Tangerine: A Novel by Christine Mangan

Tangerine: A Novel by Christine Mangan. ECC, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2018.
Adult fiction. Reviewed advanced readers' copy from American Library Association conference in Chicago, June, 2017.  Cover not finalized.

It's the 1950's. Alice Shipley left Bennington College after a mysterious incident. She has married and moved to Tangier with her new husband. Then her college roommate, Lucy Mason, arrives. Lucy is confident where Alice is shy. Lucy has a murky past while Alice has shared every detail of her wealthy upbringing with Lucy.  Lucy was always the one who made plans, took chances, and ventured fearlessly into the world. Now, Alice is back into the old patterns of following Lucy's lead. Last time, things didn't end so well. Has anything changed?


Mangan does a good job of making each woman a distinct personality. The setting is really a character as the heat and foreign streets and markets come alive in the detailed descriptions. Putting the book in the 1950's reinforces the few options available to women at the time. Readers may think the book is going one direction, but things change and keep readers on their toes...and on the edge of their seats!