Book Review: Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith

About the Book: A nearly abandoned Italian village, the family that stayed, and long-buried secrets from World War II. On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village-and a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II-centuries of earthquakes, landslides and the lure of a better life have left it neglected. Only … Continue reading Book Review: Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith

Book Review: A Country of Eternal Light by Paul Dalgarno

About the Book: An astonishingly inventive, playful, witty, poignant and deeply moving novel from one of Australia's most exciting writers. Margaret Bryce, deceased mother of twins, has been having a hard time since dying in 2014. These days she spends time with her daughters – Eva in Madrid, and Rachel and her family in Melbourne … Continue reading Book Review: A Country of Eternal Light by Paul Dalgarno

Book Review: Here Be Leviathans by Chris Flynn

About the Book: A collection of funny, brilliant, boundary-pushing stories from the bestselling author of Mammoth. A grizzly bear goes on the run after eating a teenager. A hotel room participates in an unlikely conception. A genetically altered platypus colony puts on an art show. A sabretooth tiger falls for the new addition to his theme … Continue reading Book Review: Here Be Leviathans by Chris Flynn

Book Review: Horse by Geraldine Brooks

About the Book: A discarded painting in a roadside clean-up, forgotten bones in a research archive, and Lexington, the greatest racehorse in US history. From these strands of fact, Geraldine Brooks weaves a sweeping story of spirit, obsession and injustice across American history. Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a … Continue reading Book Review: Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Book Review: The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

Translated by Ann Goldstein About the Book: The Story of the Lost Child is the concluding volume in the dazzling saga of two women — the brilliant, bookish Elena, and the fiery, uncontainable Lila. Both are now adults, with husbands, lovers, aging parents, and children. Their friendship has been the gravitational center of their lives. Both … Continue reading Book Review: The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

Book Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

About the Book: Florence, the 1560s. Lucrezia, third daughter of Cosimo de' Medici, is free to wander the palazzo at will, wondering at its treasures and observing its clandestine workings. But when her older sister dies on the eve of marriage to Alfonso d'Este, ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into … Continue reading Book Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell