The Insrumentalist by Harriet Constable

 Anna Maria della Pieta was born in 1696 to a 17 year old prostitute in Venice.  She was placed in a hole in the wall of the orphanage Ospedale della Pieta. Gathered from that hole by nuns on the other side of the wall, she would live her entire life there. But what a life. The orphanage believed in the education of the young women including music. It became famous for its figlie de coro - "daughters of the choir" - an all female orchestra. From the age of 8, Anna Maria was recognized as a musical prodigy on the violin. Experiencing what we would today term synesthesia, the colors of musical notes danced before and within her.  She was championed by the music instructor at the orphanage - Antonio Vivaldi - the Vivaldi of the Four Seasons. It is their relationship that is most explored in this story. Was he a powerful mentor or a musical thief?  It seems that there have been a lot of books written lately about women who, against all odds, have accomplished much and yet received little recognition. This is one of them. A bit overwritten but I'll take a little unknown history any time I can get it.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

 I have been intrigued with life in the boardinghouses of the 19th and early 20th century even since I read Clara and Mr. Tiffany. Briar House is in Washington DC. The time is the 1950's McCarthy Era. It is an adequate but morbid residence until Grace Marsh rents the tiny attic room and begins creating lean but enticing meals on her hotplate every Thursday evening. Drawn out of their previously solitary rooms,  the Briar Club is formed. The book is organized around each resident's story - all drawn from real people, all with secrets. It is both historical fiction and a murder mystery but it is mostly a story of female friendship seasoned with the morality of hard times and bad luck. It is an ending that you both anticipate and probably guess wrong. And Quinn is right - don't read the suthor's notes first. 

The art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

When Tin Win, a successful NYC lawyer, suddenly disappears, his daughter, Julia, believes there must be a good reason. She knows that her parents weren't a warm, fuzzy couple but Julia and her father have always been close. Then they discover a letter from a woman in his native Burma. Julia believes she will find an answer to her questions there. Off she goes to the small village of Kalaw which is now in a country known as Myanmar in search of her father's real story. Here she meets the enigmatic U Ba and the tale begins. It reads like a fable of love, obligation, tragedy, and determination.  Perhaps it is the unexpected setting or the archetypal characters (right down to the evil uncle) that makes this seem like something out of the Brothers Grimm rather than a Hallmark moment. It is nonetheless a lovely read with an ending that will maybe surprise you but at the very least will make you say ahhhh.

Babel by R.F. Kuang

The subtitle of this book is An Arcane History and mysterious it is. Part fantasy. Part dystopian history. Part political discourse. All ideas you just wish you could discuss in a book group that was willing to read all 545 pages. This hefty tome can't be sold as a quick read because on almost every page is something you really want to spend time dissecting. One of the most thought provoking books EVER!
Robin Swift, orphan from China is taken to England by the Englishman he will learn is his father.  There he joins the new cohort of students at the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford University in the 1830's.  He is joined by Letty, a typical blond haired English rose, Rany, a privileged but bitter young man from India, and Victoire, a young woman from Haiti tired of feeling like an outsider. All brilliant. All hand picked. All so excited to be at Oxford - and yet.... 
 The Institute is housed in a secured round tower on the Oxford campus referred to as Babel. In this dystopian society, there is power in the fact that very few ideas can be exactly translated from one language to another. This "lost in translation" power is stored in silver bars which run the industrial, colonial power that is England.  All four students eventually come under the influence of the Hermes society. Led by a former disillusioned R.I.T. student, the society is looking to change the existing balance of power - a power that begins with the students in Babel. Can this be done without violence is the question? In fact in some countries (this book has been translated into many languages - haha) the title translates back to English as Babel(or the Necessity of Violence):An arcane history of the Oxford Translators Revolution - which says perhaps more than necessary in a title.  But then, it's all in the translation.

Still Life by Saran Winman

 Art, life, war, luck and a sentient parrot - what more could you ask for?  I would pay to have the kind of conversations Ulysses and Evelyn have. The story begins at the close of WWII.  Ulysses is a young British soldier more likely to see good than bad even in a war. Evelyn is a much older art conservator trying to get into Florence to assess and rescue art lost and damaged by war.  Their meeting is an unlikely random chance but it is a meeting of two minds destined to connect. Ulysses returns to a messy life in a small town outside of London filled with unforgettable characters including Claude the parrot and a daughter for whom biology is an unnecessary requirement.  A most incredible set of circumstances finds him back in Florence with another group of people you just hope really exist somewhere.  It's a book that will take you to your happy place or at least Florence, Italy. And so many wonderful conversations!

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford

 Afong Moy was a real woman. Her daughters are fictional possibilities used to explore the idea of epigenesis.  In 1826 Afong Moy was illegally brought to the United States from China and exploited as an oddity on stage to the benefit of her "handlers".  In 2045 Dorothy Moy struggles in her life in Seattle. She was once the Washington poet laureate but dreams and feelings of trauma have affected her ability to function. When her young daughter begins to "remember" things she could not possibly have seen, Dorothy decides to contact a councilor who is exploring the idea of epigenesis.  Through her story we meet 5 other generations of women all who carry trauma historical and new. One of the best parts was the climate change affected weather in Seattle - trauma enough itself!
Depending on whether or not you buy into the idea of epigenesis, the book is either interesting fiction or magical realism. You choose.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker

 Historical fiction? Magical Realism? I admit I read "genie" the whole time. Ahmad was "born" in the Syrian desert hundreds of years ago, is locked in a copper flask and turns up in NYC in the 1890's. Chava was created in Poland by a man who possesses the powers to create a Golem from mud. She was intended to be the wife of a man who dies at sea on the way to NYC. Two powerful magical creatures designed to follow their masters but no masters are present. Enter a cast of humans, some equally mystical, some willing to accept the truth of Ahmad and Chava and others set on evil. Naturally they meet - and connect in the tenements and parks of the city. Can they overcome their powerful natures? Is it possible to learn to be human? Is it possible to keep their names straight when they seem to change with the centuries. The ending is a surprise but then I already knew there was a sequel so not totally unsuspected.