Kristian Novak’s "Dark Mother Earth" is a fraught work involving tragedy, mythology, trauma, and history. Set in northern Croatia, the novel follows the tortured memories of a stalled writer, Matija. It begins in present day Zagreb and... Read More

Gunnar Staalesen’s "Wolves at the Door" is a chilling thriller made engrossing thanks to the sarcastic sallying and social conscience of its lead detective. Falsely accused of having child pornography on his computer, private... Read More

Alex Myers’s compelling and poignant coming-of-gender novel "Continental Divide" is set in Wyoming and delves into the difficult decisions that a trans person has to face—and how challenging the process of transitioning can be, both... Read More

In Mia Heavener’s emotional novel "Under Nushagak Bluff", three generations of Indigenous Alaskan women are the focus. Set during the 1930s and 1940s, the book is gripping and understated. It takes place in Nushagak, a remote fishing... Read More

Paula Martinac’s latest novel, "Clio Rising", is both a story of lesbian friendship and a literary mystery. Livvie Bliss—a young, out lesbian fresh from the North Carolina countryside—and Clio Hartt—a closeted lesbian known for... Read More

“Metaphors get compromised. Get eroded and need updating. Rerouting. Reconstituting,” writes Lia Purpura. This is just one of the luminous themes mined in her glittering new essay collection "All the Fierce Tethers". In prose that is... Read More

“How can you narrate terror?” This question is a central focus of Guillermo Saccomanno’s "77", set during the 1977 reign of terror in Argentina, the Dirty War. The military coup d’état of 1976 led to the killing of over thirty... Read More

The narrator of Patrick Parks’s surrealistic novel "Tucumcari" is a man who floats through memories and time, addressing ash-covered cities, the atom bomb, and his wife. Lean, direct prose anchors his feverish meanderings. Fantastical... Read More