Historical

Spotlight On: A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

Fantasy, Gaslamp, Gay, Historical, LGBTQ+

I am writing romance; all of my characters end up happily in love. I am writing fantasy with intrigue; frankly, the characters don’t have time for too much agonizing. They have conspiracies to unravel, and— to veer abruptly sideways into musical theatre (I am queer, after all) and quote Pippin—magic to do.

I made the very conscious decision to scrap crises of faith, uncertainty of one’s sexuality, and self-hatred entirely. I used the need for secrecy to add to the ‘us against the world’ situation that serves a romance plot so well, and also to emphasize the exquisite surprise and delight when a kindred spirit is recognized.
― Freya Marske, Interview, FyneTime

What booksellers are saying about A Power Unbound

*Chef’s Kiss* I was really looking forward to Hawthorn’s story and it didn’t disappoint. Marske is such an exquisite writer, deft with her succinct and evocative descriptions! It was great also getting to see the moments with the other two couples as well.
― Angela Trigg, The Haunted Bookshop in Mobile, AL | Buy from The Haunted Bookshop
An absolutely delightful and riveting end to the trilogy, one that made me overcome my general aversion to e-books so that I could read this immediately. It was everything I could have hoped for and more, providing us with the much-needed perspectives of Jack and Alan. They race against time, their powerful enemies, and the rising sexual tension as the Last Contract comes closer to its end. Both deliciously queer and wholly enthralling, I’ll never not recommend this trilogy.
― Jordan April, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC | Buy from Flyleaf Books
This was the perfect ending to a fabulous trilogy. More of Lord Hawthorne is exactly what I needed in my life.
― Melissa Taylor from E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, GA | Buy from E. Shaver
A satisfying conclusion to Marske’s Last Binding trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories that have a little something for everyone (historical, mystery, fantasy, romance).
― Melissa Oates from Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC | Buy from Fiction Addiction

About Freya Marske

Freya Marske is the author of A Power Unbound, A Restless Truth, and A Marvellous Light, which was an international bestseller and won the Romantic Novel Award for Fantasy. Her work has appeared in Analog and has been shortlisted for three Aurealis Awards. She is also a Hugo-nominated podcaster and won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent. She lives in Australia.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Adult Fiction, African American & Black, Banned Books, Historical, Literary, Sagas

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Yaa Gyasi reinvents the notion of historical fiction in this haunting, sweeping tale of enslavement, colonialism, power, greed, despair, determination, and hope. I was captivated from page one! She brings to life the human cost of surviving the larger, often brutal, forces driving history through the gripping, visceral story of one extended family. Three hundred years of history come to life: from Ghana to Harlem and more as we follow their fates across continents and through time. A very moving book.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, (List Price: $16.95, Vintage, 9781101971062, May 2017)

Reviewed by Liz Feeney, E. Shaver, bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

November Shelf: A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles

Adult Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Regency, Romance

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Bridgerton meets Poldark in this sweeping LGBTQIA+ Regency romance from celebrated author KJ Charles

When Major Rufus d’Aumesty unexpectedly becomes the Earl of Oxney, he finds himself living in a remote Norman manor on the edge of Romney Marsh with his noble, hostile, and decidedly odd family. His position is contested both by his greedy uncle and by unexpected claimant Luke Doomsday, a dashing member of the local smuggling clan. They should be natural enemies, but cocksure, enragingly competent Luke is a secretary by trade, and quickly becomes an unexpected ally, the partner Rufus needs…and soon the lover he can’t live without.

Unfortunately, Luke’s not telling anything like the truth. He came to Stone Manor with an ulterior motive, one he’s hiding even from the lord he can’t resist. And as family secrets unspool on both sides, master and man soon find their positions and their partnership in danger of falling apart…

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles, (List Price: 16.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728255880, September 2023)

Absolution by Alice McDermott

21st Centur, 21st Century, Adult Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Literary, World Literature

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There’s so much I could say about this epistolary novel set in 1963 Saigon and confessing to the lives of two American wives in Ho Chí Minh’s Vietnam, but for now, I’ll say: Alice McDermott is (maybe) my favorite living novelist, and Absolution is (maybe) her best novel yet.

Absolution by Alice McDermott, (List Price: $28, Farrar, Straus and Giroux , 9780374610487, 2023-10-31)

Reviewed by Laura Cotten, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama

Spotlight on: The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng

Adult Fiction, Gay, Historical, LGBTQ+, Literary

In my teenage years, when I first read Somerset Maugham’s The Letter, I was intrigued to discover that he had based it on Ethel Proudlock’s trial in Kuala Lumpur in 1911. She was the first white woman to be charged with murder in Malaya. She claimed that the man she had shot dead had tried to rape her in her home.

The House of Doors is about many things, but at the heart of it all, it is really about the acts of creation: how Maugham had come to hear about the trial, and how he had transmuted it into his story. It’s about the power of stories, how they can transcend cultures and borders, transcend even time itself.
― Tan Twan Eng, Interview, The Booker Prizes

What booksellers are saying about The House of Doors

I walked the streets of Penang along side Somerset Maugham. I felt the rough paths beneath my feet, as the clatter of Mah jong tiles felll from a doorway. We were on our way to the House of Doors. My fingers caressed the worn wood of its front door. But neither of us gained entry. Entry was reserved for others. This is a rare book. All my senses were captured by Tan Twan Eng. The pages glowed with atmosphere as the story propelled me into the lives of Cassawary House. Best book I’ve read this year.
― Trish O’Neill, MacIntosh Books & Paper in Sanibel, FL | Buy from Macintosh Books & Paper
Gorgeously written with strong characters telling the tale of Malaysia between the two wars. Who knew I needed to know all of this. We sometimes focus on what happened to us. This story will get right under your skin. I am a huge fan of Somerset Maughn and loved this story that drops him in there. Based on real events you are invited into this world and you won’t be the same!
― Suzanne Lucey from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC | Buy from Page 158 Books
Nobody transports a reader in time and place like Tan Twan Eng. Bringing the same beautiful, lyrical writing as he did in The Gift of Rain and The Garden of Evening Mists, he sends readers back in time to 1921 when writer Somerset Maugham arrives in Penang at a crossroads in life. The House of Doors reads like a magical look back in time into the life of one of my favorite writers as well as an entirely new story whose layers unfurl one a time, revealing an overlapping web of love, friendship, power and more.
― Beth Seufer Buss from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

About Tan Twan Eng

Tan Twan Eng was born in Penang but lived in various places in Malaysia as a child. His first novel, The Gift of Rain, was longlisted for the 2007 Man Booker. His second, The Garden of Evening Mists, was a major international bestseller, shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker, and winner of the Man Asia Literary Prize 2012 and the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. It was adapted into an award-winning film in 2019, directed by Tom Lin. Twan divides his time between Malaysia and South Africa.

Spotlight on: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

Adult Fiction, Gothic, Historical, Horror, Romance

Isabel Canas, photo credit Photo by Kilian Blum

I am more conscious of writing characters with agency than I am of writing “strong” characters. This is in part due to the fact that many of my early drafts flounder when the main characters lack agency, which I then need to address in revisions! With this story, however, I knew from the start I would intentionally give my main character a voice and a choice in her fate. I decided this for two reasons. First, women, especially those who were not members of the elite, are often silenced in the historical record due to the nature of the sources that survive from the pre- and early modern periods. Giving them a voice in fiction is very important to me. Second, female victims who lack agency is one of the great tropes of classic vampire fiction. Writing vampire stories in the post-Twilight era is a deft game of trope-tipping, and I absolutely wanted to knock that trope in particular on its head in a way that felt organic in a historical setting.
― Isabel Cañas, Interview, Nightmare Magazine

What booksellers are saying about Vampires of El Norte

An epic adventure, gothic love story. The romance of Nena and Nester, torn apart as children, captured my attention in the first few chapters and never wavered throughout the book. A great follow up book to The Hacienda.
― Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books in Santa Rosa Beach, FL | Buy from Sundog Books
The rancho and surrounding landscape are so alive that I can easily tell Cañas lived this in a thousand and one nights of storytelling at her abuela and tias’ feet. While I was reading, I wondered why Cañas chose vampires as the monster rather than something like El Cuco. Especially since the MC Nena uses the legend of El Cuco to quickly explain the danger of the situation to her family. Cañas’ author’s note explains this and her choice to keep the vampire/El Cuco separate made the Yanquis approach all the more monstrous and creepy. The romance between Nena and Nestor was fabulous. Loved the ending, and especially the way Nena “dealt” with the vampires in the end.
― Candice Conner from The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, AL | Buy from The Haunted Book Shop
Isabel knows the realm of gothic romance like the back of her hand- Like she’s an apprentice to Del Toro himself. Vampires of El Norte is haunting, both in the depictions of vampires, and the history it follows, of continued colonization that’s violent, horrifying, and seemingly never ending. Yet amongst all of it, there is the reminder that above all, love, all kinds of it, is how we fight back against those who terrorize. Love is the strongest force possible to back the fight. Familial, platonic, and romantic. And salt. Lots of salt.
― Caitlyn Vanorder from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks

About Isabel Cañas

Isabel Cañas is a Mexican American speculative fiction writer. After having lived in Mexico, Scotland, Egypt, Turkey, and New York City, among other places, she has settled in the Pacific Northwest. She holds a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and writes fiction inspired by her research and her heritage.

Spotlight on: North Woods by Daniel Mason

Adult Fiction, Historical, Literary, Nature & Environment

“You know, even though I’ve – I love writing about nature, I had previously really mostly written about nature as a kind of setting. And this time around, I thought, I want to write about it as a kind of protagonist. What would it be like to treat it like I treat my human characters? And, of course, all the good stuff that makes up the stories that we want to hear about human characters – all the drama, the sex, the violence, the treason – are ones that we can find in the natural world, as well.”
― Daniel Mason, Interview, NPR

What booksellers are saying about North Woods

Daniel Mason’s North Woods is a masterful literary art form exploring the four-hundred-year history of the woods surrounding a particular house in western Massachusetts. Mason uses songs, journals, letters, medical notes, and other techniques to share the lives of those who live, love, suffer, create, and die there. The manner in which this book reveals the life cycles of flora and fauna is lyrical, respectful, and full of wonder and awe. Throughout North Woods humanity shapes and changes the environment, but the natural world very much reveals itself to be omnipotent.
― Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia | Buy from Avid Bookshop
In times like these, art’s what gets us through. In North Woods, Mason meets us head-on: our fear of change, our place in nature, what it is we owe to the ancestors. It’ll be compared to The Overstory but its similarity to Lincoln in the Bardo ― the stories of those who came before us ― is what it recalls. That said: Mason’s his own man and his own master and doesn’t really need to be compared to anyone at all. He sits, at the top of the mountain, with the those to whom we give our eternal thanks for books we love.
― Erica Eisdorfer, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Buy from Flyleaf Books
Majestic and sprawling and a grand ol’ adventure through time of one singular, special place starring as the ultimate main character with deep ties that bind these stories into one. Incredible.
― Jill Naylor from Novel in Memphis, TN | Buy from Novel.
I read Daniel Mason’s book, North Woods, on a trip across the country. In the car, when I finished the last page, I turned to my husband and said, “Oh my gosh—I’ve got to start reading this again immediately!” Spanning around 400 years of inhabitants of a house in Massachusetts, this novel is haunting and haunted. Mason makes use of many literary forms, including the loveliest poetry and epistolary writing, to tell the story of the intertwined lives of the people who lived in the yellow house with the orchard of Wonder apples.
― Mamie Potter from Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC | Buy from Quail Ridge Books

About Daniel Mason

Daniel Mason is the author of The Piano Tuner, A Far Country, The Winter Soldier, and A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His work has been translated into twenty-eight languages, adapted for opera and the stage, and awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, and a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His short stories and essays have been awarded two Pushcart Prizes, a National Magazine Award, and an O. Henry Prize. He is an assistant professor in the Stanford University department of psychiatry.

Spotlight on: Lo que el río sabe por Isabel Ibáñez

Etiquetas: Adulto joven, Fantasía, Fantasy, Histórico, Historical, Young Adult

“Amo, amo, historias que cuentan del amor. Creo que más que nada, es la emoción detrás de cada palabra, cada personaje, cómo puede inspirar a alguien a sentir amor y dolor, y alegría y reír a carcajadas o llorar. Hay algo tan hermoso en escribir una historia con la que muchas personas pueden relacionarse o apreciar. Quiero ser escritor porque quiero vivir en mi imaginación, y no en ningún tipo de estructura. Escribir me permite acceder al pozo de mi creatividad y a menudo me sorprende.”

― Isabel Ibañez, Entrevista, American Writers Museum

Lo que dicen los libreros de What the River Knows

Una carta de amor a la historia, más específicamente a la historia egipcia. Una hermosa ficción histórica con una pizca de magia y la romalidad más deliciosa que jamás hayas leído, y por la que estarás un poco traumatizado. Isabel sabe lo que está haciendo, y todo lo que usted como lector necesita hacer es confiar en ella.
― Caitlyn Vanorder from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Compra de Bookmarks
Inez Olivera tiene un toque de magia y un espíritu aventurero, pero va a necesitar más para sobrevivir a los peligros y engaños que rodean a sus padres perdidos. El ritmo rápido, muchos giros y personajes poco confiables, y un final de suspenso hacen de este un buen comienzo para una nueva serie.
― Jan Blodgett from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Compra de Main Street Books
“Primero, este libro fue una montaña rusa emocional que parecía que no podía dejar. La forma en que el autor escribió el personaje de Inez hizo que me gustara al instante. Cada personaje de la historia fue escrito con una personalidad tan única que las interacciones que tuvieron entre sí me hicieron querer más. En general, las mejores partes de esta historia fueron la forma en que las ambiciones, interacciones y deseos de los personajes fluyeron a través de la trama, haciendo que cada uno de ellos sea adorable (o extremadamente odiable). ¡No puedo esperar a la próxima!
― Suzanne Lucey from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC | Compra de Page 158 Books

Sobre Isabel Ibañez

Isabel Ibañez es autora de Together We Burn (Wednesday Books) y Woven in Moonlight (Page Street), finalista del Premio William C. Morris, y figura entre los 100 mejores libros de fantasía de todos los tiempos de la revista Time. Ella es la orgullosa hija de inmigrantes bolivianos y tiene un profundo aprecio por la historia y los viajes. Actualmente vive en Asheville, Carolina del Norte, con su esposo, su adorable perro y una colección seria de libros. Manda tú saludo en las redes sociales en @IsabelWriter09.

Spotlight on: What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult

“I love love love telling stories. I think more than anything, it’s the emotion behind every word, every character, how it can inspire someone to feel love and hurt, and joy and to laugh out loud or cry. There is something so beautiful about writing a story that many people can relate to or cherish. I want to be a writer because I want to live in my imagination, and not in any kind of structure. Writing allows me to access the well of my creativity and it often surprises me.”
― Isabel Ibañez, Interview, American Writers Museum

What booksellers are saying about What the River Knows

A love letter to history, most specifically Egyptian history. A beautiful historical fiction with a sprinkling of magic and the most delicious rivalmance you’ll ever read, and be slightly traumatized by. Isabel knows what she’s doing, and all you as the reader need to do is trust her.
― Caitlyn Vanorder from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC | Buy from Bookmarks
Inez Olivera has a touch of magic and an adventurous spirit but she’s going to need more to survive the dangers and deceits surrounding her lost parents. Fast pacing, plenty of twists and unreliable characters, and a cliffhanger ending make this a good start to a new series.
― Jan Blodgett from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC | Buy from Main Street Books
First, this book was an emotional roller coaster that I couldn’t seem to put down. The way the author wrote Inez’s character made me like her instantly. Every character in the story was written with such a unique personality that the interactions they had with each other had me wanting more. Overall, the best parts of this story were the way the characters’ ambitions, interactions, and desires flowed through the plot, making each one of them lovable (or extremely hateable). Can’t wait for the next one!
― Suzanne Lucey from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC | Buy from Page 158 Books

About Isabel Ibañez

Isabel Ibañez is the author of Together We Burn (Wednesday Books), and Woven in Moonlight (Page Street), a finalist for the William C. Morris Award, and listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All Time. She is the proud daughter of Bolivian immigrants and has a profound appreciation for history and traveling. She currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, their adorable dog, and a serious collection of books. Say hi on social media at @IsabelWriter09.

Spotlight on: A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult

“I am always very interested in the deconstruction of fairy tales, the relationship between folklore and nationalism, and the role of stories in shaping identity on both the personal and political level. If The Wolf and the Woodsman is about the pain of being excluded from the narrative, and Juniper & Thorn is about the pain of being forced into a narrative against your will, then A Study in Drowning is about crafting an intricate, epic narrative of your own, in order to protect yourself from the pain of life’s daily, banal cruelties.” ― Ava Reid, Interview, Books Forward

What booksellers are saying about A Study in Drowning

What’s more dangerous—a sinking mansion full of secrets, a vicious and enthralling Fairy King, or the forces that have historically silenced and subjugated young women in academia? Fans of Mexican Gothic and The Hazel Wood, this Welsh folklore-infused dark academia fantasy will sweep you under and leave you drowning in all its lush and eerie, mysterious and romantic, utterly immersive, gothic splendor.
― Megan Bell, Underground Books in Carrollton, Georgia | Buy from Underground Books
Ava Reid’s YA debut will surely be one of my favorite reads of 2023. Reid’s work is steeped in literary and folkloric reference, worth countless re-reads and further dissection. Their prose is unmatched; dark, delicious, and dreamy all at once. Reid is a remarkable talent—I will read anything they write.
― Reviewed by Isabel Agajanian, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida | Buy from Oxford Exchange
A haunting story full of magic and heart. I was hooked from the very beginning. I loved falling so completely into the world Ava Reid created.
― Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana | Buy from Blue Cypress Books

About Ava Reid

Ava Reid was born in Manhattan and raised right across the Hudson River in Hoboken but currently lives in Palo Alto. She has a degree in political science from Barnard College, focusing on religion and ethnonationalism.

Spotlight on: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

Fantasy, Historical, LGBTQ+, Occult & Supernatural, Paranormal, Young Adult

“I think the best horror is a combination of the fear of something inside themselves and something external, especially when one of them inherently feeds the other. However, external horror is what speaks the most to me as both a writer and reader. I can’t speak for all marginalized identities, obviously, but external horror for a lot of marginalized identities is terrifying because it’s real. The world is always lurking, waiting to make a horror movie of our lives or the lives of those we love. It doesn’t care about your internality. You’re different, and therefore a target. For me, the best horror acknowledges that, illustrates that, and allows the internality of both the character and the audience to expand from there.” ― Andrew Joseph White, Interview, Scifi Pulse

What booksellers are saying about The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

White’s brutal tale of a reimagined 1880s London where some people can commune with the dead is harsh and captivating. Silas wants nothing more to escape his family’s plan to marry him off to the highest bidder and force him to behave like the girl they think he is. But he has other plans. However, when his plan blows up and he’s sent to a sanitarium/finishing school to heal his sickness, he finds that things can always be worse. But there are a few bright spots in the cast ugliness.
― Jennifer Jones from Bookmiser, Inc. in Marietta, GA | Buy from Bookmiser
Andrew Joseph White’s phenomenal debut, “Hell Followed With Us,” would seem like a tough act to follow but White’s fans won’t be disappointed: “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” is just as incredible. White tackles the overlapping ways in which misogyny, transphobia, and ableism manifest in society through a ghost-infested finishing school where protagonist Silas Bell must work with the spirits of deceased students to expose the school’s medical and psychiatric abuses and break free of the system’s tyrannical rule. Gut-wrenching yet gorgeous, “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth” is a necessary and impressive addition to both LGBTQ and horror lit.
― Charlie Williams from Square Books in Oxford, MS | Buy from Square Books
Absolutely amazing gothic exploration of ableism and transphobia in a Victorian context. Heartwarming, vindictive, and vicious.
― Minna Banawan from Park Road Books in Charlotte, NC | Buy from Park Road Books

About Andrew Joseph White

Andrew Joseph White is a queer, trans author from Virginia, where he grew up falling in love with monsters and wishing he could be one too. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University in 2022 and has a habit of cuddling random street cats. Andrew writes about trans kids with claws and fangs, and what happens when they bite back.

Chenneville by Paulette Jiles

Adult Fiction, Civil War Era, Fiction, Historical

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Paulette Jiles has written another amazing book on post civil war Texas. John Chenneville comes home to Missouri after a devastating head injury that left him hospitalized for over a year. Upon returning home he finds that his beloved sister, her husband and new baby have been murdered. Chenneville sets out on a journey to bring the killer to justice. Along the way he encounters all types of people trying to make their way in the world after the devastation of civil war. The author does an outstanding job of bringing these characters to life, the same as she did in News of the World.

Chenneville by Paulette Jiles, (List Price: $30, William Morrow, 9780063252684, September 2023)

Reviewed by Kathy Clemmons, Sundog Books in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles

Adult Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Regency, Romance

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A September 2023 Read This Next Book!

This review is just me screaming to anyone who will listen what an absolute joy it is to read KJ Charles. The newest Doomsday book has us returning once again to Romney Marsh and cheering like crazy for Luke and Rufus to get their well deserved HEA. Hijinks, hilarity and heart stopping charm, Charles is a must read for historical romance lovers.

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles, (List Price: 16.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728255880, September 2023)

Reviewed by Katie Garaby, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult Fiction

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Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

A September 2023 Read This Next Book!

Andrew Joseph White’s phenomenal debut, Hell Followed With Us, would seem like a tough act to follow but White’s fans won’t be disappointed: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is just as incredible. White tackles the overlapping ways in which misogyny, transphobia, and ableism manifest in society through a ghost-infested finishing school where protagonist Silas Bell must work with the spirits of deceased students to expose the school’s medical and psychiatric abuses and break free of the system’s tyrannical rule. Gut-wrenching yet gorgeous, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a necessary and impressive addition to both LGBTQ and horror lit.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White, (List Price: 19.99, Peachtree Books, 9781682636114, September 2023)

Reviewed by Charlie Williams, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi

The Caretaker by Ron Rash

Adult Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Literary, Small Town & Rural

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In The Caretaker, set in 1950s Appalachia, acclaimed Southern author Ron Rash examines the power of love and how it can drive us to reckless actions or can transform us into stronger versions of ourselves. Rash’s title character, Blackburn Gant, will stay with you long after you’ve closed the book and I’m campaigning for a sequel.

The Caretaker by Ron Rash, (List Price: $28, Doubleday, Wednesday Books, 9780385544276, September 2023)

Reviewed by Jill Hendrix, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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