The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger

 The proposal of a public school for the gifted in Crystal, Colorado causes turmoil in the lives of four families.  The wives in the four families have been friends ever since their 5th graders were born and like most families of privilege, are prepared to do whatever is necessary to make sure their children get into the school.  The issues of privilege, competition, and parenting are front and center - mostly shown in their worst light.  It could have been about 100 pages shorter but would stimulate great discussion about privilege, education and the choices we make as parents thinking they are "best" for our kids. Bet you never see the ending coming.

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Thurston

 This is a collection of short stories by one of the important voices of the Harlem Renaissance.  I struggled with the vernacular in the beginning but it is worth it to fall into the rhythm of the language, the times and the lives she spotlights.  The title of the book references the act of achieving something the hard way and this is at the core of each of the stories.   Thurston died impoverished and these stories were believed to be lost.  Glad they were found.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

 Apparently Donoghue began her novel in 2018 inspired by the 100th anniversary of the 1918 flu epidemic.  She had no idea how prescient her story would be.  

Julie Power, a nurse midwife, celebrates her 30th birthday in the maternity/fever ward of a Dublin hospital.  Over the length of three days readers experience many "Call the Midwife" moments compounded by the effects of the 1918 flu.  Readers will also recognize the delusional, lack of scientific understanding of the cause and how to treat the deadly disease - should be different today but - hmmmm.  Also working on the ward is Bridie Sweeney, the voice of the horrible poverty and religious restrictions of 1918 Ireland, and Dr. Kathleen Lynn, who is based on an actual figure in the Irish Resistance.  The writing lacks poetry but there is lot's of history, so many similarities and one life profoundly changed. 

The House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi

 Zeba finds herself in an Afghan prison accused of the brutal murder of her abusive husband.  Her American trained lawyer, Yusuf, believes that she might be saved with an insanity defense.  Is she insane ? No - but as she says, "Sometimes if you don't lose your mind a little bit, you'll never survive." The world inside the women's prison is not the horror you might imagine but a society of women preferable to the world outside the prison walls. Neither would you suspect that Zeba, who has suffered as a woman under the yoke of Afghan law, would emerge a heroine.  The story is rich with Afghan tradition and fascinating characters.  And although the book has the structure of a murder mystery, it is really political commentary on the culture and the legal system of Afghanistan.  One of my favorite books this year.

Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

From 1933 until 1973, the Eugenics Board of North Carolina, sterilized, with or without permission, over 7000 individuals. Maybe many were young girls just like  Ivy.  She lives with her increasingly ill grandmother and beautiful but mentally challenged 16 year old sister who does not know that she was sterilized after she gave birth to her son two years ago.  They live in a ramshackle home provided by the owner of the tobacco farm where they live and work.  They rely on the benefits coordinated by Jane, a brand new social worker.  When Jane learns that Ivy is also scheduled for a secret sterilization, a practice she questions, she sets in motion events that quickly spin out of control.  It is a story of class, race and above all choice.  All sides of the issues come to play providing great fodder for discussion.

City of light by Lauren Belfer

Buffalo, New York - 1901.  Electricity is stilled viewed as scary magic by some and a possible economic boon by others.  The city is preparing for the Pan American Exposition and there is a environmental controversy brewing about the affect of power generating plants on the free flowing waters of Niagara Falls.  The drama in the story centers around Louisa Barrett.  As head mistress of a well regarded private school for girls, a confirmed spinster, and a significant figure in the intellectual life of the city, Louisa has access to some of the most powerful political and business circles in Buffalo.  But Louisa has secrets to keep - some her own and some of the students she teaches.  The book is 689 pages but there are many different layers to this story - life at the beginning of the 20th century - the role of women - the beginning of the electrical age - so it's a big story to consider and worth the read.

First Impressions by Charlie Lovett

The subtitle is A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love and Jane Austen.  I'm not a Jane Austen fan so it was a bit of a slow start but once the mystery, revealed in parallel and alternating chapters, kicked in, I was hooked.  One story begins in 1796 with a young Jane Austen as the central character.  The other is a contemporary story in the English countryside where the young book lover, Sophie Collingwood, is grieving the loss of her favorite uncle and the further loss of the family's extensive library. The object at the center of attention in both is the one and only copy of a little book written by the Rev. Mansfield, close friend of Jane.  The book was once in the Collingwood library.  In the book was  a story that would grow up to be Pride and Prejudice.  Did Jane Austen steal her most famous novel from her elderly friend and is this mystery somehow connected to her uncle's mysterious death? The fact that Lovett moves so easily between the style of the Victorian novel and contemporary writing was one of my favorite parts of this book - one every bibliophile would enjoy.