APRIL ’14 The Ashford AffairNOW IN PAPERBACK Fever Mrs. Poe A Novel, by Lauren Willig A Novel, by Mary Beth Keane A Novel, by Lynn Cullen (St. Martin’s Griffin, 9781250027863, $15.99) (Scribner, 9781451693423, $16) (Gallery Books, 9781476702926, $16) “This is a convincing portrayal of 1920s English “This is the story of Mary Mallon - the infamous “Readers who enjoyed imagining the private society and a family history artfully hidden from ‘Typhoid Mary’—who carried the typhus disease lives of famous figures in Loving Frank and The the current generation. Snippets of information to an epidemic level among New York City Paris Wife will savor the behind-the-scenes dropped at her grandmother’s 99th birthday residents during the first decade of the 1900s. peek into the intimacies of Edgar Allen Poe, his celebration start Clemmie on a search for the truth Although perfectly healthy, it was believed that infirm young wife, and Frances Osgood, the about her grandmother. Rich details, realistically Mary was manufacturing typhoid bacilli inside writer who stole his heart. As compulsively flawed characters, and a narrative that travels her body and infecting those with whom she readable—and often as dark—as Poe’s works, from England to the high life of the ex-pat community in Kenya and came in contact. She was forcibly hospitalized for three years until Mrs. Poe is a well-researched and detailed novel whose supporting finally to present day Manhattan make this a book to remember.” being released by the court under the condition she would never cast of characters include Margaret Fuller, Horace Greely, and —Nicola Rooney, Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor, MI cook for hire again. Her Irish upbringing and talent as a cook other literati of mid-19th century New York.” caused her to defy that order, and she risked a return to the hospital. — Cheryl McKeon, Book Passage, San Francisco, CA The Burgess Boys This is an intimate story and a compelling read.” A Novel, by Elizabeth Strout —Carol Hicks, The Bookshelf, Truckee, CA The Returned (Random House Trade Paperbacks, A Novel, by Jason Mott 9780812979510, $15) Flora (Harlequin MIRA, 9780778317074, $14.95) “Relationships between Burgess siblings from A Novel, by Gail Godwin “What would you do if someone you loved, Shirley Falls, Maine, have always been as (Bloomsbury, 9781620401224, $16) someone who meant the world to you, who tempestuous as a North Atlantic storm. When “In the last months of America’s war with Japan, made your life complete…died? What would Susan’s teenage son instigates a racial incident ten year old Helen is left in the care of a relative you do if fifty years later that person showed up in the town, she turns to her two lawyer from Alabama one summer while her father leaves on your doorstep—never having aged, without brothers, Jim and Bob, for help. The resulting to work on a secret government project. A polio any recollection of where they had been? This is reluctant partnerships inflame old resentments and the revelation of scare soon quarantines the two women at home. the question that faces the world in Jason Mott’s a dark and terrible secret. Strout creates a memorable story. A Finn, a former mental patient who delivers food to The Returned. Part science fiction, part family drama, part worthy successor to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge.” the house, soon becomes the object of attention for philosophical treatise on human nature, The Returned delves deep —Alden Graves, Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, VT both women. The trouble, as Helen sees it, is that she is the most mature into groupthink and the human psyche without forsaking a genuinely female in the house, and feels she is the one in control, until tragedy riveting story. The Returned keeps you on your toes, and further, Burial Rites strikes on a deserted road one evening and she discovers the truth. A stimulates in a way that goes beyond the intellectual, touching your A Novel, by Hannah Kent clever, heart-felt, and often funny tale. Highly recommended.” heart and moral soul. This is one book that is guaranteed to get you thinking and talking, and will leave your breathless in the end.” (Back Bay Books, 9780316243926, $15) —Hunter Coleman, The Alabama Booksmith, Birmingham, AL “Set against the desolate fire-and-ice landscape —Heather Christman, Warwick’s, La Jolla, CA of 19th century Iceland, Burial Rites is a Gulp Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, The River of No Return brilliant, multifaceted novel that traverses dark A Novel, by Bee Ridgeway psychological terrain while providing pitch- by Mary Roach perfect historical detail. Debut author Hannah (W.W. Norton, 9780393348743, $15.95) (Plume, 9780142180839, $16) Kent is equally skilled at delving into the mind “Roach has explored the ‘life’ of a cadaver and “This romp in time has it all! There’s a dashing of Agnes Magnusdottir—a servant woman everything you’d want to know about sex, and has hero, several feisty heroines, some really nasty convicted of murder and condemned to beheading—as she is at taken us into space. Now, she takes us on an bad guys, plenty of mystery,suspense, humor rendering the domestic life of the poor farmers charged with uproarious tour of the last bodily frontier. Think and romance as Ridgeway navigates her sharing their tiny hovel with her, as there are no prisons in Iceland. eating is a simple process? Or the process of eminently plausible route along the River of Superbly entertaining.” elimination? From spit to farts—which have more Time filled with paradoxes and switchbacks. scientists studying them than you’d imagine—and with Elvis and his colon Shelve this alongside Gabaldon’s Outlander, —Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore, Houston, TX thrown in, you’ll dive into those gastric juices and just go with the flow.” and Harkness’ Discovery of Witches.” Eighty Days —Rosemary Pugliese, Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, NC —Annie Leonard, The Next Chapter, Knoxville, IA Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History- Leaving Everything Most Woke Up Lonely Making Race Around the World, A Novel, by Fiona Maazel by Matthew Goodman Loved (Graywolf Press, 9781555976729, $15) (Ballantine Books, 9780345527271, $16) A Maisie Dobbs Novel, “Woke Up Lonely is a wild thing of genius, so “Do you want to take a trip around the world by Jacqueline Winspear funny and so smart. Maazel presents us with a without leaving your favorite chair? This is your (Harper Perennial, 9780062049612, $15.99) warped mirror of our country and the time we chance! Goodman has created a vivid picture of “In this, her 10th Maisie Dobbs novel, Winspear live in. The Helix, a cult of the lonely, and its the race to circumnavigate the globe made by gives us all that we have come to expect and founder, Thurlow Dan, along with his ex-wife, two women journalists who were determined to more. More time with our favorite characters, Esme, and their daughter, Ida, head a superb turn Jules Verne’s fictional journey into a reality. This one has it all—a more insight into British society post-World War cast of characters. The story unfolds in a race between two formidable adventurers, visits to foreign lands, I, and more of Maisie as she struggles to make winding, fun-house fashion, sporting locales from Washington, encounters with nature’s foibles, and 19th century society in all of its her way in the world and to always do what is right by those whom D.C. to North Korea to Cincinnati. I envy those who are about to glory, full of hope and clamoring for recognition. A wonderful read!” she loves. A wonderful new edition to this beloved series.” read this truly one-of-a-kind work of fiction.” — Linda Bond, Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane, WA —Lorna Ruby, Wellesley Bookshop, Wellesley, MA —Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS.