Originally published in 2018, Ling Ma's Severance has surged in popularity since the onset of the pandemic. Not unlike Mandel's Station Eleven or Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, the book explores the balance between connection and detachment, fantasy and disillusionment, and what it's like to cling to the shreds of existence. Through the lens of twenty-something Candace Chen, Ma compares the "before" and "after" of several event horizons: immigration, death, love, loneliness, and apocalypse. Utterly heart-breaking, Severance will leave readers wondering: What truly sickens us? Pandemic? Unfulfilled dreams? Or memories of a happier time?
Evie Wyld has a remarkable talent for blending contemporary fiction with archaic and mythic literary devices. For lovers of mysteries, thrillers, and historical fiction, sociopolitical commentary and storylines that feature complex female protagonists, The Bass Rock does not disappoint. Following three interrelated narratives that span centuries, the book unfolds like an eerie, winding maze, with spine-chilling interludes around every corner. Wyld's grisly, visceral style will leave readers wondering: do witches, ghosts, and demons walk among us?
Aimee Bender has a knack for finding the surreal in mundane, everyday life. Following the success of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Bender continues to explore our deep, psychological attachment to the sights, smells, sounds, and treasured keepsakes of our childhoods. (Why do we continue to hang on to dried roses and beetle carcasses?) A fascinating rumination on memory, mental illness, and how we associate people and emotions with "stuff," The Butterfly Lampshade is sure to fill readers with a sweet-and-sour sense of nostalgia.
