THE WOMEN
By Kristin Hannah
St. Martin’s Press
This book will pull on your heartstrings. Opening in the mid-1960s, during the Vietnam War, and spanning two decades, it follows Frankie McGrath, who joins the Army Nurse Corps.
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in Southern California’s sun-drenched, idyllic world and sheltered by conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But 1965 the world was changing, and she suddenly dared to imagine a different future. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life, death, hope, and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered instantly. In war, she meets and becomes one of the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country have too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will define an era. It’s an emotional book that you won’t be able to put down. It’s also a story that will stay with you long after reading.
LEAVING
By Roxana Robinson
W. W. Norton & Company
Former college flames Warren and Sarah meet at the opera after years (and marriages) have gone by.
Sarah and Warren’s college love story ended in a single moment. Decades later, when a chance meeting brings them together, a passion ignites—threatening the foundations of their lives. Since they parted in college, each has married, raised a family, and made a career. When they meet again, Sarah is divorced and living outside New York, while Warren is still married and living in Boston.
Seeing Warren sparks an awakening in Sarah, who feels emotionally alive for the first time in decades. Still, she hesitates to reclaim a chance at love after her painful divorce and years of framing her life around her children and her work. Warren has no reservations: he wants to leave his marriage but fears how his wife and daughter will react. As their affair intensifies, Sarah and Warren must confront the moral responsibilities of their love for their families and each other.
It is an engaging exploration of the vows we make to one another, the tensile relationships between parents and their children, and what we owe to others and ourselves.
Leaving delves beautifully into what families are to each other and what’s owed to them, love in our later years, and how to balance passion and morality.
ONE OF US KNOWS
By Alyssa Cole
William Morrow
From the critically acclaimed bestselling author of When No One Is Watching comes a riveting thriller about the new caretaker of a historic estate who finds herself trapped on an island with a murderer—and the ghosts of her past.
Years after a breakdown and a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder derailed her historical preservationist career, Kenetria Nash and her alters have been given a second chance they can’t refuse: a position as resident caretaker of a historic home. Having been dormant for years, Ken has no idea what led them to this isolated Hudson River Island, but she’s determined not to ruin their opportunity.
Then, a surprise visit from the home’s conservation trust just as a Nor’easter bears down on the island disrupts her newfound life, leaving Ken trapped with possibly dangerous strangers—including the man who brought her life tumbling down years earlier. When he turns up dead, Ken is the prime suspect.
Caught in a web of secrets and in a race against time, Ken and her alters must band together to prove their innocence and discover the truth of Kavanaugh Island—and their own past—or they risk losing not only their future but also their lives. One of Us Knows will keep your heart beating while relaxing by the shore.
ANITA DE MONTE LAUGHS LAST
By Xochitl Gonzalex
Flatiron Books
If you couldn’t look away from the relationship dynamics explored in Anatomy of a Fall, you’ll want to read Xochitl Gonzalez’s Anita de Monte Laughs Last.
It’s 1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998, Anita’s name had been all but forgotten certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student, was preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Like her, students of color are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret.
But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she unexpectedly rises to the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist.
Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.
Well-paced and entertaining, this story about tragic power dynamics and dueling careers is heavy but flies by.
LIES WOMEN ARE TOLD AT WORK…
And The Truth We Need To Succeed
By Bonnie Hammer
Simon & Schuster
Bonnie Hammer’s legendary career spans five decades in a turbulent, male-driven industry. Today, Bonnie is a powerful leader at the very top of her field, and women at all levels constantly ask her: What is your secret to success?
Her power—and her staying power—comes from rejecting common myths about how women are “supposed” to act in the workplace. She knows that the traditional wisdom women are told about work—pithy phrases like “don’t mix work with play,” “talk is cheap,” “follow your dreams,” “know your worth,” “trust your gut,” and “you can have it all”—hold women back. Having risen from an entry-level production assistant whose chief charge was a dog, to a transformative, top executive at NBCUniversal, Bonnie challenges conventional workplace wisdom and shares the uncommon sense women need to succeed.
Bonnie has mentored countless women in every industry, and she leads NBCUniversal’s masterclass for female executives. Now, she gives you, the reader, her private masterclass—replacing the lies women have been fed about work with her unique time-tested wisdom. Written with humor and heart, and full of insights and research that illuminate her points, 15 Lies Women Are Told at Work is a portable mentor for working women.
It doesn’t just explain one woman’s rise to the top in a tough industry; it shows how any woman can rise as high as she wants in her own work world.
ANARCHY AT ALMACKS
A Story Of Love At First Sight
By Nola Saint James
Nemeton Press
It's love at first sight across Almack’s crowded ballroom for Lord Maximillian Browning and breathtaking, red-haired Miss Rowan Higbee. There’s only one problem: they can’t seem to get introduced to one another!
Admiralty spy Lord Maximillian Francis Browning, Max to his friends, is looking at the newest crop of young ladies coming out at Almacks Assembly Rooms when he is stunned by the entrance of three stunning, red-haired women. Max is irresistibly drawn to a young woman with dark red hair. Max knows right then that Miss Rowan Higbee, eldest daughter of the fabulously wealthy Baron Edanmore, is destined to be his wife. He begins to move across the room to seek an introduction.
A riot breaks out at Almacks before they can meet. Succeeding attempts to get Max and Rowan together also meet with failure. The course of true love—Rowan and Max’s story of love at first sight—plays out against the background of the 1804 London Season. Before they can find their happy ending, they must contend with an eccentric French modiste, a Venetian Breakfast gone awry, a hot-headed brother, an abduction, and unlikely villains. Max doesn’t know it, but Rowan’s past may present the biggest obstacle.
When writing a Regency-era romance, Nola Saint James (Rabbi Dr. Jo David's literary persona) considered how her characters were influenced by some aspects of the 10 Commandments. The giving of the 10 Commandments, celebrated by Jews on the holiday of Shavuot, is one of Judaism's most important cultural contributions to the development of European society, according to Rabbi David. They are a covenant—a contract—for maintaining a civil society. During the Regency era, those societal norms and covenants began to be challenged in many ways.