Author: Hanna
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“Empty Theatre” by Jac Jemc
King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his cousin, Empress Sisi of Austria, were the rock stars of the nineteenth century. If they lived today, we’d undoubtedly follow their everyday life watching reality TV. Unable to do it, I’m thrilled that Jac Jemc took on an ambitious project bringing those two to life in a fictionalized…
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“The Block Party” by Jamie Day
Alton Road is a neighborhood where you won’t see a Honda Civic in one’s driveway but Samir’s Lexus, Brooke’s Mercedes, and Riley’s Beamer. Only 17-year-old Lettie drives a rusty Hyundai Santa Fe, but everybody knows she prefers her bike to reduce her carbon footprint. However, as much as the flashy cars are for everyone to…
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“The Five-Star Weekend” by Elin Hilderbrand
Hollis’s life seems ideal: she has a great husband, a heart surgeon, a beautiful summer house on Nantucket in addition to her Wellesley’s home, and her humble food blog became so popular during the pandemic that now she has many followers who want to “cook with Hollis.”. Sure, not everything is picture-perfect. Her adult daughter…
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“The Girl by the Bridge” by Arnaldur Indriðason
A young man walks in the evening searching for poetic inspiration and stops on the bridge over the Pond in Reykjavik. He notices something unusual in the water: a doll, and he retrieves it. Then he sees a dead girl in the pond. Twenty years later, a young woman is found dead, a syringe stuck…
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“Birnam Wood” by Eleanor Catton
Did you think that gardening was a peaceful activity? After reading “Birnam Wood,” Eleanor Catton’s latest novel, you will surely change your mind. Birnam Wood is a clandestine gardening collective with a great idea: the group cultivates unused strips of land, abandoned construction sites, and such to grow vegetables. They are young, sharing their idealistic…
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“Getting Lost” by Annie Ernaux
In 1988 Annie Ernaux was 48 years old, living on the outskirts of Paris, and consumed by a love affair with a 36-year-old Russian diplomat based in Paris. She chronicled the next year and a half in her diary, the belated translation of which has just been published. Annie Ernaux is now eighty-four and the…
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“My Father’s House” by Joseph O’Connor
In his latest book “My Father’s House,” Joseph O’Connor creates a protagonist based on a real man, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, a priest in the Vatican. It’s 1943, and the Nazis control Rome, putting a circle around the Vatican, which announced its neutrality. However, one can’t remain neutral in the face of evil, which Hugh O’Flaherty…
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“The Vegan” by Andrew Lipstein
“The Vegan” by Andrew Lipstein starts with a slightly Woody Allen vibe of a Manhattan apartment party where Hershel Caine and his beautiful wife Franny invited another influential couple and a friend, Birdie, to, hopefully, establish good social connections. Hershel is a thirty-eight-year-old hedge fund manager leading a happy, stable life, and the future looks…
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“You Know Her” by Meagan Jennett
Sophie Braam lives in a small town somewhere in Virginia. This is the place where during winter, men mostly go to the bars and get drunk; in summer, there are tailgating parties revolving around beer and having a good time. For many men, having a good time means they can harass and insult women. Sophie…
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“Night Flight to Paris” by Cara Black
Never assume. Trust no one. Concentrate. Adapt. These are rules that Kate Rees, a young American woman, who, motivated by her hatred of German Nazis, serves as a sniper for the British, follows in her missions. However, the assignments she has been entrusted with are not what they seem, and rules don’t always apply. She…
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