The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

This massive tome is well worth the time and effort it takes to essay its length. Covering every type of human feeling, aspiration, fear and fulfillment the narrative flows much like the water that pervades the story. Always moving, never the same, leading to an eternal sea of consciousness and meaning.
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Barbara Isn’t Dying by Alina Bronsky

A tale of a supremely disagreeable man who must learn to be a fully functioning human being when his wife takes ill and can no longer serve him hand and foot. Bitter and sweet and with a redemptive ending.
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The Shining Mountains by Alix Christie

A chronicle of the shameful treatment of the native peoples of the northwest, this eminently readable and engaging novel is informative, touching and passionate, taken from the author’s own family history.
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Lone Women by Victor LaValle

A multifaceted horror/western/feminist/gender identification story this is a disturbingly potent narrative of a woman fleeing a curse and seeking peace. Along the way she finds purpose and fulfillment.
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This Other Eden by Paul Harding

Based in fact, this novel tells the tragic story of a group of mixed-race islanders evicted from their rightful homes in the name of preservation of racial purity. Compelling and appalling in equal measure, the tale is nonetheless captivating and richly told.
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The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner

Seances, spiritualism, murder and Victorian London: how could it get better? Add a young woman who is skeptical of all of this and yet becomes embroiled in sinister paranormal plots with a touch of romance and it all comes together nicely.
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Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes

An academic institution dedicated to the education of sufferers of oppression and cruelty in the arts of “deletion”. Overbearing and vicious employers who make life miserable for their charges are the targets of these erudite schemes to succeed in murder and avoid retribution for the same. Dark fun.
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My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor

A scheme to smuggle escaped prisoners of war out of wartime Rome by a member of the Vatican clergy, helped by a variety of sympathizers is constantly imperiled by the scrutiny of the Nazi occupiers, the sanctity of the Vatican City’s neutral status notwithstanding. It is a nonstop thrill ride with plenty of Italian flavor, spiced with a touch of the Irish.
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