A refugee family struggles to adjust to a new life in E. Lily Yu’s novel "On Fragile Waves". Firuzeh doesn’t know why her parents have whisked her and her brother from Afghanistan to Australia. Nor does she understand why the... Read More

When love is great, its loss can consume you; so a family learns in Meredith Hall’s delicate, poignant novel, "Beneficence". Doris became a Senter the day her husband, Tup, brought her to his family farm. She was happy to settle into... Read More

A brave young woman confronts modern-day sexism and classism in Peace Adzo Medie’s novel "His Only Wife". Left penniless after her father’s death, Afi and her mother survive thanks to the wealth of a benefactor, Aunty Faustina. When... Read More

Imagine a yoga practice that, instead of long, sweaty hours on the mat, takes only a dedicated five minutes a day. Then imagine that everybody, no matter how athletic, flexible, or thin they’re not, can build a transformative,... Read More

Nostalgia-fueled interest in retro music and contemporary artists’ expressions of “black resistance, joy, and togetherness” are at the heart of today’s soul music revival, and Emily J. Lordi’s nuanced revisionist history "The... Read More

In Robert McCaw’s winding thriller, a conflicted cop wrangles a conspiracy and a family emergency. When a volcanic vent explodes under an elementary school, it leaves ten children dead. There is evidence that people knew about the... Read More

“At a certain point,” writes Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri, “the nightmare becomes home.” The entries of Petri’s collection are satirical dances through the most baffling moments of the Trump presidency, wherein... Read More

Imagination is a lifeboat, and complacency an albatross, in Lydia Millet’s visionary novel A Children’s Bible. A gaggle of families converge at an ocean-adjacent mansion for a summer of revelry and reconnections, bringing with them... Read More