Spring is in the air and we have so many new books releases to look forward to along with the new season!!
My recommendations for the best books to read Spring 2025 include recently published or soon to be published contemporary fiction, historical fiction, romance, suspense and non-fiction that I have already read or that are on my TBR for this spring.
Happy spring reading!!
Note: I read across a lot of genres and I only choose books that I have already read or plan to read over the coming weeks for my book lists. If I haven’t yet read the book when I publish the book list then I include the blurb provided by the publisher and update the article with my own thoughts after I read it. I also make a conscious effort to try and include diversity in the books I choose to read. Some of the buzziest books of the season are on my lists but I hope I also introduce you to some titles that you might not have heard of otherwise.
You Might Also Enjoy Reading:
21 of the Best Books To Read This Spring (2024)
21 of the Best New Books To Read Spring 2023
30 of the Best New Books To Read Spring 2022
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1. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Setting: Fictional island off the coast of Georgia
Two writers compete to write the biography of a reclusive heiress in bestseller Emily Henry’s latest novel.
Alice Scott, a pop-culture journalist with a bubbly personality, is looking for her big break and thinks she might have found it when she tracks down Margaret Ives to a small island off the coast of Georgia. Ives, a tabloid princess from a wealthy family known for scandals and tragedy, disappeared from the public eye decades earlier but has agreed to meet with Alice to discuss writing her memoir. When Alice arrives on Little Crescent Island, however, she discovers that Margaret, now in her ’80s, has a surprise in store – she’s also considering Pulitzer Prize-winning memoirist Hayden Anderson and proposes a one month-trial period where she will meet with each of them before she decides who she trusts to write her biography.
Over the course of the month, Margaret’s life story is slowly revealed through Alice’s interviews while Alice and Hayden spend time together on the balmy island navigating NDAs, their inconvenient but undeniable attraction to each other and their mounting sense that Margaret isn’t being truthful with either one of them.
This is a bit of a departure from Emily Henry’s previous books in that it’s probably better described as contemporary fiction with just a dash of romance but I still enjoyed it.
I liked both Hayden and Alice and enjoyed the evolution of their grumpy/sunshine relationship as well as how they both were working on issues they had in their relationships with their parents. There’s also an element of mystery relating to Margaret’s past and her story within a story is gradually (very slow burn) unfolded via Alice’s interviews to reveal what happened when she disappeared from public life and why she is now interested in having her story told. I loved the charm of the small beach town in the summertime setting and Henry’s writing is engaging as always.
Great Big Beautiful Life is an enjoyable read as long as you’re not expecting a strict genre romance.
2. The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue
Setting: Aboard a Paris-bound train from Normandy
On the morning of October 22, 1895 at the Granville station in Normandy, passengers and crew board a train scheduled to arrive in Paris just before 4 pm. In addition to crew members, the passengers spread across the first, second and third class compartments of the train include a 7 year-old travelling alone, a Black American artist, a female student of science who suspects a young girl aboard the train has a fatal disease, a hardworking Russian immigrant, captains of industry, prominent politicians and a 21 year-old anarchist armed with a bomb.
Over the course of approximately 7.5 hours, the train steams toward Paris stopping at a few stations en route and the crew carries out their duties while relaxed passengers pass the time with each other oblivious to the fact that one among them plans to sacrifice her own life as well as a train full of innocent passengers to make a political statement.
Based on a real-life train disaster captured in a series of extraordinary photographs, this propulsive historical novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Room is meticulously researched and does a fabulous job of bringing the ill-fated train journey to life. It starts slow as the large ensemble cast of fascinating characters (both real and fictional) is introduced but speeds up and builds tension as the train hurtles toward Paris.
I found this book to be very suspenseful and couldn’t put it down even though I knew that it was going to end in disaster. The Author’s Note provides details about the real-life disaster but be sure to read it after finishing the book so as not to spoil the ending. A riveting and thoroughly entertaining edge-of-your-seat historical read from Donoghue!
3. Audition by Katie Kitamura
Setting: New York City
In the opening scene of Audition, an accomplished middle-aged actress in rehearsals for a new play meets a much younger man for lunch at a busy restaurant in Manhattan’s financial district. Who are they to each other? Is he her son or, perhaps, her lover? That’s the set-up and really all you need to know before picking up Katie Kitamura’s latest novel.
Consisting of competing narratives which unfold over two acts narrated by the actress, Audition is a compelling read and I enjoyed it even though I wasn’t sure that I fully understood it when I turned the last page. I hadn’t read any of Kitamura’s previous books so didn’t know what I would be getting but the blurb appealed to me because of the NYC theatre setting.
A quick and interesting literary fiction read that considers the various roles that we play socially and within our families (artist, friend, wife, mother) asking whether anyone really knows their true self but don’t expect clear answers as to what has happened at the end.
4. Swept Away by Beth O’Leary
Setting: On a houseboat adrift on the North Sea off the coast of England
Lexi and Zeke are both just looking for a night of fun when they meet at a bar in a coastal town in the north of England. Zeke’s only in town for a couple of days to buy back his late father’s houseboat and Lexi is too busy for dating because she’s helping raise her best friend’s daughter. But a miscommunication in the dark, foggy night means no one tied the boat to the dock and the next morning the two strangers find themselves surrounded by miles and miles of water.
Stranded at sea on a houseboat with no motor and limited supplies after what was supposed to be a one-night stand, Lexi and Zeke have to work together to survive on the North Sea while waiting to be rescued. But being stuck together for days on end means there’s a lot of time to get to know someone – and to fall in love.
I have enjoyed every romance that Beth O’Leary has written so no surprise that I thought this was a fun read! Told in alternating chapters from the point-of-view of the two main characters, Swept Away is a forced proximity, age gap (Lexi is several years older than Zeke) romance wih some emotional depth. There’s a twist that leads to the third act conflict/break-up that is a bit implausible but, overall, an enjoyable escape!
5. Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Setting: United States and Nigeria
FROM THE PUBLISHER: Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until—betrayed and brokenhearted—she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America—but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.
6. On Isabella Street by Genevieve Graham
Setting: Toronto and Vietnam
Bestselling author Genevieve Graham’s latest Canadian historical fiction novel about an unlikely friendship between two young women takes place in Toronto during the turbulent sixties and covers all of the big topics of the time period including the counterculture social movement, protests, fashion, drugs, music, free love and, of course, the devastation of the Vietnam War.
The story takes place in 1967-8 and is centred on two young women who have little in common apart from the apartment building where they live in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. Marian Hart is a psychiatrist who is fighting against deinstitutionalization – the closing of major institutions in favour of community-based centres – because she fears it will lead to homelessness and violence. Sassy Rankin is a folk singer and carefree hippie from a privileged family who is devastated by her brother’s decision to fight with the US Marines in Vietnam. The friendship between the two women will provide the strength needed to navigate devastating events and forge their own paths in a rapidly changing world.
This is the 7th book that I have read by Genevieve Graham so I knew to expect a story that was entertaining, impeccably researched, well-written and enlightening with respect to Canadian history – particularly the role that women have played as the unsung heroes left out of our history books.
On Isabella Street is an uplifting story of friendship, courage, hope and love at a time of profound social change. The story covers many serious issues that existed in Canada’s largest city in the late ’60s including the role Canada played in the Vietnam War, protests and the treatment of returning veterans, PTSD, deinsitutionalization and homelessness. Graham’s vivid writing and historical detail (I loved the use of ’60s slang like groovy and far out!) immerses the reader in the time period while telling a compelling and thought-provoking story.
I always enjoy reading Graham’s Author’s Note because she includes so many fascinating details about her research into the subject matter of the novel. This one was no exception and I also was delighted to discover the connection between one of the characters in this novel and the family from two of her previous novels set in Nova Scotia that I hadn’t recognized while reading.
On Isabella Street is a gripping novel that I couldn’t put down and I would rank it alongside The Secret Keeper as my two favourite Genevieve Graham novels – highly recommend for fans of historical fiction particularly anyone with an interest in the ’60s!
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
7. These Days by Lucy Caldwell
Setting: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland had escaped the worst of World War II until April of 1941 when, in a period of less than three weeks, four separate German Luftwaffe air raids caused widespread destruction in the city of Belfast forever changing the lives of those who survived the bombings. The two worst of these raids which destroyed much of the city were known as the Easter Raid on April 15/16 1941 and the Fire Raid which took place on May 4-5th.
These Days tells the story of what became known as the Belfast Blitz primarily from the perspective of sisters Audrey and Emma – one engaged to be married to a doctor and the other in the early days of a secret relationship with another woman – as they try to figure out what they want in the future while trying to survive the horrors of war.
I have read a lot of fiction set in World War II but I think this is the first that I have read about the Irish war experience. I wasn’t aware that the Republic of Ireland had remained neutral during the war or that Belfast had endured this devastating bombing campaign that killed nearly 1,000 people, injured thousands and left half of the homes in Belfast damaged or destroyed.
Although I learned more about events of World War II reading this book, it was the emotional impact of the story that will stay with me. The author’s brilliant depiction of the fear and the devastation of the air raids, the heartbreak of the loss of human life and the physical destruction of the city made me weep several times while reading. The writing is lyrical, haunting, atmospheric – this is sure to be one of my most memorable reads of this year.
Thank you to NetGalley and Zando Publishing for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
8. Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt
Setting: Remote village in the north of England
2022 – James returns to the remote village in the north of England where he grew up to view a farm property listed for sale and the visit prompts him to remember the year that he was 16 and fell in love for the first time.
In 2002, James is a socially awkward teenager who has recently come out as gay and feels lonely and isolated within his family and in their small rural village. Enter Luke, a slightly older teen who has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle on a nearby farm after being abandoned by his parents – his father has been imprisoned and his mother has left the country to live with another man. James is immediately drawn to the troubled Luke who is charming but with a reputation for being dangerous and over the course of the year his crush becomes all-consuming.
Open, Heaven is an exceptional debut novel from an award-winning poet whose lyrical prose is just gorgeous. An emotional coming-of-age/sexual awakening story of a queer teen in a small town, the novel so perfectly captures teenage angst and loneliness, the ache of first love and the pain of yearning for someone who might not reciprocate those feelings. James felt so real to me – I wanted to hug him and reassure him that everything would be okay – that he would be happy and loved. For those who enjoy beautiful language, Open, Heaven is a quiet, bittersweet novel that touches the heart.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
9. Heartwood by Amity Gaige
Setting: The Appalachian Trail in Maine, Connecticut
42 year-old Valerie Gillis, a nurse seeking to heal from pandemic burnout, has vanished on the Appalachian Trail in Maine nearing the end point of her months-long hike. Alone in the wilderness without adequate supplies, Valerie writes letters to her mother as she battles the elements and tries not to lose hope.
As Valerie fights to survive, veteran Maine State Game Warden Lieutenant Beverly Miller leads the search coordinating with rescue volunteers and Valerie’s family while trying not to think about her own mother’s failing health.
Meanwhile, Lena Kucharsky, a retired scientist living in a retirement community in Connecticut who is estranged from her own daughter, is closely following the case and playing armchair detective.
As this multiple point-of-view story plays out, it slowly becomes clear that Valerie’s disappearance might not have been an accident.
Heartwood is propulsive with just the right amount of mystery and suspense relating to what happened to Valerie and the search and rescue team’s frantic race against time to find her before it’s too late. A slow-burn thriller but also a reflection on the bonds between mothers and daughters – this story grabbed me right from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down – a great read!
10. The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony
Setting: Dublin, Ireland (and aboard a Dublin to Belfast train)
Dublin 2023 – Saoirse, who isn’t sure she ever wants to be a mother, heads out for a walk after having yet another fight with her boyfriend about having children. She ducks into the train station when it starts to rain and, while sitting on Platform 2, she sees an elderly woman drop a photograph. Saoirse picks up the photo and follows the woman onto the train to Belfast but the train starts moving as she is returning the photo. Saoirse stays on the train while the woman, Maura Flynn, tells the story of her past, her best friend, Bernie, who is the other woman in the photo and the events that led up to the photo being taken on Platform Two fifty-two years earlier.
Dublin late ’60s – While working as a shopgirl, Maura meets the dashing young Dr. Davenport and marries him after a whirlwind romance. Unfortunately, his vicious temper is revealed soon after the wedding and her life becomes a nightmare but she finds a lifeline in Bernie, a butcher’s wife and mother of three, who becomes her closest friend. Maura is trying to get pregnant but worries she won’t be able to keep a child safe in her home and Bernie’s relationship with her husband is impacted when she’s told that another pregnancy might kill her. Together the two friends navigate the issues facing women in Ireland at the time with respect to women’s rights and reproductive health.
This dual timeline historical fiction novel about the struggle for women’s rights and access to reproductive healthcare in Ireland is inspired by little-known events but all of the characters are fictional. It takes place at a time when all forms of contraception are strictly forbidden in Ireland and a group of women set out to change that. The novel is based on the true story of the “contraceptive train” and the women of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement who travelled from Dublin to Belfast to purchase contraceptives as a protest against the ban in the Republic of Ireland.
The Women on Platform Two is a compelling and inspiring story about women’s rights, reproductive choice and the women who brought about change in Ireland – and a reminder for women today of how much we owe to the women who came before us and fought for our right to choose..
11. The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
Setting: Positano, Italy
In this dual timeline novel, nautical archaeologist Haven Ambrose has arrived in Positano ahead of her all-female ‘Project Relic’ team to investigate mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast but she is also on a secret quest to find the precious gemstones that her late father had discovered on his final dive. Haven’s plans, however, are soon interrupted as misfortune plagues Positano with scientists obtaining strange readings from the ocean waters, a luxury yacht sinking in calm waters, and mounting fear that Mount Vesuvius could erupt.
With plans on hold, Haven turns to conducting research in the local archives on early 19th century shipwrecks in the region where she learns the story of one 19th century woman and the legendary art of stregheria and can’t help but wonder if the Amalfi Curse is behind the bad fortune that Positano is experiencing.
In the 1821 timeline, Mari DeLuca is one of a group of stregha (sea witches) that use their ability to harness the power of the sea to protect Positano from pirates and keep the fisherman safe and prosperous. Mari, however, feels burdened by these powers and longs to escape the coast with her secret lover but a looming threat may force Mari to choose between love and safeguarding the village.
This was a fast, entertaining read that combines magical realism, historical fiction, mystery and romance in a stunning setting. The well-written, enchanting story about powerful women grabbed me from the first chapter and I was captivated by both timelines with a slight preference for Mari’s. Magical realism can be hit or miss for me but I really enjoyed this and will likely now read the author’s previous books.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
12. Tilt by Emma Pattee
Setting: Portland, Oregon
Annie, 37 weeks pregnant and on the first day of her maternity leave, is shopping for a crib at Ikea when a massive earthquake (i.e. “the big one”) hits Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. In the aftermath of the catastrophic quake, she sets out on foot across the city to find her husband, Dom, a struggling actor who works at a cafe several miles away.
Along the way, Annie passes by the wreckage of buildings, roads and bridges and meets survivors all while carrying on an internal monologue with her baby “Bean” and reflecting on her relationship with her husband, her disappointing career, impending motherhood and whether she’s happy with her life.
A debut novel with a great premise for a survival story that follows Annie over the first 24 hours following the earthquake. Annie’s miles-long journey across the devastating landscape of the ravaged city and her experiences in the aftermath of the disaster felt very realistic as did her anxiety about becoming a mother for the first time. This was a well-written, enjoyable read but I found the ending to be just a bit unsatisfying.
13. Passion Project by London Sperry
Setting: New York City
FROM THE PUBLISHER: If your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life, Bennet Taylor is failing miserably . . . with a big emphasis on the miserable. Where’s that zest she keeps hearing about? She’s a temp worker in New York City with no direction, no future, and no social life. And at the painful center of this listlessness is grief over the death of her first love.
When Bennet runs into Henry Adams just hours after standing him up for a first date, she makes an alcohol-fueled confession: She’s not ready to date. In fact, it’s been years since she felt passion for something. Not even pottery, or organized sports—not anything. Rather than leaving her to ruminate, Henry jumps at the opportunity for adventure: Bennet needs to find a passion for life, and Henry will help her find it. Every Saturday, they’ll try something new in New York City. As friends, of course.
As their “passion project” continues, the pair tackle everything from carpentry to tattooing to rappelling off skyscrapers, and Bennet feels her guarded exterior ebbing away. But as secrets surface, Bennet has to decide what she wants, and if she’s truly ready to move on. With emotional resonance and sparkling banter, Passion Project is a fun, flirty, thoughtful story of finding a spark—and igniting happiness.
14. The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry
Setting: South Carolina, London and the Lake District, England
Based on a real-life literary mystery, The Story She Left Behind transports readers from South Carolina to London and the Lake District of England in December of 1952.
Former child prodigy author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappeared from her home off the coast of South Carolina in 1927 leaving behind her devoted husband and their heartbroken 8 year-old daughter, Clara, as well as the sequel to her bestselling fantasy novel written in a secret language she invented. Twenty five years later, Clara is now a divorced mom to her own 8 year-old daughter, Wynnie, and is living with her father in her childhood home while working as a children’s book illustrator.
When Clara is unexpectedly contacted by an English man named Charlie Jameson who claims to have found work belonging to her mother among his father’s papers, she is at first skeptical but decides to travel with Wynnie to London to learn more. The two set sail for England arriving just in time for one of London’s greatest natural disasters – the Great Smog which enveloped the city in thick fog and smoke for several days killing thousands of people.
The situation is extremely dangerous for asthmatic Wynnie so Charlie helps them escape London to his family’s country home nestled in the Lake District – the land of Beatrix Potter – where Clara begins to untangle the ties between the two families and discover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.
This is a lovely, well-written story about mothers and daughters, the magic of books, family secrets, forgiveness and new beginnings set in a very atmospheric London and Lake District. The mystery of what happened to Bronwyn and Clara’s search to find answers is the central narrative, however, there is also a sweet romance subplot.
The Story She Left Behind is the second historical novel that I have read in the past few months which featured the Great Smog that impacted London in 1952 as a plot point. I hadn’t heard of this deadly historical event previously and it was quite interesting to read about it which prompted me to do some additional reading to learn more.
Mostly reading this enjoyable novel bumped the Lake District closer to the top of my list of places that I want to visit – it sounds like such a naturally beautiful place and I love the Beatrix Potter connection as well. And this book has such a lovely cover!
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
15. Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake
Setting: California
Gifted & Talented is the story of three “telepathically and electrokinetically gifted” siblings who are forced to come to terms with their rivalries, magical abilities and unrealized potential when their brilliant but distant father Thayer Wren, CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, dies unexpectedly.
Meredith, the eldest daughter, runs her own biotech company with a successful product that purports to have cured mental illness but her journalist ex-boyfriend is investigating her for fraud, middle child Arthur is the second youngest congressman in history but he’s losing his re-election campaign, and Eilidh, the youngest child, was once the world’s most famous ballerina but is working in marketing at her father’s company after a life-altering injury five years earlier ended her career.
The three siblings are forced to confront the past and deal with present complications as they prepare for their father’s funeral and await the reading of the will to discover who has been tapped to take over their father’s billion dollar business empire.
I haven’t read any of bestselling author Olivie Blake’s previous books and don’t generally care for fantasy or magical realism but the description of Gifted & Talented appealed to me despite that. As it turns out, the three Wren siblings have magical abilities (never fully explained) but the story is more about the family relationships so it felt more like contemporary family drama with elements of fantasy to me.
This is a long (500+ pages), slow-paced, character-driven story of a dysfunctional family told from multiple points of view and I had no idea where it was going but was hooked from the beginning anyway. Set in the world of the filthy rich, none of the characters are particularly likeable yet you can’t help but love them and the family dynamics between siblings are relatable even if the world they live in is not. I enjoyed Blake’s style of writing and storytelling and, although I thought it might be building to a more dramatic conclusion, this was overall a quite satisfying read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
16. Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Setting: Tanzania
A thoughtful coming-of-age novel from Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah set against the backdrop of Tanzania’s tourism boom of the 1990s and early ’00s that saw an influx of tourists and NGOs to a country still grappling with the legacy of colonialism. Theft is narrated from the point-of-view of three main characters and follows them from their teens through young adulthood as their lives converge.
Karim, all but abandoned by his mother after she flees her abusive marriage, is raised in Zanzibar by grandparents until he moves in with his half brother. When he leaves Zanzibar to attend university in Dar es Salaam, he reconciles with his mother and her new husband and meets Badar, a teenager who is working under mysterious circumstances as a servant in their home.
Back in Zanzibar following graduation, Karim begins his career working for a government ministry on sustainable development initiatives backed by the European Union and soon meets and falls for Fauzia. Marriage to Karim is a first step toward independence for Fauzia who has a difficult relationship with her overbearing mother who worries incessantly because Fauzia suffered from childhood seizures. While the couple are still newlyweds, Karim takes in teenage Badar and finds him employment in a hotel in Zanzibar after an accusation of theft forces him to leave the household in Dar es Salaam.
Gurnah takes his time telling this character-driven story that moves back and forth between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar highlighting societal issues through the personal dramas of the characters who experience a great deal of misfortune and heartbreak. It’s a coming-of-age story but it’s also a look at post-colonial East Africa and some of the challenges that they are facing – Zanzibar, in particular, which became a post-independence playground for the wealthy quite often to the detriment of the people who live there.
There’s a line near the end of the novel that will stick with me when Fauzia’s mother encapsulates the tension between Tanzanians and the foreigners (both tourists and NGO volunteers) in Zanzibar saying: “They come here with their filth and their money and interfere with us and ruin our lives for their pleasure, and it seems that we cannot resist their wealth and their filthy ways…” – an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.
17. Zeal by Morgan Jerkins
Setting: Harlem, NYC; Mississippi; Louisiana
FROM THE PUBLISHER: Harlem, 2019. Ardelia and Oliver are hosting their engagement party. As the guests get ready to leave, he hands her a love letter on a yellowing, crumbling piece of paper .
Natchez, 1865. Discharged from the Union Army as a free man after the war’s end, Harrison returns to Mississippi to reunite with the woman he loves, Tirzah. Upon his arrival at the Freedmen’s Bureau, though, he catches the eye of a woman working there, who’s determined to thwart his efforts to find his beloved. After tragedy strikes, Harrison resigns himself to a life with her.
Meanwhile in Louisiana, the newly free Tirzah is teaching at a freedmen’s school, and discovers an advertisement in the local paper looking for her. Though she knows Harrison must have placed it, and longs to find him, the risks of fleeing are too great, and Tirzah chooses the life of seeming security right in front of her.
Spanning over a hundred and fifty years, Morgan Jerkins’s extraordinary novel intertwines the stories of these star-crossed lovers and their descendants. As Tirzah’s family moves across the country during the Great Migration, they challenge authority with devastating consequences, while of the legacy of heartbreak and loss continues on in the lives of Harrison’s progeny.
When Ardelia meets Oliver, she finds his family’s history is as full of secrets and omissions as her own. Could their connection be a cosmic reconciliation satisfying the unfulfilled desires of their ancestors, or will the weight of the past, present and future tear them apart?
18. The Boy From the Sea by Garrett Carr
Setting: Ireland’s West Coast (County Donegal)
In a close-knit village in County Donegal on Ireland’s west coast in 1973, a newborn baby is found floating in a barrel and the townspeople rally to care for the abandoned child. Local fisherman Ambrose Bonnar and his wife, Christine, who are already parents to a two year-old son named Declan, decide to adopt the baby and call him Brendan. As years go by, the town continues to be fascinated by young Brendan but Declan resents his presence and the fierce rivalry between the two for their father’s love has a long-lasting impact on the Bonnar family.
Told over two decades, The Boy from the Sea is a gentle, moving story of a family and their community set in a time of rapid change and economic hardship in Irish fishing villages due to EU fishing quotas and stock depletion in the North Atlantic. I particularly enjoyed the narration by the collective voice of the people of this village on Donegal Bay which was an effective way to show how much the community as a whole was part of the lives of the villagers. With three generations of the Bonnar family, there are many family relationships depicted in this story and all felt authentic.
The Boy from the Sea is a charming Irish story about the lives of ordinary people beautifully-written and told with humour, emotion and much wisdom about life.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
19. Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein
Setting: London, England
The narrative of this reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist told from Fagin’s point-of-view opens in 1838. At that time, Fagin is an infamous thief and head of a gang of child pickpockets including young Jack Dawkins, known as the Artful Dodger, who brings runaway orphan Oliver Twist back to Fagin’s home. This timeline alternates with flashbacks to the past beginning in 1797 when Jacob Fagin is a 6 year-old boy living with his widowed mother in a Jewish enclave of London. He never knew his father who was hanged for stealing before Jacob was born and he has little choice but to make his own way on the rough and dangerous streets of London soon falling in with a group of young pickpockets.
Jacob takes to stealing naturally and is mentored by one of the city’s best pickpockets before striking out on his own. While still a young man, Fagin takes in Bill Sikes providing him shelter and a livelihood and later develops a friendship and partnership with Nancy who soon falls in love with Bill despite his violent temper. Oliver Twist is reduced to a cameo role in Fagin the Thief but plays a key part in setting into motion the events that lead to the tragic ending.
An enjoyable read that offers an interesting twist on a classic but can also stand on its own as a fine story even if you’re not familiar with the novel Oliver Twist. In the hands of author Allison Epstein, one of literature’s most notorious villains is cast in a different light by providing him with a full backstory. With the change in perspective, Fagin becomes a character who also had a tragic childhood and struggled to surivive amidst abject poverty and rampant antisemitism on the dangerous streets of London in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Fagin the Thief follows the original quite closely (with a change in how it ends) yet evokes a little understanding or empathy for the hardships faced by Fagin and even Bill Sikes to a lesser extent and what made them the men that they were. A well-written and hard to put down adventure!
20. On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves
In 1978, 23 year-old future travel writer Rick Steves and his friend Gene Openshaw set out on an overland journey along the so-called Hippie Trail from Turkey to Nepal – a trek which echoed the ancient Silk Road trade route and in the ’60s and ’70s became a popular backpacking trip with young “hippies” seeking spiritual enlightenment. Over the course of 56 days, the pair travelled from Europe to Istanbul, Turkey and then set out on the adventure of a lifetime through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to their final destination Kathmandu.
During his travels, Rick recorded his thoughts in a journal which he packed away after returning to the U.S. and forgot about until he was home with not much to do during the 2020 lockdown and started sorting through boxes. Reading his long-forgotten journal, Steves realized that this life-changing coming-of-age journey had stoked his passion for travel, shaped his worldview and ultimately led to his career as a travel writer so he wanted to share it with the world.
This lightly edited journal is a fun read particularly for anyone who is a fan of Rick Steves or enjoys travel memoirs. The book includes many photos that were taken on the trip as well and I enjoyed the anecdote that they could only pack a limited number of canisters of film so had to carefully ration photos to about 9 shots a day – a far cry from how we travel now with digital cameras and smartphones!
On the Hippie Trail is a quick read that illustrates just how much travel has changed more than 45 years later and how much attitudes have changed as well. Steves lets the journal stand as a historical document rather than editing out the culturally insensitive thoughts of his 23 year-old self which makes the differences between then and now all the more apparent. Some of the things he says are jarring to read but the journals also reveal a great deal of thoughtfulness as he was clearly starting to rethink how he viewed the world as a Westerner. There’s also an interesting postscript from Rick which notes that this was the last year that it was possible to travel the Hippie Trail as the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and post-revolutionary Iran became a theocracy in 1979.
21. Death on the Island by Eliza Reid
Setting: The Westman Islands off the coast of Iceland
This book appealed to me because I had read and enjoyed Eliza Reid’s previous book Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women on gender equality in Iceland. Death on the Island is the Canadian-born former first lady of Iceland’s fiction debut.
The novel opens with a group which includes the Canadian Ambassador Graeme Shearer and his wife, Jane, the Deputy Ambassador, Kavita Banerjee, and her husband, an artist and a Booker Prize-winning Canadian author arriving by ferry to the remote windswept Westman Islands off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic dinner prior to the opening of an art exhibit at a small museum. Following a tour of the museum, the diplomatic group convenes at a local restaurant where they will be joined by the mayor as well as the owner of a fishery and his wife for a meal cooked by a celebrated Icelandic chef.
By the end of the night, one of them will be dead and a violent storm will prevent anyone from leaving the island to return to Reykjavik. A young police officer is called in to investigate but Jane, who is accustomed to cleaning up her husband’s messes, can’t help but follow up on a few leads herself.
Death on the Island is a quick read – a slow-paced closed room mystery of sorts with all of the suspects trapped on a remote island due to the stormy weather. I loved the atmospheric Iceland setting – it made me want to visit all the more! The plot is fairly tame as far as crime novels go – more cozy than noir – but that suited me fine as I don’t enjoy anything too violent or graphic.
Some of the plot points are a bit of a stretch but it’s a debut novel and I expect the writing and plotting will get tighter in future books. According to the Author’s Note, she is already working on a second book featuring Graeme, Jane and the young police officer, Jonas, which will be set in Reykjavik and I enjoyed this one enough that I will definitely read the second as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
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Scarlet
Thanks for sharing so many great books suggestions for spring. I needed some new ones to read before before bed.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Happy reading!!