Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims by Jennifer Vanderbes is a very highly recommended, thoroughly researched investigation of thalidomide in the US and beyond.

Thalidomide represents a shocking and alarming example of pharmaceutical negligence. Many people know of the severe birth defects suffered by babies in Germany and England when pregnant women were given the supposedly safe thalidomide early in their pregnancies. Few know that in 1959 the William S. Merrell Company was distributing samples of it to doctors for clinical trials. The company describing it as a sedative without risks and said that its approval by the Food and Drug Administration was sure to be soon.

However, in 1960 when FDA medical reviewer Frances Kelsey was reviewing the application for thalidomide she wanted more data and testing documentation to prove the many claims being made about the drug. Soon it became clear to her that the research on side effects was shoddy and incomplete. The safety claims were reckless. Then she learned about the severe birth abnormalities abroad. She and other fought to block the authorization of the drug in the USA.

What was not immediately known was that this "wonder drug" was still distributed to thousands of women in the US through the free samples given to doctors. The records of who these doctors gave the thalidomide to were incomplete or nonexistent. Most of the American victims of thalidomide were unknown or unable to prove they were given the drug. The pharmaceutical companies in the USA were never held accountable for the damage their "drug trials" did to people.

Wonder Drug is very well-written investigative journalism. The details are gripping and all of the historical facts are researched and documented. To help readers follow the story of this world-wide big pharma negligence, a list of people involved is in the front of the book so readers can keep all the personalities separate. This is a must-read, especially for those who are interested in history and details concerning a medical scandal of epic proportions.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House via NetGalley.

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer is a very highly recommended mystery/family/romance novel. This is for adults who always dream of finding a golden ticket.

Lucy Hart grew up without parents who cared and found escape through the Clock Island book series by Jack Masterson. When she was 13 she ran away to the real Clock Island and met Masterson. Now she is twenty-six and a teacher's aide. She wants more than anything else to adopt seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, but she doesn't make enough money for proper housing or a car so she is unable to qualify to foster to adopt.

Then author Masterson announces a contest. He is inviting four contestants to Clock Island to compete in a series of games/riddles. The winner will receive the only copy of his new novel, worth a fortune, and can do what they please with it. Lucy is one of the lucky contestants. While on the island she must also deal with the curmudgeonly but handsome Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island books.

The Wishing Game is an excellent debut novel and is going to appeal to all Willy Wonka fans. It's compelling, engaging and held my rapt attention from beginning to end. It could be a YA book, or certainly appropriate for YA readers, but as an adult reader it resonated with me too. There are some heavy themes in the plot but they are handled circumspectly. The narrative is mainly told through Lucy's point-of-view, with excerpts from one of the Clock Island books interspersed between the chapters. There are also several chapters from Hugo's perspective.

We don't have in-depth character development of everyone, but we do have Lucy, Hugo and Masterson developed to some degree, enough that readers will care what happens. The ending is absolutely perfect in every way. This is a novel about hope and the power of books in a life. The Wishing Game would be a wonderful choice for summer reading!
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House via NetGalley.

The Guest by Emma Cline is a very highly recommended literary tale of a lost 22-year-old female grifter.

"A misstep at a dinner party, and the older man she’s been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city." This is a deep dive into the life of a young woman who is a sex worker and is desperate to try to survive by using and manipulating a man to survive. She has been kicked out of her lover's house and has five days to survive before the big Labor Day party, where she is sure Simon will welcome her back.

The writing is excellent as Cline captures all of Alex's desperate attempts to just survive and get by five days, only five days, until the Labor Day party where she is sure her recent lover will welcome her back. It is depressing, but inevitable that she will be struggling in her attempts to ingratiate herself with others in order to have some shelter and sustenance to simple survive. Her failures and shortcomings are foretold by her brief backstory. The class differences are glaring in this explosive novel.

Alex is exposed as the person she is currently, but her past is never revealed, so she is never a full realized character, but that is seemingly the point. Her work is selling her body, not her backstory, and she is an expert at being who she needs to be in order to get by. You know where this plot is heading long before you arrive at the end. Even as she makes mistakes, you actually will want her to succeed, even while knowing she won't.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House via NetGalley

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin is a very highly recommended dystopian/speculative science fiction marvel.

The idyllic archipelago of Prospera is a socially regimented island state founded by the Designer. Citizens enjoy long fulfilling lives until their next “iteration,” where their personalities reemerge in younger bodies. Proctor Bennett works as a ferryman, which means he assists aging Prosperans to travel to the Nursery, an island where their bodies are restored. All citizens have monitors embedded in their forearms which measures their health. If it fails below 10 percent, it is time to retire.

Proctor has always had problems with dreaming, which is not supposed to happen, but now his monitor percentage has been dropping too. When he is called to retire his own father, events go amiss and he receives an enigmatic message from him before getting him onto the ferry. At the same time the support staff for Prospera who all live on the island called the Annex, are now becoming disgruntled and a resistance group known as Arrivalists is growing.

At this point hold on tight, set expectations aside, and keep reading because so many unexpected twists and events happen one after another that it is pointless to predict anything. This will be easy to do because the quality of the writing is exceptional and the plot is fast-paced and riveting. Cronin is in perfect control of the plot and his characters so just keep reading. I promise you that the pages are going to fly-by quickly.

The excellent writing will be the first plus you notice as you begin reading. The prose is simply phenomenal. This will quickly be followed by the awareness that the characters are fully realized and believable individuals with strengths and flaws who are firmly part of the narrative. Then the twists begin and new information is revealed. Follow the prose and plot carefully and, even when you think you don't know what is going on, you soon will understand that you do before the next twist hits.

No spoilers here. If you like science fiction and literary fiction, just read The Ferryman and thank me later. It's sure to be on my list of best of 2023.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House via NetGalley.

The Last Word by Taylor Adams is a highly recommended thriller about repercussions over a one star book review.

Trying to forget a terrible event from five months earlier, Emma Carpenter and her golden retriever Laika, are staying in an old home on Strand Beach off the Washington coast. She is spending her time reading inexpensive e-books and occasionally taking walks. There is some contact from a distant with the old man next door, Deek. It is Deek who suggests she reads Murder Mountain, a serial killer novel by H.G. Kane. This turns out to be a horrendous book which Emma gives a one star review, after which the author quickly asks her to take to review down. The two counter back and forth, with Emma refusing to take down the bad review. This is followed by what seems to be the author targeting her as his next murder victim and inspiration for a new novel.

It is best to jump into this fictional world with few expectations and keep reading past the beginning, even when you are silently thinking, "Really, Really?" It gets better. All your predictions and expectations are going to fall around your feet like confetti. The structure of The Last Word totally switches up all expectations.

The pace begins quick and careens to a breakneck speed. Facts change and actions are swift in this deadly game of cat and mouse. But who is who? Yes, it is tense, dangerous, and suspenseful, but there is also some real entertainment and, dare I say it, fun in this fight for her life, or his life.

Wildly entertaining, over-the-top at times, ridiculous, and heart-stopping. Throw all expectations out the window while reading and simply enjoy the roller coast.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of William Morrow.

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane is a very highly recommended, brutal crime thriller set in 1974 Boston during a time of racial tension over school busing. Another excellent novel that is now on my list of the best novels of the year.

Mary Pat Fennessey lives in the projects of the Irish American section of Boston called “Southie.” It's 1974 during a time of social unrest after the courts have ordered busing to desegregate schools. Mary Pat isn't as concerned over that as much as she is over the fact that Jules, her seventeen-year-old daughter, hasn't come home after a night out with friends. As she begins asking questions and searching for her daughter, she learns that a young Black man is found dead after apparently being struck by a subway train. As Mary Pat begins to ask questions, Jules friends claim she was walking home around Midnight, but it also is clear that they are hiding something. What follows is a story of a mother's revenge, violence, Irish mobs, and hate.

As a tough as nails Southie, Mary Pat was raised to fight back. She uses all her instinctive intelligence, building maternal rage, and street fighting instincts while looking for Jules and extracting revenge against those involved. She is not a likable character, but she is portrayed as a fully realized complicated person who has nothing left to lose. She already lost her son to heroin. All she had left was her daughter and she will risk everything for the answers she seeks.

Homicide officer Bobby Coyne is on the case, but his investigation reaches a stand-still. Then, after Mary Pat takes matters into her own hands, he can only stand back and follow the results of her action. During this same time, tensions are rising and it appears violence might break out in the neighborhood over the integration of their schools.

Small Mercies is a gripping, realistic, and complex novel that is filled with tension and violence in a realistic setting. The pace is fast and many of the details are tragic. As expected from all Lehane novels, the writing is excellent. It is impossible to put Small Mercies down once you start it.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.

The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen is a very highly recommended account of the life of Michael Laudor, his schizophrenia, and an exploration of the history of how we treat mental illness.

Michael Laudor and Jonathan Rosen became best friends almost immediately after they met in 1973 when the Rosens moved to New Rochelle, New York. Rosen shares stories of their childhood and Michael's brilliant mind and commanding presence even when young. By the time the two both got into Yale, they were no longer as close as they were as children, but still kept in touch. Michael graduated in three years and moved on to a consulting job. After a year the stress became too much and Michael was beginning to struggle with his mental health. He moved home and this is where he was when he had his first psychotic break. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in the locked ward of a psychiatric hospital.

Michael learned he was accepted into Yale Law School while he was hospitalized. A year and a half later while still experiencing delusions, he attended Yale Law and graduated with a whole lot of help from others. Later his story was featured in The New York Times and he sold his memoir. A film on his life was being planned. But then Michael had another psychotic break and stabbed his girlfriend Carrie to death with a kitchen knife, the act that grabbed headlines and national attention.

The history of the shifting views on mental illness and treatment is also address, including the 1980s deinstitutionalization. The history did feel a bit long, but is perhaps provided as a beneficial account for those who are not familiar with changing views and treatments over the years. Certainly it influenced the treatment Michael did or didn't receive, even while he was an activist for accommodating the mentally ill.

Rosen follows Michael's life, as well as his own, thoughtfully, with honesty and self reflection. Many details are included to help establish a complete portrait of a man, family, and community. This well-written narrative carefully explores friendship, family, and the nature of mental illness and how we have failed people who need intervention and help. Honestly, it wasn't a five until I reached the end and everything was brought to the heartbreaking conclusion.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin via NetGalley.

You Know Her by Meagan Jennett is a highly recommended Southern Gothic investigative thriller.

After a long New Year's Eve night at Blue Bell Bar in Bellair, Virginia, bartender Sophie Braam is trying to close up and go home when Mark Dixon demands to be let back in to use the bathroom and asks for a ride home. An ongoing thorn in her side, Dixon is a friend of the owner and often demands free drinks. This night he stole a glass of wine from a bottle that Sophie had been saving for herself, but she finally had enough when he tried to force himself on her while she was driving him home. Sophie killed him.

When his body is found a few days later, Officer Nora Martin, who is new to the force, is part of the team looking for the killer. During the investigation, Sophie and Nora become friends, bonding over their shared frustrations at the treatment they have both endured from men even while the body count rises.

Sophie is a fully realized character who is a sociopath heading down the road to insanity, which is clear during her murderous rampages. She shares her first-person thoughts in chapters which alternate with chapters from Nora's point-of-view. Nora is also a well developed character who has her own struggles with being a woman with the police department, but she is an intelligent, sane woman dealing with these issues.

You Know Her is an excellent well-written debut novel that merges an investigative procedural with a disturbing, vengeful Southern Gothic thriller. Anyone who has ever worked with the public will sympathize with Sophie when she is rightfully ranting about the comments male customers make or the jabs Nora is putting up with. Most people tolerate it, as Nora does, but will relate on some level to Sophie's rage. The murderous actions are over the top at times, which some readers might find too disturbing.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MCD via NetGalley.

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling is a recommended dystopian climate science fiction novel set in the 2050s.

In northern Canada a clandestine settlement for climate refugees called Camp Zero is being built by architect Meyer. To entertain the men working there, a group of women called Blooms have been hired as escorts and are moved into an empty mall. One woman, who is given the name Rose was secretly sent by a high-profile client to investigate the camp. Grant Grimely signed on to the project as a college professor to escape his wealthy family but, as there is no college, he is actually supposed to be teaching the Diggers, the men working on the secret building site. They all have secrets and no one is who they seem to be. Finally, a group of female military and scientific experts in various areas are moved into White Alice, an old northern research station, and thrive there.

The three narratives alternate between the points-of-view of Rose, Grant, and White Alice. Then these three narratives alternate between the present and the past with numerous flashbacks. This structure wasn't entirely successful as the flashbacks are so numerous that they become distraction from the main plot lines. The characters aren't all fully realized as unique, individual characters and some veer into the area of caricatures. They are thrown into this imagined future dystopian world.

There are also several interesting ideas or choices in the creation of this imagined future, but not all the interesting details are utilized or have the consequences shown. If you throw your characters into a dystopian world, you also need to in some manner show why and how this world happened technically, not simply assume climate change caused all of it. The twists and turns are related more to secrets than real surprises. Topics covered include climate change, family, greed, misogyny and misandry. Ultimately, Camp Zero is a slow paced but interesting dystopian climate change science fiction novel with an open but satisfying ending. Liked it but didn't love it.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books via Edelweiss.

Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen is a highly recommended crime novel set in a dystopian world where everyone is blind but can see through a device.

Seven years ago everyone in the world eventually went blind when the Blinding occurred. Technology came to the rescue creating a device called a vidder, a metal disc implant in the temple that approximates vision for people by downloading visual data directly to people’s brains. Mark Owens is a homicide detective who has been on the force before the Blinding. When a scientist is murdered and the perpetrator was invisible to the witness, detectives are dubious that the witness is telling the truth, until Owens actually "sees" the black blob when he witnesses another murder.

Clearly someone has hacked the vidder and can manipulate what people see. Owen must conduct an investigation in which he can’t even trust his own "eyes." How do you investigate when your perceptions of reality can be manipulated and you can't trust what you think you can see?

Blind Spots is a compelling science fiction/dystopian crime novel that features a detective searching for truth in a world of surveillance and disinformation. Mullen provides plenty of details to develop the world he has created and the addition of the crime that must be solved adds another element that helps hold your attention. The crime is complex, as is the backstory and all the details. The plot moves at a steady pace and is interesting throughout. This mix of a procedural with a dystopian will be appreciated by a wide variety of readers.

Owens is a fully realized, complex character and has a backstory that makes him very sympathetic and interesting. The story unfold through his point-of-view as well as that of other characters. Owens is a thoughtful, careful, and intelligent character who you will trust to solve the case/puzzle of the blurry figures.

There are some slower parts of the plot, but that shouldn't deter you from reading this excellent novel. The combination of a police procedural with a cautionary tale about technology and government control rings true.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Minotaur Books via NetGalley.

Homecoming by Kate Morton is a highly recommended historical fiction and family mystery.

In Adelaide Hills on Christmas Eve in 1959 the Turner Family Tragedy occurs. The shocking crime, the effects of which echo across continents and generations, is never solved. The town of Tambilla becomes the setting of one of the most baffling murder investigations in the history of South Australia.

In 2018 journalist Jess Turner leaves London and travels back to Darling House in Sydney, Australia, after her grandmother, Nora, injures herself in a bad fall and is in the hospital. Nora raised Jess when her mother (Polly) couldn't. Nora learns that her grandmother fell while trying to retrieve a true crime book, As If They Were Asleep by Daniel Miller, chronicling the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. When Jess looks at the book she starts looking into the decades old murders and the secrets surrounding them.

Homecoming is beautifully written with exquisite descriptions, layered writing, and great character development. The narrative is told through multiple points-of-view. The first part of the novel is mainly told through the perspective of Jess and Percy while the second half adds additional points-of-view, including excerpts from the book by Daniel Miller. It is a complicated web of secrets and a puzzle to be solved.

Admittedly, the pacing is very slow on this one and the middle of the novel requires endurance and patience. The ending will be worth it, but the struggle through the middle may stay with readers. Fans of Morton will love this novel while those new to her writing might need some encouragement to stick it out to the end. The ending is so satisfying and pulls all the complicated plot threads of the mystery. 4.5 rounded down

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls is a very highly recommended historical fiction and family drama which follows a young woman in Virginia during Prohibition.

Sallie Kincaid is the daughter Duke Kincaid, a wealthy man who owns or runs most of Claiborne County, Virginia. At the Emporium general store he owes, the Duke also sells bootleg whiskey he has received in lieu of rent. Sallie is the daughter of his second wife, who is deceased. She adores her father and his bigger than life personality. His third wife, Jane has a son, Eddie. When she is eight-years-old an accident involving three-year-old Eddie results in, at the behest of Jane, the Duke banishing Sallie to go live with her Aunt Faye.

Nine years later, Jane has died and Sallie is immediately brought back into the family by Duke, ostensibly to teach Eddie. Now, however, Sallie understands more of the world full of secrets, conflicts, and scandals around her and her family. She is determined to never marry and make her own way into the family rental property and bootlegging empire, while navigating the conflicts. Duke quickly marries his fourth wife and life becomes much more complicated following this decision.

The writing is wonderful and the plot is compelling. I was fully engaged in this family drama and the many surprising turns and the surprising revelations within the narrative. There is a tangle of family intrigue, complications, questionable morals, and hidden secrets in Hang the Moon. Even when the many complexities seem to be over the top, the fact that the plot was inspired by the life of Elizabeth I of England, daughter of Henry VIII makes it even better. History buffs will be able to pick up on the similarities to Tudor England.

Sallie is a great fully realized, intelligent, and complex character. Walls portrays both her strengths and weaknesses. She can be fearless, reckless, stubborn, and outspoken, but she is also damaged. Due to the many characters, not all of them are as developed as Sallie, but they all still resemble real people with very different personalities and proclivities.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner via NetGalley.

Commitment by Mona Simpson is a very highly recommended. This is an excellent, heartbreakingly beautiful family drama that explores the dynamics between the family members and the challenges they face.

Diane Aziz is a single mother who works as a nurse to support her three children, Walter, Lina, and Donnie. Now Walter is heading off to college. Driving him from Los Angeles to college at UC Berkeley will be the last thing she does before falling into a debilitating depression. Lina is still in high school and Donnie is much younger when the two have to deal with a mother who won't get out of bed. When Diane needs to be institutionalized in a state hospital, a close friend of their mother, Julie freely chooses to care for them as their father has never been a part of their lives.

Commitments are the thread that weaves this multigenerational saga together. Commitments to each other, between family and friends. Commitments to an institution, school, work. The narrative is also a coming-of-age drama as it follows Walter, Lina, and Donnie from 1972 in to the 1980s as they each endeavor to deal with their individual trials, personal and financial, while finding their way into adulthood and trying to do what they can for their mother.

Commitment excels as an in-depth character study. Anyone who enjoys family sagas with incredible character development will appreciate Commitment, as will those who have experienced life-changing events and have found friends to stand in the gap with them. The emotions and inner life of the siblings is captured in a realistic manner and each of them are full realized characters. You will care about them and wish them well.

The quality of the writing is absolutely exquisite. Simpson captures the realistic, complex emotions and struggles that each sibling faces. There are no dramatic twists other than those experienced as the characters navigate life and all the problems and pressure that can occur. They persevere and manage to make their way to adulthood without parental support but with the support and help of each other as well as others along the way. I love Commitment and it will surely be on the list of my favorite books in 2023.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Knopf Doubleday.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is a very highly recommended, poignant and complex family saga. One of the best novels and character studies I've read this year. Absolutely excellent!

William Waters grew up feeling completely isolated and unloved by his parents. One world he was accepted in was playing basketball and so he embraced that identity. When Julia Padavano, an assertive young woman who knows what she wants, meets him during their freshman year of college, she decides William will be her boyfriend. She introduces him to her three sisters: Sylvie, Cecelia, and Emeline and then has him come to their home for dinner. William is overwhelmed and immediately accepted by the loving but boisterous family and he is grateful Julia cares and is in charge.

The two marry, according to Julia's plans, and she presses on with her agenda for their future. When events occur in the family that she can't control, it unsettles the foundation of her plans. The sisters continue to hold their strong bond to each other, but when a crippling darkness and depression take William over, Julia and William divorce, and William gives up all rights to their infant daughter, Alice. Sylvie, however, understands Williams struggles and she stays by his side, along with support from Cecelia and Emeline. Julia takes Alice and starts a new life in New York City, apart from his sisters.

The narrative alternates between the voices of William, Julia, Sylvie, and late in the book, Alice. At the beginning of each chapter are the years covered in the narration. The events corresponds realistically to the time periods covered. William is the first narrator and the chapter covers 1960-1978, starting with his birth. This continues until the last chapter set in 2008. Written into the narrative is a homage to Louisa May Alcott’s, Little Women, with the four sisters each taking on a different role.

Hello Beautiful is an exquisitely written, complicated, and perceptive family drama that asks if love make a broken person whole? Beyond that it is so much more. It is an exceptional character study. With great compassion and care, the narrative is an examination of how people can support each other during times of struggle and build a meaningful life. It is a celebration of family and friendship during the difficult times.

Honestly, these are some of the most finely written and well-developed characters I've encountered in a long time. All of the characters in Hello Beautiful are fully realized, and portrayed as authentic, unique individuals with flaws and strengths. They all experience change and growth. There is great insight into their inner lives and relationships with each other. Certainly Hello Beautiful will be on my list of best novels of 2023.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House via NetGalley.

The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom by Larry Loftis is a very highly recommended, moving biography of WWII Dutch resistance member Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983). Many will know her from her bestselling 1971 memoir, The Hiding Place. The Watchmaker's Daughter retells her story and expands on it with many photos, dairies, and letters from people involved.

Before WWII, Corrie worked in her father's shop in Haarlem repairing watches and went on to become a watchmaker herself. From her family she learned early on to rely on her Christian faith in all things and this was put to the test in WWII during the German invasion of the Netherlands. Corrie and her family became a part of the Dutch resistance and transformed their house into a hiding place straight into shelter for Jews and other refugees. This selfless behavior resulted in her and her family being turned in and Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp, where Betsie died.

Corrie was eventually released and, even though she loss most of her family, her faith allowed her to forgive and to move on, providing witness about the Holocaust, and ministered to people in need. Corrie set up rehabilitation centers to support survivors along with others whose lives were effected by the occupation. She was honored as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Yad Vashem Authority in 1967.

The Watchmaker's Daughter is a very well-researched, well-written, and thorough portrait of a woman who was a hero. There is included at the end of the book a section called "The Rest of the Story,” which covers the accomplishments of those central to the overall Dutch World War II story and includes picture. There is also an Appendix on refugees who stayed with the ten Booms, Bibliography, Notes, and Index.

Even though I knew the story, I cried as I read The Watchmaker's Daughter and I was glued to the pages as I read Loftis' account of Corrie's life. This is a story of faith and courage, at a great cost, that needs to be brought to the attention of people again.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.

The Writing Retreat Julia Bartz is a so-so psychological thriller.

Alex wants to be a published author, but with writer's block she hasn't written anything lately. Then a friend sends feminist horror writer Roza Vallo one of her previous stories. Roza loves the story and invites Alex to the exclusive, all-female writing retreat at her Adirondacks estate, Blackbriar. Even though she learns that her former best friend, Wren, will be there, Alex can't turn down this opportunity. When she arrives, Alex learns the rules. All the five women invited must write a complete novel in 28 days and are required to write 3,000 words a day. Roza's editor will publish the best manuscript and pay a million dollar advance for it.

There is no doubt that the quality of the writing is good, but this was not quite the novel I was expecting based on the description. The premise is very compelling. Yes, there is a high pressure writing competition, there are cruel mind games, and, okay, the mansion might be haunted, but I wasn't prepared for all the focus on the occult as well as the drugs, sex, and other actions of the women. It also seemed a bit too predictable and I didn't care for the ending. Somewhere after the opening the idea of a writing competition and a book about writers went down a totally different rabbit hole and one I wasn't interested in.

I'm an outlier here. Many people love this novel. I just didn't enjoy the novel beyond the opening premise. While I forced myself to finish it, I should have just left it DNF and kept working through the many novels on my to be read list. 2 stars, one given for the quality of the writing beyond the plot and that I read it.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria/Emily Bestler Books.

Maureen by Rachel Joyce is a very highly recommended character study of Maureen, the wife of Harold Fry, and represents the third and final book in the series that began with The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry followed by The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. Joyce never set out to write a trilogy but Maureen is an excellent addition to the previous two novels and a wonderfully moving novel that stands on its own.

Harold is now seventy-five and Maureen is seventy-two. It has been ten years since Harold made his six-hundred-mile journey by foot to see a friend and the two have settled into a comfortable and even loving relationship. But the story doesn’t end there. Now his wife, Maureen, has her own pilgrimage to make. She wants to see Queenie's sea garden where there is a sculptural tribute or memorial to their son David, who killed himself thirty years earlier, as well as one to Harold.

Maureen, however, is not Harold. She is prickly, standoffish, opinionated, easily irritated, and, well, not a people-person. Her journey, by car rather than foot, perfectly highlights their differences. She doesn't easily warm up to people and speaks her mind way-too-often. The hurdles she faces are quite different from those Harold faced, but they are truly a challenge for her.

I truly loved this final novel focused on Maureen. It is wonderfully focused, poignant, and perceptive character study of Maureen, with all her flaws, misgivings, and doubts. She is still trying to deal with the loss of their son, David, even though years have passed. She feels a strange compulsion to make this journey and see Queenie's garden, but she is completely unsure of what she will find and how she will react. Her reaction is surprising, but in the end life changing for Maureen.

Maureen highlights the skill, empathy, and insightful details Joyce provides for her characters. While reading, even when Maureen is being especially difficult, Joyce also provides an avenue for readers to empathize with her and her curmudgeonly attitude. This is a short novel with a powerful impact.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House via NetGalley.

My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor is a very highly recommended historical novel and literary thriller set in Vatican City during WWII and based on the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty.

Vatican City is the smallest, neutral, independent sovereign country in the world, occupying one fifth of a square mile within Rome. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty and seven associates who refer to themselves as "the Choir" risked their lives to smuggle thousands of Jews and escaped Allied prisoners out of Italy under the Gestapo boss in charge of the area, Obersturmbannführer Paul Hauptmann.

In September 1943 German forces moved in to occupy Rome. The only safe place to hide would be in Vatican City. Hiding people in various areas and exercising extreme caution, the Choir used aliases and forged IDs. They referred to the people they had hidden as "books" and hiding places as "shelves." Like a thriller, the subterfuge they had to use and the threat of danger is ever present, only the heroes here are doing so out of love and faith.

The writing is exceptional and the characters, who vary widely, are all brought to life as realistic individuals. They are not perfect people, but they are all willing to risk their lives to save others. Hauptmann is a seriously ruthless adversary who knows people are being smuggled out and escaping. O'Connor's prose is wonderfully descriptive and detailed, bringing the setting and the characters to life. The emotional impact of this novel is also ever present.

Chapters tell the story about what happened in 1943, but the details are told through the various points-of-view of members of the choir twenty years later. This allows them to also to share their personal reflections about what happened. My Father's House is the first book in a new trilogy.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the publisher via Edelweiss.

Exiles by Jane Harper is the very highly recommended procedural and the third installment of the series featuring Aaron Faulk.

Set in Southern Australian wine country, Australian Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is going to the christening of a friend's baby and the festival on the weekend that marks the one year anniversary of Kim Gillespie's disappearance at the town of Marralee's food and wine festival. Thirty-nine-year-old Kim had tucked her five-week-old sleeping baby into her stroller and then vanished into the festival crowd, never to be seen again.

Now, a year later, Kim's older teenage daughter, Zara, and Falk's friend Greg Raco have asked him to look into the case as they ask anyone at this year's festival with more information to come forward. As he looks into the case, questions begin to emerge. What happened to Kim Gilles? What would make a mother abandon her child?

Exiles is an excellent addition to the procedural series, following The Dry and Force of Nature. Although you can read them as stand-alone novels, they are better read as part of the series. The novel sets an atmospheric, thoughtful, deliberate pace as both the setting and the investigation are carefully explored. There are plenty of suspects and motives within the narrative as the secrets and evidence is disclosed. The narrative unfolds in three timelines: a year previously, a week in the present, and three years in the future.

Harper is an exceptional writer and pays equal attention to the development of her characters as she does to the investigational part of the procedural. The characters are all fully realized, complex individuals, with established backstories. Falk is the narrator of almost all of the novel, which gives his character by far the most depth and complexity. His voice is already the main focal point of the narrative.

There is actually more than one mystery that begs to be solved in Exiles. Clues are present as the narrative unfolds and careful readers will appreciate the challenge and the presentation. This is an excellent third novel in the series and rumor has it the final Aaron Falk. This is an excellent ending to the series if that is the case.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Flatiron Books via NetGalley

In the Garden of the Righteous: The Heroes Who Risked Their Lives to Save Jews During the Holocaust by Richard Hurowitz is a very highly recommended historical account and tribute of ten individuals who risked their lives to save others during the Holocaust. Because they chose to put their personal safety at risk to rescue others during a time of overwhelming danger, their extraordinary actions and deeds were recalled by those they saved and they were all honored as the Righteous Among the Nations at the Yad Vashem complex on Jerusalem’s Mount of Remembrance.

Many know the stories of Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler who risked their lives to save Jewish people. Hurowitz presents the background and actions of ten lesser known individuals who demonstrated great strength of character, determination, and compassion while doing the right thing when their actions could result in their demise too. The ten righteous people covered include: the Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes; Princess Alice of Battenberg in Greece; Gino Bartali, an Italian tour de France winner; the Japanese vice counsel/spy in Kovno, Lithuania Chinue Sugihara; circus ringmaster Adolf Althoff and his wife Maria; Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz a German Foreign minister in Copenhagen and the entire population of Denmark; Polish social worker Irena Sendler; Hiram Bingham IV (Harry), vice counsel at the consulate in Marseille; protestant pastor Andre Trocme in the French village of Le Chambon sur Lignon in the département of Haute-Loire.

The well-written and researched accounts of these individuals and those who assisted them are all compelling and include their backgrounds, details of their extraordinary actions, and the aftermath of their actions. Hurowitz’s research also reveals the rescuers’ greatly varied motivations and examines the common traits among these individuals that encouraged them to do the right thing. Since the historical accounts are detailed and cover a wide variety of areas across many countries, this is a history that requires careful reading to follow who is where and what is occurring there. In the Garden of the Righteous by Richard Hurowitz is an excellent biography of ten people who are the Righteous Among the Nations.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.