The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig

 The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig. Viking, 2020. Contemporary adult fiction.

     Nora Seed doesn't really like herself or her life. When she gets the chance to explore other lives, she takes the chance to see what could have been if she had made different choices. She finds that kindness matters, that small things can change people in big ways, and that you don't have to understand life, you just have to live it.

 

     The concept of the library and the librarian, Mrs. Elm, are key to Nora's explorations and a tribute to real librarians everywhere. Imaginative and full of small human details, the story is one that everyone will identify with in different ways. The character of Nora is an EveryWoman and readers will root for her to find safe landings in her jumps into the unknown. 

Where's The Queen?

 

This bright board book by Nosy Crow, an imprint of Candlewick Press (first U.S. edition, 2021),  is designed for very young children. The one layer felt "lift-the-flaps" are too flimsy for much library use, but individual (and careful) young readers will enjoy it greatly. The classic red English telephone booth, black taxi, double decker bus, guard, and the queen in her carriage all are portrayed. At the end, a mirrorish panel gleefully shows where the reader is! 

The Last Flight: A Novel by Julie Clark

 The Last Flight: A Novel by Julie Clark. Sourcebooks, 2020. Adult fiction, mystery.

   Claire Cook, the wife of a wealthy, well known philanthropist looks like she has the perfect life. Few know she is an abused wife. She makes a plan to escape and start a new life. Unfortunately, she is foiled at the airport. But, a woman named Eva overhears her distress and offers to exchange identities and plane tickets with Claire. Eva says her husband has died in California and that she needs a new start, too. Claire boards the plane to California and notices airport monitors showing that the other plane has crashed. Did Eva die in the crash? Will people really think that Claire is dead?  Eva's story of life in California does not ring true as Claire goes to the apartment on Eva's license. It is the only place Claire knows where her husband  may not link to her and find her.  But, what about secrets Eva may have been keeping?

This is a grand thriller of a tale! There are enough red herrings to keep readers guessing and enough details to make both women very real indeed. Clark's debut novel, The Ones We Choose, in 2018, has been optioned for television, and there is little doubt that this novel will also make its way to film as well. 

Hanging Mary : A Novel by Susan Higginbotham

  Hanging Mary: A Novel by Susan Higginbotham. Sourcebooks Landmark, 2016. Adult historical fiction.

It's interesting to imagine what life must have been like for women in 1864 Washington, D.C. As a widow in Maryland, Mary Surratt moved her family to a house they already owned and took in boarders. Her own grown daughter Anna lived with her and a young woman named Nora Fitzpatrick. Mrs. Surratt's son, Isaac, was away in the Confederate Army and  her son, Johnny, helped out in running finding boarders like Louis Weichmann. 

This novel alternates chapters with the voices of Mary and Nora. It is organized chronologically with clear dates given at the beginning of chapters. The author does a good job of delineating between the older woman and the younger. She does a creditable job of showing how handsome John Wilkes Booth appeals to the younger women when he visits her house. Tragically, Mrs. Surratt tries to help her son and his friends and becomes wound up in what she imagines to be a plot to kidnap President Lincoln. Too late, she learns the President has been killed and is not only implicated, but actually tried and hanged for participating in the plot to assassinate Mr. Lincoln.

One of the most interesting parts of the part of the book is at the end when the author tells what happened to the characters in the novel. Of course, readers know what happened to Booth and the other conspirators. But, Anna and Nora and the Surratt sons are less well known. Some resources are shown in a bibliography. Things like the fact that the boardinghouse survives and has been renumbered at 604 H Street NW and houses a Chinese restaurant are fascinating. Certainly conspiracy followers may want to eat there and imagine themselves in Mrs. Surratt's dining room! But, readers will have to make up their own minds about whether Mary Surratt was truly just gullible or involved in history's most complicated murder. 

All the Little Hopes: A Novel by Leah Weiss

  All the Little Hopes: A Novel by Leah Weiss. Sourcebooks Landmark, 2021. Adult historical fiction.

North Carolina, WWII, and the Brown family is missing two of their local boys who shipped off to help America win the war. Lucy Brown, one of the narrators of alternating chapters, is thirteen, smart, and aching to be like Nancy Drew and have her own adventures. Enter Allie Bert Tucker on a bus from the eastern part of the state and with her own back story. Bert finds her way into the Brown family and into everyone's heart and is the other narrator. 

The girls find adventure in totally unexpected places. A community dance teaches lessons about making decisions. A Nazi prisoner-of-war camp teaches about human kindness. Working bee hives teaches about patience and determination. A crazy lady turns out to maybe be not so crazy, but brilliant. Aunt Fanniebelle teaches about manners, Ouija boards, and standing up for yourself when it's most important. Oh, yes, and three men go missing. Can the girls figure out why? 

The pacing is great. The dialog is pitch perfect. The girls are unforgettable. Read this book.

PS    I admit that I looked at this ARC several times and thought, "Oh, it's another WWII book about two girls."  When I finally picked it up and started it, I was enchanted. This is probably my favorite historical fiction of 2021! These are MY people! Just don't miss this one.