a companionable station to both Edith and her husband, Teddy, Anna lives at the brink of two very different worlds, viewing Edith’s high society success from a position affording her no rank or attribution. Anna, though, gives no thought to her own recognition; she is interested only in lifting up her closest friend to the best of her ability. When Edith, struggling in her midlife, famously embarks on a tumultuous affair with the young journalist Morton Fullerton, the two women find their friendship precariously threatened by Anna’s disapproval. Edith claims that she never loved her husband, and as Anna’s heart solicitously goes out to the kindly, simple Teddy Wharton a new chasm is marked in their friendship, illuminating the stark differences in their personalities. Unable to detach herself from Edith’s life, Anna must summon her strength to endeavor through this lonely new territory while Edith herself must face the consequences of her actions. Intertwining passages from Edith Wharton’s diaries and letters, The Age of Desire depicts an iconic time in history from the perspective of two resolute and very different women.

Review: You Tell Your Dog First by Alison Pace

Throughout her career, Alison Pace's stories have been graced with the moniker of “dog lit”. But for Alison, many of the years spent writing novels about dogs, and essays about dogs, and book reviews about books about dogs were years spent without a dog of her own. Growing up in a house with no less than four dogs at a time, Alison is a lifelong lover of the animal with a wealth of memories for all the dogs she’s known. Living in New York City, though, has its dog-related difficulties, and pursuing the presence of dogs in her adult life found a way of becoming a lingering dream. In her new memoir, You Tell Your Dog First, Alison recounts, among other things, her decision to finally get a dog of her own: including the hunt for the perfect dog-friendly apartment, the extensive search for the appropriate breed, and the many adventures that come with dog-ownership.

Some Kind of Peace by Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff

Thirty-four year-old psychologist Siri Bergman spends her days treating patients in her Stockholm practice, focusing her expertise on the troubles of others. At night she resides in a secluded seaside cottage where she struggles to accept the loss of her husband in a diving accident a year prior. Siri copes with her emotions by leaving every light in her small cottage lit, smothering her fear of the dark with copious amounts of cheap wine. She has managed to keep her roiling emotions at bay, but when the feeling of being watched in her home begins to prickle like a cold breeze on the back of her neck Siri finds that an unforeseen enemy may just succeed in tipping the scales and pouring the tumult from her past into the carefully maintained world of her professional life. When a body is found in the water near her cottage Siri understands the true gravity of the danger she’s in. Her enemy is close by, watching her, and the objective is another murder: hers. With the help of Aina, her best friend and colleague, and with the aid of people from her past and present Siri must work through the history she’s kept locked away and uncover the identity of the person who is willing to go to any lengths to scare her, torment her, and eventually see her dead. Some Kind of Peace is a finely-crafted, beautifully written suspense novel from sisters Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff. Together Grebe and Träff intertwine keen psychological observation, vivid imagery, and a strongly unpredictable storyline to create a novel that is simultaneously a taught thriller and an explorative character study.

The Folded Earth by Anuradha Roy

Nestled in the foothills of the Himalaya, the small village of Ranikhet exists within itself. Its inhabitants live simple, hard-working lives without a hint of anonymity; some are poor, illiterate “hill people” while others are respected, titled men of a bygone India. The village is so self-contained and its visitors so few that there's rarely a stranger among them. Their strongest connection lies in the natural world around them; the wildness of nature and of life reflected in it. This is where Maya, a young woman disowned by her parents and widowed far too soon, seeks refuge from her troubled past. Whether she is running towards or away from her insatiable demons is unforeseeable. As she hides herself within the simplicity of village life Maya forges relationships with those around her, primarily her landlord, an ex-diwan, and the neighboring family who are also tenants on the estate. Yet, as Maya begins to feel she is finally becoming rooted in the familiarity of her situation changes uproot the village in the form of political disquiet, not to mention an elusive new relative who has suddenly returned to her elderly landlord’s life.

This is the foundation for The Folded Earth, Anuradha Roy’s second novel which was long-listed for the 2011 Man Asian Prize. It’s the foundation, but as the story progresses so much more reveals itself in the complexities and heartwarming nuances of the village and its full cast of characters. This is an ideal read for a book club, as it has me aching to divulge all the little details of the characters that stayed with me and to discuss the meaning behind some twists and turns of the novel.