by Lauren Groff (2021)
Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn for marriage or courtly life, seventeen-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease. At first taken aback by the severity of her new life, Marie finds focus and love in collective life with her singular and mercurial sisters. In this crucible, Marie steadily supplants her desire for family, for her homeland, for the passions of her youth with something new to her: devotion to her sisters, and a conviction in her own divine visions. Marie, born the last in a long line of women warriors and crusaders, is determined to chart a bold new course for the women she now leads and protects. But in a world that is shifting and corroding in frightening ways, one that can never reconcile itself with her existence, will the sheer force of Marie’s vision be bulwark enough?
Laird Hunt
After losing both her parents and her aunt, Zorrie is cast into the perilous realities of rural Depression-era Indiana. Drifting west, surviving on odd jobs, Zorrie finds a position at a radium processing plant. When Indiana calls Zorrie home, she finds the love and community that has always eluded her in and around the small town of Hillisburg, but discovers that her trials have only begun. -- adapted from jacket
Peter Carey
His Illegal Self is a celebrated work by Peter Carey (Double Booker Prize Winner), recognized for masterclass storytelling and lasting literary resonance.
Douglas Coupland
Five disparate people are trapped in an airport lounge during a global disaster: Karen, waiting for her online date; Rick, a down-on-his-luck bartender; Luke, a pastor on the run; Rachel, a cool blonde; and, finally, a mysterious voice known as Player One. Slowly, each reveals their true selves as the world as they know it comes to an end.
Meg Mason
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason is an acclaimed literary masterpiece celebrating major critical honors and timeless storytelling.