Fiction

Allen's new magical realism romance follows her New York Times best-selling debut, Garden Spells, and is also set in western North Carolina. Josey Cirrini, in her late twenties and atoning for her unruly childhood, drones as a companion for her rich and domineering widowed mother. Josey's sole comfort is the secret stash of romances, travel magazines, and candy in her closet—the same closet in which sleazy Della Lee shows up one November, triggering a month of unexpected change. Josey also meets Chloe, who attracts books like some folks draw stray dogs and cats (you'll never again consider a book an inanimate object). In 13 candy-themed chapters, secrets from the past unravel, and old and new dreams and romances come to fruition. Allen's inspired descriptions of Della Lee's ex-boyfriend Julian wonderfully explain the power "bad boys" exert over even good women. Although not as strong as her debut, this contemporary romance still uses magic to captivating effect. Fans of Garden Spells will want this; for fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/08; see also Neal Wyatt's web-only RA Crossroads for a segment on Garden Spells.—Ed.]—Rebecca Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

In his third novel (after Tuff and The White Boy Shuffle), Beatty creates a story from music. DJ Darky, a Los Angeles musician who, like a modernist jazzman, creates beats from found sounds, travels to Berlin, Germany, in search of his avant-garde idol, Charles Stone, aka the Schwa. Shortly after discovering the Schwa's beat in a mysterious envelope, DJ Darky sends a demo with his own infallible sound to the Slumberland Bar in Berlin as an application for the position of "jukebox sommelier," for which he's immediately accepted. Beatty takes us into pre-Wall Berlin and finishes just after liberation, ending in a crescendo of incomprehensible rhythm from DJ Darky and the Schwa's collaboration that re-creates a metaphorical wall. The narrative touches on oppression and the inexplicable, transcendent power of music, both of which translate to the American race struggle. Beatty's rolling Faulknerian prose has been praised for its "dazzling linguistic flights" (Salon), and this newest novel is no different; the dense imagery and sound create a synesthesia carnival. Recommended for all libraries.—Stephen Morrow, Athens, OH

"Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon"—this Dalai Lama quote appears on the title page of Bobis's (White Turtle) wonderful debut novel about the struggle between a mother and a daughter and serves as its thematic expression. Set in the Philippines, the story revolves around 12-year-old Nenita, whose life is one continual want as she never has enough food to fill her belly or enough love to fill her soul, a reality for which she blames her mother. To Nenita, food truly means love, and not to have enough of either is heartbreaking. This coming-of-age novel, winner of the Philippine Golden Book Award and short-listed for the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal, resembles Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street and is destined to be a hit among everyone from high school readers to adult book club members. Bobis's second novel, The Solemn Lantern Maker, is scheduled for release next year. [Visit the author online at www.merlindabobis.com.au.—Ed.]—Marika Zemke, Commerce Twp. Community Lib., MI

Based on a real-life World War II diary, Bohjalian's (The Double Bind) 12th novel chronicles the last days of the Nazi regime through the eyes of an unlikely threesome. Anna Emmerich, an 18-year-old Prussian aristocrat, along with her mother and younger brother, is making a desperate attempt to journey west across the Reich out of the path of the advancing Red Army. Callum Finnella, Anna's lover and a Scottish POW who worked on the Emmerich family estate, is also traveling with the family. Uri Singer, a German Jew who escaped from a train bound for Auschwitz, is ironically the group's guardian as they travel through Germany. The novel is immensely readable, but the characters—the Jewish escapee, the heroic Allied soldier, and the beautiful Prussian aristocrat—seem more like archetypes than individuals. However, Bohjalian takes a fresh perspective and details the brutal realities of World War II in a novel that for once does not focus entirely on the Allies. Recommended for fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/08.]—Andrea Y. Griffith, Loma Linda Univ. Libs., CA

This short novel brings back the infamous Hunsenmeir sisters previously introduced to readers in Six of One (1978), Bingo (1988), and Loose Lips (1999). The plot focuses on a 1952 day's outing to the seashore with the sisters Wheezie and Juts; Juts's seven-year-old daughter, Nickel (who narrates); and Leroy, her eight-year-old cousin. As the day wears on, the sisters bicker, as do Nickel and Leroy, and the story culminates in an incident meant to illustrate the importance of family. Though affectionately told, the story is a little too thin to stand as a novella; at 103 pages, it's also too long for a short story and too short for a novel. It almost seems as though this might have been cut from a larger work. Brown has been revisiting the Hunsenmeirs about every ten years or so and may have thought it was time to put the sisters back in the limelight. Fans of the story line will likely be interested, but other readers may find the work lacking. Recommended for large public libraries only. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/08.]—Caroline Mann, Univ. of Portland Lib., OR

This is Cabot's third book (after Queen of Babble and Queen of Babble in the Big City) to feature up-and-coming vintage wedding gown restorer Lizzie Nichols. Having successfully rehabbed a heinous dress into a design called "cunning" by U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Lizzie seems to have a promising career—now she needs to focus on her personal life. Saying yes to Luke's surprise marriage proposal was more of a knee-jerk reaction than a thoughtful acceptance. But Lizzie can repent at her leisure, as Luke is working in Paris for the summer, during which time she finds herself growing increasingly attracted to Luke's best friend, Chaz. You have to hope that, as goofy as Lizzie might seem at times, things will turn out for the best—and they do. Cutesy chapter titles like "A History of Weddings" and quotes distract at first, but you'll stop noticing. Reading about Lizzie and her gang again is like catching up with old friends. Patrons who like humorous, lighthearted stories about personal relationships will appreciate this book, not to mention the series. Essential for all popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/08.]—Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH

Deveraux's (Someone To Love) latest romance has an old-fashioned feel to it. Cassie Madden was a lonely 12-year-old when she fell in love with Jeff Ames. Years later, Jeff is widowed, and Cassie is nanny to his daughter in his home, still in love with this man who appears oblivious to her feelings. But things change when Cassie hears shots from a nearby estate and, upon investigating, meets infamous actress Althea Fairmont. The old movie star claims the shots were fired by her ex-husband, but Cassie has her doubts, and further involvement with Althea leads to the realization that not everyone—including Jeff—is who he/she seems. The re-creation of a 1941 murder at a Hollywood house party, complete with Cassie costumed as Althea and Jeff playing Althea's lover, a man acquitted of his young wife's murder, fittingly concludes the book. Readers will care about Deveraux's characters, and she manages to convey the feel of a classic Hollywood movie (gowns by Adrian) in a tale combining humor, romance, and mystery. Highly recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/08.]—Elizabeth M. Mellett, Brookline P.L., MA

Ferry is the narrator and the author of this novel—and if you just did a double take, that's to be expected, as this work plays with the reader's notion of fact and fiction. Protagonist Ferry, a high school teacher who moonlights as a travel writer (as the author does in real life), witnesses a car accident in which a young woman is killed. Or does he? Ferry is haunted by the idea that he could have prevented the tragedy. He attends the young woman's funeral and begins to re-create the end of her life, trying to solve the mystery of why she didn't stop the car. Alas, Ferry's obsession with this mystery could mean the end of his burgeoning relationship with girlfriend Lydia. Because of Ferry's imaginative play, the reader is never sure what really happened. In light of the recent exposés of memoirs that are really fiction, it's as if the author outright flaunts the idea, proposing fiction as memoir. For readers interested in experimental fiction and psychological puzzles; recommended for larger literary collections.—Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH

The nature of attachment—or, more accurately, detachment from self, spouse, career, and family—forms the skeleton of this meditative first novel from Fonseca (Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey). Meandering and thoughtful, the book is divided into three sections and moves among a lush tropical island, London, and a bustling Manhattan gripped by post-9/11 edginess. The tale revolves around Jean and Mark Hubbard, a long-married couple on sabbatical in picturesque St. Jacques. When Jean inadvertently intercepts an email meant for her husband, the contents send her reeling. Is he having an affair? How long has it been going on? And why? As Jean begins sleuthing, she undertakes numerous deceptions that force her to access how she feels about commitment, monogamy, and revenge. Along the way, issues of female aging come to the fore, even as the need to care for elderly parents smacks head-on into letting go of a college-aged child bursting for independence. Intense and realistic, full of sexual imagery and churning emotion, this work is highly recommended for all fiction collections.—Eleanor J. Bader, Brooklyn, NY

Set in Troy, NY, this debut novel by acclaimed poet Fulton uses ten linked stories to show how the Garrahan women have struggled with triumph and tragedy over a century. Mamie Flynn Garrahan has five children before she is 30. Her daughter Annie becomes a nurse during the Great Depression, running a clinic in a hotel. Daughter Edna reveals that she's been sending unsigned birthday cards to her sister Charlotte, hoping she'll believe that they are from a former lover. Decades later, Annie's daughter Ruth takes a trip to New York City with her mother and a girlfriend, and they happen upon a hotel press conference for the Beatles. While Ringo, John, George, and Paul hold court for a crowd from their hotel room sofa, Annie accidentally licks an "I Still Love the Beatles" sticker, only to find out that John's creativity medicine was on the back of the sticker. Her response? "I'm a registered nurse, and I have never heard of any medicine being administered on a sticker." A delightful blend of history and storytelling, recommended for all public libraries.—Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO

To Dr. Leo Liebenstein, a New York psychiatrist, it's the puppy that gives it away. His much younger "real" wife, Rema, does not like dogs, so this woman who looks like Rema and smells like Rema and has brought him the puppy must be a simulacrum. Leo tells the faux Rema that he's on to her and wants his real wife back. Leo also believes that his missing patient, Harvey, is tied to the mystery. And what of the Royal Academy of Meteorology (RAM), which Harvey says has employed him as a secret agent? The real Rema convinced Leo to impersonate RAM staff member Tzvi Gal-Chen in his therapy work with Harvey, and now Leo is calling Gal-Chen on his Blackberry from across the ocean. But could Leo be talking to a dead man? Galchen's astonishing debut is rich in detail and scientific exploration and a kind of dreamy psychological dissembling that keeps the reader as baffled as Leo right to the end. This dense, brilliant novel should be much in demand, especially for book groups eager for the challenge of dissecting and reconstructing the clues in a search for the solution. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/08.]—Beth E. Andersen, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has spawned multitudes of what-if scenarios. In the authors' previous book, Pearl Harbor, what might have happened if the attack on Pearl Harbor had been pressed harder was answered: it would have been catastrophic for the United States. This sequel graphically and plausibly tells what could have happened if the Japanese and U.S. fleets had found and battled each other in the desperate days following the attack. Skillfully combining historical characters with fictional ones, Gingrich and Forstchen have crafted a riveting, exciting, and realistic novel of World War II. Curiously for an alternate history, it does not change events much. There is a feeling of inevitability that diminishes any sense of surprise, as fictional events don't seem to evolve all that differently from actual history. The authors' Civil War trilogy did come to a conclusion; thus, readers will wonder if there will be future books and a subsequent, but different, end to the Pacific War. Recommended for larger collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/08; 250,000-copy first printing.]—Robert Conroy, Warren, MI

This is a courageously uncompromising and beautifully crafted novel about a failed marriage and a young child trying to survive it. The story is set in the desolate Australian outback during the tumultuous war years of the 1930s and 1940s. The father, Nicholas, is a bully who has moved his young bride and daughter from their home in England to this remote location halfway around the world so that he can pursue his research into aboriginal cultures. Both the desolation of the outback and the silence and cruelty in this marriage take a tragic toll on Nicholas's wife, Stella, who slowly spirals into dementia. Perdita is the young daughter who bears witness to this tragedy. Jones has a distinctive narrative voice—lyrical, graceful, densely vibrant with detail and image—and has much to say here about selfishness, cruelty, and simple human kindness. The moments of kindness Perdita experiences are rare and fleeting, but they arise out of the squalor of her life like revelations. A harrowing and important novel; enthusiastically recommended. [Australian novelist Jones's Dreams of Speaking has been short-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2008.—Ed.]—Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT

Toshi, a high school girl at home during summer vacation, is surprised late one morning by the sound of crashing glass coming from her neighbors' house. From that point on, her life and that of her three friends will change completely as they become entangled with the neighbors' son, nicknamed "Worm." Focusing on the lives of these five characters, Kirino unflinchingly describes the contemporary social conditions of teenagers from their point of view; unlike Battle Royale, that now infamous look at violent school children, this work more honestly depicts the blatant as well as subtle acts of violence done by and to teenagers in modern Japan. Kirino's work has been awarded numerous prestigious awards, including the Edogawa Rampo Prize for best mystery in 1993 and the Naoki Prize for Soft Cheeks in 1999; this is his third book to appear in English, after Grotesque and Out. Gabriel, who recently translated Murakami Haruki's Kafka on the Shore to critical acclaim, has a difficult job translating the slang of high school students but mostly hits the right notes. Highly recommended.—Andrew Weiss, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu

Now middle-aged, troubled Tanner Johnson has left his pregnant wife and his job at a sports shop to work as a baker in a small café in the Tennessee town where he lives. He continues to be spooked by the specter of a child he knew when, as a Peace Corps volunteer in his twenties, he taught at the remote New Hope School for troubled boys in Belize. Tanner seems to have been tortured by what he witnessed while at the school, as flashbacks let the story unfold gradually. Casual violence among the boys and including staff members affects the naïve, inexperienced Tanner, who makes a difficult adjustment to his new life when he faces unexpected challenges. Now, Tanner can't shake the memories or accept the new role of father. Satisfying and well written, this haunting debut novel will appeal to a wide variety of readers.—Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., VA

After his parents' death, Sicilian-born Michele Nunziato was raised by the boss of all bosses, Don Luciano Scaglione. Having grown wealthy with the Don's help and his own ruthless intellect, he now decides to go legit (or as legit as a man who doesn't mind killing for personal gain can go). Inspired by the inscription on an ancient medallion once belonging to King Midas—"To Dream, To Dare, To Win"—Michele takes the name Michael Tiranno (the "tyrant") and builds the magnificent Seven Sins casino in Las Vegas. When terrorists attack the strip, Michael and his strongman, the redoubtable Alexander, go into action. They soon learn that someone (beyond the obvious Muslim extremists) wants to destroy not only Michael and his casino but all of Sin City. Interspersing episodes from the 1970s, the 1990s, and the present day and combining high finance with ancient lore, Land (Blood Diamonds) presents a larger-than-life hero with a dark past, a risk taker accompanied by a sidekick so skilled in killing as to seem infallible. Their spectacular ride, global in its dimensions, will enthrall all thrill seekers. Highly recommended for popular fiction collections. [This is the first of a series of books starring Michael Tiranno, inspired by Italian real-estate and media mogul Fabrizio Boccardi.—Ed.]—Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson

In this experimental mélange of memoir, fiction, poetry, and mock essay, McCartney parodies encyclopedias such as World Book. The entry headings include subjects you'd expect to find in a reference work (Einstein, Lavoisier), oddball topics you wouldn't (dunce's caps, hoodies), and some that sound entirely personal ("McCartney, Alistair," "Umbrella, My Aunt Joan's"). These headings, however, don't begin to suggest what to expect from the freewheeling entries themselves, which frequently eschew the subject at hand in favor of the author's many recurring obsessions (e.g., Kafka, gay porn, the Holocaust) or take off on surreal flights of fancy. McCartney's playful, almost free-associative prose comes on like the work of a performance artist (his boyfriend, with an entry of his own, is "Miller, Tim") or an avant-garde stand-up comic; it's often scabrously funny. Without narrative or characterization, the book reads like a collection of perverse prose poems. It's self-indulgent but clearly that's partly the point. This uncategorizable debut is recommended for large fiction collections.—Stephen Sposato, Chicago P.L.

McGrath's (Port Mongo) latest tale concerns Charlie, a psychiatrist, and his dysfunctional life and family. A distant father and alcoholic mother have left their marks on him, his rivalry with older brother Walter has festered unabated for years, and Charlie gamely maintains on-again, off-again relationships with his ex-wife, Agnes, and his sometime lover, Nora. Agnes's brother committed suicide while Charlie was treating him for post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the many ghosts haunting the cobwebby mansion of Charlie's mind. Frequent references to Manhattan's East Sixties, the Son of Sam case, and passing glimpses of the World Trade Center make this very much a New York novel. The denouement will not surprise longtime readers of McGrath's fiction, though it probably won't surprise many other readers either. This is a book more to be admired than embraced. The uncompromising development of its initial premise is carried out with a chilly skill that exactly duplicates the professional approach of its central character, the "alienist." Recommended for all public libraries east of the Hudson and for others where literary fiction is in demand.—Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO

Mojtabai (Ordinary Time) returns to the literary scene with a winner. Set on a cross-country bus, the story shifts perspective from passenger to passenger. These strangers have been brought together for a short time, some seeking the attention of others and some receding into themselves as much as possible. A mixed bunch, they're the "walking wounded," as the bus driver thinks of them, "on the move because the dream crashed." An elderly woman, en route to visiting ailing relatives, can see which passengers need advice or a shoulder to cry on but must refrain from offering help. One man has bolted from the hospice room of the woman he had lived with for 20 years, buying a See America pass. A brother and sister are being shipped off by their abused mother to another situation, probably as dismal as the one they are leaving. And a few cause the bus driver some serious concern. Is the man in the wool cap just down on his luck, or is there more to his story? He'll have to keep an eye on that one while finding someone compatible for conversation through the long, dark stretches. The result is a beautiful and sensitive portrayal of people from the sad side of the American spectrum. Recommended for popular fiction collections.—Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati State Technical & Community Coll. Lib.

After losing her job and her self-confidence, Mia Landan, a thirtysomething breast cancer survivor from Charleston, SC, finds her way to Casting for Recovery, a North Carolina-based organization run by fishing guide Belle Carson. Mia also loses her husband when she finds him casting about with another woman, and she seeks refuge in Belle's old family cabin. Along with the rigors of breast cancer treatment, readers learn about the ancient art of fly-fishing and how its principles can help replenish the soul and bring nature and a person's place in it into relief. Mia's time in the cabin makes her look at her damaged body as a symbol of her self-worth, not merely as a sign of weakness and failure. She even manages to flirt and eventually find love with a fellow fly-fisher. But this latest title from Monroe (Swimming Lessons) is also a mystery, as Mia tries to piece together the life of Kate Watkins, Belle's late grandmother and a well-known fly-fisher, who lived in the cabin many years before. The truth is unearthed by Mia and a group of strong local women who decide that men need not have the last word, even when the conversation is about fishing. This fascinating, nicely wrought novel will be popular in public libraries even where readers don't know a brook trout from a can of sardines. Highly recommended.—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

Dr. Eduard Bloch, the Austrian Jewish physician who cared for Adolph Hitler's family, is at the center of Neugeboren's long-awaited novel, his first in 20 years. Elisabeth Rofman, the divorced mother of a mentally disturbed son, befriends Dr. Bloch, who in turn provides a hiding place for the boy when he escapes from the facility in which he was living. Neugeboren draws on the historical Dr. Bloch's testimony about Hitler and combines it with his own concerns about the treatment of the mentally ill—as evidenced in his Transforming Madness and Imagining Robert—to fashion a many-stranded narrative in which he considers the tragic fate of Europe's Jews, the history of the New York subway system, human anatomy, medical illustration, and more. But the overwhelming question remains: "Does the child create the adult?"—i.e., can one see in Dr. Bloch's memories the seeds of the man Hitler would become? Similarly, does Elisabeth's motherless upbringing account for why she is so fiercely protective of her son? This tautly constructed, utterly readable book raises questions the reader must answer. Highly recommended for all serious fiction collections.—Andrea Kempf, Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, KS

Niederhoffer's debut novel, A Taxonomy of Barnacles, centered on an upper-class Manhattan family. The wealthy continue to fascinate the author in her sophomore effort that focuses on the lives of a group of friends who meet at Yale. Their predilection for having love affairs with one another had the other students on campus dubbing them "The Romantics." Opening ten years after college, the novel centers on Laura, the single Jewish member of the Romantics' Wasp-y and superwealthy enclave. Laura's great college love was Tom. After Tom and Laura broke up, Tom took up with Lila, Laura's beautiful and popular yet consistently disliked roommate. Throughout Tom and Lila's relationship, Tom continued to talk to and see Laura, leading all to assume that the Tom and Lila pairing was a farce. But no—now the Romantics have come together again for Tom and Lila's wedding at Lila's amazing oceanfront country house in Maine. Lila's intimidating mother, Augusta, is running the occasion like a tight ship. Laura, the maid of honor, is devastated; the rest of the group thinks perhaps Tom is marrying Lila to get a piece of her sizable inheritance. The night before the wedding, as the crew parties on a small boat off the coast, Tom disappears. Did he drown? Did he run away? Laura and her friends try to solve the mystery before the wedding begins. Once again, it's interesting to read about how the wealthy live. From Augusta's fretting about the centerpieces to Laura's longing, the emotions run from shallow to deep. Niederhoffer weaves the characters together in an intense, crisp story line that will appeal to readers who enjoyed her first book. For most fiction collections.—Beth Gibbs, Davidson, NC

In 1999, Oates (The Gravedigger's Daughter) wrote an article discussing and reviewing books on the JonBenet Ramsey case. Here, she fictionalizes the case to satirize upper-middle-class status seekers, media fixation, and opportunity-grabbing victims. The story is narrated by Skyler Rampike, brother of Bliss, the six-year-old ice skating prodigy who is murdered in the basement of their suburban New Jersey home. Before his sister was born, father Bix and mother Betsey had high hopes for Skyler; social climber Betsey even arranged play dates for Skyler with children of the wealthy. But that strategy failed, and when Bliss's skating career takes off, the elite begin returning Betsey's calls—and Skyler is shuffled into the background. As Betsey becomes immersed in Bliss's skating lessons, beauty treatments, and press appointments and Bix is freed to scramble up the corporate ladder, Skyler finds that his suffering is just beginning. After Bliss is murdered, he is sent off to special schools for children who have been traumatized with an alphabet soup of diagnosed syndromes and a pharmacopeia of medications. Meanwhile, Betsey writes a book about her experience and is soon the darling of talk-show hosts. Oates is in top form as she creates a narrative voice that is bitter and humorous yet sympathetic, building to a dramatic and satisfying resolution. Highly recommended.—Joshua Cohen, Mid-Hudson Lib. Syst., Poughkeepsie, NY

Parker's writing is a pure pleasure to read—terse and strong, it carries a good story and lays its messages between the lines. His latest Western picks up where Appaloosa left off with Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole together again working as hired guns for a nasty SOB named Wolfson. Wolfson wants to own the whole town of Resolution, but Eamon O'Malley, the local mine owner, stands in his way—Eamon with his gunslingers Cato and Rose. Wolfson is also squeezing the local farmers and small ranchers out of business. A range war is inevitable, and Cole and Hitch wind up champions of the little guys. This is more of a shoot-'em-up than Appaloosa was—plenty of action, not too much character development, fast and fun to read. Could this be the beginning of a new series? The film version of Appaloosa starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, and Renee Zellweger is set to be released later this year. Highly recommended for all Western collections.—Ken St. Andre, Phoenix P.L.

The best word to describe Swierczynski's (The Blonde) latest thriller is frenetic, and even that is likely an understatement. Jamie DeBroux is unhappy about being called in to work on a Saturday morning. But things get much worse when Jamie's boss tells him and his coworkers that he's called them into the office for the purpose of killing them all. While Jamie has served as media relations director for what he believed to be a financial services group, he's the only employee unaware that the company's a cover for an intelligence agency. Within minutes of that fateful Saturday meeting, two people are dead, and the remaining employees are left to square off against one of their own in an attempt to survive. Death and violence arrive in the first chapter and continue throughout; the graphic content is plentiful, mixed with an equal dose of black humor to lighten the tone. While not for everyone, this single-sitting thrill ride should find some readers in public libraries. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 7/07.]—Craig Shufelt, Fort McMurray P.L., Alta.

Widower Lev, the quintessential "everyman," arrives in London from an economically deprived area of Russia, armed with only a cursory knowledge of English and some bad financial advice. Aided by the kindness of strangers and a passionate zeal to provide a better life for his daughter, Maya, Lev takes pride in his lowly kitchen work at the renowned G.K. Ashe Restaurant while observing and absorbing the ways of its demanding chef. The author fills the pages with terrifically flawed yet redeemable secondary characters like Lydia, Lev's mentor of sorts; Christy Slane, his Irish landlord whose struggle with alcohol has resulted in a traumatic divorce; and his lover, Sophie, who introduces him to the quirky denizens of Ferndale Heights Nursing Home, in particular, Ruby Constad, who will play an important role in the fulfillment of Lev's dreams. Like Amy Bloom's recent novel, Away, or Ha Jin's A Free Life, Whitbread Award winner Tremain (Music and Silence) has written a worthy addition to the growing body of work centered on the loneliness and frustration of the immigrant experience. Recommended for all larger fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/08.]—Sally Bissell, Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Fort Myers, FL

When this book was originally published posthumously in 1906, Verne's son, Michel, rewrote many of his father's passages. Proof that the Frenchman's fiction (e.g., 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; Around the World in Eighty Days) never disappoints, this version is the first authentic English translation of Verne's original manuscript and restores the story as he originally wrote it. Set at the height of the Klondike gold rush, the story recounts the adventures of two Montreal cousins who journey by train, boat, and dogsled to the Yukon territory, where they mine an inherited claim. After suffering many misfortunes, the two learn of a volcano that "spews out nuggets" of gold, which leads them to embark on a quest to find this volcano and profit from its treasure. Full of adventure and action, the novel also succeeds in providing social commentary on the evils of greed and debauchery. The differences between Verne's manuscript and his son's are highlighted in the preface and demonstrate how his son's unfortunate rewrites completely altered a wonderful story that includes fascinating depictions of the arctic wilderness and the hardships of living there. Recommended for all libraries that support literature collections.—Erica Swenson Danowitz, Delaware Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Media, PA

Weisberger's latest novel chronicles the lives of three glamorous New Yorkers à la Sex and the City. Sexy Adriana lives off her rich Brazilian parents' money while devoting herself to her beauty; serious Leigh works as an editor at a prestigious publishing company; and sweet Emmy is a scout for a prominent restaurateur. All nearing the big 3-0, the gals take stock of their lives over a fabulous meal at the Waverly Inn. Emmy decides to expand her horizons by having sex with random men, and she challenges the promiscuous Adriana to find a committed relationship (Leigh is exempt as the others believe she has a perfect life, even if she doesn't). The three follow paths amply strewn with consumer goods and cattiness, each eventually finding what she really needs. While this book lacks the outsider-looking-in social critique that made Weisberger's best-selling The Devil Wears Prada so entertaining, don't underestimate the number of readers who enjoy following characters willing to spend $8000 on a "makeover" for a parrot. Weisberger's legion of fans make this an essential purchase for all popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/08; visit the author online at www.laurenweisberger.com/index.php.—Ed.]—Lisa Davis-Craig, Canton P.L., MI

Stevie Jonson has everything a girl's supposed to hope for—she's got a career that she loves as a graphic designer, and she's about to get married. So what if Stevie worries that she's just settling, not settling down? She's also got this nagging feeling that there are still things unsaid with an old friend who's about to move halfway around the world and whom she's just fixed up with her best friend, Lara. Brushing off her doubts as last-minute wedding jitters, Stevie runs into problems on her honeymoon with Jez in Thailand, where they bump into another old acquaintance, the man-eating Katy, and her boyfriend, Seb. Soon, Stevie senses undercurrents of misjudgment between her and Jez, and sexual tension among the four drives the blushing bride to the cold realization that maybe her marriage really was a mistake. This ensemble romance is a strong follow-up to Williams's The Yummy Mummy. Likable characters, funny dialog, and the vicarious pleasure of an exotic setting propel a sometimes predictable plot with an ultimately satisfying ending. Fans of British women's fiction will enjoy; recommended for all public libraries.—Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L., NY

Born in Vietnam, Le was raised in Australia, where he trained as a lawyer, and came to the United States to attend the Iowa Writers' Workshop. So it might panic a few readers that the protagonist of the first story in this stellar debut collection is the Vietnam-born Nam, a former lawyer from Australia trying to meet a deadline at the Iowa Writers' Workshop when his estranged father blows into town. Will this be a bunch of autobiographical stories exemplifying "ethnic fiction" (which the story actually manages, rather slyly, to dismiss)? Absolutely not—unless Le is also a 14-year-old assassin in Colombia, asked to kill a friend; a crotchety if successful painter coming to terms with a cancer diagnosis just as the daughter he's never met prepares for her Carnegie Hall debut; a high school boy in Australia who's achieved a modest sports victory and must face down a bully as his mother faces death; and an American woman visiting a friend in Tehran who risks her life battling the regime. Le writes rawly rigorous stories that capture entire worlds; each character is distinctive and fully fleshed out, each plot eventful as a full-length novel but artfully compressed. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/08.]—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal