Of Wolves, Gypsies and New Releases

If you came into the store last summer, I am sure that I handed you a copy of The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney.  I loved this historic tale of the Northern Territories in the 1860's.  While there was a dead body and a search for the killer, the writing in this book was so good that you could feel the chill of the snowy wilds and know the emotions of even the most silent character.

So I was thrilled to hear that Stef Penney had written a new book that would be released this month. The Invisible Ones could not be more different than Penney's previous book.  Yet it has the powerful writing, complicated characters and twisty plot of The Tenderness of Wolves.  You are in for a treat with this one.

Ray Lovell awakes in a hospital bed, unable to move or speak.  He has driven his car into a tree, but the reason for this cannot be determined.  Slowly, his memory returns and he begins to piece together bits of the recent past.

Ray Lovell is a private investigator.  He father was a Gypsy or a Romany.  His mother was not.  His father gave up his way of life and most of his family to live in a house and turn his back on his roots.  While Ray is aware of the ways of the Romanie, he has never lived it.  When Leon Wood comes to Ray to help find his missing daughter, Rose,  because Ray is "one of them" and will understand, Ray almost refuses the case.

JJ is a 14 year old boy that lives in a group of trailers with his mother, his grandparents, his wheelchair-bound great uncle, his dour cousin Ivo and Ivo's sick child, Christo.  JJ tries to make sense of his life, but finds it difficult when nobody will answer any questions about the past.  Ivo was married to Rose and continues to insist that she ran off after Christo was born.

This story is haunting and intriguing.  Sometimes, you feel like you are looking through a dirty window at shadows, as you try to unravel the story.  The culture of the Gypsies is fascinating, the characters seem real, and the setting in rural England in the 1980's comes to life under Penney's hand.  I highly recommend this for a chilly winter afternoon.

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New Books this Week


Fiction:
A Grown Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson - Sure to be another great Southern story from one of my favorite authors.

An Available Man by Hilma Wolitzer - A charming story of love....the second time around.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey - An updated take on Jane Eyre which takes place on the Orkney Islands

Mystery:
All I Did Was Shoot My Man by Walter Mosley - The latest in the Leonid McGill series....murder and intrigue and Mosley's stellar writing.

Pineapple Grenade by Tim Dorsey - Serge Storms is back and Miami is weirder than ever!

Nonfiction:
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain - There is lots of buzz around this one.  Cain examines how introverts are undervalued and underestimated......interesting subject.

Young Adult:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - This popular author is back with a story of Hazel, a terminally ill teen and her chance to find love......sounds sappy but the sharp humor and true-to-life teens rescue it.

Children's:
Peepsqueak by Leslie Ann Clark - Cutest picture book about an energetic little chick


So grab a great book and keep those pages turning......