ON OUR BOOKSHELF
THE PAGES WE’VE DEVOURED THIS MONTH... AND YOU SHOULD TOO.
MANHATTAN BEACH BY JENNIFER EGAN If we could describe the mood of this historical novel, it would be a bit like an overcast day at the ocean at the very end of summer. Anna, a young woman working in a naval shipyard, is looking for her father, who has abandoned his family; in doing so, she finds herself entangled in the murky underworld of 1940s New York. It’s an astonishingly melancholy tale, full of sadness and absences, and a feeling that happiness is always out of reach, over that distant water’s horizon. This is one that will stay with you long after reading. Coming in October. THE SHOE ON THE ROOF BY WILL FERGUSON You’ll need a firm grip on reality before picking up this twisty mind-bender, because it will make you doubt everything you assume about the world. Ferguson, a Giller Prizewinning author, tells a story that follows Thomas, a newly dumped researcher who grew up as the subject of a science experiment himself. His studies centre around three vagrant men who all claim to be the Messiah. And maybe... they are? Coming in October. MRS. FLETCHER BY TOM PERROTTA Two of this novelist and screenwriter’s works have been made into Academy Awardnominated films, so it’s no surprise that this is a cracker of a plot: A bored divorcee falls down a digital rabbit hole of moral confusion after receiving a random text: “U R my MILF!” The sparkling, darkly funny prose is the icing on this page-turner. Available now.
THE RULES OF MAGIC BY ALICE HOFFMAN If you’ve been looking for something to fill a Harry Potter-size hole in your life, “Accio” this warm-hearted prequel to the bestselling Practical Magic. Set in the turbulent 1960s, this novel is the story of the two sisters (and their brother) whom readers might recognize as the aunts in Hoffman’s first book. The girls have been raised in ignorance about their family’s rather witchy tendencies, but over the course of a visit to their ancestral village in Massachusetts, they tap into just how much power they have at their fingertips— and how great the consequences of that discovery will be. Style tip: Wear blue, and steer clear of red shoes. Coming in October.