In Lee Polevoi’s historical thriller "The Confessions of Gabriel Ash", a besieged ambassador shares his life story. Gabriel, the UN ambassador for Keshnev, is imprisoned in a mountaintop castle. A rotating cadre of guards bring him... Read More

Matthew Binder’s sharp satirical novel "Pure Cosmos Club" skewers the art world and spiritual snake oil salesmanship. Paul is an artist whose highest educational attainment was a YMCA scuba diving certificate. With his dog, Blanche, at... Read More

In Marta Balcewicz’s novel "Big Shadow", a lonely teenager’s lunge for freedom ends in disappointment and near disaster. Seventeen-year-old Judy’s friend Alex has given her an important job: watching the clouds for signs of the Big... Read More

New arrivals and fresh discoveries rock a wealthy family’s dependable existence in Paul Serge Forest’s novel "Everything Is Ori". The Lelarges own a successful fishery business that has only continued to grow in profits and prestige... Read More

Jeff Biggers’s "In Sardinia" is a story about becoming enchanted by an Italian island—its history, customs, literature, art, ancient archaeological sites, and heroes and legends too. Biggers regards Sardinia as one of Italy’s most... Read More

Antonia Fraser’s biography of Caroline Lamb reassesses the English noblewoman’s life—too often defined and confined by her notorious affair with Lord Byron. Born in 1785, Caroline was a bright, charming, and rather high-strung... Read More

A woman relives her traumatic sexual assault in Tatiana Salem Levy’s epistolary novel "Vista Chinesa". Júlia went for her daily run to Vista Chinesa, a lookout point in Rio de Janeiro, on an ordinary afternoon. While she was... Read More

Siddhartha Deb’s robust novel "The Light at the End of the World" explores India across four timelines, drawing forth the country’s agonizing secrets, linked dangers, and unexpected residents. In a feverish, near apocalyptic future,... Read More