This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

This week we are featuring fiction from our New Large Print collection.

The latest from Madeline Martin is titled The Booklover’s Library. Emma Taylor is widowed with a young daughter. She is also in desperate need of a job, but there are legal restrictions on hiring widows with children. Emma’s only option is to persuade the woman who runs the Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her. As the threat of war in England becomes a reality, Olivia is evacuated to the countryside. Being separated from her daughter makes Emma anxious and depressed. To combat this, she forms unlikely friendships with her neighbors, coworkers, and the quirky regulars who patronize the library. She notices that books are in the wrong place and some have disappeared which provides a bit of distraction from the war raging outside. As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham, Emma fights to be reunited with her daughter and she learns to depend on her community and the power of the literature that surrounds her to find hope in the darkness.

Ella is a novelized version of the life of Ella Fitzgerald by Daine Richards. Ella Fitzgerald is fifteen in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression. When her mother dies, Ella goes to work for the mob to support herself and her family. She is arrested, declared an “ungovernable” adolescent, and sent to the New York Training School for Girls—a horrible prison infamous for its cruel and harsh treatment of its inmates, especially those with dark skin. Ella is determined to be free, so she escapes and makes her way back to Harlem, where she dances for pennies on the street. Then on November 21, 1934, Ella draws straws for a coveted spot at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night. Rather than performing a dance number immediately following the Edwards Sister, Ella decides to sing “Judy” instead. Four years later—just barely twenty-one—Ella Fitzgerald has become the bestselling female vocalist in America. As she becomes older and wiser, Ella looks back on her days in the brothels, speakeasys, and streets of Depression-era New York City.

Jackie Lau has penned a charming rom-com with her latest Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie. Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents’ friends. The way her mother talks, you’d think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended childhood poverty. In reality, Mark is a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer. When they are forced together at Emily’s sister’s wedding, it’s obvious that Mark believes he’s too good for Emily. But she is her family’s last single daughter, and her mother is determined to get her married, preferably to Mark. Emily comes up with a plan: convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to end her mother’s matchmaking. He hesitantly agrees. Lying isn’t enough, though, because family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates and the pair will have to spend more time together to make the relationship look real. The more time they spend together, Emily realizes that Mark is not quite what she assumed, and those argyle sweaters are growing on her.

Three generations of Bricard women deal with the ups and downs of success in Natasha Lester’s novel The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard. Blythe Bricard lives in the French countryside of today. She is the daughter of famous fashion muses, but she has no desire to be one. She turned her back on that world and her dreams years ago. Fate, however, has other plans and Blythe is about to discover more about her iconic mother and grandmother than she ever knew. Designer Astrid Bricard come to Chelsea in New York city in 1970 determined to take the fashion world by storm. Astrid does and is cast as a muse to her lover, Hawk Jones. When the two lovers are invited to compete in the fashion event of the century, Astrid sacrifices everything to showcase her talent, but she mysteriously disappears leaving behind only a white silk dress. Astrid and Blythe both find it difficult to distance themselves from the legend of Astrid’s mom Mizza Bricard. Mizza got her start as an orphan in Paris in 1917. She was determined to be remembered on her own terms and fought through turbulent decades and the volatile couture house until she kept that promise, but at what cost?

The Last Love Note is by Emma Grey. Kate is a mess two years after losing her husband, Cameron. She’s grieving, single parenting, working like crazy at her job fundraising for a university. She’s simultaneously dropping the ball and clinging to her sense of humor. Kate is also juggling her overbearing mother and a Tinder-obsessed best friend determined to set Kate up with her hot neighbor. While on a business trip, there’s an inflight problem that leaves Kate and her boss Hugh stranded for the weekend on the east coast of Australia. This time alone—away from her son—allows Kate to really confront her grief and see what’s right in front of her. When she realizes that Hugh is hiding something, she turns to the scribbled notes she used to keep her life together. The first note touched her heart. Can the last note set her free?

In The Sawmill Book Club by Carolyn Brown, Libby O’Dell trades her big-city life to ride down some back roads in the small community of Sawmill, Texas. Libby has taken a temp job putting an antique store in order and her charming new boss, Benny, and his three-legged dog, Elvis, aren’t a bad change of scenery. Benny’s surrogate grandmothers from across the street invite Libby to join their book club. Libby doesn’t know that it’s mostly a gathering for local gossip and meddling because the widows’ main agenda is to find Benny a wife—though he’s not looking for one. Libby is only passing through, but the small community is starting to grow on her. Time will tell if this temporary job is just a stopover or if it’s where she really belongs.