"Simone in Pieces"

New from the University of Wisconsin Press: Simone in Pieces by Janet Burroway.

About the book, from the publisher:

Readers first meet Simone Lerrante, a Belgian war orphan, as a child refugee in Sussex, England, her memory damaged by trauma. This novel offers a kaleidoscopic vision of her fractured life and piecemeal understanding of self across multiple points of view. Following her from Cambridge to New York City and across the United States—through a disastrous marriage, thwarted desire, and the purgatory of academic backwaters—the novel charts Simone’s unexpected reconnection with her past, which provides both autonomy and inspiration for her future. Janet Burroway slowly reveals a multifaceted, fascinating protagonist, who observes her own life without always allowing herself to be immersed in it. Spanning seven decades, this story is both epic and contained, rewarding readers at every turn.

Visit Janet Burroway's website.

The Page 69 Test: Bridge of Sand.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Projecting America"

New from the University of Oklahoma Press: Projecting America: The Epic Western and National Mythmaking in 1920s Hollywood by Patrick Adamson.

About the book, from the pubisher:

In the mid-1920s, the heyday of silent film, the epic Western swept Hollywood and the nation. Movie moguls sought to add gravitas to their output with the productions—films they argued offered American audiences authentic history and lessons in citizenship at a time when Hollywood faced criticism for its movies’ morals and star scandals. Initially extremely popular, these now nearly forgotten Westerns were hailed by the movie industry’s proponents and critics alike for their “authentic” reconstruction of America’s nineteenth-century frontier period and the social benefits in portraying historical episodes foundational to American identity to the melting pot of moviegoers. In Projecting America, the first-ever book on these silent epic Westerns, Patrick Adamson demonstrates how these films indelibly impacted the genre, historical filmmaking, and Hollywood, inviting audiences to accept uncritical visions of Manifest Destiny as accurate history.

Drawing on a wealth of primary sources and punctuating his argument with film stills and intertitles, Adamson introduces readers to a variety of epic Westerns, with a particular emphasis on The Covered Wagon (1923), The Iron Horse (1924), and The Vanishing American (1925). These productions depict such key moments as pioneers on the Oregon Trail, the construction of the transcontinental railroad, and challenges faced by Indigenous peoples. Combining close analysis of these films’ historiography with exploration of their production and reception, Adamson investigates how the epic Western's emergence responded to and informed discourses far beyond those traditionally associated with the Western genre. He demonstrates that these movies not only represent an important chapter in film history but also collectively illustrate how American identity was formed and the motion picture medium was used as a vehicle for mass historical and cultural education.

In Projecting America, Adamson deftly shows how epic Westerns, at the heart of the 1920s’ pressing debates about cinema’s social influence, are integral to a broader understanding of the history of Western films and American identity.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Winter White"

Coming January 27 from Union Square & Co.: Winter White: A Modern Retelling of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale by Annie Cardi.

About the book, from the publisher:

A bold and authentic reimagining of The Winter’s Tale full of tragedy, triumph, and forbidden romance—perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Kathleen Glasgow, and Sarah Dessen.

Pia and her brother, Max, live on an isolated farm in rural Maine, and it’s the only life they remember. Their father says the only way for them to stay protected is to stay on the farm. Pia doesn’t question it. Pia’s entire world turns upside down when her father breaks his leg, and she must be the one to venture into town to make farm deliveries. And then she sees him. Felix, a boy who is both a stranger and somehow familiar, makes her question everything she thought she knew about herself, her past, and her family. But no matter how she feels about Felix, she must always obey her father, above all else.

But Pia's feelings are too big to ignore, and the more she engages with Felix, the more she begins to see that there’s promise for her beyond the isolated world to which she’s grown accustomed. And the more she dreams about a better life, the more she wonders if her father is telling the truth about their family’s past. Pia knows her father and his friend Anthony are hiding something, and soon Pia must reckon with the damage her father is doing to their community and the damage he has done to their own lives.

Winter White is an astonishingly told and searingly authentic reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Kathleen Glasgow, and Sarah Dessen.

Visit Annie Cardi's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A World of Wounds"

New from Stanford University Press: A World of Wounds: Rebuilding a Bipartisan Environmental Movement and Cultivating Authentic Hope by Nancy J. Manring.

About the book, from the publisher:

At the end of the Reagan administration, American public opinion polls showed there were no discernible differences based on political party in response to the question, "Do you consider yourself an environmentalist?" However, in the early 1990s, a partisan gulf between conservatives and liberals emerged around environmental issues. Today, half as many Republicans self-identify as environmentalists when compared to Democrats. Political stagnation on climate action, in turn, has led to a growing number of Americans of all ages who experience ecological grief (known as solastalgia) and eco-anxiety (a chronic fear of environmental doom). These emotions emerged in response to the existential distress associated with living in a world of relentless environmental damage and irreversible ecological losses: a world of wounds. This book offers an antidote to political frustration and hopelessness. Nancy J. Manring provides an indispensable analysis of the multi-decade, conservative war against American environmentalism and maps out realistic strategies for rebuilding a bipartisan environmental movement. Nurturing authentic hope, in contrast to blind optimism or false promises, begins with an unflinching look at both planetary and political realities. Choosing authentic hope is an ongoing process that requires emotional honesty, courage, and action. This forceful book serves as both a tool for change and a spirited scholarly intervention.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Society Women"

Coming March 24 from Harper Perennial: Society Women: A Novel by Adriane Leigh.

About the book, from the publisher:

The USA Today bestselling author of the Influencer series delivers a riveting psychological thriller about power, betrayal, and the haunting legacy of family secrets filled with diabolical turns and shocking twists.

Some invitations are meant to be declined. . . .

Ellie works as an accountant at her father’s successful investment company in New York City. She enjoys all the comforts her privileged lifestyle affords—a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Central Park, a generous trust fund, and a devastatingly attractive if often absent husband who works long hours for her father as well. Yet the introverted young woman who wants for nothing feels aimless and untethered. Ellie lost her mother at a young age and still has nightmares about her death. She sometimes sleepwalks at night and finds herself stumbling through the days.

But Ellie’s life takes a turn when she receives an anonymous invitation in the mail, asking her to join an elite women’s club known only as “The Society.” Intrigued, she begins to attend their lavish gatherings where she meets her new close companion, Aubrey, and enjoys the benefits of belonging to the group—friendship, sisterhood, and support from other successful and glamorous women. Then Ellie makes a horrifying discovery about the society and its “philanthropic work.” The women of The Society harbor dark, dangerous secrets—secrets that may implicate Ellie’s own family.

Wickedly twisty, Society Women is a gripping story of prestige, power, and dirty secrets that will hook you with every surprising turn and leave you questioning every truth until the final, shocking end.

Follow Adriane Leigh on Instagram.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A Prophecy of Empire"

New from the University of California Press: A Prophecy of Empire: The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius from Late Antique Mesopotamia to the Global Medieval Imagination by Christopher J. Bonura.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius was one of the medieval world’s most popular and widely translated texts. Composed in Syriac in Mesopotamia in the seventh century, this supposed revelation presented a new, salvific role for the Roman Empire, whose last emperor, it prophesied, would help bring about the end of the ages. In this first book-length study of Pseudo-Methodius, Christopher J. Bonura uncovers the under-appreciated Syriac origins of this apocalyptic tract, revealing it as a remarkable response to political realities faced by Christians living under a new Islamic regime. Tracing the spread of Pseudo-Methodius from the early medieval Mediterranean to its dissemination via the printing presses of early modern Europe, Bonura then demonstrates how different cultures used this new vision of empire’s role in the end times to reconfigure their own realities. The book also features a new, complete, and annotated English translation of the Syriac text of Pseudo-Methodius.

--Marshal Zeringue

"As Many Souls as Stars"

New from William Morrow: As Many Souls as Stars: A Novel by Natasha Siegel.

About the book, from the publisher:

An inventive and romantic speculative novel about two women—a witch and an immortal demon—who make a Faustian bargain and are drawn into a cat—and—mouse chase across multiple lifetimes.

1592. Cybil Harding is a First Daughter. Cursed to bring disaster to those around her, she is trapped in a house with a mother paralyzed by grief and a father willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of magic.

Miriam Richter is a creature of shadow. Forged by the dark arts many years ago, she is doomed to exist for eternity and destined to be alone—killing mortals and consuming their souls for sustenance. Everything changes when she meets Cybil, whose soul shines with a light so bright, she must claim it for herself. She offers a bargain: she will grant Cybil reincarnation in exchange for her soul.

Thus begins a dance across centuries as Miriam seeks Cybil in every lifetime to claim her prize. Cybil isn’t inclined to play by the rules, but when it becomes clear that Miriam holds the key to breaking her family curse, Cybil finds that—for the first time in her many lives—she might have the upper hand. As they circle each other, drawn together inescapably as light and dark, the bond forged between them grows stronger. In their battle for dominance, only one of them can win—but perhaps they can’t survive without each other.

Natasha Siegel has written an unexpected love story that feels both epic and deeply personal. Ambitious, gothic, and magical, As Many Souls as Stars is about the lengths we go to protect ourselves, our legacy, and those we love.

Visit Natasha Siegel's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Seeing Things"

New from Cornell University Press: Seeing Things: Virtual Aesthetics in Victorian Culture by Amanda Shubert.

About the book, from the publisher:

A cultural history of nineteenth-century media imaginaries, Seeing Things tells the story of how Victorians experienced the virtual images created by modern optical technologies―magic lanterns, stereoscopes, phenakistoscopes, museum displays, and illusionistic stage magic. Amanda Shubert argues that interactions with these devices gave rise to a new virtual aesthetics―an understanding of visual and perceptual encounters with things that are not really there.

The popularization of Victorian optical media redefined visuality as a rational mode of spectatorship that taught audiences to distinguish illusion from reality. As an aesthetic expression of a civilizational ideal that defined the capacity to see but not believe, to be entertained without being deceived, it became a sign of western supremacy. By tracing the development of virtual aesthetics through nineteenth-century writings, from the novels of George Eliot and Charles Dickens to popular science writing and imperial travelogues, Seeing Things recovers a formative period of technological and literary innovation to explain how optical media not only anticipated cinema but became a paradigmatic media aesthetic of western modernity.

Visit Amanda Shubert's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Best Offer Wins"

New from Celadon Books: Best Offer Wins: A Novel by Marisa Kashino.

About the novel, from the publisher:

An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly hilarious debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success—and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?

Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian — and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track — Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it’s publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand).

A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners’ lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged—but just when she thinks she’s won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there’s no boundary she won’t cross to seize the dream life she’s been chasing. The most unsettling part? You’ll root for her, even as you gasp in disbelief.

Dark, biting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Best Offer Wins is a propulsive debut and a razor-sharp exploration of class, ambition, and the modern housing crisis.

Visit Marisa Kashino's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Uncivil Guard"

New from LSU Press: Uncivil Guard: Policing, Military Culture, and the Coming of the Spanish Civil War by Foster Chamberlin.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Uncivil Guard: Policing, Military Culture, and the Coming of the Spanish Civil War, Foster Chamberlin evaluates the role of militarized police forces in the political violence of interwar Europe by tracing the evolution of one such group, Spain’s Civil Guard, culminating in the country’s turbulent Second Republic period of 1931–1936. As Chamberlin’s analysis shows, political violence provided the main justification for the military coup attempt that began the Spanish Civil War, and the Civil Guard was the most violent institution in the country at that time. Discovering how this police force, which was supposed to maintain order, became a principal contributor to the violence of the republic proves key to understanding the origins of the Civil War. By tracing the institution’s founding in the mid-nineteenth century, and moving through case studies of episodes of political violence involving the group, Chamberlin concludes that the Civil Guard had an organizational culture that made it prone to violent actions because of its cult of honor, its distance from the people it policed, and its almost entirely military training.

Visit Foster Chamberlin's website.

--Marshal Zeringue