Wartime Love, Mystery, and Popstars in Spring

‘The Jackal’s Mistress’

Two terrific new books centered around the Civil War are out. The first is Chris Bohjalian’s The Jackal’s Mistress, an unlikely love story between a wounded Yankee and a lonely Southern woman who is struggling after her husband is captured by the North. Libby can do nothing but help to save the seriously wounded soldier. She hopes some Northern woman would do the same for her husband. Libby risks everything when she shelters the Yank in her home, risking the lives of her feisty niece and a formerly enslaved couple who work with her. Bohjalian masterfully keeps his characters in constant peril as both sides of the war appear to be on the hunt for the wounded Yankee.

‘Zeal’

In Zeal – Morgan Jerkins’ powerful story of formerly enslaved people during the time of the Civil War – Harrison and Tirzah are in love, but were separated when he joined the Union Army, and she was taken to Louisiana. Now that the war is over, each takes steps to find the other, only to become thwarted time and again. This story spans over a hundred years in a family’s tale of the reverberations and cost of “freedom.” Jerkins is an excellent writer and the story will move your heart as you follow the star-crossed Harrison and Tirzah as they search for love.

‘The Stolen Child’

Out in paperback is The Stolen Child by Ann Hood. Nick is an American soldier fighting in France during WWI. A brief encounter with a talented artist will have lifelong consequences when Nick is forced to make a devastating choice. That choice will bring Jenny, a young waitress, into his life in pursuit of the answers to what happened almost 60 years prior. It is the end of life for Nick, who is dying – and the beginning for Jenny, who is searching for purpose. Set in France and Italy, this is a gorgeous, well-crafted story. 

‘Gothictown’

Have you ever seen those ads that promise a perfect home for only $100 if you just relocate? Emily Carpenter takes this premise in Gothictown and turns it into a page-turning, creepy story. Billie and her family relocate from New York to a small Georgia town, moving into an incredible too-good-to-be-true home. That is when things begin to go weird. Her husband can’t sleep, her daughter has nightmares, and Billie is drawn to a handsome neighbor. This Southern Gothic suspense builds to a heart-stopping climax.

‘Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping’

I’m particularly drawn to stories that dwell on “found families” as exemplified in Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man), starring her San Francisco-based sectarian tea shop owner and part-time sleuth. Sutanto delivers another madcap and witty adventure, Vera Wong playing the nosy, inquisitive Grandmother to all those she meets who are in trouble. Bringing together a disparate group of misfits (and possible suspects) to solve the murder of a popular TikTok influencer. So much heart and food in this one.

‘The Unlucky Ones’

The Unlucky Ones is a gritty, fast-paced thriller by Hannah Morrissey set in the rough and tumble down of Black Harbor, Wisconsin; a place filled with drug addicts, criminals, and other assorted nefarious characters. Eight years prior, Hazel escaped her violent husband – but now she’s back in town after he is found brutally murdered. The detective on the case is none other than her former lover, Nikolai Kole, who still pines for her, setting in motion a whole lot of complications as Hazel’s life is threatened. 

‘I’ll Love You Forever’

K-pop stars take center stage in Giaae Kwon’s debut novel, I’ll Love You Forever. Kwon writes about growing up as a K-pop mega fan, and what the trials and triumphs of all her favorite stars meant to her as an awkward, depressed young teen maturing into a woman looking for her place in the world. This collection of essays gives a real behind the scenes examination of K-pop’s artificially, and meticulously controlled stars, highlighting eating disorders, suicides and growing too old for K-pop. It’s both funny and poignant.