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

This week the library is featuring New Adult Fiction titles.

Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston have collaborated with authors like Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, John Grisham, and other writers from the Authors Guild to bring you, “Fourteen Days: A
Collaborative Novel.” Set in a Lower East Side tenement in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, each New York neighbor–given a voice by a different author—begins to gather on the roof of their Manhattan apartment building to tell stories. As each night passes, more neighbors gather, bringing chairs, milk crates and overturned buckets. Eventually, the tenants begin to become real neighbors even though many have barely spoken to each other. It is an ode to those who were unable to escape when the pandemic hit, and it showcases the talents of many contributors.

The eight stories in James Lee Burke’s latest, “Harbor Lights: Stories,” include a never-before-published novella and highlight why he is a modern icon of American Fiction. From the marshlands on the Gulf of Mexico to the wide plains of Colorado to prisons, saloons, and trailer parks across the South, these stories spin tales of love, friendship, violence, survival, and revenge. A boy and his father watch a German submarine sink and oil tanker and evil forces in the disguise of federal agents try to ruin their family. A girl is beaten up outside a bar as her professor father is navigating a new love and threats from a group of neo-Nazis. A pair of undercover union organizers are hired to break colts for a Hollywood actor, whose “hero” facade hides something much darker. An oil rig worker witnesses a horrible attack on a local village while working in South America and decides to seek justice through one final act of bravery. Burke’s skill has produced nuanced characters, lyrical prose, shockingly violent situations, and vivid and evocative settings.

Robyn Carr has gotten a jump on “beach read” season with her latest, “The Friendship Club.” Four women come together in a particularly turbulent time that forges an unbreakable bond that changes them forever. Marni McGuire is a celebrity cooking show host who has seen it all. She’s been married—twice—and widowed and divorced. Now in her mid-fifties, she is happily single, though she must continually try to convince her pregnant daughter of that fact. To appease her daughter, Marnie goes on a series of disastrous dates that then prompt her to wonder if maybe there is a “Mr. Right” out there for her after all. Marnie’s best friend and colleague is also happily single—or so she thinks. She and Marnie find themselves led by example when they find out that one of the show’s interns is caught in a toxic relationship and Marnie’s daughter reveals that she worries her marriage won’t withstand the stresses of having a baby. All four women find themselves at a crossroads and must navigate the challenges of dating, marriage, loneliness, and love, but they have each other to lean on.

“The Fox Wife,” by Yangsze Choo highlights the myths and misconceptions of fox spirits in a beautifully evocative tale. Manchuria, 1908. In the last years of the dying Qing Empire, a courtesan is found frozen to death in a doorway. Her death is rumored to have been caused by foxes, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and handsome men. Bao is a wily detective hired to find the truth behind the young woman’s death as well as her identity. Ever since childhood, Bao has been fascinated by the stories of the fox gods, yet they have remained elusive. Meanwhile, a family who owns a famous medicine shop can cure all kinds of ailments but is unable to shake the curse that haunts their family: their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. When Snow—a disruptive and winsome servant—enters their household, their luck seems to change. Snow is a creature of many secrets, but most of all, she is a mother seeking vengeance for her lost child. Hunting a murderer, she follows the trail from northern China to Japan with Bao hot on her heels. He will encounter old friends and find new foes, but will he be able to put a stop to the bloodshed?

“Lone Oaks Crossing,” by Janet Daily is set against the vibrant state of Kentucky and its lush rolling hills, sips of aged bourbon and the thrill of the Kentucky Derby. When Jo Beth Ellis gets the news of her grandfather’s stroke, she returns to the family farm in Lone Oaks, Kentucky where she finds it in danger of foreclosure. She decides t reinvent the property as a healing retreat to save it. But while trying to renovate the farm and wrangle her stubborn grandfather, she receives her first client—fourteen-year-old Cheyenne—who is determined to not cooperate. She feels herself coming apart when neighbor Brooks Moore offers her the opportunity to train his thoroughbred for some extra money. Cheyenne surprisingly bonds with the animal and Brooks even rolls up his sleeves to help rehab the farm. Jo needs this partnership to work. Against all odds, Joe dreams of training a champion hors, a happy family, and a forever love. Will she get it?

“The Women,” by Kristin Hannah is a coming-of-age story set in a dangerous time with a nation divided. It’s 1965 and the whole world is changing. Fraces “Frankie” McGrath was raised in the
sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. She is as green and inexperienced as the young men sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam and she is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. In war, she meets and becomes one of the lucky, the brave, the broken and the lost. War, however, is only the beginning for her and her fellow veterans. The real battle begins when they come home to a changed and divided America, to angry protestors, and to a government that wants to forget Vietnam.