What I Read on Summer Vacation, Part I

THE FALSE FRIEND by Myla Goldberg. When as an adult Celia recovers a memory of a childhood tragedy that contradicts what she told the police so many years ago, she returns to her hometown to confess the truth. But in this book, Goldberg explores just how elusive and malleable memory and truth can be in the face of time, demonstrating the lengths people will go to hide from unpleasantness, both the world’s and their own.

While this book may be less enchanting than Goldberg's debut novel, Bee Season, it is infinitely more haunting and plausible. This title will be available in September from Doubleday Books. (NB: My sales rep, Ann Kingman, told me that Doubleday is interested in using my shelf talker for some of their online publicity, which pleases me to no end!)

THE WIDOWER’S TALE by Julia Glass. Julia Glass follows classic tradition, proving once again that family is the original source of comedy, tragedy, and frustration. Her newest novel is a meditation on love, both filial and romantic, and how hopelessly ridiculous we are destined to become if we don’t make the efforts to temper our passions with reason or our actions with accountability.

Glass is one of the best writers out there for exploring the nuances and quirks of interpersonal relationships and this book fits into her pantheon neatly. This book will be available in September from Pantheon Books. Interestingly, I chose "pantheon" in the above sentence before looking up the publisher for this one and decided to leave it since it was such a nifty coincidence.