In Brian Kavanagh’s The Charabanc of Death: A Belinda Lawrence Mystery, Jenny Forrest is hosting a recreation of the nostalgic 1907 car journey through France originally taken by famous authors Edith Wharton and Henry James. The tour goes to remarkable lengths to match the original trip, including using period-appropriate, open-topped sightseeing vehicles called charabancs.
Author Dan Conti opens a window into the past with his novella Pikeville. Set in 1924 in the very real town of Pikeville, Kentucky, readers will glimpse a world that seems so very different from today. Yet this historical fiction novel reminds us that today’s society does indeed still carry some of the remnants from that time a century ago.
Island Girl covers tough subjects such as alcoholism, sexual assault, and extreme emotional and family dysfunction. The emotional intensity is heart-stopping in places, especially in the scenes when Garrett struggles with grief and fights the pull of the ‘drink.’ The descriptions of the emotional assault that comes with intense anguish over sudden and tragic losses create relatable moments, making readers care about Garrett and urging them to read on to see whether he’ll survive danger and threats to come.
