Article Type: 

            

This Is How You Lose the Time War

By Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone

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This Is How You Lose the Time War By Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781534430990
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Gallery / Saga Press - March 17th, 2020

A time traveling literary romance that is well worth your while. Beautifully written, epicly composed, this is a delicious feast of words, and one of my favorite books to come from 2019. Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone wrote a phenomenal book that I will read and reread. A little bit of sci-fi, a little bit of history, with a generous helping of sass and brilliant character driven storyline, this book is slated to be a modern classic for Science Fiction readers.


Staff Pick Badge
This Is How You Lose the Time War By Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781534430990
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Gallery / Saga Press - March 17th, 2020

A time traveling literary romance that is well worth your while. Beautifully written, epicly composed, this is a delicious feast of words, and one of my favorite books to come from 2019. Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone wrote a phenomenal book that I will read and reread. A little bit of sci-fi, a little bit of history, with a generous helping of sass and brilliant character driven storyline, this book is slated to be a modern classic for Science Fiction readers.


A time traveling literary romance that is well worth your while. Beautifully written, epicly composed, this is a delicious feast of words, and one of my favorite books to come from 2019. Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone wrote a phenomenal book that I will read and reread. A little bit of sci-fi, a little bit of history, with a generous helping of sass and brilliant character driven storyline, this book is slated to be a modern classic for Science Fiction readers.

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Article Type: 

            

A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel

By Isabel Allende, Nick Caistor, Amanda Hopkinson

A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel By Isabel Allende, Nick Caistor (Translated by), Amanda Hopkinson (Translated by) Cover Image
By Isabel Allende, Nick Caistor (Translated by), Amanda Hopkinson (Translated by)
$28.00
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9781984820150
Published: Ballantine Books - January 21st, 2020

This is a magnificent odyssey weaving fact, fiction, history and memory, about a pair of Spanish exiles escaping the Spanish Civil war on the “ship of hope”, Pablo Neruda’s humanitarian act of saving thousands of displaced refugees. Victor and Rozer form a bond through the loss of their brother and husband and though they wed, it has nothing to do with romantic love but everything to do with survival. Their connection becomes the very source of their strength to go on living and build a life of purpose. 


A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel By Isabel Allende, Nick Caistor (Translated by), Amanda Hopkinson (Translated by) Cover Image
By Isabel Allende, Nick Caistor (Translated by), Amanda Hopkinson (Translated by)
$28.00
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9781984820150
Published: Ballantine Books - January 21st, 2020

This is a magnificent odyssey weaving fact, fiction, history and memory, about a pair of Spanish exiles escaping the Spanish Civil war on the “ship of hope”, Pablo Neruda’s humanitarian act of saving thousands of displaced refugees. Victor and Rozer form a bond through the loss of their brother and husband and though they wed, it has nothing to do with romantic love but everything to do with survival. Their connection becomes the very source of their strength to go on living and build a life of purpose. 


This is a magnificent odyssey weaving fact, fiction, history and memory, about a pair of Spanish exiles escaping the Spanish Civil war on the “ship of hope”, Pablo Neruda’s humanitarian act of saving thousands of displaced refugees. Victor and Rozer form a bond through the loss of their brother and husband and though they wed, it has nothing to do with romantic love but everything to do with survival. Their connection becomes the very source of their strength to go on living and build a life of purpose. 

Article Type: 

            

The Unseen

By Roy Jacobsen, Don Shaw, Don Bartlett

The Unseen By Roy Jacobsen, Don Shaw (Translator), Don Bartlett (Translator) Cover Image
By Roy Jacobsen, Don Shaw (Translator), Don Bartlett (Translator)
$16.95
ISBN: 9781771963190
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Biblioasis - April 21st, 2020

The Unseen will validate your belief in the power of stories to transport and transform us. With rich detail and simple yet exquisite prose, Jacobsen’s novel depicts life on a tiny Norwegian island inhabited by only one family—the Barrøys--who for centuries have made the island their home and the sea, their life.  The book opens with the christening of three-year-old Ingrid Barrøy and follows her into adulthood as she becomes a woman and mother, responsible for her family’s livelihood and continued survival on Barrøy Island. Jacobsen (along with his translators Don Bartlett and Don Shaw) makes you feel the intensity of the live and death struggle that the Barrøys confront in fulfilling their sea-bound legacy. On nearly every page are sentences so heartbreakingly beautiful that you will want to stop and read them again. The Unseen is a quiet, understated masterpiece. 


The Unseen By Roy Jacobsen, Don Shaw (Translator), Don Bartlett (Translator) Cover Image
By Roy Jacobsen, Don Shaw (Translator), Don Bartlett (Translator)
$16.95
ISBN: 9781771963190
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Biblioasis - April 21st, 2020

The Unseen will validate your belief in the power of stories to transport and transform us. With rich detail and simple yet exquisite prose, Jacobsen’s novel depicts life on a tiny Norwegian island inhabited by only one family—the Barrøys--who for centuries have made the island their home and the sea, their life.  The book opens with the christening of three-year-old Ingrid Barrøy and follows her into adulthood as she becomes a woman and mother, responsible for her family’s livelihood and continued survival on Barrøy Island. Jacobsen (along with his translators Don Bartlett and Don Shaw) makes you feel the intensity of the live and death struggle that the Barrøys confront in fulfilling their sea-bound legacy. On nearly every page are sentences so heartbreakingly beautiful that you will want to stop and read them again. The Unseen is a quiet, understated masterpiece. 


The Unseen will validate your belief in the power of stories to transport and transform us. With rich detail and simple yet exquisite prose, Jacobsen’s novel depicts life on a tiny Norwegian island inhabited by only one family—the Barrøys--who for centuries have made the island their home and the sea, their life.  The book opens with the christening of three-year-old Ingrid Barrøy and follows her into adulthood as she becomes a woman and mother, responsible for her family’s livelihood and continued survival on Barrøy Island. Jacobsen (along with his translators Don Bartlett and Don Shaw) makes you feel the intensity of the live and death struggle that the Barrøys confront in fulfilling their sea-bound legacy. On nearly every page are sentences so heartbreakingly beautiful that you will want to stop and read them again. The Unseen is a quiet, understated masterpiece. 

Article Type: 

            

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

By Erik Larson

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz By Erik Larson Cover Image
$35.00
ISBN: 9780385348713
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Crown - February 25th, 2020

This is a riveting account of Churchill during World War II. Larsen writes in his vivid, engrossing style that has earned his such acclaim through his other books (Devil in the White City being another favorite of mine)
 


The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz By Erik Larson Cover Image
$35.00
ISBN: 9780385348713
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Crown - February 25th, 2020

This is a riveting account of Churchill during World War II. Larsen writes in his vivid, engrossing style that has earned his such acclaim through his other books (Devil in the White City being another favorite of mine)
 


This is a riveting account of Churchill during World War II. Larsen writes in his vivid, engrossing style that has earned his such acclaim through his other books (Devil in the White City being another favorite of mine)
 

Article Type: 

            

Unmarriageable: A Novel

By Soniah Kamal

Unmarriageable: A Novel By Soniah Kamal Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780525486480
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Ballantine Books - February 4th, 2020

A Pride and Prejudice inspired tale set in Pakistan. Clever and entertaining for any Jane Austen fan or anyone interested in a charmingly written story.


Unmarriageable: A Novel By Soniah Kamal Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780525486480
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Ballantine Books - February 4th, 2020

A Pride and Prejudice inspired tale set in Pakistan. Clever and entertaining for any Jane Austen fan or anyone interested in a charmingly written story.


A Pride and Prejudice inspired tale set in Pakistan. Clever and entertaining for any Jane Austen fan or anyone interested in a charmingly written story.

Article Type: 

            

The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists

By Tracy Walder, Jessica Anya Blau

The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists By Tracy Walder, Jessica Anya Blau Cover Image
$30.79
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9781250230980
Published: St. Martin's Press - February 25th, 2020

Another Dallas author, this is a fun, page turner about a young woman’s work as a covert spy for the CIA.
 


The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists By Tracy Walder, Jessica Anya Blau Cover Image
$30.79
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9781250230980
Published: St. Martin's Press - February 25th, 2020

Another Dallas author, this is a fun, page turner about a young woman’s work as a covert spy for the CIA.
 


Another Dallas author, this is a fun, page turner about a young woman’s work as a covert spy for the CIA.
 

Article Type: 

            

The Overstory: A Novel

By Richard Powers

The Overstory: A Novel By Richard Powers Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9780393356687
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - April 2nd, 2019

This Pulitzer Prize winner is exquisitely written and lyric. A series of stories that are all interconnected with a tree or tress as the central theme, the reader is reminded of the importance of our natural world and our role in protecting it.


The Overstory: A Novel By Richard Powers Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9780393356687
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - April 2nd, 2019

This Pulitzer Prize winner is exquisitely written and lyric. A series of stories that are all interconnected with a tree or tress as the central theme, the reader is reminded of the importance of our natural world and our role in protecting it.


This Pulitzer Prize winner is exquisitely written and lyric. A series of stories that are all interconnected with a tree or tress as the central theme, the reader is reminded of the importance of our natural world and our role in protecting it.

Article Type: 

            

Beautiful Boards: 50 Amazing Snack Boards for Any Occasion

By Maegan Brown

Beautiful Boards: 50 Amazing Snack Boards for Any Occasion By Maegan Brown Cover Image
$24.99
ISBN: 9781631066474
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Rock Point - September 24th, 2019

Needing some culinary inspiration? Local Dallas author and blogger (BakerMama) has written a new cookbook that is flying off of our shelves! Charcuterie boards, dessert and breakfast boards and everything in between. This is a combination of cooking and crafting on some of those long days at home.


Beautiful Boards: 50 Amazing Snack Boards for Any Occasion By Maegan Brown Cover Image
$24.99
ISBN: 9781631066474
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Rock Point - September 24th, 2019

Needing some culinary inspiration? Local Dallas author and blogger (BakerMama) has written a new cookbook that is flying off of our shelves! Charcuterie boards, dessert and breakfast boards and everything in between. This is a combination of cooking and crafting on some of those long days at home.


Needing some culinary inspiration? Local Dallas author and blogger (BakerMama) has written a new cookbook that is flying off of our shelves! Charcuterie boards, dessert and breakfast boards and everything in between. This is a combination of cooking and crafting on some of those long days at home.

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Introducing our newest recommendation format, our BUY-weekly recommendations! Every other week, we will have a list of 5-8 books for your perusal to see which one of these catches your eye. Enjoy!


            

Noodlephant

By Jacob Kramer, K-Fai Steele (Illustrator)

Noodlephant By Jacob Kramer, K-Fai Steele (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Jacob Kramer, K-Fai Steele (Illustrator)
$18.95
ISBN: 9781592702664
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Enchanted Lion Books - February 12th, 2019

I adore this fun and creative tale about a past-loving elephant who knows it is the right thing to do to stand up for justice when the kangaroos decide that noodles are only for them! Fun, friendship and a wonderful lesson taught! - Lisa Plummer, Children's Book Buyer


Noodlephant By Jacob Kramer, K-Fai Steele (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Jacob Kramer, K-Fai Steele (Illustrator)
$18.95
ISBN: 9781592702664
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Enchanted Lion Books - February 12th, 2019

I adore this fun and creative tale about a past-loving elephant who knows it is the right thing to do to stand up for justice when the kangaroos decide that noodles are only for them! Fun, friendship and a wonderful lesson taught! - Lisa Plummer, Children's Book Buyer


I adore this fun and creative tale about a past-loving elephant who knows it is the right thing to do to stand up for justice when the kangaroos decide that noodles are only for them! Fun, friendship and a wonderful lesson taught! - Lisa Plummer, Children's Book Buyer


            

The Gilded Wolves: A Novel

By Roshani Chokshi

Staff Pick Badge
The Gilded Wolves: A Novel By Roshani Chokshi Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250144546
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Wednesday Books - January 15th, 2019

This is a gorgeous alternate historical fantasy with beautiful world building. Set in Paris in the late 1800s, it's a heist novel but with even more twists and turns than you can imagine - many of them caught me completely by surprise. Chokshi's ability to weave both plot points and character building in and out of the multiple POVs telling the story is absolutely masterful. A great start to this trilogy, and I look forward to the next book! - Ishita Kent, Marketing Coordinator


Staff Pick Badge
The Gilded Wolves: A Novel By Roshani Chokshi Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250144546
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Wednesday Books - January 15th, 2019

This is a gorgeous alternate historical fantasy with beautiful world building. Set in Paris in the late 1800s, it's a heist novel but with even more twists and turns than you can imagine - many of them caught me completely by surprise. Chokshi's ability to weave both plot points and character building in and out of the multiple POVs telling the story is absolutely masterful. A great start to this trilogy, and I look forward to the next book! - Ishita Kent, Marketing Coordinator


This is a gorgeous alternate historical fantasy with beautiful world building. Set in Paris in the late 1800s, it's a heist novel but with even more twists and turns than you can imagine - many of them caught me completely by surprise. Chokshi's ability to weave both plot points and character building in and out of the multiple POVs telling the story is absolutely masterful. A great start to this trilogy, and I look forward to the next book! - Ishita Kent, Marketing Coordinator


            

Lost Children Archive: A novel

By Valeria Luiselli

Lost Children Archive: A novel By Valeria Luiselli Cover Image
$27.95
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9780525520610
Published: Knopf - February 12th, 2019

An altogether brilliant and affecting novel that looks at our current immigration crisis through the lenses of family separation, childhood trauma, and historical memory. Luiselli weaves the story of a nuclear family that is increasingly, emotionally divided with those of families forcibly torn apart by politics, poverty, and border walls. With extraordinary and nuanced writing she draws ideas from acoustics and archival science to depict the indelible scars created by our legacy of violence. Not since Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 has a work of fiction laid bare victims’ painful stories with such boldness and grace. Lost Children Archive is a mirror that forces us to see and feel the hideous brutality of our immigration system. - Lori Feathers, Co-Owner & Adult Book Buyer


Lost Children Archive: A novel By Valeria Luiselli Cover Image
$27.95
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9780525520610
Published: Knopf - February 12th, 2019

An altogether brilliant and affecting novel that looks at our current immigration crisis through the lenses of family separation, childhood trauma, and historical memory. Luiselli weaves the story of a nuclear family that is increasingly, emotionally divided with those of families forcibly torn apart by politics, poverty, and border walls. With extraordinary and nuanced writing she draws ideas from acoustics and archival science to depict the indelible scars created by our legacy of violence. Not since Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 has a work of fiction laid bare victims’ painful stories with such boldness and grace. Lost Children Archive is a mirror that forces us to see and feel the hideous brutality of our immigration system. - Lori Feathers, Co-Owner & Adult Book Buyer


An altogether brilliant and affecting novel that looks at our current immigration crisis through the lenses of family separation, childhood trauma, and historical memory. Luiselli weaves the story of a nuclear family that is increasingly, emotionally divided with those of families forcibly torn apart by politics, poverty, and border walls. With extraordinary and nuanced writing she draws ideas from acoustics and archival science to depict the indelible scars created by our legacy of violence. Not since Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 has a work of fiction laid bare victims’ painful stories with such boldness and grace. Lost Children Archive is a mirror that forces us to see and feel the hideous brutality of our immigration system. - Lori Feathers, Co-Owner & Adult Book Buyer


            

The Home Builders

By Varsha Bajaj, Simona Mulazzani (Illustrator)

The Home Builders By Varsha Bajaj, Simona Mulazzani (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Varsha Bajaj, Simona Mulazzani (Illustrator)
$17.99
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9780399166853
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - February 12th, 2019

The woods are alive with all the animals building their homes! Beautiful illustrations accompany a poetic description of each of the animal’s homes and how they are constructed. - Lisa Plummer, Children's Book Buyer


The Home Builders By Varsha Bajaj, Simona Mulazzani (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Varsha Bajaj, Simona Mulazzani (Illustrator)
$17.99
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9780399166853
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - February 12th, 2019

The woods are alive with all the animals building their homes! Beautiful illustrations accompany a poetic description of each of the animal’s homes and how they are constructed. - Lisa Plummer, Children's Book Buyer


The woods are alive with all the animals building their homes! Beautiful illustrations accompany a poetic description of each of the animal’s homes and how they are constructed. - Lisa Plummer, Children's Book Buyer


            

The Elephant of Surprise (Hap and Leonard)

By Joe R. Lansdale

The Elephant of Surprise (Hap and Leonard) By Joe R. Lansdale Cover Image
$28.60
ISBN: 9780316479875
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Mulholland Books - March 19th, 2019

East Texas PI’s Hap and Leonard are on the road again, in an action-filled shoot-’em-up perfect for a rainy afternoon. Heading home after a hard day of sleuthing, Hap and Leonard nearly run down a woman on the highway. Hot on her trail are members of the local Dixie Mafia. Contending with a Hurricane Harvey-like deluge that is pummeling the southeast coast of Texas, the two are kept hopping from one dire situation to the next, relentlessly pursued by the bad guys.

If you’ve not read a Hap and Leonard thriller before, you are in for a good time. Riding along with these two knights errant of East Texas is as entertaining as going on a road trip with your best friends...if your best friends are fairly adept at gunplay. - Brian Weiskopf, Floor Manager


The Elephant of Surprise (Hap and Leonard) By Joe R. Lansdale Cover Image
$28.60
ISBN: 9780316479875
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Mulholland Books - March 19th, 2019

East Texas PI’s Hap and Leonard are on the road again, in an action-filled shoot-’em-up perfect for a rainy afternoon. Heading home after a hard day of sleuthing, Hap and Leonard nearly run down a woman on the highway. Hot on her trail are members of the local Dixie Mafia. Contending with a Hurricane Harvey-like deluge that is pummeling the southeast coast of Texas, the two are kept hopping from one dire situation to the next, relentlessly pursued by the bad guys.

If you’ve not read a Hap and Leonard thriller before, you are in for a good time. Riding along with these two knights errant of East Texas is as entertaining as going on a road trip with your best friends...if your best friends are fairly adept at gunplay. - Brian Weiskopf, Floor Manager


East Texas PI’s Hap and Leonard are on the road again, in an action-filled shoot-’em-up perfect for a rainy afternoon. Heading home after a hard day of sleuthing, Hap and Leonard nearly run down a woman on the highway. Hot on her trail are members of the local Dixie Mafia. Contending with a Hurricane Harvey-like deluge that is pummeling the southeast coast of Texas, the two are kept hopping from one dire situation to the next, relentlessly pursued by the bad guys.

If you’ve not read a Hap and Leonard thriller before, you are in for a good time. Riding along with these two knights errant of East Texas is as entertaining as going on a road trip with your best friends...if your best friends are fairly adept at gunplay. - Brian Weiskopf, Floor Manager


            

Tap Out: Poems

By Edgar Kunz

Tap Out: Poems By Edgar Kunz Cover Image
$14.99
ISBN: 9781328518125
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Ecco - March 5th, 2019

“How my brothers and I / must have looked waiting outside Social Services / while our father went in to sign up for stamps. / Squatting on the curb, hoping we didn’t see / anyone we knew, certain everyone was looking.” Consider these lines in the poem “Graffiti” found in Edgard Kunz’s debut collection, Tap Out. This is one of the most impressive debuts of the year and places Kunz alongside William Brewer and Phillip Levine in taking on the working class as subject. Kunz writes with such clarity and grit, it makes you want to find his characters and do all you can for them. Poverty, addiction, masculinity, identity and heartache are all found here bumping into each other, with Kunz’s lyrical narrative dragging you in. This book is not to be missed. - Tyler Heath, Inventory Manager


Tap Out: Poems By Edgar Kunz Cover Image
$14.99
ISBN: 9781328518125
Availability: NOT IN STOCK - Usually arrives in 7 - 14 business days
Published: Ecco - March 5th, 2019

“How my brothers and I / must have looked waiting outside Social Services / while our father went in to sign up for stamps. / Squatting on the curb, hoping we didn’t see / anyone we knew, certain everyone was looking.” Consider these lines in the poem “Graffiti” found in Edgard Kunz’s debut collection, Tap Out. This is one of the most impressive debuts of the year and places Kunz alongside William Brewer and Phillip Levine in taking on the working class as subject. Kunz writes with such clarity and grit, it makes you want to find his characters and do all you can for them. Poverty, addiction, masculinity, identity and heartache are all found here bumping into each other, with Kunz’s lyrical narrative dragging you in. This book is not to be missed. - Tyler Heath, Inventory Manager


“How my brothers and I / must have looked waiting outside Social Services / while our father went in to sign up for stamps. / Squatting on the curb, hoping we didn’t see / anyone we knew, certain everyone was looking.” Consider these lines in the poem “Graffiti” found in Edgard Kunz’s debut collection, Tap Out. This is one of the most impressive debuts of the year and places Kunz alongside William Brewer and Phillip Levine in taking on the working class as subject. Kunz writes with such clarity and grit, it makes you want to find his characters and do all you can for them. Poverty, addiction, masculinity, identity and heartache are all found here bumping into each other, with Kunz’s lyrical narrative dragging you in. This book is not to be missed. - Tyler Heath, Inventory Manager

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Elizabeth McCracken may not write a lot, but, to paraphrase Mike Conovan from the Hepburn/Tracy movie Pat and Mike, “what’s there is cherce.” Her fresh, new novel, Bowlaway, is a humorous, tender, and quirky look at family, and the ties that bind them not only in blood, but in geography as well. In this case, it’s not the old family manse (though there is one of those) that becomes the focal point of the family, but the candlestick bowling alley built by the matriarch of this loosely-joined clan, Bertha Truitt.

 

In true oddball fashion, the novel begins with the discovery of Bertha Truitt “in the Salford Cemetery, but aboveground and alive.” How she got to the cemetery in a small town in Massachusetts no one knows and she can’t answer, and there are no footprints in the frost leading to where she lies. Of the two men who find her and come to her aid, one is a doctor originally from Canada, Leviticus Sprague, who eventually marries her, and the other, Joe Wear, a boy in his late teens who also shares Bertha’s love for bowling.

 

Spanning as it does the beginning to the end of the last century, the upheavals in the larger society are played out in microcosm in Salford and in the bowling alley. Bertha is an independent and brash woman, immune to the catcalls of the boys in town who see her riding her bicycle in her split skirt or laughing uproariously (and, thus, in unladylike fashion) at the newspaper comics. Her prodigious bosom (of which much is made of in the novel) seems to be more defensive armor than motherly appurtenances. In her own particular blow for equality, she refuses to put up a cloth barrier between female and male bowlers, insisting that it was wrong for her “to protect somebody else’s modesty.”

 

Though Bertha is a presence throughout the novel, her actual story ends abruptly near the beginning, and it is the offshoots of her life that carry the story. As McCracken writes near the end of the novel: “People look into genealogy to find ancestors, but ancestors beget descendants in all directions, until the little boat of your family is swamped with cousins of every degree and removal. It’s possible that one or two will be interesting but mostly the study of genealogy will make you believe that being one of your people is common as dirt.” In truth, Bertha’s one child with Dr. Sprague, Minna, does seem to have what most of us would consider the ideal life. After Bertha’s death, Minna is sent to Canada to live with her father’s people, and she becomes a jazz drummer who appears in several Hollywood movies made during World War II. While Minna drops in from time to time, deus ex machina-like, it is those “common as dirt” people from Salford who are the real subjects of this story. Bertha’s erstwhile husband, Nahum, appears after her death, claiming to be her son and so the rightful heir to her bowling alley. He marries Minna’s nanny, and their two sons think they are half-brothers to Minna… and the ripples continue moving out from that fateful day when Bertha was found in the cemetery.

 

By pure serendipity, I read Bowlaway immediately after reading Min Jin Lee’s award winning novel Pachinko, and I found the parallels between the two novels interesting. Set in roughly the same time period, Lee’s and McCracken’s exploration of love and family have those same Dickensian tropes of secret parentages or family ties, orphans, and disrupted inheritances. But where Lee’s novel is weighted down by an Asian culture that puts high prices on honor and the dire consequences that shame will bring to a family, McCracken’s novel, in true American fashion, eschews shame for a hardy and humorous independence and is feather-light by comparison.


            

Bowlaway: A Novel

By Elizabeth McCracken

Bowlaway: A Novel By Elizabeth McCracken Cover Image
$30.79
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9780062862853
Published: Ecco - February 5th, 2019

Bowlaway: A Novel By Elizabeth McCracken Cover Image
$30.79
Out of Stock Indefinitely
ISBN: 9780062862853
Published: Ecco - February 5th, 2019

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