The lazy, hazy days of summer are just around the corner and I’m looking forward to sunshine, warm weather and beach reads! Now’s the time to plan summer reading lists – this is my favourite reading season and my TBR list for summer is always soooo long!
My reading recommendations for the best books to read summer 2025 include recently published or soon-to-be-published contemporary fiction, historical fiction, romance, and mysteries that I have already read or that are on my TBR list for this summer.
Most of my summer reading picks are on the lighter side but there are a few that are more serious for when you’re looking for a book with a bit more substance.
Enjoy a fun-filled summer of books!!
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.
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1. My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Setting: Not specified but presumably Sweden
Louisa, an aspiring artist just turned 18, carries around a postcard of one of the most famous paintings in the world – a painting of the sea with three tiny figures that most people don’t even notice sitting at the end of a long pier. After seeing the painting in person at an auction, she meets a man named Ted who was a friend of the artist and, through an unusual turn of events, the priceless painting comes to be in her possession. Determined to find out more about the three enigmatic figures in the painting, Louisa boards a train bound for a distant seaside town and Ted tells her a story about a group of friends and one unforgettable summer.
Twenty-five years earlier in a small town by the sea, a group of 14 year-olds spend their summer days hanging out together at the pier. They are lost souls – kids not quite adults – who have experienced loss and live with an ever present threat of violence. Their friendship is what sustains each of them and provides a refuge from a harsh world. Out of that summer emerges a work of art that will change lives including a stranger’s twenty-five years later.
Fredrik Backman remains one of my favourite authors – his words always make me laugh out loud, cry and think about life and what it means to be human. I’m not sure anything can top the Beartown trilogy for me but My Friends is beautiful – a deeply moving coming-of-age story that demonstrates how masterful Backman is at telling a story that will touch his readers’ hearts.
My Friends is a story about art, love, loss, friendship and found family that is at times heartbreakingly sad yet also funny and hopeful. Backman has once again created a cast of memorable characters and, as with his previous novels, I find myself still thinking about them long after I have turned the last page.
2. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Setting: Houston, Texas
Joan Goodwin is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy and as an aunt to her niece, Frances, until she learns that NASA is recruiting women for their astronaut program. From that moment on, all she can think about is the possibility of going to space.
Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants, Joan is one of an elite group of women who join the demanding training program at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. Over the next few years, she trains alongside the other astronaut candidates including pilots Hank Redmond and John Griffin, mission specialist Lydia Danes, and aeronautical engineer Vanessa Ford forging close relationships as they prepare for their first missions. Then on a shuttle mission in December of 1984, something goes terribly wrong.
A compelling dual-timeline novel about NASA’s astronaut program of the early ’80s. Atmosphere opens with the emergency situation on the shuttle in 1984 then goes back a few years to when Joan first applies for the astronaut program. The narrative then follows Joan’s personal and professional life over the next few years and occasionally switches to the second timeline of the December 1984 shuttle launch.
This has been one of my favourite reads so far this summer! Taylor Jenkins Reid is so good at crafting a captivating story and characters to root for – I loved Joan and Vanessa! The space program aspect of the story is fascinating and so well-researched – I learned quite a bit about astronauts and NASA’s space shuttle program but it’s not so science-y that it won’t appeal to everyone. Add in the gripping suspense of the emergency onboard the shuttle in 1984 and an epic love story and it becomes the perfect summer read!!
3. The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
Setting: Connecticut, United States
Corby Ledbetter is a struggling but devoted stay-at-home dad who cares for two year-old twins, Maisie and Nico, while his wife, Emily, works as a teacher to support their family. Their marriage is strained as Corby was laid off from his job as a commercial artist months earlier and is hiding the fact that he has given up on job hunting as well as his mounting addiction to alcohol and the pills he was prescribed for anxiety.
After Emily leaves for work one morning, Corby downs a coffee spiked with rum and pops a couple of Ativan before leaving the house to drive the twins to their grandmother’s so he can spend the day drinking instead of looking for work. Distracted and under the unfluence, Corby causes a devastating accident which leads to him being convicted and sentenced to prison where he struggles to survive the brutality and hold on to hope that Emily will forgive him.
Most of The River is Waiting chronicles Corby’s time in prison dealing with his loss of freedom and his regrets over how his addiction destroyed his family. My feelings about this novel are mixed but it is a worthwhile read – well-written and thought-provoking.
The story gets off to a great start but then drags a bit once Corby is imprisoned. It’s well-intentioned – it’s clear that the author is familiar with the horrors of the prison system and that there’s a lot that he wants readers to understand but it gets in the way of the story a bit and slows it down. I also would have liked Corby to have been a little less self-pitying and a little more regretful about his actions for a true redemption arc.
The novel has a banger of an ending although a bit abrupt so I wasn’t altogether satisfied when I closed the book. My expectations were probably unreasonably high as I loved both She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much is True when I read them years ago and this book didn’t affect me in the same way. I’m clearly an outlier though as it’s rated very high on Goodreads so definitely read and let me know what you think.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
4. The Doorman by Chris Pavone
Setting: New York City
For nearly thirty years, affable ex-Marine Chicky Diaz has worked as as under-appreciated doorman at The Bohemia, an exclusive residence on the Upper West Side in New York City home to celebrities, financiers and New York’s cultural elite. Emily Longworth (penthouse apartment 11 C-D) is obscenely wealthy and seems to have the perfect life but her husband is a villain and the prenup is iron-clad so she can’t leave him – yet. Meanwhile, Julian Sonnenberg (apartment 2A), an art gallerist struggling with middle-age and a stale marriage, has received a call with devastating news.
The story unfolds over the course of a single day when the shooting of an unarmed Black man by police draws protesters into the streets and a bad-intentioned group of armed far-right MAGA-type counterprotesters follow suit. As darkness falls, nobody can predict what will happen but Chicky isn’t taking any chances and arrives for his shift and the Bohemia carrying a gun for the first time in his career. The city is a powder keg that’s about to explode and not everyone will survive the night.
The Doorman is not really a thriller until the last few chapters. It’s more slow-burn literary suspense that continues to pick up speed until its dramatic conclusion. I still found it to be a pageturner – loved the foreshadowing and needed to know what was going to happen! There’s sharp satire of both the right and the left and a great deal of social commentary which I enjoyed. Obscene wealth, intrigue, lust, robbery, murder – just a really great story and a fun read – perfect for summer!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
5. One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
Setting: Barry’s Bay, Ontario, Canada
Alice’s grandmother always says that good things happen at the lake and it’s true. When Alice was seventeen she spent a summer at a cottage on the lake with Nan and took a photo of three teenagers in a yellow speedboat that changed her life.
She’s now a successful commercial photographer but is feeling burnt out from her work so when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice decides that they could both use a magical escape to the lake and rents the cottage in Barry’s Bay for the summer. Shortly after arriving, they meet charming flirt Charlie Florek, one of the teens from her photo, who makes Nan laugh and makes Alice wish she was seventeen again.
One Golden Summer returns to the setting of Carley Fortune’s first book to give Charlie, the charismatic older brother of Sam from Every Summer After, his happy-ever-after. If planning to read both books then definitely read Every Summer After first as Sam and Percy have cameo appearances in this one which means spoilers from their story.
Alice and Charlie were great as a couple and I also loved Nan as a character, the close relationship between her and her granddaughter and the way that Charlie related to her. I have read all of Carley Fortune’s books and this is my favourite so far – if you’re in search of a fun romance with summer cottage vibes set in Canada then escape to the lake with One Golden Summer!
6. The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer
Setting: Australia
Publication Date: July 2025 in Australia and New Zealand but now won’t be published in North America until July 2026 as The Story Keeper.
In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow returns to a small town in New South Wales, Australia with plans to restore Wurimbirra, the crumbling (and possibly haunted) estate belonging to her late uncle that she once called home. While clearing the house, she finds a mysterious box containing multiple copies of a book called The Midnight Estate in her uncle’s library and begins reading. As she’s drawn into the captivating story, Fiona realizes that there are disturbing parallels to her own family’s history and the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur.
A bit predictable but still enjoyable read that starts off strong and then slows pace as it shifts back and forth between the current timeline and the book that the main character is reading. Family secrets, themes relating to trauma and domestic violence, an interesting story within a story, a historical mystery to unravel and a house that provides a bit of a gothic atmosphere – overall an ambitious and entertaining novel from Kelly Rimmer.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing a digital ARC of this book for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
7. The Director by Daniel Kehlmann
Setting: Hollywood, Austria, Germany
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann (translated from German by Ross Benjamin) is inspired by the life of Georg Wilhelm (G.W.) Pabst who was one of the best-known directors of the silent movie era before he collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.
Pabst was filming in France when the Nazis came to power in Germany and fled Europe for Hollywood with his wife and young son. A successful director who had launched the career of Greta Garbo, Pabst is frustrated with his inability to secure backing to make the movies he wants to in the U.S. When informed that his mother’s health is in decline, Pabst and his family return to Europe to settle his mother in a care facility but Germany invades Poland while they are visiting Austria (renamed Ostmark), war is declared and the Pabst family is trapped with the borders closed.
Pabst is summoned to Berlin to meet with Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda, who would like to recruit the director to make films in Nazi Germany. Although initially reluctant, Pabst convinces himself that he can keep his art free of Nazi ideology and agrees to Goebbels’ terms so that he can resume making movies. The story in the novel about Pabst’s work in Nazi Germany is framed by chapters set in modern day where his now elderly and memory-impaired assistant is interviewed about his work with Pabst and rumours of a lost film.
The Director is a timely and thought-provoking look at complicity and how ambition might drive an artist to collaborate with fascists/authoritarians rather than resist. Pabst was so driven by his need to make art that he convinced himself that he was making apolitical films and not propaganda even though he was being funded by the Nazi regime. And once he had compromised his moral principles the first time then each subsequent step was easier until he was no longer capable of seeing how compromised he had become.
At the lowest point, his assistant can’t believe what’s transpiring on set but Pabst won’t even acknowledge the horror of what he’s implicitly condoning. Focused to the point of obsession with fully realizing his creative vision, he is willing to make any compromise necessary to create his movie masterpiece. A compelling, memorable read!
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
8. A Daughter’s Place by Martha Bátiz
Setting: Spain
Madrid, Spain 1599 – After the sudden death of her mother, 15 year-old Isabel learns that she is the illegitimate daughter of war hero and poet Miguel de Cervantes and is forced to leave her grandmother and younger sister behind to live in his family home with his two sisters and his niece, Constanza. Miguel travels often to Seville and otherwise divides his time between their home in Madrid and the nearby town of Esquivias where his pious wife, Catalina, lives blissfully unaware of Isabel’s existence.
Isabel, required to pose as a maid to cover up the fact that she is Miguel’s illegitimate daughter, slowly adjusts to this new life with her protective aunts and jealous cousin. Over the years that follow, Miguel comes in and out of their lives as he works on the manuscript for what will become his masterpiece, Don Quixote. During this time, Isabel grows up, falls in and out of love and becomes a fiercely independent young woman determined to exercise some control over the path her life takes.
This richly-detailed historical novel set in the first two decades of the 17th century is inspired by the real-life daughter and other female family members of celebrated author Miguel de Cervantes. Told from the points-of-view of Isabel, Constanza and Catalina, it’s a thoroughly researched and well-written debut set against the backdrop of two decades of Spain’s history during the time period known as the Golden Age.
This novel is set in a fascinating historical time period that I didn’t know much about – I felt like I learned a fair bit about Spanish history! I was fully immersed in this enjoyable story about family, love and the role of women in a patriarchal society and felt a strong connection to both Isabel and Constanza. I didn’t care as much for Catalina but her perspective was still interesting.
Don Quixote isn’t a book that I have ever felt compelled to pick up but, after reading A Daughter’s Place, I feel like it might be fun to see how his fiction overlapped with his real life!
Thank you to NetGalley and House of Anansi Press for providing a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
9. The Famine Orphans by Patricia Falvey
Setting: Ireland, aboard a ship and Australia
Kate Gilvarry is a young teenage girl who ends up in a workhouse in Northern Ireland after her family is evicted from their small farm when potato blight destroys their crops. Barely surviving in the Newry workhouse, she knows there is no future for her in Ireland and along with several other girls reluctantly agrees when offered the opportuntiy to travel to Australia and work as a domestic.
After a harrowing ocean voyage of many weeks, they arrive in the port of Sydney on Christmas Day in 1848 only to discover that they are not wanted due to rising anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment stoked by newspaper columnists. Along with the other girls she met aboard the ship, Kate must adjust to life in a new land first working in Sydney for a demanding employer and then on a farm in the Outback.
The Famine Orphans is an informative historical fiction novel based on the little known story of The Earl Grey Scheme and the thousands of young women (mostly orphans) who were shipped to Australia from crowded workhouses in Ireland from 1848-50. Officially, the scheme was presented as an opportunity to get the young women out of the workhouse and employed as domestic servants, however, there was also an unstated purpose that they would civilize and marry convicts who had served out their terms so that settlements could be built in the colony.
I knew nothing of this chapter in Irish/Australian history before reading the novel so enjoyed learning about these young women and their role in building Australia. The story of their voyage by ship from England to Australia was fascinating, however, I would have liked more depth to the story once they arrived in Australia even if it made the novel significantly longer. Overall, an interesting story of resilience and survival under harsh conditions in 19th century Ireland and Australia.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
10. The Stolen Life of Collette Marceau by Kristin Harmel
Setting: Boston and Paris, France
A dual timeline historical fiction novel that takes place in World War II Paris and in Boston in 2018 about a French woman descended from Robin Hood and a family tradition of stealing from the rich and evil to help the less fortunate.
Colette Marceau’s mother, Annabel, is descended from a long line of jewel thieves who follow a centuries-old code of stealing from the cruel and unkind to give to those in need. The Marceau family stays in Paris after the city falls to the Germans and Annabel joins the French Resistance stealing precious jewels from Nazis to provide funds while also training her teenage daughter, Colette, to do the same. But one night in 1942, everything goes wrong – Colette’s mother is arrested and her 4 year-old sister, Liliane, kidnapped. Liliane’s body is later found floating in the Seine but the priceless bracelet that had been sewn in the hem of her nightgown was nowhere to be found.
In Boston in 2018, 89 year-old Colette has spent her life stealing from Nazis and neo-Nazis to fund noble causes while trying to put her family’s tragedy behind her. When the long-missing bracelet turns up at a museum exhibit in Boston, however, Colette might finally discover what happened to her sister and bring a murderer to justice but first she must confront her past.
The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau is well-written and well-researched World War II historical fiction from bestselling author Kristin Harmel. Her novels are always a good recommendation for fans of light historical fiction with a romance element and a happy ending. The plot relies upon some big coincidences but it’s still an enjoyable story perfect for summer reading.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
11. The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay
Setting: London, England
1973 London – Lily, the recently promoted assistant to Diana, the Tate Gallery’s Keeper of Modern Collections, has been integral in the planning of a Picasso exhibit at London’s Tate Gallery to honour the passing of the great artist. On opening night, Lily is basking in her sense of accomplishment when she pauses to admire one of the masterpieces on display and blurts out “it’s a forgery”. The gallery falls silent and Diana and the Tate’s Director attempt damage control but there’s no taking back such an outrageous declaration.
While the owner’s insurance company and Scotland Yard investigate, suspicion and scandal spread across European art circles and both Lily’s and Diana’s jobs are at risk. As it becomes apparent that she is considered the prime suspect in the forgery investigation, Lily finds herself in a race against the clock to uncover the truth with both her career and her freedom on the line.
Inspired by a real case of art forgery, Reay’s latest historical fiction novel is set against the intriguing backdrop of London’s glamorous art world of the 1970s. Alternating point of view between Lily and Diana, this is a well-written, entertaining pageturner that I devoured. I previously enjoyed the author’s books A Shadow in Moscow and The Berlin Letters and loved this one too – she’s a must-read author for me!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for providing a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
12. The Love Haters by Katherine Center
Setting: Key West, Florida
Katie Vaughn, a video producer recovering from a public break-up, is in danger of being laid off so she jumps at the opportunity when her colleague, Cole, offers her an assignment shooting a recruitment video for the US Coast Guard in Key West, Florida. The promo will feature a team of rescue swimmers including Tom ‘Hutch” Hutcherson who became an internet sensation after his heroic rescue of Jennifer Aniston’s dog.
There’s a catch though – Katie isn’t qualified for this job as she can’t swim but is pretending she can and Cole has left out a few important details about why he hasn’t taken the assignment himself.
The Love Haters is a great beach read with the fabulous Key West setting and cast of entertaining secondary characters including a bevy of colourful retirees and a loveable, very large and very funny rescue Great Dane named George Bailey (as in It’s a Wonderful Life).
This was my first time reading this author and I enjoyed the slow burn, non-spicy rom-com featuring a female main character with body image issues facing her fears, learning to practice self-acceptance and finding love. A light, fun (and funny) escape that’s perfect for summertime reading!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
13. Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin
Setting: New York City
David Smith, a young queer Black Stanford grad, is arrested for cocaine possession at a nightclub in the Hamptons on the last weekend of summer just a few short weeks after the death of his best friend and roommate, Elle. Smith’s parents hire a local white lawyer to represent him who is able to negotiate possible dismissal of the charges provided that Smith takes steps to establish that he has learned a lesson and can stay clean until his final court appearance expected to take place several months later.
Smith attends AA meetings, takes part in online group therapy for addicts and submits to periodic drug testing while contemplating how his life has spun out of control. Returning to his hometown Atlanta for the Christmas holidays, the expectations of his high-achieving family of doctors, lawyers and academics worsens the downward spiral. When Smith returns to the city, his attempts to make sense of what happened to Elle and to support another friend, Carolyn, who is going off the rails draws him back into the nightlife of NYC jeopardizing his ability to stay clean and get his life back on track.
A coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of New York City’s glitzy party scene – this was a great read! Great Black Hope is introspective character-driven literary fiction (but more plot than a lot of lit fic) about a young man’s downward spiral and his months-long effort to get his life back on track. I appreciated the thought-provoking social commentary on the role that class and race play in interactions with the legal system as well as how both impact the way society views addiction and recovery.
Over the span of the novel, Smith also grapples with the weight of family expectations as he tries to figure out his life and move forward with hope for the future. I loved the author’s poetic writing style in this gripping emotional debut and am looking forward to what he writes next!
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
14. The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly
Setting: Martha’s Vineyard
2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving after her mother’s death as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Devereaux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Devereaux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there. As the tale unfolds, Mari is shocked to learn that her relationship to this island runs deeper than she ever thought possible.
1942: The Smith girls—nineteen-year-old aspiring writer Cadence and sixteen-year-old war-obsessed Briar—are faced with the impossible task of holding their failing family farm together during World War II as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard. When Briar spots German U-boats lurking off the island’s shores, and Cadence falls into an unlikely romance with a sworn enemy, their quiet lives are officially upended.
In an attempt at normalcy, Cadence and her best friend, Bess, start a book club, which grows both in members and influence as they connect with a fabulous New York publisher who could make all of Cadence’s dreams come true. But all that is put at risk by a mysterious man who washes ashore—and whispers of a spy in their midst. Who in their tight-knit island community can they trust? Could this little book club change the course of the war . . . before it’s too late?
15. The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei
Setting: Singapore
Genevieve Yang is an only child living with her mother, father and grandmother in a small apartment in a working class neighbourhood of Singapore until an unexpected sibling arrives on their doorstep in 1996 when Genevieve is 8 years old. Genevieve’s grandfather believed to be long-dead had actually been living in Malaysia with a secret family and had only recently died. The Malaysian family was destitute so they brought the 7 year-old granddaughter, Arin, to live with his original family in Singapore.
Genevieve takes Arin under her wing and the two girls grow up together relying on each other for everything. As teenagers, however, Arin begins to out-achieve Genevieve academically and Genevieve can’t help but resent her sister’s success. Arin’s launch of a successful career as a YouTube personality puts further strain on their relationship and it eventually leads to a betrayal and total estrangement of the two sisters.
In 2015, Genevieve is working a dead-end job in Singapore while Arin is a famous Hollywood actress who has had no contact with her family for several years but their mother is terminally ill and her last wish is to see her two daughters together again.
This dual timeline story is a moving novel that follows 20 years of the relationship between the two sisters. Told from the point-of-view of Genevieve who is a deeply human narrator plagued by insecurity, ambition and jealousy, it’s a slow-paced and character-driven story about the complicated (and sometimes dysfunctional) nature of sisterhood. The pacing lags a bit in the second half of the novel but overall an ambitious and well-written debut!
16. The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson
Setting: Cornwall, England
Having recently moved from London to a seaside village in Cornwall, Nova has tried to impress her boss by launching a book club at the local community centre but it has been a bit of a dud so far with only four members – Phyllis, an Agatha Christie fan and Miss Marple-wannabe who always has her senior bulldog at her side; Arthur, an elderly farmer who reads romance novels to his wife; Ash, a shy teenager who likes SciFi; and newcomer Michael who doesn’t say much. To make matters worse, a large amount of money earmarked for roof repair is stolen during one of the book club meetings putting both Nova’s job and the future of the community centre at risk.
Suspicion for the theft initially falls on Michael especially when he disappears and a body is found in his house but the book club members have their own theories and leads to follow. When the police investigation shifts its focus to Nova, the book club comes together to clear her name by finding Michael, solving the murder and recovering the stolen money.
The Busybody Book Club is a charming cozy mystery with a group of quirky characters set in a Cornish seaside town in England. It’s a mystery, a story of found family and a book about books with plenty of mentions of favourites and what everyone is reading. Another heartwarming read from Freya Sampson – a quick read and fun choice for some lighthearted summer reading!
17. It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan
Setting: California and Long Island, New York
As a teenager, Jane Jackson was always the punchline as “Poor Janey Jakes” on a popular American sitcom but now she wants to be taken seriously as a Hollywood studio executive. Desperate to get a project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan (who tanked her last screenplay), Jane blurts out that she can get mega popstar Jack Quinlan to write a song for the movie. She shared her first kiss with Jack but it ended badly and she hasn’t spoken to him in 20 years but her boss loves the idea so Jane has to do something.
Now she needs Dan’s help if she’s to have any chance of making this movie and saving her job. Jack is playing a music festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island and Jane’s only hope is that she can bump into him there and sell him on her project.
There are no hotels available so Jane has no choice but to stay with Dan at his childhood home and his large Irish family is thrilled since their visit coincides with the 40th anniversary of Dan’s parents. Due to the upcoming celebration, the Finnegan household is even more chaotic and crowded than usual and Dan and Jane are forced to share a bedroom while they spend the week trying to find Jack and pitch the idea of writing a song for the movie.
It’s a Love Story is a light summer beach read set mostly on Long Island, New York – a charming slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance with some forced proximity thrown in. There’s a journey of self-discovery as well with a female main character in her ’30s who struggles with self-worth as she both falls in love and learns to love herself. Another enjoyable summer read from Annabel Monaghan!
18. My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende
Setting: San Francisco, California and Chile
In San Francisco in 1866, an Irish nun, abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman.
To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of seventeen, she begins to publish pulp fiction using a man’s pen name. When these fictional worlds can no longer satisfy her sense of adventure, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at The Daily Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan.
As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, as does Eric, and while there, she meets her estranged father and delves into the violent confrontation in the country where her roots lie. As she and Eric discover love, the war escalates and Emilia finds herself in extreme danger, fearing for her life and questioning her identity and her destiny.
19. Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin
Setting: Toronto, Canada
Kausar Khan, a widow of eighteen months, receives a distressing call from her thirty-something daughter, Sana, who is suspected of murdering the unpopular landlord of the desi clothing boutique she owns in a neighbourhood plaza. Determined to help, Kausar leaves North Bay and returns for the first time in 17 years to the east-end Toronto suburb where she raised her family and discovers that the thriving community she remembers has been hit by a wave of local crimes that may be connected to the murder.
Kausar is there to provide support to her daughter and granddaughters but she also plans to use her keen observational skills to investigate the crime, clear her daughter’s name and find the real killer. Because who better to pry the truth from unwilling suspects than a meddlesome aunty?
Detective Aunty is the first installment in a well-written new cozy mystery series (Kausar Khan Investigates) from a Canadian author known for her rom-coms and it’s both a fun read and a great start to the series. Set in a Toronto neighbourhood with a thriving Southeast Asian community, this is a satisfying mystery including a Christie-esque big reveal of the murderer but also a story of self-discovery and family relationships that addresses current social issues in the city – there’s even a hint of romance.
I enjoyed this pageturning whodunnit and am already looking forward to the next in the series – particularly since there was one aspect of the mystery that wasn’t solved which I expect will pick up as a thread in book #2!
20. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
Setting: Connecticut, USA
One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community on the brink.
21. Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson
Setting: Road trip across the United States
Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, Madeline (Mad) Hill has lived a quiet and mostly content life running an organic farm in Tennessee alongside her mother. Then one afternoon Reuben (Rube) Hill shows up at the farm claiming that he’s her brother. Rube explains that thirty years earlier their father abandoned him and his mother in Boston before starting a new life in Tennessee. He has recently hired a private detective (it’s 2007) to track down his father which led to him finding Mad and at least two additional half-siblings that he knows of from families that their father abandoned after leaving Mad and her mom.
Rube has a file folder of research about their dad’s identities and a madcap proposal for Mad. He wants her to join him on a cross-country road trip in his rented PT Cruiser to confront their long-absent father in California with stops in Oklahoma and Utah to collect their younger siblings – sister Pepper (Pep) who is a college basketball star and 11 year-old brother Theron (Tom) who lives with his newscaster mom.
This was my first time reading anything by this author and I enjoyed the wacky premise and the quirky characters. Run for the Hills didn’t blow me away but it’s an enjoyable family drama about a group of siblings who are strangers getting to know each other under the most unusual of circumstances and becoming a found family of sorts. It’s a quiet read – lighthearted with some touching heartfelt moments.
22. So Far Gone by Jess Walter
Setting: Pacific Northwest – Washington, Idaho and British Columbia
Rhys Kinnick, a retired environmental journalist, reached his breaking point at Thanksgiving dinner in 2016 and punched his conspiracy theorist son-in-law in the face, threw his cellphone out his car window and fled to a cinder-block cabin the woods in rural Washington State where he has been living off-grid ever since. Now seven years later his barely-recognizable grandkids, 13 year-old Leah and 9 year-old Asher, have turned up on his doorstep.
Kinnick’s daughter Bethany, has vanished but asked a neighbour to deliver the kids to Rhys rather than leaving them with her husband, Shane, who has become deeply involved with a radicalized Christian Nationalist group called Army of the Lord. When the children are kidnapped by armed militia members from AOL, Kinnick reluctantly sets off on a journey to save the kids and track down his missing daughter.
An engaging story about a recluse forced back into the world when his family needs him told primarily from Kinnick’s point-of-view but with some chapters from the perspective of the other characters in the book. So Far Gone is in one sense a commentary on the present day political climate in the U.S. but, at its heart, it’s a story about family and redemption. Walter uses quirky characters and a plot that’s more than a bit bonkers to tell the story of a man confronting the mistakes he made and trying to make amends leaving the reader with just a glimmer of hope that perhaps the world can be righted before it’s too far gone.
23. Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite Clayton
Setting: Carmel-by-the-Sea and Hollywood, California
Set in Hollywood and Caramel-by-the-Sea, this dual timeline historical novel is the story of an unlikely friendship between a young actress and a Oscar-nominated screenwriter.
2018 – Gemma, a twenty-six year-old struggling screenwriter, arrives in Carmel shortly after the death of her grandfather to ready his cottage for sale and finds a hidden safe full of secrets.
1957 – Hollywood ingenue Isabella Giori is less than a year into her standard seven year studio contract and willing to do whatever it takes to make it in the business. She’s looking forward to attending the Oscars and hoping to be cast in the latest Hitchcock movie when her studio’s fixer sequesters her in a small cottage in Carmel. As Isabella waits, an unlikely friendship develops with her next door neighbour, Léon Chazan, a screenwriter blacklisted for suspected Communist activities.
Typewriter Beach is moving historical fiction about the importance of family and found family with a picturesque setting and a plot that includes blacklisting in 1950s Hollywood during the Red Scare, the treatment of women in Hollywood in the 1950s and also the #MeToo movement of a few years ago. A story rich in detail that becomes more intriguing as it unfolds – it was a slow start for me but I quite enjoyed the read once it got going.
Avoid reading reviews if you don’t like spoilers. I made the mistake of reading the Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus reviews beforehand and both give away an aspect of the plot that isn’t revealed until a third of the way through the book.
24. The View from Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani
Setting: New Jersey and Italy
Jess Capodimonte Baratta is not living the life of her dreams. Not even close.
In blue-collar Lake Como, New Jersey, family comes first. Recently divorced from Bobby Bilancia, “the perfect husband,” Jess moves into her parents’ basement to hide and heal. Jess is the overlooked daughter, who dutifully takes care of her parents, cooks Sunday dinner, and puts herself last. Despite her role as the family handmaiden, Jess is also a talented draftswoman in the marble business run by her dapper uncle Louie, who believes she can do anything (once she invests in a better wardrobe).
When the Capodimonte and Baratta families endure an unexpected loss, the shock unearths long-buried secrets that will force Jess to question her loyalty to those she trusted. Fueled by her lost dreams, Jess takes fate into her own hands and escapes to her ancestral home, Carrara, Italy.
From the shadows of the majestic marble-capped mountains of Tuscany, to the glittering streets of Milan, and on the shores of enchanting Lake Como (the other one), Jess begins to carve a place in this new/old world. When she meets Angelo Strazza, a passionate artist who works in gold, she discovers her own skills are priceless. But as Jess uncovers the truth about her family history, it will change the course of her life and those she loves the most forever. In love and work, in art and soul, Jess will need every tool she has mastered to reinvent her life.
25. Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis
Setting: Upstate New York
43 year-old Abe Jacobs, a bookseller in Miami, is seriously ill suffering from an apparent autoimmune disorder that his doctors have yet to identify. Awaiting a diagnosis, Abe leaves his wife, Alex, behind in Miami and returns home to Ahkwesáhsne (also known as the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation) in upstate New York on the US/Canada border. Abe is out of options and, although skeptical, agrees to undergo a traditional healing from his Uncle Budge Billings.
While at home, Abe spends time with friends and family, confronts his fears and reconnects with his Mohawk heritage finally coming to terms with how leaving the reservation at the age of 18 has impacted his life. The story is narrated by Abe’s alter ego Dominick Deer Woods who shares snippets of Abe’s poetry as well as sidebars about the lives of Indigenous peoples in the US.
This is a compelling and thought-provoking story about a man dealing with a rare life-threatening illness who is afraid that he has run out of time without having accomplished anything which also provides fascinating insight with respect to the contemporary Indigenous experience in the U.S. Old School Indian is well-written, emotional as well as witty and the snarky Dominick Deer Woods is such a distinct voice. I loved this exceptional debut novel!
Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
26. Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza
Setting: Western United States
Lizzie and Bex were best friends in college but 15 years ago Bex apruptly cut Lizzie out of her life and they haven’t spoken since. Bex (now known as Rebecca) has transformed herself into a highly successful tradwife influencer who lives on a ranch with her husband, Gray, and five kids promoting her perfect life on Instagram to millions of followers. Out of the blue, Bex reaches out to Lizzie, a struggling magazine journalist, and invites her to a high-profile mom influencer conference on the west coast promising she’ll give Lizzie an exclusive interview after making a big annoucement about a multimillion-dollar business venture.
Lizzie arrives at the exclusive resort where the conference is being held and catches up with Bex over drinks but Bex gives nothing away about her upcoming announcement. They call it a night early and make plans to meet for breakfast but the next morning the resort is crawling with police – Gray has been found brutally murdered at the ranch and Bex has gone missing making her the prime suspect. Lizzie is caught up in the middle of it and would like to go home but can’t resist a good story or the chance to help an old friend who might be in danger.
A juicy murder mystery combined with an interesting look at the dark side of influencer culture and the tradwife phenomenon. Starts off slow but then takes off with the plot getting a bit unhinged toward the end. A binge read that kept me turning the pages well into the night to find out how it ended and whodunnit!
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
27. Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver
Setting: England
Kate, recently divorced empty nester and in need of work because she signed away all of her rights in an iron-clad prenup, reaches out to her agent from her pre-marriage acting career only to discover that he died and his son, Charlie, has inherited the business. Charlie, back in England after his marriage and his Hollywood screenwriting career imploded, is struggling to keep his father’s talent agency afloat and has a big problem – a romance novel that’s a surefire hit but an author who wants nothing to do with its publiction because they are a bestseller in another genre.
Charlie needs to find an unknown actress for his publishing house client and Kate is perfect to play the part of debut novelist and act as the public face of the book. Kate is initially reluctant but reads the book and it’s such a beautiful love story that she signs an NDA and agrees to appear as the author at interviews, book signings, on social media. What could possibly go wrong?
This latest book by Josie Silver might be categorized as a romance but it’s probably better described as women’s fiction. There is a slow burn romance between two people in their late ’30s starting over but the romance isn’t the sole focus of the story. Most of the plot is more about books, readers, authors and publishing as well as Kate grieving the end of her marriage, adjusting to her daughter’s move to university, starting over and finding herself again. Kate is a great character and her personal growth is even better than the romance as is her relationship with her sister who is a great secondary character. A fun summer read!
28. The Letter Carrier by Francesca Giannone
Setting: Italy
Salento, Italy, June 1934: A coach stops in the main square of Lizzanello, a tight-knit village where everyone knows each other. A couple gets off: The man, Carlo, a child of the South, is happy to be back home after a long time away; the woman, Anna—his wife—is a stranger from the North. Carlo’s brother is there to meet them, and he and everyone else can’t help but notice that Anna is as beautiful as a Greek statue.
But Anna is not like the other wives. She doesn’t gossip or attend church. She reads books no one else has ever heard of, exploring ideas that some find threatening. She even wears pants, just like a man, and thinks a woman should have rights, just like a man.
There aren’t many options for a woman with Anna’s sensibilities, so when she learns that the post office is hiring, she leaps at the opportunity. A female letter carrier? It is unthinkable! But Anna passes the postal exam and soon becomes the invisible thread connecting the town as she delivers letters between clandestine lovers, families waiting to hear news of loves ones away at war, and even helping those who can’t read.
Letters connect people, and they convey information and emotion. But for some in Lizzanello, letters are too little and too late.
29. The Names by Florence Knapp
Setting: England
In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son’s birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she’d like to call the child, Cora hesitates…
Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora’s and her young son’s lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.
30. The Bombshell by Darrow Farr
Setting: Corsica
Corsica 1993 – Summer is just around the corner and seventeen year-old Séverine Guimard, the spoiled French-American daughter of a politician, is counting down the days until graduation. She knows that she’s destined to be famous and can’t wait to escape Corsica. Then one evening while out riding a bicycle in her upscale neighbourhood in Ajaccio, Séverine is kidnapped by a militant trio of young men who are part of the Corsican independence movement.
The three young men take Séverine to a cottage deep in the island’s remote interior assuming that their demands for a large ransom and return of a political prisoner will be swiftly met. When the negotiation doesn’t go to plan, headstrong Séverine sets out to charm her captors to gain some control over the situation but, as she is exposed to their politics, she starts to question her own beliefs and decides to join their cause. With her flair for the spotlight, Séverine becomes the face of the movement and pushes them in a more radical direction devising a bombing campaign that leads to an explosive summer of terror on the island of Corsica.
A well-written and gripping literary debut, The Bombshell is a page turner! I loved the setting on the island of Corsica, the characters are complex, the story is propulsive and it made me want to learn more about Corsica’s history and the impact of colonialism on the island. There’s an inevitability to how this will end but it’s still suspenseful waiting for everything to literally and figuratively blow up – I couldn’t put it down!
31. The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce
Setting: Italy
There is a heatwave across Europe, and four siblings have gathered at their family’s lake house to seek answers about their father, a famous artist, who recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his long-awaited masterpiece.
Now he is dead. And there is no sign of his final painting.
As the siblings try to piece together what happened, they spend the summer in a state of lawlessness: living under the same roof for the first time in decades, forced to confront the buried wounds they incurred as his children, and waiting for answers. Though they have always been close, the things they learn that summer—about themselves—and their father—will drive them apart before they can truly understand his legacy. Meanwhile, their stepmother’s enigmatic presence looms over the house. Is she the force that will finally destroy the family for good?
32. The Satisfaction Cafe by Kathy Wang
Setting: California
Joan Liang moves from Taiwan to California as a young woman to study at Stanford University and, after one brief first marriage to another Asian student, she becomes the fourth wife of Bill Lauder, a wealthy white American man who is much older. She raises their children and eventually realizes her long-held dream to operate a café where lonely people can come to enjoy conversation and to be heard and understood – the Satisfaction Café.
This is a quiet, slow-paced, character-driven story about a woman’s life and her legacy. Joan is a sympathetic character and I enjoyed reading about the events of her life, the challenges she faced and her pursuit of a satisfying life. It’s a thoughtful, reflective book – not for readers who are looking for an action-filled plot.
33. Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive
Setting: A retirement resort in Florida
In 2067, much of the state of Florida is under water due to the devastating impact of climate change but that isn’t stopping the residents at the Palm Meridian, a retirement resort for queer women, from living their best lives in their twilight years.
Septuagenarian Hannah Cardin has been enjoying her life at the Palm Meridian for 10 years but has recently received a terminal cancer diagnosis and is opting for a medically assisted death. On the last night of her life, Hannah and her raucous band of friends are throwing an all-night end-of-life party at the resort to celebrate her life before her appointment at the hospital the following morning.
In addition to the residents of the resort, Hannah has also invited some important people from her past including her childhood best friend and business partner, Luke, and the love of her life, Sophie, who she hasn’t spoken to since their devastating break-up more than 40 years earlier. As the day progesses, Hannah can’t help but think back about her life and her lost love and chapters alternate between that last day and her past growing up in Montreal, starting a successful business with Luke and falling in love with Sophie.
Palm Meridian starts slow but, as the story progressed, I grew to care about Hannah and her friends and by the end it destroyed me. I loved this book but it’s not the light read that the cover would indicate so be prepared! A moving reflection on the complexities of aging, end of life and saying goodbye to loved ones on one’s own terms that is funny, thought-provoking, heartwrenching and even life-affirming.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
34. The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
Setting: The Florida Panhandle
Adela Woods is sixteen years old and pregnant. Her parents banish her from her comfortable upbringing in Indiana to her grandmother’s home in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida. When she arrives, Adela meets Emory, who brings her newborn to high school, determined to graduate despite the odds; Simone, mother of four-year-old twins, who weighs her options when she finds herself pregnant again; and the rest of the Girls, a group of outcast young moms who raise their growing brood in the back of Simone’s red truck.
The town thinks the Girls have lost their way, but really they are finding it: looking for love, making and breaking friendships, and navigating the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood.
35. Among Friends by Hal Ebbott
Setting: New York state
Two middle-aged couples and their teenage daughters are spending a fall weekend at a country house in upstate New York to celebrate the host’s 52nd birthday. The two men, Amos and Emerson, met on the first day of college and have now been friends for more than 30 years. Over the course of the weekend, mishaps and hurt feelings lead to a shocking and unspeakable act and the bonds of relationships are tested in the aftermath of the betrayal.
A novel about class, marriage, male friendship, and betrayal that shifts point of view providing the reader with access to the inner thoughts of the six main characters. I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing is beautiful without doubt and it’s insightful – but these people are awful. Each of the adults is insufferable, cold, and calculating – willing to prioritize their social standing and lifestyle ahead of a child’s wellbeing. Although it is painful to read at times, I couldn’t put it down and then the ending was infuriating.
I don’t like to post spoilers but the incident that takes place at the countryhouse merits a content warning. If there is anything that you feel you might want to know about before picking up a book then please check the content warnings on Storygraph or at some of the reviews on Goodreads.
36. Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor
Setting: Chicago and a small town in Kansas
If you have ever wondered how The Wizard of Oz‘s Dorothy Gale came to be living with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in Kansas then this book is for you!
Chicago 1924 – Emily and her new husband, Henry, dream of leaving the city behind to start a new life on the prairie in Kansas even though that means leaving behind Emily’s beloved sister, Annie.
Kansas 1932 – Over several years, Emily and Henry establish their lives in the Kansas farming community but by 1932 they are facing significant hardship due to drought, dust storms and tornados as well as the aftermath of the financial destruction of the 1929 stock market crash. Then tragedy strikes and their orphaned niece Dorothy comes to live on the farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.
This well-written origin story of Dorothy’s Aunt Emily Gale, a secondary character in The Wizard of Oz, is an enjoyable and heartwarming read that will appeal to fans of the classic book and movie. It’s also an interesting and informative work of historical fiction as the author chose to set the story in the early 1930s (several decades after the publication of L. Frank Baum’s book) at a time when drought and dust storms due to farming practices were devastating the lives of many prairie farmers. I found it as interesting to learn about this period of American history as it was to get a backstory for Auntie Em.
37. When Sleeping Women Wake by Emma Pei Yin
Setting: Hong Kong
1941. Following the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, the wealthy Tang family has settled in Hong Kong, believing it to be protected under British occupation. As the First Wife of the family, Mingzhu leads a glamorous, if at times lonely, existence—mothering the son of her husband’s concubine, overseeing her daughter Qiang’s education, and directing their household of servants, including her long-time confidante, Biyu.
But when the Japanese invade Hong Kong, the paths of Mingzhu, Qiang, and Biyu wildly diverge. Although Mingzhu’s affinity for languages spares her from physical labor, she finds herself coerced to either work for the enemy or face certain death. Qiang and Biyu scrape through days of factory work and meager food supplies, constantly on the run from newly unfolding dangers until an encounter with the East River Column resistance fighters separates them.
The longer these women become embroiled in the brutal occupation that engulfs the region, the more determined they are to fight back—but can they support the resistance and still find their way back to one another?
38. Park Avenue by Renée Ahdieh
Setting: New York City and international locations
Jia Song, daughter of Korean bodega owners in New York City, has always pushed herself to succeed so she can have every Fifth Avenue luxury (including an elusive Birkin bag) and her dreams are finally in reach. She has just made junior partner at a prestigious Manhattan law firm and a senior partner wants her to sit in on a confidential meeting with a high-level client embroiled in a family dispute. Jia accepts without hesitation only to find out that it is one of the most famous Korean families in the world.
The Park family has a megasuccessful Korean beauty brand and their net worth is estimated to be a billion dollars but there’s trouble brewing. Patriarch, Seven, is divorcing his terminally ill wife, Jenny, and their three adult children, Sora, Suzy and Minsoo, can’t stop bickering. The children believe that their father is hiding assets to cheat their mother out of what is rightfully hers and are determined to convince her to fight back. Jia is hired and given only a month to find proof of Seven’s con knowing that her career is likely on the line if she can’t satisfy her client.
An entertaining slow-burn story of rich people behaving badly – juicy family drama with elements of mystery and romance as well as globetrotting to some beautiful places. I loved the unknown narrator who occasionally breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader directly – I figured out who it was just before the reveal but it had me guessing throughout most of the book! Overall an enjoyable debut that works well as a summer beach read.
39. Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami
Setting: Japan
Rei Takanawa, the oldest of three sisters, works in finance in London, middle sister Kiki, a single mother to a five year-old, works in a retirement home in Tokyo and the youngest sister, Ai, is a famous member of a Japanese girl pop group. The three have only each other to rely on as their English father has been long absent from their lives and their mother died tragically fifteen years earlier.
When Ai is embroiled in a very public scandal, her two older sisters pause their lives to help her through her crisis. Kiki quits her job, Rei comes home to Japan and the three of them along with Kiki’s son escape to their childhood home. The three sisters spend their summer living nextdoor to their great-grandmother in a small town on the Japanese coast helping Ai to heal and eventually coming to terms with the death of their mother.
Alternating points-of-view between Rei, Kiki and Ai, this is a sweet story about three very different sisters reunited for the summer and dealing with loss/family trauma. It’s a slow-paced story and it took me a long time to get into it but about halfway through I felt connected to the characters and invested in the book. The plot encompasses some heavy topics including depression/suicide that are addressed in a compassionate way – an enjoyable read.
40. Daikon by Samuel Hawley
Setting: Japan
In this thrilling alternative history set in Japan during the final days of World War II, the US plans to drop three atomic bombs but one falls into enemy hands.
In August 1945, an American B-29 bomber crashes before it can drop its payload and an unusual device is recovered from the wreckage by the Japanese. It’s not clear at first what sort of weapon it is but when uranium is detected, Army Lieutenant Colonel Sagara summons U.S. educated physicist Keizo Kan to conduct further investigations. Japan’s own efforts at enriching uranium have failed so Keizo is shocked by the realization that it is an atomic bomb.
After the destruction of Hiroshima followed by Nagasaki, Sagara is infuriated by those calling for surrender and orders Keizo to prepare the bomb for manual detonation over an American target. Meanwhile Keizo’s Japanese-American wife, Noriko, has been arrested and imprisoned by the Thought Police for unknown reasons and Keizo knows that if he doesn’t follow orders that Noriko will pay the price.
A gripping debut novel of love and war that has been meticulously researched. (Samuel Hawley is a historian who has authored several non-fiction books and worked on Daikon for 27 years.) This is the first World War II historical fiction that I have read on the Japanese experience and I found that perspective fascinating. Well-written, suspenseful and thought-provoking – I couldn’t put this down and recommend it to anyone who is interested in historical fiction.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an ARC of this book for review purposes. All opinons are my own.
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