Another mid-month, and another list of books we loved at Five Directions Press. Although these three June titles seem very different on the surface, each of them in its own way explores the theme of opening up—to the truth of one’s own past, to love when least expected, and to the hidden possibilities of a single, constricted space. Read on to find out more.
Audrey Burges, A House Like an Accordion (Berkley, 2024)
Where would fiction be without troubled marriages, difficult parents and children, and deeply buried conflicts, both internal and external? Yet even literary heroines seldom face the existential trauma that afflicts Keryth Miller one morning as she is brushing her teeth.
Keryth, named after a legendary princess, has a good life on the surface. She married her college sweetheart, whose AI technology made them both a fortune she could not have imagined in her cash-strapped youth. They have two daughters whom she loves, and they live in a magnificent modern mansion overlooking the California coast. But on that morning in the bathroom, thirty-nine-year-old Keryth notices that her hand has disappeared. She realizes right away that her father, whom she thought long gone, is alive, that he is drawing her, and that if she can’t track him down and make him stop, she will cease to exist.
The result is a long and intricate journey into Keryth’s complicated past, in which we discover the fates of her relatives and the particular gift passed down through her family. It’s a fast-paced and ultimately rewarding tale, driven by what reads almost like a conversation between her present and her past. And if at times, Keryth appears to be her own worst enemy, by the time you reach the end of this richly imagined and densely plotted work, you will understand how all the pieces fit together and why she could not, in fact, react in any other way.—CPL
Lauren Kate, By Any Other Name (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2022)
Lanie is a New York romance editor who lives her life according to the books of her favorite author, Noa Callaway. Using them as a framework, Lanie’s managed to find the perfect man, one who ticks all of her boxes and whom she’ll marry as soon as she has time to sit down and actually start planning the wedding, the move to DC where her fiancé works in politics, and their happily-ever-after. Life is set, and it’s good. Mostly.
But when Lanie’s boss—and Noa’s editor—decides she won’t be coming back from maternity leave, Lanie is given her dream assignment, if conditionally. All of a sudden she’s Noa Callaway’s editor. And being Noa’s editor is a lot more difficult than being her number-1 fan. For one thing, no one has ever actually met Noa. For another, she’s months late with her newest manuscript, the book around which the entire publishing house’s budget is built. If Lanie can’t get a good manuscript out of Noa sooner than later, not only will Lanie not keep her promotion, but the entire publishing house could go under.
This doesn’t sound like a rom-com just yet, but Noa has a secret. And when Lanie discovers what it is, her carefully built illusions come crashing down. In true romance novel fashion, Lanie is about to learn that life is full of plot twists, but the true happily-ever-after is always within reach.—CJH
Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow (Penguin, 2016)
The storyline is simple. When the Bolsheviks come to power in Russia in 1917, they abolish its monarchy and punish anyone who resists the dictates of the newly formed communist government. One of those punished is Count Alexander Rostov. But thanks to a revolutionary poem that is found in his possession and credited to him, rather than execute or imprison him, the Bolshevik hardliners place him under house arrest in a grand hotel called the Metropol, right across from the Kremlin. He remains there—not in the elegant suite where he lived for the last several years after his family’s mansion was burned down by the rebels—but in a tiny attic room with minimal creature comforts. As long as he never leaves, he will be permitted to live his life.
How interesting, one might ask, can a story that unfolds in one location over a large number of years be? The answer is very. His creator, Amor Towles, is blessed with a quick wit, which he has passed down to his protagonist, rendering him extremely engaging—and friendly. Before a reader realizes it, she has come to know the chef, the manager, the concierge, the seamstress, the barber, and many others who work at the Metropol, as well as one lovely film star who stays at the hotel for days at a time. And then there is Nina, a girl of nine who lives in a suite with her always-absent-from-the-scene mother. At first the count regards this precocious child as a pest, but soon enough he comes to understand that she is no less curious about the world than he is. Moreover, she has come upon a skeleton key that opens every locked door in the Metropol, and she has no qualms about using it to enhance her explorative adventures. Count Rostov falls easily into lockstep with her, and together they visit all the Metropol’s nooks and crannies, many of which contain useful secrets. Under Nina’s guidance, he also learns how to eavesdrop, which is most beneficial when the Bolsheviks come to the Metropol for meetings. It also allows him to keep up with the history unfolding outside the Metropol even while he remains confined to it.
This novel glitters with witty dialogue, compassion, suspense, and more. The count goes through periods of abject misery and great joy. Because he, being an aristocrat who never worked a day in his life, is meticulous in all matters concerning the proper serving of the best foods, the most alluring wines to accompany them, and how to intuit seating arrangements that will ensure the most stimulating dinner conversations, he is made headwaiter in the hotel’s restaurant. As the years pass, he also becomes, due to a set of highly unusual circumstances, guardian to Nina’s daughter. The ending of A Gentleman in Moscow is spectacular, demanding, as it does, the good intentions of basically all of the characters we, along with the Count, have come to know and love. This novel is a gem. The story is on its way to becoming a Showtime series, but read the book first to get the full flavor.—JS
Comments