Mexican poet Isabel Zapata probes the enduring mysteries of pregnancy and birth in "In Vitro", a memoir in fragments that travels from fertility treatment through to the early weeks of pandemic-time motherhood. “I want to shatter the... Read More

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

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

An arranged marriage becomes a nightmare for an unwitting Nigerian woman in Adorah Nworah’s novel "House Woman". When Nna goes home to visit his unconventional but loving parents, he is surprised to find that they have arranged for him... 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

Musicians converge on a single stage for a contest that will separate technical skill from true genius in "Honeybees and Distant Thunder", a novel that cements Riku Onda as a virtuosic talent. How does music make you feel? For one... Read More

Mysterious mail initiates a family’s search for their buried truths in Anne Berest’s elegiac novel "The Postcard", which vivifies and honors the dead. At her first Seder well into her adulthood, Berest is confronted by an aspiring... Read More

In Tyriek White’s elegiac novel "We Are a Haunting", a son’s inherited grief binds him to his mother and grandmother as he discovers how to define “home” in New York. On the brink of expulsion from school in the 2000s, Colly is... Read More