"Fallow"

Coming September 15 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux: Fallow: A Novel by Sarah Anderson.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Slyly funny and disarmingly tender, Fallow is the story of a young woman who signs up to be the world’s first in-house corporate surrogate, then finds herself caught up in a social experiment of another kind.

Natalie knows one truth: there is no such thing as a good job. As the clock ticks away at the call center where she logs complaints of workplace harassment, she tries to ignore the increasing pain in her jaw. She has no dental insurance. She has no skills or ambitions. She has student loans. And, minute by minute, she hears the many ways workers are not just not getting by, but actually getting hustled.

Then, at the blood bank where she sells her plasma, a mysterious flyer leads her to The Company. Natalie turns out to be the perfect candidate for their pilot program, pitched as an opportunity to help women access greater gender equity. She will be their in-house surrogate, delivering seven babies in ten years and enabling their executives to have motherhood without maternity leave. Finally, she will be adequately―generously―compensated.

For years, her every need is met: stacks of healthy meals in the refrigerator of a luxury condo, fitness coaches and nutritionists, around-the-clock health care. Between deliveries, she takes time off―a fallow period, with no obligations or expectations. For the first time in her life, she is good at her job; for the first time, she feels free.

But just as she’s about to fulfill the terms of her contract, a staffing decision upends everything. Natalie is pulled into an entirely different kind of social experiment, one that raises new questions about her future, her freedom, her purpose, what she can expect from the world, and what she can offer to it.

Woundingly funny and genuinely moving, Sarah Anderson’s Fallow is a tender, alarmingly real vision of a woman balancing on the knife-edge of capitalism as she comes to realize who she wants to be.

Visit Sarah W. Anderson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"He Has the People"

New from Oxford University Press: He Has the People: Abraham Lincoln and the Election of 1860 by Jonathan Earle.

About the book, from the publisher:

A gripping and granular look at how Abraham Lincoln got elected the 16th president of the United States.

James McPherson calls the election of 1860 "undeniably the most important--and pivotal--in all of American history." The nation was not merely divided over the issue of slavery; the opposing camps were at each other's throats. The moment John Brown and his men attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in the fall of 1859 the compromises that had stitched the country together for decades unraveled. The presidential election was therefore about more than who the next president would be. It was about how soon war would follow his inauguration.

Using the writings and story of Murat Halstead, the nation's first campaign journalist, as well as previously unused documents from Lincoln's campaign manager, Jonathan Earle captures the full drama of the 1860 election. He shows how Lincoln, a one-time Congressman from Illinois, and a dark horse against the more established Stephen Douglas, the Democratic frontrunner, and William Henry Seward, the presumptive Republican nominee, got the people and votes he needed to win in a protracted yet furiously disputed election cycle.

Earle focuses on the chaotic campaigns themselves, as political bosses, candidates, and their self-appointed partisans took politicking in directions that at times resembled paramilitary exercises more than campaign events. In the end, Lincoln and his associates ran a brilliant campaign, leveraging Northern anger, growing antislavery sentiment, and divisions within both the Democratic Party and the nation as a whole. His platform was built on his speeches, which projected a vision for how the nation would persevere in the coming crisis. Behind the commanding rhetoric, however, was sophisticated and very modern political machinery. He Has the People provides an engaging historical narrative and a fresh appraisal of the most consequential of all presidential elections.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Getaway"

New from Thomas & Mercer: The Getaway by Kieran Scott.

About the novel, from the publisher:

In a taut locked-room mystery from New York Times bestselling author Kieran Scott, a group of longtime friends confronts their darkest secrets―and deadliest impulses―on the brink of a hurricane.

For years, three couples have gathered at The Villa―billionaire Lincoln Foster’s Hamptons estate―for lavish weekends among friends. But this year, mysterious blue cards appear in each bedroom, exposing secrets: their host’s betrayals and the guests’ own dark deeds.

Everyone has something to hide. Marley and Marshall Foster. Suzy and Sean McTeague. Juliet and Josh Jacoby. Lincoln and his new wife, Hazel. Even uninvited guests hoping to be accepted among the elite.

With a hurricane bearing down, no one is getting out. When the revelations turn deadly, the trapped friends must confront what their lies have cost them―possibly their lives.

Visit Kieran Scott's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Captive Consumers"

New from The University of North Carolina Press: Captive Consumers: Hunger, Violence, and Inequality in American Prison Food by Chin Jou.

About the book, from the publisher:

Much of what happens inside America’s prisons remains hidden from public view, and the food doled out to incarcerated people is no exception. In Captive Consumers, Chin Jou exposes a system of mistreatment and scandal surrounding prison food: across the country, those behind bars live with chronic hunger, eat foods contrary to their religious beliefs and medical needs, and develop foodborne illnesses at alarming rates. At the same time, corrections systems and prison food services weaponize nutritional claims to protect themselves from charges that the incarcerated are starving.

Using a wealth of sources from untapped historical records to prison newspapers, Jou excavates the voices of the incarcerated and shows that prison food dehumanizes the imprisoned, compounds racial and class inequalities, and induces more violence—ultimately making carceral institutions more dangerous. But this compelling book also illuminates how people behind bars have reasserted their identities, resourcefulness, and humanity through self-prepared food even as prison food services profit from lucrative, taxpayer-funded contracts that reward cost-cutting over care. If US corrections systems continue to perpetuate physical and psychological violence through food, Jou argues, Americans will suffer not just wasted tax dollars but the cost of bringing traumatized, ailing, and hungry formerly incarcerated people back into society.

The Page 99 Test: Supersizing Urban America.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Promised Land"

New from Atlantic Crime: Promised Land by Henry Wise.

About the book, from the publisher:

Word is bond—until the past threatens to break it

From the Edgar Award-winning author comes a decisive sequel to Holy City in which a missing person case forces deputy sheriff Will Seems to confront the way history anchors, corrupts, and defines the present

Deep within southside Virginia lies the Snakefoot—a wild swampland that holds secrets, hides truths, and harbors the dead in murky waters that refuse to shine yet somehow glow.

One morning, a pickup truck is found jammed into the mud, the driver’s door open amidst scattered bullets and bloodstains on the seat. The driver, Rainbo Boon, is nowhere to be found, but his tracks lead Deputy Sheriff Will Seems and his partner, Tania Jameson, into the swamp.

During their investigation, Buck Tomlin, the grandson of the missing Rainbo, proves cooperative, at least at first. But when the boy’s whereabouts from the night of the accident don’t check out, Will and Tania must confront the troubling reality that the Snakefoot might hold more than just a runaway victim.

When haunting layers of history—both local and personal—rise to the surface of the Snakefoot, the people who have found refuge in its murky waters are exposed. Who really is Rainbo Boon? Where was Buck on the night of the accident? And how does this all connect to the recent efforts to redevelop the land?

As Will and Tania search for answers, so does Buck, and the sum of their investigations illuminates the hard fact that there is a price for progress, and a cost to living by a code. Sometimes all a person has is his word, and that word is his bond.

Powerful and complex, Promised Land is about the gravity of the past, the momentum of sin, and the impossibility of salvation.

Visit Henry Wise's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Fatherhood, Race, and the American State"

New from the University of Pennsylvania Press: Fatherhood, Race, and the American State: The Politics of Patriarchal Anxieties by H. Howell Williams.

About the book, from the publisher:

An argument that the major reason for White patriarchy’s endurance lies in the political regulation of fatherhood

White men continue to wield disproportionate political power in the United States, even as women enter politics in higher numbers and as the nation becomes increasingly racially diverse. White patriarchy remains an enduring model of political authority, one that its adherents defend fiercely in court cases and policy battles. H. Howell Williams argues that a major reason for White patriarchy’s endurance lies in the political regulation of fatherhood.

At key moments in American political history, and in response to efforts to expand the political community to include women and people of color, political actors fretted over how the government treated fathers, worrying that some non-White fathers were not performing their patriarchal duties sufficiently while the government was unfairly harsh on other fathers, usually White fathers of reasonable means. Their concerns, or “patriarchal anxieties,” inspired these actors and sympathetic constituencies to advocate for state intervention via one of three policy solutions: to uplift and help struggling fathers, to punish deficient fathers, or to leave fathers alone to govern their families. Through an exploration of these policy approaches, Williams demonstrates how patriarchal anxieties shaped the state’s response to perceived crises in fatherhood. While these policy approaches were ostensibly race- and gender-neutral, Williams reveals that political advocates’ efforts to regulate fatherhood were really attempts to bolster White American patriarchy and protect its dominance.

By examining men’s policy goals, White women’s support for White patriarchal policies, and political actors’ strategic investment in White patriarchy, Fatherhood, Race, and the American State argues for a new understanding of the family as a political institution, one that centers the significant role the state plays in defending, shaping, and entrenching a narrow vision of the American family.

Visit H. Howell Williams's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Exorcism of Faeries"

Coming soon from S&S/Saga Press: The Exorcism of Faeries (Morbid Realities) by J. L. Vampa.

About the novel, from the publisher:

The first in a haunting dark academia romance series about a graduate student studying botany in Dublin who falls for her professor of morbid anatomy, as they are drawn into a deadly plague threatening their world—perfect for fans of Ninth House and An Academy for Liars.

A strange affliction is haunting the good people of Dublin. It roots beneath the skin—blooming, entangling—before claiming its victims. No one knows how it started. No one can find a cure.

Atta Morrow has spent years pursuing the truth behind the plague. A graduate student at Trinity College, her covert research has grown into a quiet obsession that could cost her more than her academic future. When Atta’s latest risk catches the attention of Sonder Murdoch, Trinity’s infamous but brilliant morbid anatomy professor, she gains an unexpected ally—and a dangerous temptation.

Together, they dig deeper into the mysteries plaguing Dublin. But as their research blurs with folklore, Atta and Sonder must confront secrets older than science before the city, and they, are consumed.

Visit J. L. Vampa's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Believable Impossibilities"

New from the University of Chicago Press: Believable Impossibilities: Race, Testimony, and the Horror Film by Christopher Bracken.

About the book, from the publisher:

A gripping exploration of belief in the impossible through horror film, informed by philosophy, history, and anthropology.

What if aliens crash-landed at an old mine? What if you discovered your spouse is protecting you from witchcraft? What if you received messages from the dead? You wouldn’t believe it, of course―but you might investigate. As Christopher Bracken shows through this gripping exploration of the horror film, this is the first step toward believing the impossible.

In Believable Impossibilities, Bracken examines the genre in which we are most frequently called on to believe something seemingly impossible has unsettled our ordinary lives―the horror story. Whether on the page or on screen, horror draws us into narratives in which a community of nonbelievers are suddenly confronted with the challenge of believing in events and experiences that radically break with expectation. As Bracken argues, questions of belief often intersect with issues of race and Indigeneity because, historically, belief in the impossible has been racially coded as a trait of “primitive” thought. Drawing on philosophy, anthropology, and psychoanalysis, Bracken explores the fictional spaces in which the paranormal and supernatural challenge and defy our social bonds.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Fall into Place"

Coming soon from St. Martin's Griffin: Fall into Place: A Novel by Kristyn J. Miller.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Leaving was easy. Coming back changes everything.

Lenore’s life is falling apart. Propelled home from Manhattan to rural Vermont to spend one final autumn at her family’s historic apple orchard before it’s sold, Lenore struggles to say goodbye. Not only to French Hill Farm, but to everything that once inspired her art. Soon enough, entries in her late grandmother’s journal reignite memories of Lenore’s childhood―and the crush on the groundskeeper's son she's since tried to forget.

Callan’s path has been laid out for him for as long as he can remember: live, work, and die in Whitbury, Vermont. He’s taken over for his father as the groundskeeper at French Hill Farm, but now that it’s soon to be sold, his future has turned abruptly uncertain. The last thing he needs is a distraction―like Lenore French showing up out of the blue, looking even better than he remembered. As his best friend’s little sister, she’s always been off limits, and the last time they saw each other, he blew his chance anyway.

Lenore has long believed that her dreams are too big for the small town she grew up in―the same town Callan believes he can never outrun. But one last autumn together could paint their hometown―and each other―in a brand new light.

Visit Kristyn J. Miller's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"On Statesmanship"

New from Yale University Press: On Statesmanship by Steven B. Smith.

About the book, from the publisher:

What true statecraft consists of, and how to know a statesman when we see one

In the modern world we yearn for great leaders but resist them when they come along. In this much-needed essay, Steven B. Smith tells us that a statesman is something far different from a demagogue or a technocrat; he or she incorporates many qualities of leadership―persuasiveness, courage, foresight, judgment―to take people where they need to go while hardly seeming to lead them at all. A true statesman is focused not on amassing power but on finding the best way to use power toward responsible ends. Above all else, Smith argues, the statesman is an educator who, through language and argument, helps shape a people’s civic understanding. This book is a timely reminder of a set of qualities we desperately need in our political leaders but have forgotten how to talk about.

The Page 99 Test: Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes.

--Marshal Zeringue