“The Trial of Lizzie Borden: A True Story” by Cara Robertson. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019. 400 pages, $28 (hardcover). “The Trial of Lizzie Borden” focuses on one of the most sensational trials in American history. In August 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found brutally hacked to death in Fall River, Mass. The …
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Book review: ‘The Sound of the Hours’
“The Sound of the Hours” by Karen Campbell. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. 464 pages, $29 (hardcover). “Trapped in Tuscany as war rages along the Gothic Line, Vittoria Guidi doesn’t understand where her allegiances should lie. With her Scots-Italian father or Fascist mother? With Mussolini, or her king? With the life she wants, or is …
Book review: ‘The Astral Traveler’s Daughter’
“The Astral Traveler’s Daughter: A School for Psychics Novel, Book 2” by K.C. Archer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019. 336 pages, $16 (paperback). Teddy enters her second year at The Whitfield Institute a little warily. It is a facility hidden off the coast of San Francisco where students master their psychic ability, investigative techniques …
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Book review: ‘Heart of Junk’
“Heart of Junk” by Luke Geddes. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2020. 256 pages, $26 (hardback). When a toddler by the name of Lindy Bobo goes missing, the city of Wichita, Kan., is desperate to find the pageant princess. Most of the dealers of The Heart of America Antique Mall are too wrapped up in …
Book review: ‘Here We Are’
“Here We Are” by Graham Swift. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. 208 pages, $22.95 (hardback). In the summer of 1959, a trio is performing in a seaside variety show at the end of the pier in Brighton, England. Jack Robbins, Ronnie Deane and Evie White are the story’s three main characters. Jack is the …
Book review: ‘A Fire Sparkling’
“A Fire Sparkling” by Julianne MacLean. Seattle: Lake Union Publishing, 2019. 432 pages, $15.99 (hardcover), $10.99 (paperback). A Fire Sparkling Cover Gillian Gibbons is betrayed by the man she loves, and when she flees to her family to escape, she discovers that there has been an upheaval there as well. They find an old photograph …
Book review: ‘Castle on the Rise’
“Castle on the Rise” (Lost Castle #2) by Kristy Cambron. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2019. 384 pages. $15.99 (paperback). Laine Forrester goes to France for her best friend’s wedding, only to discover that a series of setbacks has changed the future for them both. A devastating diagnosis puts her friend’s castle renovation on hold, and …
Book review: ‘The Love Story of Missy Carmichael’
“The Love Story of Missy Carmichael” by Beth Morrey. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020. 339 pages, $26 (hardcover). Missy Carmichael is estranged from her daughter, and her son and grandson live in Australia. Her great love is gone, and she feels so alone in a big house, all by herself, at 79. She spends …
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Book review: ‘The Library of Lost and Found’
“The Library of Lost and Found” by Phaedra Patrick. New York: Park Row, 2020. 368 pages, $16.99. Librarian Martha Storm connects easier with books than people, though she is always trying. Her superhero-themed notebook is full of lists of tasks she needs to accomplish to help others, and yet she feels invisible. When a book …
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Book review: ‘Beheld: A Novel’
“Beheld: A Novel” by TaraShea Nesbit. New York and London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020. 288 pages, $26 (hardcover). It is 10 years after the first pilgrims settled Plymouth. Those from the Mayflower have come for religious freedom, but in reality the Puritans lead the town and keep others from worshiping, trading or living in freedom. When …
Fallon Willoughby 