Can you imagine anything better than living in the New York Public Library's flagship building on Fifth Avenue? A book lover's dream, right? Well, writer Fiona Davis thought so, especially when she discovered that back in the early 1900's a family of four did just that. Laura Lyons' husband was the superintendent of the library. An apartment, which is still there by the way, was provided and the records that he kept for thirty years are archived and were available to Davis as source material for her latest novel "The Lions of Fifth Avenue."
In 1993, Laura's grandaughter Sadie has landed the position of her dreams as a curator at the New York Public Library. But when a rare book goes missing from a renowned collection, Sadie begins an investigation that uncovers thefts from eighty years ago. Will she be able to save her career and salvage her
grandmother's reputation too? I'm excited for this great caper novel which will be out in August.
Book club devotees will remember the huge bestseller "The Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline. She also wrote "A Piece of the World," an imagining of the life of Christina Olsen, the subject of Andrew Wyeth's iconic painting Christina's World. For her newest historical novel, "The Exiles," Kline has gone farther afield.
As a newlywed, Kline studied for six weeks on a Rotary Club fellowship in Australia, developing a deep curiosity about the
early days of the country that no one was willing to speak about with her. Now she's telling the stories of the women, British convicts, who were exiled down under to serve as breeders in a country trying to boost its white population at the expense of the aboriginals who had lived on the land for over 50,000 years.
And then there's that crazy rich Asian, Kevin Kwan, back with yet another sly piece of social commentary, this one with an obvious nod to E.M. Forster's "Room with a View." Between the title, "Sex and Vanity," and the location, the glorious Isle of Capri, this book should jump off the shelves next month. A basic theme in Kwan's books seems to be obsession with status, old money and new, and bi-racial identity. Lucy Churchill's name certainly reflects
the blue-blooded background of her white father and she has always tended to tamp down the Asian culture of her Chinese-American mother. So when she meets George Zao on Capri she denies the obvious attraction.
Several years later Lucy is engaged to the "right" kind of man. But while hob- nobbing in the Hamptons she finds herself once again in George's orbit. If you remember your Forster you'll know that duplicity reigns. How long will Lucy be able to maintain a veneer of normalcy as she tries to understand herself and weigh these two men in the balance?
Short story writer and first-time novelist Bryan Washington caught my attention during his deeply sensitive interview with editor Barbara Hoffert. "Memorial" is the story of Benson and Mike, a couple whose four-year relationship is tested when Japanese chef Mike travels to Osaka to repair a shattered relationship with his dying father just as Mike's mother, Mitsuko, arrives at their home in Houston for a visit. Benson, an African-American day care worker, is uncomfortably
thrust into the role of host and roommate of a woman whose culture and language couldn't be more different from his own.
Washington admitted that he enjoyed writing in the longer form because it gave him more space to tackle the themes that are important to him. He believes and hopes his book will show that we as people have multitudes within us - a lesson we could surely use right now - and that we need not be defined by race, gender, or sexual orientation. I'm hoping I can get an advanced copy of this one from the publisher. I hate to have to wait until October to weigh in on it.
Library Journal's Barbara Hoffert and her cohort did a fabulous job of moderating these live panel discussions last week at the Virtual Book Expo. It's amazing how well everyone is coping with the new circumstances we find outselves in. That said, I really miss the tactile joy of interacting with real live human beings. Soon? Maybe?
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