A foreboding tale of longing for solace ignites the rural West Virginia setting of Meredith Sue Willis’s "Their Houses". Dinah and Grace are sisters whose childhood was marked by their father’s alcoholism and their mother’s... Read More

“By all accounts, moving from place to place helps one to locate a space, a home inside oneself,” Ming Holden claims. Whether or not, or to what degree, she believes this is a central motif in her memoir, "Refuge". Twining an arc of... Read More

Bernardo Atxaga’s "Nevada Days" novelizes the author’s writer’s residency in Reno, Nevada. In it, he relocates from Spain with his wife and two daughters for the spot, working against the backdrop of a United States at war—though... Read More

Musician Jenny Hval’s "Paradise Rot" follows a Norwegian biology student and her hypertuned sensitivities. Electric, idiosyncratic, and disturbing observations elucidate Jo’s sexual awakening. Newly arrived in an English university... Read More

Claire Tacon’s inherently relatable and humorous "In Search of the Perfect Singing Flamingo" resonates as it conveys human foibles and kindness through a complicated family, a lonely teenager, and a collection of animatronic animals.... Read More

Laura Wolfson worked, traveled, and eventually married in the Soviet Union toward the end of the Cold War. Despite being fluent in Russian, she struggled to understand her Russian spouse’s insistence that having children would require... Read More

T. Sean Steele’s "Tacky Goblin" is a clever, loopy novella that relates the journal entries of an unnamed twentysomething central character. He drifts through ennui-laden days in his parents’ home in Chicago, surviving demonic... Read More

A mystifying exploration of unbelief and faith, Francesco Dimitri’s "The Book of Hidden Things" dazzles with portraits of men at a crossroads. When a band of childhood friends—now in their thirties—gather for their annual meeting... Read More