The Stars Are Fire, by Anita Shreve. This got a last minute publishing date change and is available to readers today! Based on the true story of the largest fire in Maine history, Shreve's new novel begins in October 1947, when after a summer long drought, fires break out all along the
Maine coast from Bar Harbor to Kittery and are soon racing out of
control from town to village. Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is
left alone to protect her two toddlers when her husband, Gene, joins the
volunteer firefighters. Along with her best friend, Rosie, and Rosie's
two young children, Grace watches helplessly as their houses burn to the
ground, the flames finally forcing them all into the ocean as a last
resort. The women spend the night frantically protecting each other and the children only to come ashore at dawn to a world changed beyond recognizing. Shreve (The Pilot's Wife, The Weight of Water, etc.) is always a favorite. Also available in Large Print.
New Boy, by Tracy Chevalier. This modern retelling of Shakespeare's Othello is part of the ongoing Hogarth Shakespeare series following other retellings like Margaret Atwood's Hag-seed, 2016 (The Tempest), etc. Here, Othello is retold against the backdrop of a 1970s suburban Washington schoolyard. Arriving at his fifth school in as many years, diplomat’s son Osei
Kokote knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day – so
he’s lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But
one student can’t stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian
decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden
girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players – teachers
and pupils alike – will never be the same again. Also available in Large Print.
Saints for All Occasions, by J. Courtney Sullivan. Nora and Theresa Flynn are twenty-one and seventeen when they leave
their small village in Ireland and journey to America. Nora is the
responsible sister; she's shy and serious and engaged to a man she isn't
sure that she loves. Theresa is gregarious; she is thrilled by their
new life in Boston and besotted with the fashionable dresses and dance
halls on Dudley Street. But when Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora is
forced to come up with a plan—a decision with repercussions they are
both far too young to understand. The story then shifts forward fifty years, and finds the sisters in very different circumstances. Told in Sullivan's (The Engagements, Maine, etc.) unique style. Also available in Large Print.
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