Tag: Fiction
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“Such Good Friends” by Stephen Greco

In one of his interviews, Truman Capote said, “I like cities, and New York is the only real city-city.” Fittingly, the setting of “Such Good Friends,” the story of friendship between him and Lee Radziwill, a wealthy socialite and Jackie Kennedy’s sister, is mostly New York. Lee and Truman traveled to Europe and even…
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“Sing Her Down” by Ivy Pochoda

It’s 2020 and the pandemic time. Florence Baum, aka Florida, and Diana Dios Sandoval – Dios – are on early release from a woman’s prison in Arizona and going to LA. Dios says, “The world is on pause. (…) But we aren’t. We are on the move. (…) The world isn’t paying attention to us.…
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“The Exhibitionist” by Charlotte Mendelson

The family, friends, and influential art people gather at the Hanrahans’ house in North London to witness Ray Hanrahan’s big comeback. The long weekend is when his new exhibition will hopefully secure his place in the art world as a painter. Yet, ironically, this is also the weekend when his wife, Lucia, a sculptor, receives…
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“Mastering the Art of French Murder” by Colleen Cambridge

Tabitha Knight is a twenty-something girl from Detroit who moved to Paris. She lives with her grandfather and uncle, tutoring Parisians in English (her French is perfect thanks to her French mother.) It’s 1949, and Paris has just reclaimed its title of “The City of Lights” after the darkness of WWII. The restaurants are open,…
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“Silver Nitrate” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The magic of the movies. This phrase carries a special meaning for two childhood friends, Montserrat and Tristán. They love watching old horror movies together, and they both work in the movie industry: Montserrat is the only woman in sound editing production, and Tristán works as an actor, thanks to his good looks, which have…
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“The Rachel Incident” by Caroline O’Donoghue

Rachel Murray is a twenty-one-year-old, tall (5’11, but to make it easier, she often says she’s six foot) woman living in Cork, Ireland. She studies English and has a crush on her professor. Her roommate, James, a closeted gay who works with her at a quaint bookstore, tries to help her attract the professor’s interest,…
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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…