Magical realism

Book SynopsisOne of the Washington Post's top ten feel-good novels of the year: a perfect gift for book lovers everywhere!During a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy Hart found solace in books, especially Jack Masterson's Clock Island series. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher's aide, she has shared her love of reading with bright, orphaned seven-year-old Christopher Lamb. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.Just when Lucy is about to give up, Jack Masterson announces he's finally written a new book. Even better, he's holding a contest at his home on the real Clock Island, and Lucy is one of the four lucky contestants chosen to compete to win the one and only copy.For Lucy, the chance of winning the most sought-after book in the world means everything to her and Christopher. But first she must contend with ruthless book collectors, wily opponents, and the distractingly handsome (and grumpy) Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island books. Meanwhile, Jack "the Mastermind" Masterson is plotting the ultimate twist ending that could change all their lives forever.'Clever, dark, and hopeful' -V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRueTrade ReviewMeg Shaffer's beautiful novel is part Willy Wonka, part magical realism, and wholly moving. It broke my heart and patched it over and reminded me that even as an adult, if you look hard enough, you can find the child still inside you * Jodi PIcoult *Our list of must-read fiction books wouldn't be complete without a novel that reminds readers of the power books hold between their pages. Meg Shaffer's The Wishing Game may not contain any magic--this is a whimsical tale, but it's grounded in reality--yet there's something magical about the book * Readers Digest *A heartwarming, page-turning story of found family, love triumphing over indifference, and the world-changing power of a good book * Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood *A dreamy, inventive novel about how books can not only change lives but save them too. Full of the power of imagination, it's one of my favorite books of the year. * Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of Other Birds *A magical ode to storytelling, imagination, and the mystery of the creative life . . . Wildly imaginative, clever, and inspiring, The Wishing Game is for anyone who has found light in a story just when they need it * Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea *Meg Shaffer's debut establishes her as one of the best. The Wishing Game sees the secret child hidden inside all of us, and it takes us on the thrilling, magical journey we all long for--where we might end up with everything we want but only if we risk it all * Gwenda Bond, New York Times bestselling author of Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds *Shaffer blends tragedy and triumph in a whimsical and gratifying debut about what makes a family. This is wish fulfillment in the best way * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *A meditation on the power of hope when all else seems lost * Kirkus *A work by turns clever, dark, and hopeful, Shaffer's debut is a love letter to reading and the power childhood stories have over us long after we've grown up * V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue *

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Book SynopsisIn this gorgeous and haunting fantasy set in 1930s Chicago, a talented ballerina finds herself torn between her dreams and her desires when she's pursued by a secretive patron who may be more than he seems."A mix of dreamlike fairytale and enchanting historical fantasy, Nocturne has a real flavour of Phantom of the Opera. Add in a touch of Beauty and the Beast and this is the perfect escape from reality." CultureflyGrace has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet company. The elegance of the dance seemed transcendent to an immigrant child of the working poor, and so, when she is orphaned, it is to the ballet that she flees.Years later, Grace is on the verge of becoming the company's new prima ballerina - though she is beginning to realise that achieving her long-held dream may not be the triumph she once envisioned. Then Grace attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa, and realises that the world may not be as small or constricted as she had come to fear.But who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master's secrets, she discovers that there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought.Trade ReviewIn Nocturne, Wees robes the classic story of Beauty and the Beast in lush prose and infinite splendor. A fever dream of a novel, surreal and intricate, and enchanting in every way. * Ava Reid, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Wolf and the Woodsman *Absolutely captivating, Nocturne is a delicious and radiant treat of a novel. Prepare to be spellbound! * Sarah Beth Durst, award-winning author of The Queens of Renthia series *An enchanting and lyrical fever dream bursting with dazzling prose and dark romance. Nocturne enthralled me. * Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows *Nocturne reads like a fable, a mythical tale full of magical power, but imbued with the very real and wonderfully graceful power of ballet . . . You will be enchanted! * Louisa Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches *Richly imagined and heartbreakingly told, Nocturne is a lush gothic romance that will dance you dizzy. * Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf *

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Book SynopsisShe will breathe a new empire into life – but all worlds can escape their creator…‘Full of adventure… A celebration of the power of storytelling’ GUARDIANIn the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for a goddess, who tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga, ‘victory city’.Over the next two hundred and fifty years, Pampa Kampana’s life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga’s as she attempts to make good on the task that the goddess set for her: to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world. But all stories have a way of getting away from their creator, and Bisnaga is no exception.‘Mesmerising’ ELIF SHAFAK, author of The Island of Missing Trees‘A total pleasure to read’ SUNDAY TIMES‘One of the planet’s greatest writers’ EVENING STANDARD‘A triumph… Enthralling’ I***A FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR******A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK***Trade ReviewIn its haunting, uncanny, predictive power Victory City shows once again why his work will always matter. * New York Times *A novel by a man who still, in his eighth decade, derives delight in his talent and all that he can do with it. The book is a total pleasure to read, a bright burst of colour in a grey winter season. * Sunday Times *A joyfully extravagant alternative Mahabharata... a mashup of myth and fairytale, comedy and melodrama, celebrating women's agency and the enduring power of storytelling. * Guardian, *Summer Reads of 2023* *Victory City is full of life and colour, and some of Rushdie's key themes: female strength, the importance of storytelling, the danger of censorship. * Sunday Times, *Summer Reads of 2023* *What of Rushdie's powers? We cannot know if they are god-given, but on the evidence of this profoundly entertaining tale... Rushdie certainly still has the gift of alchemy. * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisThe hit fantasy series from powerhouse creative team JEFF LEMIRE and DUSTIN NGUYEN continues! After a bruising escape attempt from the planet Sampson, Andy finds himself in the clutches of the militia, which means the murderous Mother can't be far behind. Meanwhile, Mila has booked passage on a ship piloted by none other than the irascible Captain Telsa. And while vampires may rule this strange galaxy, they're no match for Kanto, the Blood Scrapper-the most badass vampire hunter in the universe!Collects ASCENDER #6-10

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Book SynopsisAs featured on The Kelly Clarkson ShowThere's something magical about Yarrow, Kentucky. The three empathic witches of the Haywood family are known for their shadow garden-from strawberries that taste like chocolate to cherry tomatoes imbued with the flavors of basil and oregano. Their magic can cure any heartache, and the fruits of their garden bring a special quality to the local bourbon distillery. On one day every year, a shot of Bonner bourbon will make your worst memory disappear. But the Haywoods will never forget the Bonners' bitter betrayal.Twenty years ago, the town gave up more than one memory; they forgot an entire summer. One person died. One person disappeared. And no one has any recollection of either.As events from that fateful summer start to come to light, there must be a reckoning between the rival Haywood and Bonner families. But untangling the deep roots of this town's terrible secrets will expose more than they could ever imagine about love, treachery, and the true nature of their power.

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Book SynopsisThe Craft for the #MeToo era, this debut unfolds a riveting psychological drama shot through with sharp humor and dark magic for readers of Ninth House and The Power. When Lee, a first year at Smith, is raped under eerie circumstances during orientation week by an Amherst frat boy, she''s quickly disillusioned by her lack of recourse. As her trauma boils within her, Lee is selected for an exclusive seminar on Gender, Power, and Witchcraft, where she meets Luna (an alluring Brooklyn hipster), Gabi (who has a laundry list of phobias), and Charlotte (a waifish, chill international student). Granted a charter for a coven and suddenly in possession of real magic, the four girls are tasked by their aloof Professor with covertly retrieving a grimoire that an Amherst fraternity has gotten their hands on. But when the witches realize the frat brothers are using magic to commit and cover up sexual assault all over Northampton, their exploits escalate into vigilante justice. As Lee''s thirst for revenge on her rapist grows, things spiral out of control, pitting witch against witch as they must wrestle with how far one is willing to go to heal.Consensual Hex is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive portrait of a young woman coming of age, uncovering the ways in which love and obsession and looking to fit in can go hand in hand. Lee, an outstanding, magical anti-heroine, refuses to be pigeonholed as a model victim or a horrific example. Instead, her caustic voice demands our attention, clawing out from every page, equally vicious and vulnerable as she lures us, then dares us, to transgress. Dark, biting, and archly camp, Consensual Hex announces Harlowe as a significant talent.

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Book SynopsisFrom the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of Daughters of the Lake comes an enthralling spellbinder of love, death, and a woman on the edge. After a devastating loss, Brynn Wilder escapes to Wharton, a tourist town on Lake Superior, to reset. Checking into a quaint boardinghouse for the summer, she hopes to put her life into perspective. In her fellow lodgers, she finds a friendly company of strangers: the frail Alice, cared for by a married couple with a heartbreaking story of their own; LuAnn, the eccentric and lovable owner of the inn; and Dominic, an unsettlingly handsome man inked from head to toe in mesmerizing tattoos. But in this inviting refuge, where a century of souls has passed, a mystery begins to swirl. Alice knows things about Brynn, about all of them, that she shouldn’t. Bad dreams and night whispers lure Brynn to a shuttered room at the end of the hall, a room still heavy with a recent death. And now she’s become irresistibly drawn to Dominic—even in the shadow of rumors that wherever he goes, suspicious death follows. In this chilling season of love, transformation, and fear, something is calling for Brynn. To settle her past, she may have no choice but to answer.Trade Review“The action builds to a satisfying and uplifting ending…Webb consistently entertains.” —Publishers Weekly “Endearing and greatly readable…[a] tale that is both warm and poignant.”—Kirkus Reviews “Webb’s chilling tale of a woman running from a tragic loss will put a spell on you.” —E! Online “Prepare to lose yourself in Wendy Webb’s lusciously written The Haunting of Brynn Wilder.” —POPSUGAR “Enchanting.” —The Nerd Daily “Wendy Webb weaves a searing gothic tale with elements of horror, mystery, and romance…It is incredibly absorbing and atmospheric.” —Bookreporter “Wendy Webb is a rising voice in thrillers, and we can’t wait to see what she does next.” —CrimeReads “Suspenseful and engrossing, The Haunting of Brynn Wilder is a ghost story, a love story, and a chilling fireside tale in one. Readers will be drawn in from the first page, and they won’t want to stop until they read the eerie conclusion, probably in the wee hours of the night.” —Simone St. James, New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel “Evocative and beautifully haunting, Wendy Webb’s latest transports you to a location you’ll soon want to call home, in a story you won’t want to put down. It’s no exaggeration to call this the standout gothic novel of the year.” —Darcy Coates, USA Today bestselling author of The Haunting of Ashburn House “A haunting tale of grief and loss that is beautifully layered with new beginnings and woven into a gothic ghost story both bone-chilling and heartwarming.” —Melissa Payne, author of The Secrets of Lost Stones

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Book SynopsisWhat if you woke up one day and the loved one you’d lost was suddenly, inexplicably alive again? Chloe Howard’s devotion to her job has come at a cost: spending time with the most important person in her life—her mother. Vowing to change, she plans a trip home. Sadly, hours before she arrives, her mother passes away, leaving Chloe without a goodbye and riddled with grief and regret. But maybe…maybe it’s not too late. Just days before the funeral, Chloe finds her mother unaccountably alive and well. And it’s no longer May; she’s been transported back in time to March. No one—not Chloe’s brother, friends, or colleagues—understands why Chloe is so confused. How can she make sense of this? It’s impossible. But Chloe is going to make the most of it. She’s going to do everything differently: repair family rifts, forge new bonds, tell her mother every day how much she loves her, and possibly prevent the inevitable. This is a second chance Chloe never saw coming. She’s not wasting a minute of it.Trade Review“This is a heart-wrenching novel about family and love, with a wide range of well-developed characters. Readers who enjoy novels by Jessica Strawser or Barbara O’Neal will need a box of tissues for this one.” —Booklist (starred review) “Sarah Echavarre’s debut women’s fiction is a moving story about second chances and the precious time we have with loved ones. This was a page-turner, immersive, and all-consuming, and the perfect book to pick up this holiday season. Three More Months is a must-read.” —Tif Marcelo, USA Today bestselling author of In a Book Club Far Away

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Book SynopsisLibraries are magical places. But what if they’re even more magical than we know? In Cyrille Martinez’s library, the books are alive: not just their ideas or their stories, but the books themselves. Meet the Angry Young Book, who has strong opinions about who reads what and why. He’s tired of people reading bestsellers, so he places himself on the desks of those who might appreciate him. Meet the Old Historian who mysteriously vanished from the stacks. Meet the Blue Librarian, the Mauve Librarian, the Yellow Librarian, and spend a day with the Red Librarian trying to banish coffee cups and laptops. Then one day there are no empty desks anywhere in the Great Library. A great horde of student workers has descended, and they will scan every single book in the library: the much-borrowed, the neglected, the popular, the obscure. What will happen to the library then? Will it still be necessary? The Dark Library is a theoretical fiction, a meditation on what libraries mean in our digital world. Has the act of reading changed? What is a reader? A book? Martinez, a librarian himself, has written a love letter to the urban forest of the dark, wild library, where ideas and stories roam free.Trade Review"The caustic and often hilarious story of the misadventures of a library, all the concerns and issues facing the professions … The fantastic with a hint of irony of Cyrille Martinez’s writing is reminiscent of Marcel Aymé." –Livres Hebdo"A poignant and shrewd commentary on changing readership demands, The Dark Library also shows an appreciation for those readers, and the librarians who serve them, too.” –Booklist"Over a documentary base that it itself worth reading, he composes a passionate fiction, almost fantastic, showing the defeat of the printed word by the digital." –L’Humanité"French writer and librarian Martinez explores the purpose of libraries amid sweeping societal changes in this whimsical novel. ... satire with wit and quirky characters. This will delight fans of absurdist fiction." –Publishers Weekly"Martinez, a librarian himself, has written a love letter to the urban forest of the dark, wild library, where ideas and stories roam free." –Malvern Books

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Book SynopsisThis evocative, moving, and gorgeously detailed novel is the story of Alex Soberano, a contemporary man in crisis. A tremendously successful New York businessman, Alex finds it difficult to embrace joy and accept love. When his life threatens to boil over, he escapes for a brief respite on the West Coast. What waits for him there is something he never could have imagined.Intertwined with Alex''s story are the stories of three people from different times and places whose lives affect him in surprising ways: A woman from the South American city of Anhelo in 1928 that everyone knows as Vidente. For decades, Vidente, has been one of Anhelo''s most celebrated citizens because she has the ability to read colors that speak of a person''s fate. However, during one such reading, she sees her own future a future that includes her imminent death. A man named Khaled who left his home in Bethlehem in 1920 to seek fortune in the South American town of Joya de la Costa. He has barely begun to gain a foothold when he learns that the wife and three children he left behind have been murdered. When a magical woman enters his life, he believes that destiny has smiled on him. However, destiny has only just begun to deal with Khaled. A nineteen-year-old student named Dro who flies from the South American country of Legado to Boston in 1985 and immediately walks onto the campus of MIT expecting instant admission. Dro''s skills at mastering complex, ever-changing differential equations intrigues the associate admissions director. However, the person he intrigues the most is the celebrated US ambassador from his country, and his relationship with her will define his life.How the stories of these four people merge is the central mystery of this arresting work of imagination. THE EDGE OF THE WORLD is a story that will sweep you up in its magic, enrich you with its wisdom, and compel you with its deep humanity.

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Book SynopsisDr Siri Paiboun and his wife are leaving Laos for Moscow to watch the 1980 Olympic Games in this next book in a popular crime series

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Book Synopsis"I passed away at two o’clock in the afternoon on a Friday in August in 1869, in my beautiful mansion in the Catumbi district of the city." So begins Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas—at the end of the narrator’s life. Published in 1881, this highly experimental novel was not at first considered Machado de Assis’ definitive work—a fact his narrator anticipated, bidding "good riddance" to the critic looking for a "run-of-the-mill-novel". Yet in this coruscating new translation, Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson reveal a pivotal moment in Machado’s career, as his flights of the surreal became his literary hallmark. An enigmatic, amusing and frequently insufferable anti hero, Brás Cubas describes his Rio de Janeiro childhood spent tormenting household slaves, his bachelor years of torrid affairs and his final days obsessing over nonsensical poultices. A novel that helped launch modernist fiction, Brás Cubas shines a direct light to Ulysses and Love in the Time of Cholera.Trade Review"One of the wittiest, most playful, and therefore most alive and ageless books ever written." -- Dave Eggers"An offbeat, invigorating classic is perfect reading for a morbid summer." -- The Economist

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Book SynopsisIn this bewitching debut novel, a sensitive teen, newly arrived in Alabama, falls in love, questions his faith, and navigates a strange power. While his German parents don’t know what to make of a South pining for the past, shy Max thrives in the thick heat. Taken in by the football team, he learns how to catch a spiraling ball, how to point a gun, and how to hide his innermost secrets. Max already expects some of the raucous behavior of his new, American friends—like their insatiable hunger for the fried and cheesy, and their locker room talk about girls. But he doesn’t expect the comradery—or how quickly he would be welcomed into their world of basement beer drinking. In his new canvas pants and thickening muscles, Max feels like he’s “playing dress-up.” That is until he meets Pan, the school “witch,” in Physics class: “Pan in his all black. Pan with his goth choker and the gel that made his hair go straight up.” Suddenly, Max feels seen, and the pair embarks on a consuming relationship: Max tells Pan about his supernatural powers, and Pan tells Max about the snake poison initiations of the local church. The boys, however, aren’t sure whose past is darker, and what is more frightening—their true selves, or staying true in Alabama. Writing in verdant and visceral prose that builds to a shocking conclusion, Genevieve Hudson “brilliantly reinvents the Southern Gothic, mapping queer love in a land where God, guns, and football are king” (Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks). Boys of Alabama becomes a nuanced portrait of masculinity, religion, immigration, and the adolescent pressures that require total conformity.Trade Review"Hudson’s writing is magnetic. It’s like the Kristen Stewart of prose – chameleon-like, layered, funny and serious and sad, really gay, and so attractive.... It wrecked me, just like I wanted.... Hudson grew up in Alabama, and their complex relationship with the place shines through in this story, which quietly and then loudly hurtles toward a climax that had me staring into space for a full 10 minutes after I read it." -- Sarah Neilson, Them, "5 Queer Books We Loved in 2020""Debut novelist Hudson sets her unique coming-of-age tale in a hot, swampy Alabama steeped in football and God. . . . This is a little southern gothic, a little supernatural, and a little reminiscent of Wiley Cash’s suspenseful A Land More Kind than Home (2012)." -- Kathy Sexton, Booklist"Boys of Alabama brilliantly reinvents the Southern Gothic... An absolutely magical novel." -- Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks"A gripping, uncanny, and queer exploration of being a boy in America, told with detail that dazzles and disturbs." -- Michelle Tea, author of Against Memoir"Genevieve Hudson dismantles and spins a new category of fairy tale for us, one that’s equal parts dirt and splendor. A glinting, dark beauty. An incantation." -- T Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girl"This novel is a love song to outsiders of all kinds, a queer love story about the ways we find to heal ourselves and each other, and proof that there can be magic amid the burdens of masculinity." -- Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me"Genevieve Hudson has conjured a novel that sets place as a touchstone. Every field is alive: every leaf, every insect, every crawling thing. Hands beget love, words set like sweetness on the tongue. The magic contained in Boys of Alabama's pages isn't just fixed in the beauty of its sentences; it's seen in the way that Hudson carefully crafts the intimacy between people and how she tenderly exposes queerness. This book is a fragile web, full of longing and ache and regret." -- Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things"Genevieve Hudson creates a new American erotics of longing and belonging, flush with want and desire, hope and home, translation and transformation." -- Matt Bell, author of Scrapper"Hudson goes right to a place where violence comes from—uncomfortably close to desire for magic, God, sex, whatever might actually heal us—and doesn’t turn away." -- Kristin Dombek, author of The Selfishness of Others"One of the finest—and weirdest!—first novels I’ve read in quite some long time." -- Tom Bissell, author of Apostle and coauthor of The Disaster Artist"Boys of Alabama perfectly captures the magic and inevitable heartache of young lust." -- Kimberly King Parsons, author of Black Light"[Depicts] a brand of Southern-fried masculinity that is immediately recognizable and startlingly fresh. This is an exquisite book." -- Nick White, author of How to Survive a Summer"Reminds us that behind so many of America’s most rigid beliefs lies the lonely human heart: twitchy, slippery, alive." -- Mikkel Rosengaard, author of The Invention of Ana

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Book SynopsisBoldly blending fables and myths with apocalyptic technologies, Amber Sparks has built a cultlike following with And I Do Not Forgive You. Fueled by feminism in all its colors, her surreal worlds—like Kelly Link’s and Karen Russell’s—are all-too-real. In “Mildly Happy, With Moments of Joy,” a friend is ghosted by a text message; in “Everyone’s a Winner at Meadow Park,” a teen coming-of-age in a trailer park befriends an actual ghost. Rife with “sharp wit, and an abiding tenderness” (Ilana Masad, NPR), these stories shine an interrogating light on the adage that “history likes to lie about women,” as the subjects of “You Won’t Believe What Really Happened to the Sabine Women” will attest. Written in prose that both shimmers and stings, the result is “nothing short of a raging success, a volume that points to a potentially incandescent literary future” (Kurt Baumeister, The Brooklyn Rail).Trade Review"[Sparks] impresses with her exceptional collection of wry, feminist stories.... Some stories smuggle incredible emotional impact into surprisingly few pages.... Sparks’s sardonic wit never distracts from her polished dismantling of everyday and extraordinary abuses. Readers will love this remarkable, deliciously caustic collection." -- Publishers Weekly [starred review]"Irreverent and clever characters take center stage in Sparks’s latest collection.... The pieces here are beyond the classification of any one genre, borrowing from fairy tales, fantasy, coming-of-age, modern life, and social commentary.... Each story is vivid, unexpected, and satisfyingly weird. Darkly comic and whip-smart, this collection is recommended for readers of Aimee Bender and Alexandra Kleeman." -- Emily Hamstra - Library Journal"Few readers will encounter with any frequency such bold, bizarre, and brutally honest content as is in Sparks’ (The Unfinished World and Other Stories, 2016) new collection.... Sparks’ imagination seems limitless, her approaches to style and form without boundaries. Yet there is a cohesive voice and intention here, whether Sparks is using the vehicles of myth, history, and fantasy in her attempts to unravel rather than weave together tales of women’s true experiences. To escape possession, find one's self, exert force without shame or justification, and tell what really happened—these themes rise like foam on the roiling bone-rich broth of righteous feminine rage. At once timely, wickedly funny, and uncomfortably real, Sparks’ singular stories have the power to shake us wide awake and shatter every last happily-ever-after illusion." -- Janet St. John, Booklist"What joyful play and heart and movement in these stories, full of permission and the thrum of ideas bursting and growing on the page. To read one is like a bon-bon on a silver platter with a lit sparkler stuck inside." -- Aimee Bender, author of The Color Master"Amber Sparks’ stories are, precisely, like her name: precious things delivered in a burst of fire and light." -- Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body & Other Parties"Re-appropriating fairy tales, urban legends, and supernatural fantasies, Amber Sparks' startling kaleidoscopic visions re-cast familiar heroines in their own stories. Reading this was a delight!" -- Ling Ma, author of Severance"In this genre-bending new collection, Amber Sparks has once again shown herself to be fearless and cutting, the insistent voice that breaks through the hand trying to silence it. I had a lot of fun reading these fresh, sharp, delicious stories, even as my neck prickled with doom." -- Lindsay Hunter, author of Eat Only When You’re Hungry"And I Do Not Forgive You is so cracklingly alive it singes your fingertips. These stories are fiercely funny, heartrending, enraged and enraging, redemptive—in short, essential. They’re also some of the most inventive stories I’ve read. I loved every one." -- Clare Beams, author of We Show What We Have Learned

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Book SynopsisGold Award in the Regional Fiction (Europe) category of the 2020 IPPY AwardsGold Medal in the Fiction–Literary category of the 2020 Readers’ Favorite Book AwardsSilver Award in the Audiobook: Fiction category of the 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards“Teitelman paints an intensely beautiful world in which different cultures merge in surprising ways. . . . A rich and moving story about an unlikely pair.” —Kirkus ReviewsIn 1923, seventeen-year-old Esther Grünspan arrives in Köln “with a hardened heart as her sole luggage.” Thus begins a twenty-two-year journey, woven against the backdrops of the European Holocaust and the Hindu Kali Yuga (the “Age of Darkness” when human civilization degenerates spiritually), in search of a place of sanctuary. Throughout her travails, using cunning and shrewdness, Esther relies on her masterful tailoring skills to help mask her Jewish heritage, navigate war-torn Europe, and emigrate to India.Esther’s traveling companion and the novel’s narrator is Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu God worshipped by millions for his abilities to destroy obstacles, bestow wishes, and avenge evils. Impressed by Esther’s fortitude and relentless determination, born of her deep—though unconscious—understanding of the meaning and purpose of love, Ganesha, with compassion, insight, and poetry, chooses to highlight her story because he recognizes it is all of our stories—for truth resides at the essence of its telling.Weaving Eastern beliefs and perspectives with Western realities and pragmatism, Guesthouse for Ganesha is a tale of love, loss, and spirit reclaimed.

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Book SynopsisThis magical realist tale follows the travails of a burnt-out teacher from Queens who spends his time obsessing over the fact that he has been cheated out of living in his Grandma Rose’s Lower East Side apartment and is thus priced out of his “More Recent Ancestral Home” of Manhattan. In The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association, David Rothman weaves a rich story about real estate, family, and memory. Daniel, the protagonist, is haunted by the memories of his childhood experiences in his grandmother’s apartment, a home that he desperately wants to inhabit. One day he discovers a hidden relic on Rivington Street: a tenement reclamation office run by an eccentric centurion named Hannah. When Daniel inquires about the chances of reclaiming his grandmother’s old tenement, Hannah is not impressed. “Things don’t work like that, you rude, young schlub!” And so begins Daniel’s journey to take back his past and to secure an affordable space for his family in downtown Manhattan. This is a journey full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and an ending that would make even the most thick-skinned New York real estate agent shake.The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association is the winner of the Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Novelette Prize, selected by Meg Ellison. Trade Review“The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association is a brilliantly-written work of magical fiction in which both contemporary New York and the Jewish immigrant experience come alive. I loved Daniel, who wants a Manhattan apartment in the most desperate way, his sensible wife Julie, and their wise little girl, Hannah. The book is both moving and comic.” -- Phyllis Smith, author of I am Livia“Rothman’s novel lands readers in a magical New York City, where portals and keys lead to wondrous places. But moreover, it’s a story that profoundly explores the weight of loss, the complexities of family, and the power of nostalgia.” -- Noah Lederman, author of A World Erased

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Book SynopsisIn this enchanting novel from the Booker Prize–winning author, a group of world-weary travelers discover the meaning of life in a mysterious Swiss mountain village.The Age of Magic has begun. Unveil your eyes.Eight weary filmmakers, traveling from Paris to Basel, arrive at a small Swiss hotel on the shores of a luminous lake. Above them, strewn with lights that twinkle in the darkness, looms the towering Rigi mountain. Over the course of three days and two nights, the travelers will find themselves drawn into the mystery of the mountain reflected in the lake. One by one, they will be disturbed, enlightened, and transformed, each in a different way. An intoxicating and dreamlike tale unfolds. Allow yourself to be transformed. Having shown a different way of seeing the world, Ben Okri now offers a different way of reading.

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Book SynopsisThe Guardian: Best Children's and YA Book of the Year  An environmental fairytale that speaks eloquently to the most pressing issues of our times, from the Booker Prize–winning author of The Famished Road.Mangoshi lives with her mom and dad in a village near the forest. When her mom becomes ill, Mangoshi knows only one thing can help her—a special flower that grows deep in the forest.   The little girl needs all her courage when she sets out alone to find and bring back the flower, and all her kindness to overpower the dangers she encounters on the quest.   Ben Okri brings the power of his mystic vision to a timely story that weaves together wonder, adventure, and environmentalism.

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Book SynopsisThe Booker Prize–winning author, a child of the Nigerian Civil War, reinvents through the story of the Atlantic slave trade the beautiful soul and resilient culture of his country.A boy and a girl meet by chance on a riverbank in Africa. One is the son of a king, struggling to find his place in the world, the other the daughter of a craftsman from the secretive tribe of master artists. The prince, entranced, stays hidden in the bushes. The girl, knowing nothing of him but his voice, agrees to meet again. When she fails to appear the next day, he begins to search for her, tracing her at last to her village where, disguised as an apprentice, he finds a place in her father’s workshop.         But this is no fairy tale, no conventional love story. Their world—though they don’t know it yet—is ending. A strange wind has begun to blow, and in its wake, things are disappearing: songs, stories, artworks, and finally, people. Beautiful ships with white sails are glimpsed on the horizon…        When the novel was first published in the UK in 2007 under the title Starbook, the central role of the Middle Passage was overlooked. Okri has since rewritten the book, giving it a new dimension, more light, more acumen. In 2022 the deep political impact of this extraordinary tale won’t be missed.

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Book SynopsisTales of characters trying to find their way through the struggles of underemployment. Wendy Wimmer’s debut short story collection, Entry Level, contains a range of characters who are trying to find, assert, or salvage their identities. These fifteen stories center around the experience of being underemployed—whether by circumstance, class, gender, race, or other prevailing factors—and the toll this takes on an individual. Wimmer pushes the boundaries of reality, creating stories that are funny, fantastic, and at times terrifying. Her characters undergo feats of endurance, heartbreak, and loneliness, all while trying to succeed in a world that so often undervalues them. From a young marine biologist suffering from imposter syndrome and a haunting to a bingo caller facing another brutal snowstorm and a creature that may or not be an angel, Wimmer’s characters are all confronting an oppressive universe that seemingly operates against them or is, at best, indifferent to them. These stories reflect on the difficulties of modern-day survival and remind us that piecing together a life demands both hope and resilience. Entry Level was selected by Deesha Philyaw as the winner of the 2021 Autumn House Fiction Prize. Trade Review"This gleefully subversive debut presents fifteen weird, wild, and wonderful stories of everyday folk surviving in a world gone haywire. From a grieving man who gets texts from the dead to a roller rink that reverses aging, Entry Level, like its title story, is strange magic indeed." * People Magazine *"If punchy first sentences are to your taste, Wimmer’s Entry Level is the book for you. 'When Mary Ellen’s left breast grew back on its own during our Saturday dinner break, we had confirmation that something weird was happening.' Many intros seem designed to startle; several stories enter fantastical terrain. In the delightful 'Texts from Beyond,' a company purportedly helps people send messages to deceased relatives. Equally affecting are stories more rooted in the real, where Wimmer gets closer to character and emotion, such as 'Billet-Doux,' told via unsent letters addressed to celebrities, random people, inanimate objects, a recurring guy on the BART and the protagonist herself." * Washington Post *"An intriguing, wide-ranging story collection with a hint of magic. The real and the surreal drive the 15 stories in this debut, many of which have been previously published in other formats. . . . The elements of magical realism are presented without fanfare, and Wimmer succeeds in creating a world where they are entirely plausible. Fans of Karen Russell, Veronica Schanoes, and Connie Willis are all likely to find stories to enjoy in the collection, as Wimmer blends traditional literary fiction with a touch of the fantastic. Vivid, thought-provoking stories make an enjoyable and challenging book. * Kirkus (starred review) *"Wimmer’s innovative and darkly humorous debut collection employs emergency situations and fantastical elements as the protagonists struggle to make a living with low-paying jobs. . . . When Mary Ellen, who had a mastectomy, discovers her breast has regrown, the narrator’s understated reaction perfectly sums up the mood of Wimmer’s characters: 'We had confirmation that something weird was happening.' Throughout, Wimmer makes the most of strange situations." * Publishers Weekly *“In the world of Entry Level, no job is too small, nor is it ever just a job. In cities and across rural landscapes and dreamscapes, we find clerks and corpses, mothers and daughters, cruise entertainers and scientists, grappling with longing and loss. The stories are, at turns, heartfelt and hilarious, wry and whimsical, full of magic and mayhem. These are well-crafted love stories, ghost stories, and stories of everyday people just trying to navigate life’s cruelties and impossibilities. Wimmer writes with an intimacy and immediacy that take you down a fresh rabbit hole from the first line, each time. Each tale is as smart, exquisite, and surprising as the next. I really didn’t want this collection to end!” -- Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies"The stories in Entry Level are propulsive, funny, delightfully unpredictable, and utterly addictive. Wimmer is a true original—a bright star of her generation. Here’s hoping Entry Level is the beginning of a long, fruitful career!" -- Dan Chaon, author of SleepwalkTable of ContentsPasseridaeGhosting Where She Went Fuse Lower Midnight INGOB Skate QueenTexts from beyond Flarby OsculationCar people Intersomnolence Billet Doux Feðgin The Bog King

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Book SynopsisA “tender, suspenseful, irresistible first novel” that explores Indigenous legend, queer relationship, and the power of landscape and lineage to shape our lives (Louise Erdrich, author of The Round House). An unsolved murder becomes the fixation of an Indigenous American man living in far northern Minnesota as he grapples with his relationship with a closeted white man. On an Ojibwe reservation called Languille Lake, within the small town of Geshig at the hub of the rez, two men enter into a secret romance. Marion Lafournier, a midtwenties gay Ojibwe man, begins a relationship with his former classmate Shannon, a heavily closeted white man. While Marion is far more open about his sexuality, neither is immune to the realities of the lives of gay men in small towns and closed societies. Then one night, while roaming the dark streets of Geshig, Marion unknowingly brings to life the spirit of a dog from beneath the elementary school playground. The mysterious revenant leads him to the grave of Kayden Kelliher, an Ojibwe basketball star who was murdered at the age of seventeen and whose presence still lingers in the memories of the townsfolk. While investigating the fallen hero’s death, Marion discovers family connections and an old Ojibwe legend that may be the secret to unraveling the mystery he has found himself in. “Elegant and gritty, angry and funny . . . emotional without being sentimental.” —Tommy Orange, author of There, There

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Book SynopsisFiruzeh and her brother Nour are children of fire, born in an Afghanistan fractured by war. When their parents, their Atay and Abay, decide to leave, they spin fairy tales of their destination, the mythical land and opportunities of Australia. As the family journeys from Pakistan to Indonesia to Nauru, heading toward a hope of home, they must rely on fragile and temporary shelters, strangers both mercenary and kind, and friends who vanish as quickly as they’re found. When they arrive in Australia, what seemed like a stable shore gives way to treacherous currents. Neighbours, classmates, and the government seek their own ends, indifferent to the family’s fate. For Firuzeh, her fantasy worlds provide some relief, but as her family and home splinter, she must surface from these imaginings and find a new way.Trade Review★ “In flowing, lyrical prose, Yu showcases the power of folklore and the pain of displacement. This is a knockout.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review ★ “On Fragile Waves is a lyrical fabulist novel that will enchant readers of both literary fiction and fantasy.” —Booklist, starred review★ “An evocative and heart-lacerating debut novel. . . . Essential fiction to understand our world.” —Library Journal, starred review ★ “On Fragile Waves is a masterful and poetic novel about finding hope and joy in the most dire circumstances.” —Foreword Reviews, starred review“This is Yu’s first novel, but you’d never know it from the surety of her approach, the immensity of what she achieves. On Fragile Waves is a tremendous and almost unbearable work of witness. It is devastating and perfect.” —Amal El-Mohtar in the New York Times Book Review“One of the most devastatingly beautiful books I read all year.”—NPR, “Best Books of 2021” “Beautifully written, absorbing, powerful. . . . This should win awards when it comes out next year. I think Yu is doing some of the most exciting things in genre.” —Tor.com“Powerfully affecting.” —Ted Chiang, author of Exhalation “An extraordinary achievement—original in voice, powerful in material, a book of brutal beauty and unflinching compassion. May it be noticed and read and praised and believed.” —Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves“A heartbreaking celebration of the necessity of joy. A soul-searing tale of homecoming, home-becoming, home-conjuring. By holding up the jagged beauty of faith against despair, E. Lily Yu is the brilliant voice of conscience our age needs.” —Ken Liu, author of The Paper Menagerie “An incredibly accomplished debut novel, a necessary and important tale of empathy and imagination and hope.” —Matt Bell, author of Appleseed“E. Lily Yu's finely honed prose and her child narrator allow for flashes of warmth and beauty between the shocks and sorrows, the terrors and humiliations.” —Margo Lanagan, author of Tender Morsels“Vivid, intense and heart-wrenching. On Fragile Waves is both a coming-of-age tale and an unflinching meditation on exile, belonging, fragility and hope.” —Victoria Law, co-author of Prison By Any Other Name“On Fragile Waves confirms that E. Lily Yu is a prodigy. Every line a gemstone, every page a calligram.” — Usman T. Malik, author of Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan“A stunning heartbreaker. The prose is as sharp and beautiful as the story it tells . . . bringing into painful beautiful focus all the ways the world is horrible, and all the ways the world is magic.” —Sam J. Miller, author of Blackfish City

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Book SynopsisNPR Books We Love 2021 Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2021 Booklist Best of 2021 Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Titles NYT Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2021 Washington Independent Review of Books 51 Favorite Books of 2021“On Fragile Waves is a tremendous and almost unbearable work of witness. It is devastating and perfect.” — New York Times Book ReviewThe haunting story of a family of dreamers and tale-tellers looking for home in an unwelcoming world. This exquisite and unusual magic realist debut, told in intensely lyrical prose by an award winning author, traces one girl’s migration from war to peace, loss to loss, home to home.Firuzeh and her brother Nour are children of fire, born in an Afghanistan fractured by war. When their parents, their Atay and Abay, decide to leave, they spin fairy tales of their destination, the mythical land and opportunities of Australia.As the family journeys from Pakistan to Indonesia to Nauru, heading toward a hope of home, they must rely on fragile and temporary shelters, strangers both mercenary and kind, and friends who vanish as quickly as they’re found.When they arrive in Australia, what seemed like a stable shore gives way to treacherous currents. Neighbors, classmates, and the government seek their own ends, indifferent to the family’s fate. For Firuzeh, her fantasy worlds provide some relief, but as her family and home splinter, she must surface from these imaginings and find a new way.Trade Review★ “In flowing, lyrical prose, Yu showcases the power of folklore and the pain of displacement. This is a knockout.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review ★ “On Fragile Waves is a lyrical fabulist novel that will enchant readers of both literary fiction and fantasy.” —Booklist, starred review★ “An evocative and heart-lacerating debut novel. . . . Essential fiction to understand our world.” —Library Journal, starred review ★ “On Fragile Waves is a masterful and poetic novel about finding hope and joy in the most dire circumstances.” —Foreword Reviews, starred review“This is Yu’s first novel, but you’d never know it from the surety of her approach, the immensity of what she achieves. On Fragile Waves is a tremendous and almost unbearable work of witness. It is devastating and perfect.” —Amal El-Mohtar in the New York Times Book Review“One of the most devastatingly beautiful books I read all year.”—NPR, “Best Books of 2021” “Beautifully written, absorbing, powerful. . . . This should win awards when it comes out next year. I think Yu is doing some of the most exciting things in genre.” —Tor.com“Powerfully affecting.” —Ted Chiang, author of Exhalation “An extraordinary achievement—original in voice, powerful in material, a book of brutal beauty and unflinching compassion. May it be noticed and read and praised and believed.” —Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves“A heartbreaking celebration of the necessity of joy. A soul-searing tale of homecoming, home-becoming, home-conjuring. By holding up the jagged beauty of faith against despair, E. Lily Yu is the brilliant voice of conscience our age needs.” —Ken Liu, author of The Paper Menagerie “An incredibly accomplished debut novel, a necessary and important tale of empathy and imagination and hope.” —Matt Bell, author of Appleseed“E. Lily Yu's finely honed prose and her child narrator allow for flashes of warmth and beauty between the shocks and sorrows, the terrors and humiliations.” —Margo Lanagan, author of Tender Morsels“Vivid, intense and heart-wrenching. On Fragile Waves is both a coming-of-age tale and an unflinching meditation on exile, belonging, fragility and hope.” —Victoria Law, co-author of Prison By Any Other Name“On Fragile Waves confirms that E. Lily Yu is a prodigy. Every line a gemstone, every page a calligram.” — Usman T. Malik, author of Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan“A stunning heartbreaker. The prose is as sharp and beautiful as the story it tells . . . bringing into painful beautiful focus all the ways the world is horrible, and all the ways the world is magic.” —Sam J. Miller, author of Blackfish City

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Book SynopsisINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER! A Studio Ghibli-esque work of Japanese translation “that lays bare the anxieties and desperation—and the small triumphs—of adolescence” (Locus), for fans of Mieko Kawakami’s Heaven.Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle fantasy and compassionate insight.Bullied to the point of dropping out of school, Kokoro’s days blur together as she hides in her bedroom, unable to face her family or friends. As she spirals into despair, her mirror begins to shine; with a touch, Kokoro is pulled from her lonely life into a resplendent, bizarre fairytale castle guarded by a strange girl in a wolf mask. Six other students have been brought to the castle, and soon this marvelous refuge becomes their playground. The castle has a hidden room that can grant a single wish, but there are rules to be followed, and breaking them will have dire consequences. As Kokoro and her new acquaintances spend more time in their new sanctuary, they begin to unlock the castle’s secrets and, tentatively, each other’s. Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a mesmerizing, heart-warming novel about the unexpected rewards of embracing human connection.Trade Review★ “This sweet, kindhearted, and deeply sympathetic magical realist novel about middle school dropouts pulling each other back from the brink will resonate with readers of all ages.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review“[A] moving psychological journey . . . blazingly honest . . . Tsujimura is a master at projecting these young anxieties onto the page, offering hints and shadows and silhouettes of what the world might be like once we finally grow up, and how difficult it is to take that first step.” —Tor.com“A gorgeous, wrenching fantasy that lays bare the anxieties and desperation – as well as small triumphs – of adolescence.” —Locus“In a world where there is so much untruth, so much altered reality, so many superficial existences forming even more superficial relationships, this book turns back the clock and reminds us of what is real, and what truly matters: compassion and kindness, the strength in our bonds, and how we can find those right beside us.” —The Yorkshire Times“A moving, reflective and surprising novel . . . Anyone who has ever struggled with feeling isolated, had difficulties at school, or had mental health struggles, will find this novel to be a cleansing balm.” —Culturefly“[A] respectful, moving novel about teenage bullying in the Tokyo suburbs . . . Tsujimura shows how easily misunderstandings and miscommunications can escalate, and treats everyone—even the bullies—with nuance.” —The Japan Times“An innovative and tender blend of social commentary and magical realism.” —The Japan Society Review “Genuinely affecting . . . a story about collaboration, empathy and sharing truths, a modern, all-ages fairy tale that should appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman and Studio Ghibli animations.” —The Financial Times“Hopeful and heartbreakingly sweet without ever being saccharine, this character-focused tale of finding unexpected community unfolds remarkably gently, eschewing a typical Western plot structure. Readers will leave with their faith in humanity restored.” —Publishers Weekly’s “Best Books of 2022”“Part Miyazaki fairytale, part teen romance, it’s strange and beautiful – imagine the offspring of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and The Virgin Suicides.” —The Guardian

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Book Synopsis“Ghost story, family saga, parable, feminist reimagined myth: Angela Mi Young Hur’s hugely ambitious Folklorn is a spellbinding shape-shifter of a novel that tackles questions of race, culture, and history head-on, exploring the blurry boundaries between past and present, fact and fantasy, and personal and cultural—or cosmic.” —Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires EverywhereA New York Times Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novel of 2021 An NPR Best Book of 2021 Indie Next Pick May 2021A genre-defying, continents-spanning saga of Korean myth, scientific discovery, and the abiding love that binds even the most broken of families.Elsa Park is a particle physicist at the top of her game, stationed at a neutrino observatory in the Antarctic, confident she’s put enough distance between her ambitions and the family ghosts she’s run from all her life. But it isn’t long before her childhood imaginary friend—an achingly familiar, spectral woman in the snow—comes to claim her at last.Years ago, Elsa’s now-catatonic mother warned her that women of their line were doomed to repeat the narrative lives of their ancestors from Korean myth and legend. But Elsa also faces a more earthly fate: the mental illness and generational trauma that run in her immigrant family.When her mother breaks her decade-long silence and tragedy strikes, Elsa must return to her childhood home in California. There, among family wrestling with their own demons, she unravels the secrets hidden in the handwritten pages of her mother’s dark stories: of women’s desire and fury; of magic suppressed, stolen, or punished; of the hunger for vengeance.Folklorn is a wondrous and necessary exploration of the myths we inherit and those we fashion for ourselves.Trade Review“An elegant punch to the face . . . beautiful and hard and hungry, full of sharp, painful observations, slicing clichés open like prickly pears and devouring their hearts.” —Amal el-Mohtar in the New York Times Book Review“Folklorn is extremely ambitious in scope, and the writing never fails to deliver. . . . Angela Mi Young Hur engagingly blends Korean folktales with literary traditions for a fresh take on both the universal story of identity and assimilation, and the national tale of han.” —Washington Independent Review of Books“A gorgeous journey into the intersection of science and myth and how our past traumas shape us—but how they need not define us.” —NPR “Best Books of 2021”“Haunting and spiritual and touching, and so unique. This is absolutely one to be cherished.” —Tor.com, “30 Most Anticipated Books of 2021”“A complex meditation on intergenerational trauma. . . . This thought-provoking work will appeal to SFF fans who like their talk of particle physics side by side with fox spirits and fairy tales.” —Publishers Weekly“Genre-defying and emotionally unsettling, it is a book that refuses to stay in whatever category the reader wants to put it. . . . Well worth the effort.” —Locus“Angela Mi Young Hur’s hugely ambitious Folklorn is a spellbinding shape-shifter of a novel that tackles questions of race, culture, and history head-on, exploring the blurry boundaries between past and present, fact and fantasy, and personal and cultural—or cosmic.” —Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere“Vivid and delectable. Angela Mi Young Hur is equally at home working in the fertile territories of myth and the fantastic as in the nuanced portrayal of a contemporary, complex family. I loved this.” – Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble“Dark, difficult, and riveting—Folklorn gave me endless trouble, and I appreciate it.” —R. F. Kuang, author of The Poppy War“In Folklorn, Angela Mi Young Hur weaves the fantastic into the realism of a compelling family saga, creating a heartfelt novel as original as it is irresistible.” —Mat Johnson, author Loving Day“Hur writes with virtuosity and power, weaving together the ribbons of the mythic with the complex tapestry of family and history to create a gorgeous, moving whole.” —Kat Howard, author of An Unkindness of Magicians“Folklorn is a work of capacious, original imagination: part supernatural mystery, part immigrant family story. Hur’s mixing and melding of genres is an inventive, elegant means of illuminating the dualities of diasporic experience, as well as a testament to the essential role of stories in understanding our identities.” —Peter Ho Davies, author of The Welsh Girl“This novel is brash, defiant and ultimately full of yearning." —Chia-Chia Lin, author of The Unpassing

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Book Synopsis “River Mumma is a love letter to culture, home, and coming of age—and will spark important, relevant book club conversations, too.” —Marissa Stapley, New York Times bestselling author of Lucky Issa Rae’s Insecure with a magical realist spin: River Mumma is an exhilarating contemporary fantasy novel about a young Black woman who navigates her quarter-life-crisis while embarking on a mythical quest through the streets of Toronto.Alicia has been out of grad school for months. She has no career prospects and lives with her mom, who won’t stop texting her macabre news stories and reminders to pick up items from the grocery store.Then, one evening, the Jamaican water deity, River Mumma, appears to Alicia, telling her that she has twenty-four hours to scour the city for her missing comb.Alicia doesn’t understand why River Mumma would choose her. She can’t remember all the legends her relatives told her, unlike her retail co-worker Heaven, who can reel off Jamaican folklore by heart. She doesn’t know if her childhood visions have returned, or why she feels a strange connection to her other co-worker Mars. But when the trio are chased down by malevolent spirits called duppies, they realize their tenuous bonds to each other may be their only lifelines. With the clock ticking, Alicia’s quest through the city broadens into a journey through time—to find herself and what the river carries.Energetic and invigorating, River Mumma is a vibrant exploration of diasporic community and ancestral ties, and a homage to Jamaican storytelling by one of the most invigorating voices in today’s literature.“This quirky, fizzy, charming debut surprises and amuses. Reid-Benta writes beautifully, drawing on Caribbean mythologies to create a fast paced and entertaining tale. It's rare to find a novel written with such humour and heart.” —T. L. Huchu, USA Today Bestselling author of The Library of the DeadTrade Review★ “Stunning debut. . . that marks the emergence of a powerful new voice.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review★ “A race-against-the-clock page-turner with friendship and diasporic community building at its heart, this book is a winner.” —Booklist, starred review“This is a splendid story about ancestry, identity, and creativity.” —Apple Books Review“River Mumma is a propulsive read filled with captivating characters, page-­turning mystery, and a thoughtful examination of kinship and ancestral ties.” —Toronto Life“. . . Reid-Benta writes powerfully of the diasporic experience, the connections between family history and community, and the role and importance of lore and mythic history.” —Toronto Star “River Mumma is a blessing and Zalika Reid-Benta’s talent is a truly special gift. This is a quest novel that maps Jamaican folklore across modern-day Toronto; three young people are sent on a mission by a goddess and if that doesn’t pique your interest then something is very wrong with you.” —Victor LaValle, award-winning author of The Changeling“Wholly original, remarkably crafted, and unmatched in voice, atmosphere, and action, River Mumma should be on every must-read list this season.” —Cherie Dimaline, bestselling author of Empire of Wild“River Mumma is the type of vivid, rich novel I love best. It left me turning pages and pondering possibilities well into the night.” —Alicia Elliott, bestselling author of A Mind Spread Out on the Ground“A generational saga, a big-city survival narrative, a study of diasporic cultural nuances, all wrapped inside a thrilling adventure. Complex, deep and resonant, River Mumma is coming for your heart.” —Samit Basu, author of The City Inside“River Mumma is a love letter to culture, home, and coming of age—and will spark important, relevant book club conversations, too.” —Marissa Stapley, New York Times bestselling author of Lucky"A fast-paced and absorbing adventure steeped in Caribbean folklore and mythology, River Mumma is a treat for the senses." —Uzma Jalaluddin, bestselling author of Ayesha at Last“River Mumma is a necessary book about race, gender, ancestry, colonialism, eco-existentialism, and desire.” —Jenny Heijun Wills, author of Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related“A page-turner of a novel that is both funny and poignant, River Mumma magically and seamlessly weaves Jamaican folklore and myth with the winter landscape of Toronto to create a compelling fictional landscape.” —Shyam Selvadurai, author of Mansions of the Moon“A powerful and evocative novel weaving threads of magical realism to create a powerful and moving tale about a search for identity. It is a journey–diasporic, ancestral, cultural, and personal–all coming together by the importance of storytelling by a master storyteller.” —Maurice Broaddus, award-nominated author of Sweep of Stars

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Book SynopsisFrom the groundbreaking author of Beauty Salon, The Large Glass, Jacob the Mutant, Mario Bellatin delivers a rousing, allegorical novel following the widowed keeper of a mysterious garden. When art student Izu’s teacher asks her to visit the famous collection of Mr. Murakami, she publishes a firm rebuttal to his curation. Instead of responding with fury, the rich man pursues her hand in marriage. When we meet her in the opening pages, Mrs. Murakami is watching the demolition of her now-dead husband’s most prized part of the estate: his garden. The novel that follows takes place in a strange, not-quite-real Japan of the author’s imagination. But who, in fact, holds the role of author? As Mr. Murakami’s garden is demolished, so too is the narrative’s authenticity, leaving the reader to wonder: did this book’s creator exist at all? Mario Bellatin has revolutionized the state of Latin American literature with his experimental, shocking novels. With this brand-new, highly anticipated edition of Mrs. Murakami's Garden from lauded translator Heather Cleary, readers have access to a playful modern classic that transcends reality.Trade ReviewFeatured in The New York Times' Globetrotting "Bellatin is a playful novelist who isn't trying to hold the mirror to reality, provide allegory or philosophy or life lessons, and reading this provocative novella makes one consider all sorts of assumptions about why read?' and 'why write?' (Mrs. Murakami's Garden is) fiction that explores not only what it means, but why it matters." ––Kirkus Reviews "One of the beauties of this book is that nothing is what it seems... A superb work." ––The Modern Novel "People often say, with a lot of truth to it, that all good fiction writing comes from some wound, out of some distance that needs to be breached between a writer and normalcy. In Mario’s sense, the wound is literal and comes with all kinds of psychological nuance and pain, and seems related to sexuality and desire, the desire for a whole body. One of my favorite aspects of him is this sense that he is writing for all the freaks — either literally freaks or privately and metaphorically, that he really touches us.” —Francisco Goldman “Mario Bellatin, who has the fortune or misfortune of being considered Mexican by the Mexicans and Peruvian by the Peruvians [is one of the] writers without whom there’s no understanding of this entelechy that we call new Latin American literature.” —Roberto Bolaño “If literature aims to make us less alone, we need writers like Bellatin who reflect not just a different perspective on life, but can envision something separate and apart, a periscope rising above the self.” —Matt Bucher, Electric Literature “As the line between truth and fiction, life and art, grows increasingly blurred, it comes as no surprise to find Mario Bellatin standing at this divide, dancing in the gray zone.” —Jeffrey Zuckerman, Los Angeles Review of Books "Mario Bellatin requires us to consume its contents in discrete portions, savoring each sip with a thirst that is at once as foreign as it is familiar." —Alex Espinoza, Los Angeles Review of Books

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Book SynopsisAn enchanted ring brings good fortune to an Egyptian oud player in this compelling novel combining elements of magical realism with political historyCan one man or a mere ring alter the events of one’s life and the history of a country? Combining elements of magical realism with momentous history, Suleiman’s Ring poses these questions and more in a gripping tale of friendship, identity, and the fate of a nation.Alexandria, Egypt, on the eve of the 1952 Free Officers revolution. Daoud, a struggling musician, is summoned with his best friend Sheikh Hassanein to a meeting with Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser, who seeks their help as he mobilizes for the revolution. Daoud lends Nasser an enchanted silver ring for its powers to bring good luck. The revolution succeeds but Daoud soon grows estranged from Hassanein, who has joined the Muslim Brotherhood, after he suggests that Daoud leave Egypt since as a Jew he is no longer welcome. When Hassanein is arrested, however, destiny draws Daoud into a complex web of sexual intrigue and betrayal that threatens to upend his already precarious existence.Set against the backdrop of the simmering political tensions of mid-twentieth-century Egypt and the Arab–Israeli wars, Sherif Meleka’s story of fate and fortune transports us to another time and place while peeling back the curtain on events that still haunt the country to this day.Trade Review"A quality novel, which put me in mind of aspects of Rohinton Mistry and Naguib Mahfouz in the way it gives us characters to care about, who are then swept away by the chaos of history. The writing is pacy, but it has depth and poetic power – a credit to Raymond Stock’s translation from Arabic. Sherif Meleka is a natural writer. This is a compellingly readable novel of substance."—The Irish Times“[A] dazzling epic novel. . . . poetic and beautiful. . . . deeply moving. . . . Suleiman’s Ring is a timely read, not just for its powerful depiction of Jews in modern Egypt, but for its exploration of themes of nationhood, societal divisions—both along political and identity lines—and the influence that individuals can have on an entire society.”—The Canadian Jewish News"Original, carefully crafted, memorable"—Midwest Book Review"A lovely evocation of the period."—Historical Novels Review"Reading Suleiman’s Ring gave me great pleasure. With its many layers of tone and style, it takes the reader on a journey through modern-day Alexandria, recalling the loss of its essentially tolerant outlook, a tolerance that had lain at the heart of this great city’s renaissance."—Ibrahim Abdel Meguid, author of Clouds over Alexandria"A powerful narration of extremism culminating in the tragic expulsion of the Egyptian Jews from modern Egypt."—Hamdi Abu Golayyel, author of The Men Who Swallowed the Sun"Three generations of Egyptians are depicted elegantly, in the manner of an epic, and with deep historical insight."—al-Qahira "Meleka masterfully blends the story of Suleiman [Solomon] and Dawud [David] with contemporary life, covering an important period in Egyptian history spanning more than thirty years, from the secret preparations of the Free Officers Movement in 1952 to the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981."—al-Ahali

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Book SynopsisFrom Melissa Payne, bestselling author of The Night of Many Endings, comes an emotional and suspenseful novel about the weight of secrets and the healing power of friends and family. Vega Jones escapes an abusive relationship with nothing but her two-month-old baby and the van she grew up in. Her destination is a small Ohio town her late vagabond mother left years ago. It’s one full of nobodies, her mother warned. That makes it the ideal refuge for Vega to lie low, feel safe, and maybe learn more about a past her mother never spoke of. Vega warms to the town and to new acquaintances like Heff, the young deputy and artist who prefers his yard art to actual policing, and empathetic Eve, a local farmer whose near-death experience gave her more than just her life back. But even in this welcoming community, there’s an undercurrent of something unsettled, talk of a tragedy that unfolded in the woods years ago, and a mystery connected to Vega in ways she couldn’t have anticipated. As a mother on the run and following a path of mounting risks and illuminating secrets, Vega discovers that even during the darkest of times, there’s light in unexpected places.Trade Review“The authentic characters and their realistic struggles make this introspective tale entirely believable. Vega’s resilience is sure to endear her to readers.” —Publishers Weekly “A Light in the Forest is a thrilling portrait of women finding their footing when all odds seem stacked against them. ” —BookTrib

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Book SynopsisTaking refuge on a remote island, a grieving woman develops unlikely connections with the community and the wild in this haunting novel of hope and perseverance from debut author Jessica Bryant Klagmann. After the mysterious disappearance of her fiancé, Alma Hughes moves to a remote island in the North Atlantic, where she hopes to weather her grief and nurture her ailing dog. But the strange town of Violette has mysteries as well. Townsfolk say that the radio tower overlooking their town broadcasts messages through their home appliances, their dreams, even the sea itself. When lightning strikes the tower, illuminating the sky in a brilliant flash, Alma finds herself caught in the unexplainable aftermath of one of Violette’s deadliest storms. As the sea consumes the island, threatening its very existence, the deaths and lost memories of the recently departed also devastate the community. Alma, with a unique link to the lost, may be the only one who can help them move on. But to do so, she must confront a tragic loss of her own. On this doomed island haunted by echoes of the departed, Alma searches for meaning in her future—and dares to discover the power of hope among the living.Trade Review“At once haunting and visionary, Jessica Bryant Klagmann’s This Impossible Brightness asks us to consider ghosts in their many forms—literal ghosts, the ghosts of grief that follow all of us, and the ghost of a present-but-disappearing earth amid climate devastation. In the face of sweeping loss, this novel resists despair by weaving an expansive web of interconnectedness and also of hope. Klagmann’s debut is both wildly imaginative and gorgeously moving.” —Anne Valente, author of Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down “In the eyes of This Impossible Brightness, humans bear a particular mark of distinction, one that’s spiritual or psychological rather than physical. We are the species that tries to change direction in midair; we attempt, impossibly, to take our fall and transform it into an ascent. Jessica Bryant Klagmann’s writing seems motivated by this same desire. Everywhere in her novel’s pages, you sense some force yearning to turn the future into the past—to forestall the autumn of the world, spin it around, and allow it to burst into spring. Through her focus on this effort, she produces a feeling that’s sustained and powerful, a clear-eyed grief leavened by a mad hope.” —Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Ghost Variations “Part ghost story, part adventure yarn, part death meditation, Jessica Bryant Klagmann’s This Impossible Brightness is a tour de force of storytelling. Spinning us through multiple time frames and character perspectives, Klagmann captures the beauty and largeness of nature and our tenuous place in the world. A wonderful debut novel from a remarkable new voice.” —David Nikki Crouse, author of Copy Cats and The Man Back There

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Book Synopsis“Nwoka’s debut feels like a dream, or a fable, or something in between . . . Recommended for fans of Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control or Nghi Vo’s The Empress of Salt and Fortune.” —Ashley Rayner, Booklist"[God of Mercy] owes a debt to Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, revising that novel's message for the recent past . . . A well-turned dramatization of spiritual and social culture clashes." —Kirkus ReviewsHomegoing meets Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Okezie Nwọka’s debut novel is a powerful reimagining of a history erased.God of Mercy is set in Ichulu, an Igbo village where the people’s worship of their gods is absolute. Their adherence to tradition has allowed them to evade the influences of colonialism and globalization. But the village is reckoning with changes, including a war between gods signaled by Ijeoma, a girl who can fly.As tensions grow between Ichulu and its neighboring colonized villages, Ijeoma is forced into exile. Reckoning with her powers and exposed to the world beyond Ichulu, she is imprisoned by a Christian church under the accusation of being a witch. Suffering through isolation, she comes to understand the truth of merciful love.Reimagining the nature of tradition and cultural heritage and establishing a folklore of the uncolonized, God of Mercy is a novel about wrestling with gods, confronting demons, and understanding one's true purpose.Trade Review"Okezie Nwọka's debut novel, God of Mercy . . . continues a powerful literary tradition of representing Igbo resistance to colonial pressures. Like Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958), God of Mercy narrates both the dignified beauty of Igbo village life and also the village’s struggle with its own traditions."—Cynthia R. Wallace, Ploughshares"While this tremendous work is most readily described as magical realism or as a work of fable, God of Mercy is too powerful to stay within the confines of a single genre . . . Written in verse that recalls the rhythm of fables, Nwoka eloquently details the perseverance and thriving of a young woman descended from a people who have resisted colonization at every turning point in history."—Maya C. James, Locus"Nwoka’s debut feels like a dream, or a fable, or something in between . . . The vestiges of colonialism run deep throughout this novel, as well as themes of forgiveness and compassionate love . . Recommended for fans of Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control or Nghi Vo’s The Empress of Salt and Fortune."—Ashley Rayner, Booklist"In Okezie Nwọka’s dazzling and disquieting novel God of Mercy, battles between gods reignite a war between religions . . . Rife with magical realism and full of promise . . . God of Mercy undertakes a scrupulous review of the destructive power of colonialism through an imprisoned, gifted girl."—George Hajjar, Starred Review, Foreword Reviews"Nwoka trusts readers to follow the story without much expository cultural background, and the result feels authentic and organic. Book clubs looking for stories to inspire deep discussion need look no further." —Shelf Awareness"[God of Mercy] owes a debt to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, revising that novel's message for the recent past . . . A pair of distinctive qualities [make] Nwọka worth continued attention. First is their command of different rhetorical modes . . . Second is an earned note of optimism . . . A well-turned dramatization of spiritual and social culture clashes."—Kirkus Reviews "Nwọka’s dense, mythologically charged debut . . . immerses the reader in an often-bewildering world . . . [a] stirring coming-of-age story."—Publishers Weekly"Tradition and change clash to devastating effect in Okezie Nwoka's compelling and heartrending debut, God of Mercy . . . Nwoka writes with a sure rhythm all their own, slipping easily between structured passages and stream of consciousness inner monologues."—Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads via Shelf Awareness"What an incisive contemplation of being in the world. I read this book with awe and gratitude. It is a love letter to a world in which multiple ways of being may be celebrated. Through their meditation on igbo ontology and its colonial defilement, Nwọka invites us into an exquisite exploration of flight and abandonment, evoking stories that are as old as they are new, timeless as they are timely."—Novuyo Tshuma, author of House of Stone"God of Mercy is an elegantly written, morally rigorous exploration of tradition and belonging. Reminiscent of Toni Morrison's inventive language-making and Chinua Achebe's decolonizing legacy, Okezie Nwọka is a masterful storyteller, and a writer of unusual grace."—Alexia Arthurs, author of How to Love a Jamaican"God of Mercy is a profound exploration of religion, faith, and compassion from a gifted storyteller. Okezie Nwọka creates a richly imagined postcolonial landscape that is at once otherworldly, tragically human, and completely unforgettable."—Maisy Card, author of These Ghosts are Family"God of Mercy isn't just a heart-stopping debut—it's a complete decolonization of the novel, a resounding rejection of the white gaze, a chronicle of a history that has for too long gone untold. This book is at the forefront of a new generation of postcolonial novels, and Nwoka's talent is unmatched."—R.A. Frumkin, author of The Confidence“This beautiful book has magic in it, and grace, and power.”—Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man

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Book SynopsisA “mesmerizing...wildly entertaining” (The Boston Globe) magical realism western in the vein of Cormac McCarthy meets Gabriel García Márquez, The Bullet Swallower follows a Mexican bandido as he sets off for Texas to rob a train, only to encounter a mysterious figure who has come, finally, to collect a cosmic debt generations in the making.In 1895, Antonio Sonoro is the latest in a long line of ruthless men. He’s good with his gun and drawn to trouble but he’s also out of money and out of options. A drought has ravaged the town of Dorado, Mexico, where he lives with his wife and children, and so when he hears about a train laden with gold and other treasures, he sets off for Houston to rob it—with his younger brother Hugo in tow. But when the heist goes awry and Hugo is killed by the Texas Rangers, Antonio finds himself launched into a quest for revenge that endangers not only his life and his family, but his eternal soul. In 1964, Jaime Sonoro is Mexico’s most renowned actor and singer. But his comfortable life is disrupted when he discovers a book that purports to tell the entire history of his family beginning with Cain and Abel. In its ancient pages, Jaime learns about the multitude of horrific crimes committed by his ancestors. And when the same mysterious figure from Antonio’s timeline shows up in Mexico City, Jaime realizes that he may be the one who has to pay for his ancestors’ crimes, unless he can discover the true story of his grandfather Antonio, the legendary bandido El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower. A family saga that’s epic in scope and loosely based on the author’s own great-grandfather, The Bullet Swallower is “rich in lyrical language, gripping action, and enchanting magical realism” (Esquire). It tackles border politics, intergenerational trauma, and the legacies of racism and colonialism in a lush setting with stunning prose that asks who pays for the sins of our ancestors and whether it is possible to be better than our forebearers.

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Book SynopsisNamed a Best Book of 2023 by The New York Times ("incandescent...hilarious...a triumph"), Oprah Daily ("surreal, absurd, lucid, and wise"), Vanity Fair ("Broder [is] a genius and a sorceress"), and more! From the visionary author of Milk Fed and The Pisces, a darkly funny novel about grief and a “magical tale of survival” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).In Melissa Broder’s astonishingly profound new novel, a woman arrives alone at a Best Western seeking respite from an emptiness that plagues her. She has fled to the California high desert to escape a cloud of sorrow—for both her father in the ICU and a husband whose illness is worsening. What the motel provides, however, is not peace but a path discovered on a nearby hike. Out along the sun-scorched trail, the narrator encounters a towering cactus whose size and shape mean it should not exist in California. Yet the cactus is there, with a gash through its side that beckons like a familiar door. So she enters it. What awaits her inside this mystical succulent sets her on a journey at once desolate and rich, hilarious, and poignant. Death Valley is Melissa Broder at her most imaginative, most universal, and finest, and is “a journey unlike any you’ve read before” (Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black).

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Book SynopsisPamela Colman Smith, newly arrived from New York to her birthplace of London, is received as an oddball in Victorian society. Her second sight helps her in her new job: illustrating tarot cards for the Golden Dawn, a newly formed occult group. But when Pamela refuses to share her creations with Aleister Crowley, a controversial magician, he issues a threat: give up the cards’ power, or he’ll harm her muses.In the midst of this battle, two of Pamela’s idols, the actors Henry Irving and William Terriss, take her under their wing. Henry, who tutors her as the leader of the Lyceum Theatre, becomes the muse for her Magician card. William Terriss, teaching her by examples of instinct and courage, becomes the muse for her Fool card. As Pamela begins to create the tarot deck, she is almost overwhelmed by the race to possess the magical power of her cards. In order to defeat Aleister, Henry and William will have to transform into living incarnations of the Magician and the Fool—and Pamela will have to learn how to conjure her own magic.Trade Review“Rich and atmospheric; Wands dazzles with the wealth of research she’s woven into the fabric of the novel, using her own creative magic to bring some of our most bewitching historical figures back to life.”—Kira Jane Buxton, author of Hollow Kingdom and Feral Creatures“Magician and Fool is an enchanting read that whisks you to a time in London when life is steeped in a cutting-edge exploration of magic and the otherworldly. It is a world I loved spending time in from the beginning to the end.”—Naomi McDougall Jones, author of The Wrong Kind of Woman: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood“A heady historical brew brimming with mysterious manuscripts, secret societies, and the story of a young girl whose creation of a powerful deck of tarot cards might change magic forever. Atmospheric and original.”—Thea Sutton, author of The Women of Blackmouth Street“Richly detailed and fluidly written, Magician and Fool brings to life the little-known story of artist and occultist Pamela Colman Smith. With a starry supporting cast from the theater, literature, and the dark arts, Wands has conjured a captivating tale with an intriguing woman at its spell-bending center.”—Patricia Morrisroe, author of The Woman in the Moonlight“Wands weaves a thrilling and sometimes chilling tale that explores the predictive powers of the imagery found on tarot cards, connecting symbolism and legend through unique characters and extraordinary events.”—Lisa J. Yarde, author of the Order of the Dragon and Sultana series“Susan Wands’ Magician and Fool tells the intriguing and little-known story of Pamela Colman Smith, creator of one of the most famous Tarot decks in history. With meticulously researched period detail, Wands brings nineteenth-century London to life. From the secret chambers of the Golden Dawn society to private screenings of ancient Egyptian texts and artifacts, Wands takes the reader on a journey through not only history, but also the compelling beauty and danger of the dark arts.”—Melodie Winawer, author of Anticipation and The Scribe of Siena“Magician and Fool is a spell-binding story that combines history and fiction—author Susan Wands presents an enchanting picture of intriguing historical figures. This book will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in a glimpse into the Victorian theater and the mysterious occult group known as the Golden Dawn. I can't wait for the second book in the series.”—Sharonah Rapseik, host of the podcast Magic Universe with Sharonah“The life of British artist and empath Pamela Coleman Smith is a revelation in Susan Wands’s engrossing novel. Readers will plunge into a richly atmospheric London filled with magic and delicious secrets and populated by real-life figures such as Aleister Crowley, Henry Irving, and Ellen Terry. A fascinating journey.”—Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Blue

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