This novel set in Sri Lanka blends murder mystery with historical fiction and upends expectations at every turn.
The story opens with anti-hero Maali waking up to find he's a ghost. I was immediately in his corner despite his being a shady character. (His business card: "Photographer, Gambler, Slut.")
When Maali learns he has seven moons (one week) to move into the Light, he opts to spend his precious time investigating his own murder. I was immersed in this world of the In-Between (think: ghosts, ghouls, demons) and real-life Sri Lanka during its war years.
This book stomped on my heart multiple times, but it's funny and wise, too, thanks to Maali's jaded yet hopeful outlook. When the truth of his death was revealed, I was devastated—but the story's ending is bright and life-affirming.
Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida-war photographer, gambler, and closet queen-has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to…
I was utterly charmed by this short, sweet novel that weaves magic into everyday events. It's set in Maine, where the Northern Lights are dancing in the sky, making unusual things happen in the small town of Almost.
Everything that happens is so literal, it comes all the way back around to the otherworldly. Hearts physically break. People actually trip and fall into love. A character that's losing hope gets physically smaller.
Within this enchanted world, the author explores the rugged beauty and daily challenges of living somewhere as isolated as rural Maine. Small towns can be a tough place to change your relationships with others and with yourself. But as this one Friday night proves, love and hope are always worth the risk. That is a message I can really get behind.
Based on one of the most popular plays of the last decade, John Cariani's Almost, Maine is a heartwarming and heartbreaking story that will have you thinking about love in an entirely new way.
Welcome to Almost, Maine, a town that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States―it’s almost in Canada. And it almost doesn’t exist, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it’s just . . . Almost.
One cold, clear Friday night in the middle of winter, while the northern lights hover in the sky above, Almost’s residents find themselves falling in…
If it's possible for a 600-page doorstopper to be a romp, this is a romp—a Gothic confection with layers of story held together by the delicious buttercream of dangerous secrets.
There's a creaky haunted house (with a turret library!), portentous (possibly sentient!) yellow jackets, and sexy frenemies—plus, much of the action takes place on the windswept cliffs of Rhode Island overlooking the thrashing Atlantic. What's not to love?
The prose is sharp and entertaining; the (melo)dramatic revelations made it impossible for me to put this book down. So many sapphic love triangles and delicious drama! Plus, it's embellished with charmingly sarcastic footnotes and a narrator who addresses the reader from time to time in arch-Victorian fashion. It's like if Jane Eyre got snarky and sexy, and there's no higher praise I can give a novel.
'It's a terrible story and one way to tell it is this: two girls in love and a fog of wasps cursed the place forever after...'
BROOKHANTS SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: Infamous site of a series of tragic deaths over a hundred years ago. Soon to be the subject of a controversial horror movie about the rumoured 'Brookhants curse':…
Strong Sense of Place and The Library of Lost Time
I'm the co-host of two podcasts about books: Strong Sense of Place and The Library of Lost Time.
Strong Sense of Place is a bi-weekly show for book lovers who are curious about the world—and want stories that transport them to other places and times. In each episode, we choose one destination and discuss what makes it different than everywhere else. Then we recommend five books we love that took us there on the page.
The Library of Lost Time is a short-and-sweet podcast! Every week, we tell you about two new books at the top of our TBR, then share something related to reading, travel, or culture that we think will delight you.
