Eloquent, magical, suspenseful new books

Here’s a look at some good reading opportunities on the doorstep or soon to appear in bookshops. (How quaint and nostalgic to write that.) Below you’ll find crime, family and spy stories. An unusual standout: Kazuo Ishiguro’s new novel is a delve into Saxon England, featuring a pilgrimage, other worldly creatures and a nod to King Arthur.

A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell
This novel received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews about three sisters living in the family apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They’ve inherited bad luck, passed down through generations, and to end it, they’re ending their lives together. Sounds dark? From everything I’ve read, it’s dark comedy, and quite funny. This literary narrative is their 400-page suicide note, “a mesmerizing account of their lives that stretches back decades to their great-grandfather, a brilliant scientist whose professional triumph became the sinister legacy that defines them.” (via the publisher’s website)

All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer
This is potentially one of those stay-up-all-night spy novels from a master writer of the genre. It’s received high advance praise from the forecasting trade journals, Kirkus Reviews and Publisher’s Weekly plus others. The plot centers on two spies (one retired) and former lovers who worked together in Vienna when a tragic airline hijacking occurred. It resulted in the deaths of all on board, including the hijackers. The two ex-lovers come together for dinner, and what really happened that time five years ago unfolds. Promises to be a suspenseful page-turner.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
From the publisher’s website: “The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. But, at least, the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased. Axl and Beatrice, a couple of elderly Britons, decide that now is the time, finally, for them to set off across this troubled land of mist and rain to find the son they have not seen for years, the son they can scarcely remember.” Some starred forecasting reviews were given for this new novel, being released this coming week, by the author of Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day. Other worldly creatures and a hovering sense of magic abound. Publisher’s Weekly writes: The Buried Giant is a slow, patient novel, decidedly unshowy but deliberate and precise—easy to read but difficult to forget.” But reviews have been mixed. Note that Library Journal came in with a negative, saying:  “…this quasifantasy falls short as the medium to deliver the author’s lofty message.” So, too, did The New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani.

A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
Jacqueline Winspear fans can look forward to a new adventure of Maisie Dobbs who, in this 11th installment of the series, investigates the murder of Sebastian Babayoff of a Sephardic Jewish community in Gibraltar. It is 1937, the Spanish Civil War has begun. Dobbs still suffers under the weight of personal tragedies. From the author’s website:  “As she follows the evidence deep into a web of geopolitical intrigue, Maisie discovers that working again after such a long hiatus tempers her feelings of despair. It is only after she has unraveled the truth about Babayoff’s murder that Maisie feels able to return to England. What she chooses to do instead will astonish readers.” Starred by the American Library Association’s Booklist that claims it’s “another winner from Winspear.”

The Animals by Christian Kiefer
Kirkus Reviews calls Kiefer a “master wordsmith” writing “dense and beautiful language,” while Publisher’s Weekly calls the prose “poetic” and the book a “compelling, thoughtful novel.” It promises to be an intriguing literary thriller about a man with a dark past who manages a sanctuary for wounded animals in a remote area of Idaho.  He dates the local veterinarian and lives a quiet life until a childhood friend from that dark past shows up. Kirkus writes: “Eloquent and shattering, this novel explores, in gritty detail, how penance sometimes does not lead to redemption…”

The Children’s Crusade by Ann Packer
A large, family saga (close to 500 pages) about the Blair family during the 1950’s and ‘60s on property the father, a physician, buys just south of San Francisco. Wife Penny becomes distracted from the family and her four children in pursuit of self and art during the ‘60s feminist era. The story is told from the viewpoints of the adult children looking back to their childhood, including one who is troubled and needing money, causing the conflict. Promises to be an engrossing, “leave me alone” fictional story that’s a family portrait, character study of individuals and evocative atmosphere of mid-century America. It received a starred forecast from Kirkus Reviews and Library Journal.