The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell

Author Maggie O’Farrell is fond of playing with identities and her fourth novel, The Hand That First Held Mine, is no exception. The story follows two couples whose lives seem completely disconnect. In post-war London we meet young and vibrant Lexie, who has morphed from country-girl Sandra, to headstrong Alexandra, to independent Lexie under the influence of the enthralling magazine editor, Innes Kent. In the present time we meet Ted and Elina immediately after the difficult birth of their son. Elina’s near-death experience has left her confused and disoriented as she gropes with new motherhood. For Ted the experience of fatherhood has dredged up suppressed memories that are equally disorienting.

Laura

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Major Ernest Pettigrew is a stickler for protocol; a man set in his routine in both action and philosophy, until the day he answers his door to find the charming Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the local Pakistani shop owner, standing on his doorstep.

United by their love of Kipling and their lingering bereavement of their departed spouses, Major Pettigrew (who was born in Lahore), and Mrs. Ali (who was born in Cambridge), begin to form a surprising friendship, only to be thrown off by the subtle prejudices of the townspeople, the pressures asserted by Mrs. Ali’s ultra-religious nephew, and the frenetic social-climbing of Major Pettigrew’s son. In her polished debut novel Helen Simonson has created a charming story of village politics, multicultural conflicts, the value of good manners, and the zest in a jolly good turn of phrase.

Laura

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Cecelia Rose Honeycut has lived with the humiliation of her mentally unstable tiara and Vidalia Onion Queen sash-wearing mother being the laughing stock of Willoughby, Ohio. With no support from her absentee father she lives with guilt and fear of carrying on the insanity gene after her mother is struck and killed by an ice cream truck. Her saving begins when she’s sent to live with her Great Aunt Tootie, a perfect Savannah, Georgia hostess with a heart of gold. Aided by the bottomless wisdom and stern love of Tootie’s long-term cook, Oletta, CeeCee finally begins to find peace and acceptance in life. Like one of Oletta’s legendary cinnamon rolls, the story is sprinkled with healthy doses of sugary sentiment, but nicely balanced with fluffy doses of humor and some yeasty toughness to roll the whole story into a gooey but welcome experience.

Laura

Savage Lands by Clare Clark

In 1704, while Louis XIV is living in the luxury of Versailles, less than 200 hardy souls are struggling to maintain the French colony of Louisiana. It is to this vast colony that strong-willed Elisabeth Savaret is sent as one of 24 “casket girls” who’ve committed to marry virtual strangers there. Much to her surprise Elisabeth falls deeply and passionately in love with her intended, ruthless and resourceful Jean-Claude Babelon. A triangle emerges when young Auguste Guichard returns from years living with the natives only to fall under the spell of both Elisabeth and Jean-Claude. Atmospheric, moody and compelling, Savage Lands is another great novel from historic specialist Clark.

Laura

Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

In six days Matthew Prior has to come up with $30,000 balloon payment for his over-mortgaged house. That might not be so daunting if he hadn’t used most of the refinancing money after quitting his journalism job to start a website that dispenses financial advice through poetry. Interspersed with haiku and free-verse, The Financial Lives of the Poets is funny, witty, trenchant, topical, and yes, poetic. Fans of Josh Bazell, Pete Dexter and possibly Nick Hornby might like this book

Laura

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin

This wonderful historical novel is based on the life of Alice Liddell who inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice in Wonderland. Benjamin does an excellent job telling a complex story of young Alice’s relationship with Carroll aka Charles Dodgson – who was a young man at Oxford when they met. But it is more than that – it is about Alice’s strength through a catastrophic time in her young life, followed by love and loss. It is about a girl becoming a woman – navigating Victorian England’s strict moral attitudes with little help from those around her. Great for discussion and book clubs.

Lisa

Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment

After forty-five years negotiating the stairs of their five floor East Village walk-up apartment, septuagenarians Alex and Ruth have decided it’s time to move. As if finding the perfect New York apartment weren’t a daunting enough task, a panic has seized the city as a possible terrorist attack is clogging the Mid-town tunnel, and their beloved dachshund, Dorothy, has collapsed and needs emergency medical attention. Ciment has deftly created a slice-of-life story that reveals universal truths in small, but possibly heroic, gestures.

Laura

Gone to the Dogs by Mary Guterson

When Rena finds out her fiancé, Brian, has unceremoniously dumped her (through a phone call from Brian’s dad no less) she reacts badly in a weak moment by stealing his new girlfriend’s dog. As the reality of her crime settles in Rena faces her Mother’s impending re-marriage, her sister’s shaky marriage and withdrawal from Orthodox Judaism, her dead-end waitressing job, the possible appeal of her latest blind date, as well as some persuasive come-ons from Brian. A light, but entertaining read.

Laura

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Seventeen year-old Quentin Coldwater has always had a knack for card tricks and an almost perverse interest in a children’s fantasy book series, so it’s almost no surprise that when he heads off for his Princeton interview he ends up following a wayward slip of paper through a mysterious thicket that leads to an exclusive, and highly secretive, private school for burgeoning magicians instead. With humor, imagination and great characterizations Grossman has managed to create a coming-of-age story filled with wild adventure that takes a bite out of predictable fantasy.

Laura

Blame by Michelle Huneven

Vivacious history professor Pasty MacLemoore knows she has a drinking problem. She’s already had her license suspended and is familiar with the inside of a jail cell. But this time when she wakes from her blackout she learns that she’s being held for the homicide of two Jehovah’s Witnesses she’s run over in her own driveway. Through her stint in prison, her release, and her marriage, Patsy lives under the umbrella of oppressive guilt. When, twenty years later, Pasty learns an astonishing fact about the incident she must re-examine her life and investigate new choices now open to her. Blame is a thoughtful novel of moral consequence just begging to be read and discussed by book groups.

Laura