All Books Considered

Meet Me in the Garden by Nina LaCour Blurb from Goodreads : New Orleans, 1944. Odette has always been one of the Honore sisters, glamorous and admired in their Creole community. But while Odette’s older sisters are content to be wives and mothers, Odette has always wanted something else. It is only with her beloved cousin, Delphine, that Odette can tell her secret: she is in love with a woman, and she longs to be an artist. Delphine has a secret lover, too, a white man. In the hidden garden they’ve discovered, Odette and Delphine can dream of futures full of passion and freedom. But five years later, Odette's life is nothing like what she'd planned. She's a widowed mother, living in Los Angeles, and she and Delphine, who is passing as white, have spiraled away from each other. When Delphine reaches a breaking point, Odette must make a shattering choice to try to hold her family together. Profound and expansive...

The Half Life by Rachel Beanland Blurb from Goodreads : When twenty-three-year-old Eileen O’Malley meets charismatic naval officer Paul Archer in a Charleston department store, she doesn’t expect to fall so hard, so fast. But Paul is funny and ambitious, and soon, Eileen’s got a ring on her finger and is following him to the tiny, sun-drenched Mediterranean island of La Maddalena, where Paul will be heading up Radiological Controls aboard a submarine tender. In La Maddalena, Eileen joins a makeshift community of Navy wives, who are hell bent on making the island feel a little more like home. But for Eileen, whose brother died in Vietnam, home is a loaded word, and as she settles into life on the island—taking Italian lessons and learning to make culurgiones—she begins to love the place for all the ways it is not like where she comes from. Still, it doesn’t take long for Eileen to be confronted with the complexities of...

Last Summer at Maine Chance by Jessica Everett Blurb from Goodreads : Economics undergrad Cynthia Proctor knows everything about statistical impossibilities. In 1954, women like her from middle-class families do not earn degrees from prestigious New England colleges. When Cynthia receives notice that her scholarship will now be given to a male student, she knows her chances of graduating are slim. But an invitation to spend the summer lakeside in Maine turns into a job at Elizabeth Arden's Maine Chance spa, where Cynthia will learn that the best investment of all is herself.   This was enjoyable and transported me to a place I didn't know existed -- the Maine Chance spa in Maine in the 1950s.  Cynthia's struggles and impossible position were very well written and my heart ached for me.  My favorite character, however, was the artist t...

Liberty Island by  Virginia Hume Blurb from Goodreads : 1900: 28-year-old Anna Bradley spends summer days supervising three little girls, including her niece, Julia Demarest, on an island off the coast of Haven Point, Maine. There, the girls run free, pretending to be all the things society says they pirates and rum runners, treasure hunters and Roughriders. A college graduate determined to remain unmarried, Anna is eager to establish herself independently. Inspired by the summer antics of Julia and her friends, Anna writes "Liberty Island"—a depiction of girls unshackled from the domestic sphere—under a pen name. Young readers are rhapsodic, and it is a runaway bestseller, but it’s not well received by the society matrons in her sister’s circle, who believe that books for girls should prepare them for their future as wives and mothers. With "Liberty Island" growing in popularity, Anna’s secret is ...

Nonesuch by Francis Spufford Blurb from Goodreads : A spellbinding tale about an ambitious young woman who must thwart an occult plot by time-traveling fascists during the chaos of the London Blitz—from “one of our most powerful writers of wayward historical fiction” (The Washington Post). Following the acclaim of his previous novels Golden Hill and Cahokia Jazz, Francis Spufford delivers a masterpiece of literary fantasy, hailed by Joe Hill as “a book that scoops up all the wonder and hope and pleasure of the Narnia novels, and pours it into a story for grown-ups.” It’s the summer of 1939, and the air in London is thick with the tension of impending war. Iris Hawkins, a fiery young financial secretary, has a chance encounter with Geoff, a genius engineer from the new technology of television. What was supposed to be one night of abandon draws her...

The Star Society by Gabriella Saab,  Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld Blurb from Goodreads : Uncover the captivating tale of two extraordinary sisters in The Star Society, a thrilling historical novel that transports readers from the shadows of the Dutch Resistance to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Inspired by the indomitable spirit of Audrey Hepburn, this gripping story follows Ada and Ingrid as they reunite after World War II, embarking on a journey of justice, survival, and secrets amid the backdrop of the Red Scare in Hollywood. A new name, a new country, and a coveted title as Hollywood's newest rising by 1946, actress Ada Worthington-Fox has discarded the life she left in war-torn Arnhem, where she worked for the Dutch resistance before Gestapo imprisonment prompted her to flee after release. But that life is thrust back into the spotlight when Ingrid--the sister she believe...

The Great Mann by Kyra Davis Lurie Blurb from Goodreads : In this poignant retelling of The Great Gatsby, set amongst L.A.’s Black elite, a young veteran finds his way post-war, pulled into a new world of tantalizing possibilities—and explosive tensions. In 1945, Charlie Trammell steps off a cross-country train into the vibrant tapestry of Los Angeles. Lured by his cousin Marguerite’s invitation to the esteemed West Adams Heights, Charlie is immediately captivated by the Black opulence of L.A.’s newly rechristened “Sugar Hill.” Settling in at a local actress’s energetic boarding house, Charlie discovers a different way of life—one brimming with opportunity—from a promising career at a Black-owned insurance firm, the absence of Jim Crow, to the potential of an unforgettable romance. But nothing dazzles quite like James “Reaper” Mann.   Reaper’s e...

The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club  by Martha Hall Kelly Blurb from Goodreads : 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 ...

Six Weeks in Reno by Lucy H. Hedrick, Narrated by Sarah Naughton Blurb from Goodreads : September 27, 1931. Today my new life begins. After twenty years in a loveless marriage, Evelyn Henderson will do anything to escape her stifling suburban life. She boards a train for Reno, Nevada, a former frontier town that’s booming thanks to “six-weekers”: women from all walks of life who take up residence there just long enough to secure an uncontested divorce—a right they don’t yet have in their home states. Evelyn settles into the Flying N Ranch and soon bonds with her housemates, most of whom have never ventured this far from home—or from societal conventions. The Biggest Little City in the World offers a heady taste of freedom for the horseback riding in denim and fringe by day and being courted by dance-hall cowboys by night. But underneath the glamour are...