Literary March Madness

March is a big publishing month. I could not cover all the new releases below but will have more recommendations on my social media posts.

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera is an unexpectedly hilarious thriller. When Lucy’s best friend is murdered, Lucy becomes suspect number one. After all, she is covered in her friend’s blood. Lucy claims not to remember what happened. It is years later, and a handsome young podcaster has come to town to try and solve the crime. Beset by a murderous voice in her head urging her to kill, Lucy knows it is entirely possible she is responsible for her friend’s death. Things grow complicated when she becomes romantically involved with the podcaster determined to unmask the killer, even if it is Lucy.

Underestimated: The Wisdom and Teenage Girls is a dynamic must-read for any man, woman, or child. Chelsey Goodan, an academic tutor and mentor, believes teenage girls – across all races, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic backgrounds – have been unfairly judged, labeled, and sentenced. Her book carefully guides adults through the myriad challenges facing girls today, be it social media pressure, perfection expectations, eating disorders and so much more. Goodan turns to the teens themselves to hear what they want and need, and it is eye-opening. 

When Susan Lieu’s mother dies following plastic surgery, her entire family shuts down, refusing to talk about this tough, successful woman – a refugee from Vietnam who managed a harrowing escape in the 1980s. In her time, Lieu’s mother built up two successful manicure shops, sending money back to Vietnam and sponsoring the emigration of relatives; who would inevitably arrive on her doorstep. Her daughter, Susan, will spend twenty years before she discovers who her enigmatic mother was, and why she sought plastic surgery. It’s all here in The Manicurist’s Daughter; a funny, painful memoir, and an exploration of one woman’s grief told first on stage and then with this raw book. 

Princess Diana is back. Or an entertainer who imitates her is. The Princess of Las Vegas, Chris Bohjalian’s latest, sets this thriller in the heat of a B-level casino. Crissy is the Princess look-alike whose boss is brutally murdered. The pill-popping Crissy is having a hard time holding it together after her married boyfriend dumps her and her estranged sister (who she is convinced killed their mother) comes to town. The story is smart and funny as the dead bodies start piling up, pitting sister against sister, and very bad crypto kings against a very savvy teenage girl.

The unlikely friendship between Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe is the basis of the historical novel Can’t We Be Friends, written by Denny S. Bryce and Eliza Knight. And though Ella’s voice is more clearly defined, it is a fascinating look at two women struggling to be the best at their respective professions. Monroe did take a stand for Fitzgerald and the two had a touching relationship that lasted years.

A Murder in Hollywood: the Untold Story of Tinseltown’s Most Shocking Crime is the in-depth investigation of a notorious 1958 case involving a glamorous movie star and her awkward daughter. Ever since mobster Johnny Stompanato was found stabbed to death on movie queen Lana Turner’s bedroom floor, rumors have swirled. Did Turner’s 14-year-old daughter really kill him? We finally have the answers in Casey Sherman’s new book which explores the mob influence in Hollywood and how entrenched Turner was in that world.

Stephanie Dray’s detailed and brilliant portrayal of Frances Perkins in Becoming Madam Secretary brings to life the struggles and challenges of the first woman to hold a U.S. Cabinet position (Secretary of Labor), even as she is attempting to raise a daughter with a seriously depressed husband. Perkins started her career working and living in Hell’s Kitchen at the turn of the century becoming an activist fighting work reforms for children, women, and the working poor. When she meets FDR, her life will change in unexpected ways. This is historical fiction at its finest.

Jennine Capó Crucet’s novel Say Hello to My Little Friend has one of the most devastating first chapters I have ever read. A story that won’t be for everyone (what book is?); this is an imaginative, funny, unique story about Lolita – an orca trapped and depressed for decades in Miami’s Seaquarium – and that of Ismael, a Cuban refugee with aspirations to become Tony Montana from the film Scarface. The climax and the coming together of Lolita and Ismael is touching and heartbreaking.