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ICYMI: Wiley Cash's The Last Ballad explores race relations and the fight for dignity in a 1929 North Carolina mill camp community. “There is an old saying that every story, even your own, is either happy or sad depending on where you stop telling it.” Cash provides rich details of life in a mill camp in 1929 North Carolina. The Last Ballad explores race relations and complicated relationships within a largely segregated living but racially mixed working arrangement. An individual tragic end also serves as a heroic sacrifice within a larger and extremely important fight for the dignity and conditions afforded by a union. This heart-wrenching struggle for survival and for dignity was at the heart of the book. It took me a little time to get into Cash's Last Ballad. It was a slow build but worth riding Cash's wave to an affecting middle of the story and a powerful sequence of final events. I really wish I’d read the final author’s note about Cash's personal links to the story before reading the book--the information there was fascinating, and I think would have lent even more power to my reading experience. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I read The Last Ballad with my book club, and this week I reviewed When Ghosts Come Home, Wiley Cash's character-driven mystery set in 1980s Eastern North Carolina. Next I want to read Cash's A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy. Have you read either of these? Wiley Cash's writing reminds me somewhat of that of Ron Rash, another wonderful North Carolina author.

The story explores cycles and links through history, considering how each of us may live on after we're

Harrow, with imperfect characters, a noble, messy quest, layers of history, and a captivating end.

McLain had me hooked on the vivid Northern California setting, imperfect Anna's rich and rocky history McLain had me completely hooked on the vivid setting, Anna's rich and rocky history, her search for answers

natural world, she explores three timelines of women connected through the ages by power and by society's historical

protagonist, a jazz pianist, is tasked with saving humanity; and I'm listening to This Other Eden, historical

I've got historical fiction/fantasy, royal historical fiction, and a compelling nonfiction story that

The Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, atmosphere of Shoulder Season was a standout element, but the characters' interactions and some of the transitions within the book felt jarring. Beautiful, sleepy Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in 1981 feels like an unlikely setting for a Playboy resort. But for small-town teen orphan Sherri Taylor, the resort is an open door to a life of excitement and opportunity, an appealing shift from the dead-end, broke life path she'd be on without it. With plenty of youthful explorations of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, plus young women striving to strike the seemingly impossible balance of femininity and control within the male-controlled power structures of the time, Shoulder Season spans forty years, an important love triangle, and the course of a woman's life, from a modest Midwestern start to new beginnings in the California desert. I found some of the transitions and conversations in the book jarring, and I wasn't always clear about Sherri's internal motivations; some interactions between characters--and therefore their relationships--didn't ring true to me. I didn't really buy into Sherri having deep feelings for either of the men in her sights. I ultimately wished the story had ended with more about Sherri than her reactions to various men and their sometimes disappointing or shocking decisions. I very much enjoyed her vulnerability as a young woman and especially the glimpses we got into her self-assured modern-day self. The standouts of Shoulder Season for me were the atmospheric setting, the training and strict rules surrounding Bunnies' behavior (and even their allowed body movements), and the women's bonds and rivalries with each other. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Clancy's first novel, The Second Home, was published last year, when the author was 52. Shoulder Season was inspired by the actual Playboy resort (which predated what is now the Grand Geneva) that was once in the area, and she interviewed workers and guests from the Midwestern hub where hit musicians, family vacationers, single men, and Bunnies all came together for the promise of something bigger--or at least an escape from the expected.

review of Nobody Will Tell You This But Me. 07 Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams ​Williams's historical In Beatriz Williams's historical fiction, Our Woman in Moscow, it's 1948, and Iris Digby, her American The Rose Code is a wonderfully spun historical fiction story of three very different women who answer War II story about strong women making a difference, but I admit that I was curious as to how even a historical

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading A Restless Truth, the second book in Freya Marske's historical

Certain elements of Strike's past, his family history, and his volatile relationships are resolved in

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Horse, the newest historical fiction novel by Geraldine Brooks; owner becomes obsessed with the mid-nineteenth-century painting; and 2019 Washington, DC, when two historians

of indigenous tradition into Daunis's everyday life, pivotal moments, and her personal and cultural history of indigenous tradition into Daunis's everyday life, pivotal moments, and her personal and cultural history

is desperate to find her missing son--even if it means facing the painful truth of her own traumatic history

Bookworm 01 This Book Is a Planetarium by Kelli Anderson This unusual, usable, interactive book turns into six

My book club read this refreshing twist on one of my favorite historical fiction book topics, World War

Adjei-Brenyah offers glimpses of characters' histories and their lives before the tragedies that led

I learned about Deaf history, culture, and the politics that have disrupted and damaged those in the

oneself. 03 Evil Eye by Etaf Rum Yara is put on probation at the college where she is an assistant art history

When William's painful history resurfaces, it shakes the entire family with its repercussions.

Coates took his time building the story, and I felt as though he deliberately kept us in a plodding pace to emphasize the unwavering, repetitive misery of The Tasked. Coates's The Water Dancer explores the relentless oppression and hopelessness of slavery, the resigned existence of the imprisoned, masters' willful brutality--although the horrors here are largely slow builds rather than violently wrought--and the spark to escape that persists. The Water Dancer traces the life of Hiram Walker, a "Tasked" man (the word "slavery" is rarely used in the book) living and working on a Virginia plantation. His mother died when he was young, and he has no memory of her. But the white master of the plantation is Hiram's biological father, and composed young Hiram is set up as a companion to his foolish white half-brother (his father's heir). Hiram's lineage is acknowledged, and he shows himself to be far more intelligent and capable than his white brother--as well as preferred company for his father--yet racial barriers are rigid and clear. He may not inherit, nor may he rise above his station as owned and commanded by his white master. Coates intersperses bursts of magical realism that promise an unexpected path to freedom, but in order to take advantage of these, Hiram must learn to understand and master his mysterious powers that allow for shifts in time and space. The Underground wishes to use his powers toward their own ends--which often coincide with Hiram's--but when their desired paths diverge, he must take ownership of his abilities for himself, reckoning with consequences and his own secure conscience. The white savior character of Corinne is faulted and imperfect, yet I found myself bristling at her presence in the story. The weight put upon Hiram's inability to remember early moments with his mother felt unfair and its resolution felt too convenient. The book was a slow mover; Coates took his time building the story, and I felt as though he deliberately kept us in a plodding pace to emphasize the unwavering, repetitive misery of The Tasked. There's a lot of thinking and considering and talking with short bursts of change or brief moments in which plans are enacted. The pacing suited the situation being explored, of the trapped and enslaved, but it was a struggle to read at times and made me impatient. The brief author's note mentions Coates's inspiration of the real-life Still family for the family portrayed in The Water Dancer but refers the reader to other sources for more information. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I listened to this as an audiobook, and Joe Morton's narration was excellent. Ta-Nehisi Coates also wrote the memoir Between the World and Me. I mentioned this book (along with The Plot and Forgotten Kingdom) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 5/10/21 Edition.

Shipstead has created two independent, defiant, appealingly strong young women split by time. I was hooked on both story lines and just loved this. Great Circle spans the wilds of Prohibition-era Montana, the blustery Pacific Northwest, the unforgiving chill of Alaska, the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and the movie-making business, and the stark, brutal dangers of Antarctica, from the early twentieth century to modern day. In interconnected stories--which felt equally compelling to me--Shipstead brings to life these disparate places and times and focuses on various colorful characters within them. Great Circle traces events starting with a sinking ocean liner in 1914 and the introduction of Marian and James, twin babies rescued from that tragedy; it follows the path of the twins' lives as they grow up; the story tracks young Marian's ignited passion for aviation and her adventures; and the book injects a modern-day story line in which a famous young actress takes on the role of Marian for a film. Shipstead has created two independent, defiant, appealingly strong young women split by time (and, secondarily, the complex male characters they each love as family or romantic partners). Both of the main characters are orphans, both were raised by indulgent, imperfect uncles, and both are constantly reinventing themselves as they aim to live fulfilling lives, but otherwise their situations are altogether different. Shipstead is a wonderful writer, and I loved every word of this. Both of the timelines had me hooked. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 4/28/21 Edition. I received a prepublication copy of Great Circle courtesy of Knopf Publishing Group and NetGalley. Shipstead is also the author of Astonish Me and Seating Arrangements.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates's novel about slavery, with magical realism that offers a possible path to freedom; I'm reading The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz's upcoming novel about a has-been writer who steals a plot idea and emerges a bestselling author haunted by his secret; and I'm reading The Forgotten Kingdom, the second in Signe Pike's fantastic series set in sixth century Scotland (The Lost Queen is the first). Which books are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates Coates's The Water Dancer explores the relentless oppression and hopelessness of slavery, the resigned, broken existence of the imprisoned, the masters' willful brutality, and the spark to fight that persists in some who have been hurt and pushed down for generations. The Water Dancer traces the life of Hiram Walker, a "Tasked" man (the word "slavery" is rarely used in the book) living and working on a Virginia plantation. His mother died when he was young, and he has no memory of her. But the white master of the plantation is Hiram's biological father, and composed young Hiram is set up as a companion to his foolish white half-brother (his father's heir). Hiram's lineage is acknowledged, and he shows himself to be far more intelligent and capable than his white brother, yet racial barriers are rigid and clear. He may not inherit, nor may he rise above his station. Coates intersperses bursts of magical realism that promise an unexpected path to freedom, but in order to take advantage of these, Hiram must learn to understand and master his mysterious powers that allow for shifts in time and space. I'm listening to this as an audiobook and this is a slow mover so far; Coates is taking his time building the story. The author also wrote the memoir Between the World and Me. 02 The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz This book is making me verrry nervous so far. Jacob Finch Bonner (he added the "Finch" himself once his aspirations to become a writer became all-encompassing) wrote a well-received first book, but now his career has fizzled. He teaches writing at a third-tier university and isn't even working on anything new--not that any agents or publishers are interested. An obnoxiously confident student cagey about what he feels is a slam-dunk bestseller book idea confides in Bonner about his plot. When the student abruptly dies soon afterward, Bonner banks on the probability that he hadn't trusted anyone else with details about his book. He decides to take a risk: he'll use his student's concept and aim to create a bestseller of his own. You can't copyright a plot anyway, right? RIGHT? Do you think this terrible decision-making comes back to haunt Jacob Finch Bonner? Yes, bookworms. YES, IT DOES. I received a prepublication copy of this book, to be published May 11, 2021, courtesy of NetGalley and Celadon Books. 03 The Forgotten Kingdom by Signe Pike This is Pike's second book in The Lost Queen trilogy. Set in sixth century Scotland, The Forgotten Kingdom traces the story of Languoreth, a strong, imprisoned queen; her twin brother Lailoken (the inspiration for the character of Merlin); and the complicating factors of bloodthirsty vengeance and war between Languoreth's husband and his allies and Lailoken's master and his own allies. Family is pitted against family; those who worship the old gods clash against those who embrace Christianity; and political alliances falter and reform in unexpected patterns. The details of life at the time are wonderful, and some characters wield magic and hold mysterious powers. This is epic. I loved Pike's first novel in this series, The Lost Queen, and so far this book is reminding me of The Mists of Avalon and Outlander.

books for my current reading life with a fantasy title, a lighter fiction story, and a young adult historical I feel like mysteries, light fiction, memoirs, and fantasy are working well for me--plus historical fiction

In this gothic Victorian tale, Waters offers a slow build to heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at love, and, finally, clarity and satisfying revenge. Sue Trinder is a teenage orphan, the daughter of a hanged murderess who tries to live up to her fearless mother's bravery and strength. She's being raised in a household of cheats, thieves, and generally crooked characters. Yet she's been largely sheltered from the evils of the underbelly of Victorian London by her unofficial, doting adoptive mother, Mrs. Sucksby. But when one of their group, Gentleman, comes up with a large-scale con, suddenly the makeshift family's potential fortune depends heavily on Sue. She's asked to play the role of maid to an unassuming, wealthy young woman in a dastardly plot to take the woman's inheritance and leave her to rot in an insane asylum. When Sue meets Maud and begins dressing her, caring for her, and trying to manipulate her into the con, what seemed like a simple plan becomes more complicated and fraught. Meanwhile, Maud's bristly uncle, a strict man of books who has raised his niece primarily to assist him in his research and work, is at the center of a widespread web of debauchery. Maud's unusual upbringing--an emotionally cold life, steeped in lascivious writings--has left her both innocent to the workings of the outside world and also closely acquainted with the details of intimacies with which most young ladies of the time would likely be unfamiliar. Fingersmith is a delightfully dark, often menacing Victorian-era gothic tale. I listened to this as an audiobook, and it was such a slow build, I was both eager for it to ramp up in pacing and very hesitant about finding out where things were going. There's a descent-into-madness aspect that's made more powerful by Waters's measured, sometimes sluggish tempo. I was on the verge of becoming impatient, but Waters masterfully draws out the sinister threads of the story until they're taut and ready to snap, and ultimately I was in for it. I wasn't certain how Waters would resolve the layers of deceit, secrets, and desires for revenge at play here. The story offers heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at unorthodox love (I recall one reader referring to this as "lesbian Dickens," but it wasn't quite that to me), and, finally, clarity and satisfying revenge. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Waters is also the author of Tipping the Velvet, Affinity, and The Night Watch. I'm eager to read these as well. I wasn't as big a fan of Waters's The Paying Guests as I was of Fingersmith.

In Out Front the Following Sea, new historical fiction by Leah Angstman, it's 1689 and King William's Leah Angstman is a historian who meticulously researched the time period of this book.

sometimes poignant, with short sections that are easily digested separately and in small doses. 04 Music Is History In Music Is History, Questlove examines the last half century of music, providing context in the form For example, in the Falling Out of History section, he sets the scene for the concept of forgotten songs

by William Faulkner‘s story The Old Man and is set at the beginning of the worst flood in American history

and a web of lies that may get them both killed; and Jennifer McMahon's dive into a family's haunting history But disaster strikes, and Jax finds herself trying to unravel the twisted, complicated history of her family and its land--a history Lexie was researching and had become haunted by.

to avoid coping with the difficulties of life; and I'm listening to The Librarian Spy, World War II historical

#historicalfiction, #politicssocialjustice, #fourstarbookreview

The interconnectedness of the characters and the details of household life and power structures of the time period were wonderful and the standout elements of the book to me. O'Farrell, who has written many books I've loved, here tackles a novel of the plague and a story loosely based on Shakespeare's marriage, family, and work. This was a relatively slow climb toward a societal calamity (in the form of the plague) and personal tragedy (in the form of the family's loss of a child to the plague). I wondered if the timing of this reading experience was going to be enjoyable--reading a book about the plague during a global pandemic might not be ideal. But O'Farrell has crafted a story that is primarily about a family--their hopes, dreams, and the sometimes heartbreaking limitations and sobering realities of each person within it. The interconnectedness between strangers and family members and the world was one of the most interesting aspects for me. The book started off at a measured pace. The details of the time, household life, and gender, vocation, and familial power structures were wonderful and the standout elements of the book to me. O'Farrell imagined Agnes, wife to John (the fictionalized William Shakespeare character) as an independent, witchy, strong, and appealing female character. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? What O'Farrell writes, I generally adore--and her range is incredible. I loved I Am, I Am, I Am, and I really liked The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Instructions for a Heatwave, and This Must Be the Place. (The Hand that First Held Mine and After You'd Gone are both on my to-read list.)

As Emily digs into the villa's complicated and dark history and delves into the past, the growing tensions

Anyway, here are my six favorite (and varied!) reads of the first month of 2023.

Lucinda Williams's gritty, frank memoir about music, love, and life; The Trackers, wonderfully detailed historical In The Trackers, Cold Mountain author Charles Frazier offers historical fiction featuring a Great Depression-era

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin, charming historical

Young Vivian's carousing in 1940s New York City is entertaining, sexy, and an interesting burst of feminism and freedom in the era. In City of Girls, Gilbert writes about a young woman's coming of age in 1940s New York City and traces the later years of her life as well. Vivian, now an older woman, is writing letters to a younger woman about her own youthful indiscretions and adventures in her aunt Peg's rowdy theatre with its many colorful characters, creative opportunities, and unending potential for mischief. It's not entirely clear why the recipient of the letter would want to hear the full details of Vivian's life, because the majority of the goings-on feel largely beyond the scope of Vivian's reason for writing, but I didn't much care about this potential issue because I loved every bit of Vivian's story. At the very end of the book Vivian writes something wonderfully matter-of-fact to Angela regarding this; words to the effect of, "well, this is more info than what you asked for, but I just wanted to let you know all about me." Hers was a fascinating life, and I adored reading about it. (Actually, I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator Blair Brown was fantastic.) Gilbert's old New York detail is wonderful, as is the dressmaking detail--I was captivated by it. (Is this influenced by my teenage love for Pretty In Pink or my youthful Little House on the Prairie adoration? Both?) Young Vivian's carousing is entertaining, sexy, and an interesting burst of feminism and freedom in an era when many believed that a woman's reputation and purity were of utmost importance. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Gilbert is a lovely writer who authored the very interesting nonfiction book Last American Man and the peaceful, botanical-focused novel The Signature of All Things. She also wrote the somewhat polarizing bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, which I had mixed feelings about, like many other readers. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/6/21 Edition.

(which I really enjoyed; the sequel is Steelstriker, which I haven't yet read) and her stand-alone historical

In the story of tragic Carlota, each turn of events was more ill-fated and darker than the next, all barreling toward ruin and destruction. It's 1863, and Princess Charlotte, called Empress Carlota by the people, is behind the scenes in Mexico running things for Napoleon III alongside her philandering, frivolous husband Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria. Carlota and Maximilian are meant to squash Juarez's Mexican regime on Napoleon's behalf and establish a stronghold of European rule. Carlota is smart, savvy, hardworking, and she loves her adopted country of Mexico--the landscape, the language, the foods, the people, and the rhythm of life there. But men are maddeningly following their own whims and wielding the power here as they are everywhere in the world at this time, and Carlota keeps getting her legs swept out from beneath her by the foolish, proud, greedy males in charge. The rulers and their doomed colonialism aren't welcome, and Carlota trusts those she shouldn't. Her brother in Belgium, her husband, her trusted ladies of the court--all are betraying her in one way or another, and one unmitigated disaster after another is beginning to snowball toward a horrific end to the Europeans' Mexican experiment. Carlota and Maximilian each begin ill-advised, passionate affairs outside of their loveless marriage--thereby opening themselves up to enormous vulnerabilities, intertwining their own tenuous fates with the shaky future of the kingdom, and potentially laying the groundwork for the destruction of their many ambitious plans. I think the shifting back and forth in time could have felt jumpy, but it worked well for the story's pacing. I didn't feel emotionally tied to the players, and each turn of events was more ill-fated and darker than the next, all barreling toward ruin and destruction. The story of tragic Carlota was interesting but tough to read because of the increasingly cataclysmal goings-on. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Martinez-Belli is a bestselling author in Mexico; this is her English-language debut. I received a prepublication copy of this book through Amazon Crossing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I mentioned this book (along with The Fighting Bunch and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/2/20 Edition.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Anatomy: A Love Story, a gothic young adult historical fiction

recently published mystery set in the forest, One Step Too Far; and I'm reading Donna Everhart's recent historical

“We are, on this earth, so incredibly small, in the history of time, in the crowd of the world, we are

The woman's graceful ability to cope with her past trauma and dark history inspires Greta, who struggles

Rees does an excellent job of taking us through Edith's amateur spy struggle and provides fascinating details of life in Germany at the end of World War II. It's 1945, and Edith Graham is a small-town British schoolteacher who is thrilled to sign on with the British Control Commission to help get schools back up and running for the children in war-torn Germany. Edith has a degree in German (and, more importantly and unbeknownst to her, an old connection to a hunted war criminal), and she's recruited by the Office of Strategic Services. She'll keep her cover by assisting with schools while actually trying to help locate Nazis. Smart but inexperienced Edith quickly finds that she must negotiate the various British intelligence groups purportedly working together--some of whom are unofficial--who have vastly different goals. One faction wants to use the horrifying knowledge of Nazi doctors who enacted abuse and torture upon Jews during the war; others want due process for these criminals; still others want to assassinate the monsters without delay. Edith must constantly determine who to trust as she seeks the truth and tries to ensure that justice is served. Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook alludes to the way Edith includes coded intelligence within her letters' recipes and chatty notes. Although I wasn't completely clear on how the clever messaging worked at a level of detail that would have been useful, it was easy to suspend my disbelief because I loved it so much. But even more interesting to me were the detailed snapshots Rees offers into the foods of the place and time--for struggling regular Germans as compared to the privileged, occupying British and Americans. The scarcity of supplies and necessary improvisations, as well as black-market riches, together served as a vivid backdrop for the story. The details Rees provides of this confused time in the world are wonderful: the complicated workings of different groups' postwar efforts; the bombed--or jarringly lush and untouched--settings; the creative, sometimes alarming dietary options; and the clothes and fashion. It's clear that she thoroughly researched all of these aspects. There are some implausibly long, expository soliloquys that explain the machinations of the Nazis or offer background on the politics of the American and British postwar factions. Toward the end of the book, I stumbled at some awkward scene transitions, and there is a late, abrupt point of view shift. I sometimes confused the various British men attempting to serve as puppet masters, but I raced to the conclusion of the increasingly interconnected, complex story lines because I couldn't wait to find out what happened to the key players. Rees does an excellent job of taking us through Edith's amateur spy struggle to determine what information to entrust to whom, how to extract the details she needs from unsuspecting sources, and how to stay alive once she's embroiled in a situation that turns out to be far more dangerous than she could have imagined. What did you think? I found the author's note about her inspiration for the book's hook and story line really interesting. Rees has written other books that look fantastic: Pirates! (obviously yes to this one), Witch Child (again, yes), and its sequel, Sorceress (yes). I first mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 9/22/20 Edition.

owner becomes obsessed with the mid-nineteenth-century painting; and 2019 Washington, DC, when two historians But issues of race and their inextricable involvement in our nation's history are really the bedrock

This is a spooky, atmospheric, gothic Victorian ghost story perfect for the season. Elsie thought she had married out of her hardworking life and into a life of wealth and leisure. But when her kind husband passes away suddenly just after the wedding, pregnant Elsie and her tedious cousin-in-law Sarah must head from London to the family's neglected country estate, The Bridge, to bury him and set the house to rights. Behind a door without a key--a door that is sometimes locked and other times mysteriously not--a "silent companion" (a realistic, freestanding painted wooden figure) sits eerily, as though waiting. Impossibly, the centuries-old figure bears a shocking resemblance to Elsie. Mysterious noises, inexplicable goings-on, the appearance of additional silent companions, haunting stories of the past, and the superstitious hatred of the village folk for the family make Elsie begin to believe something is not right at The Bridge--and that maybe her husband's death wasn't natural at all. In the mid-1600s, the family living in The Bridge is readying for a royal visit, but there seems to be something dark at work--and immense power that's spiraling out of the control of those who first wielded it. In the book's 1865 timeline, our main protagonist has recently been placed in a mental institution, trying to piece together what is real and what is imagined--with the help of a modern-thinking young doctor who's determined to help her. Horrors from her childhood are alluded to and contribute to her fear, her reluctance to trust, and her doubts about what is fact and what is fiction. Then everything in this good old Victorian ghost story kicks up ten notches to become even more spooky. Purcell takes us through the disturbing events surrounding one family living two hundred years apart in the same house, making you wonder how reliable any of our main protagonists are. (And there's a twist and a double twist I loved.) What did you think? Purcell has also written other gothic novels I'd like to read: The Poison Thread, Bone China, and her newest, The Shape of Darkness. I first mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 9/22/20 Edition.