“She is no stranger to keeping time by what she has lost.” When I reviewed Charmaine Wilkerson’s novel, Black Cake, back in 2022, I remarked that it was a solid debut, but I wished the transitions between POVs and timelines had been smoother. Her sophomore novel, Good Dirt (Ballantine Books 2025), similarly jumps timelines andContinue reading “GOOD DIRT – Charmaine Wilkerson”
Tag Archives: historical fiction
THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN – Lynda Cohen Loigman
“For a moment, Augusta could remember what it felt like to believe – not in the magic of witches or fairies, but in the magic of women who knew how to heal; the magic of women in the quiet of their kitchens, who could sweeten a bitter woman’ s heart or soothe a man’s temperContinue reading “THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN – Lynda Cohen Loigman”
THE NIGHT TIGER – Yangsze Choo
While I have all three Yangsze Choo novels on my TBR, I opted to read The Night Tiger (Flatiron 2019) first. As the story of the ghost bride is referenced in this novel, I should have likely read Choo’s debut before The Night Tiger, but I don’t think it was necessary. (That may change onceContinue reading “THE NIGHT TIGER – Yangsze Choo”
THE SAFEKEEP – Yael van der Wouden
“Little baby Jesus everywhere. They have no problem letting Jews into their homes as long as they’re carved from wood, do they” “What did people who spoke of joy know of what it meant, to sleep and dream only of the whistle of planes and knocks at the door and on windows and to wakeContinue reading “THE SAFEKEEP – Yael van der Wouden”
THE PEACH REBELLION – Wendelin Van Draanen
“Each year, as the sweet smell of peaches filled the June air and ripened into summer, I found myself looking for Ginny Rose Gilley.” *Spoiler to come. I’m warning you!* Wendelin Van Draanen’s The Peach Rebellion (Random House Children’s Books 2022) is a delightful middle grade novel set in California in 1947. Ginny Rose GilleyContinue reading “THE PEACH REBELLION – Wendelin Van Draanen”
The Sorrow of Belgium – Hugo Claus
“Times are bad, the radio says so, and the newspapers. No, things aren’t getting any better, far from it.” Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re in the Bs. Country: BelgiumTitle: The Sorrow of BelgiumAuthor: Hugo ClausLanguage: DutchTranslator: Arnold J. PomeransPublisher: First published in Dutch as Het Verdriet van Belgie by De Bezige BijContinue reading “The Sorrow of Belgium – Hugo Claus”
THE FROZEN RIVER – Ariel Lawhon
“To name a thing is a proprietary act. It is a commitment. Of ownership or care or loyalty. It means something. With that single word I have declared that this little beast is mine, and that I have a responsibility to protect her.” While the quote refers to a silver fox, the importance of namesContinue reading “THE FROZEN RIVER – Ariel Lawhon”
THE BERRY PICKERS – Amanda Peters
“…lost in a memory stirred alive by the moon.” Amanda Peters’s debut The Berry Pickers (Catapult 2023) is a quiet triumph of a novel about grief, anger, loss, identity, and forgiveness. When I was a child, I asked for The Face on the Milk Carton for Christmas. (It’s one of a few books I rememberContinue reading “THE BERRY PICKERS – Amanda Peters”
LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN – Lisa See
“Do you need a man to confirm what your body is already telling you to be true?” Set in 1469-1511, Lisa See’s Lady Tan’s Circle of Women (Scribner 2023) is a remarkable story of a high-status woman doctor, her midwife best friend, and an assortment of women from whom she draws strength, courage, and goodContinue reading “LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN – Lisa See”
LET US DESCEND – Jesmyn Ward
“The first weapon I ever held was my mother’s hand.” Let Us Descend (Scribner 2023) is my first Jesmyn Ward novel, but it certainly won’t be my last. Ward’s writing is as lush and powerful as everyone says, and there is a cadence to the storytelling that echoes oral traditions centuries old. The novel isContinue reading “LET US DESCEND – Jesmyn Ward”
A Girl Named Tommi 