Pg. 69: Ania Szado's "Studio Saint-Ex"

Today's feature at the Page 69 Test: Studio Saint-Ex by Ania Szado.

About the book, from the publisher:

A sleek, stylish novel set in the sophisticated, dazzling New York of the 1940s, between the shock of Pearl Harbor and the first landing of American troops in Europe—a deft, romantic novel about a wartime triangle involving a twenty-two-year-old fashion designer poised to launch her promising career . . . the acclaimed French expatriate writer/war pilot, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who’s fled his Nazi-occupied country and come to Manhattan for a month, only to stay for two years . . . and his beautiful, estranged Salvadoran wife, the tempestuous, vain Consuelo, determined to win back her husband at all costs—and seductions.

With Paris under occupation by Hitler’s troops, New York’s Mayor La Guardia has vowed to turn his city into the new fashion capital of the world. A handful of American designers are set to become the industry’s first names, and Mignonne Lachapelle is determined to be among them. Her ambition and ethics are clear and uncomplicated, until she falls for the celebrated and tormented adventurer Captain Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who, six months after the surrender of France, has fled Europe’s ashen skies after flying near-suicidal reconnaissance missions for the French Air Force. In New York, he writes a new book on the fall of France, Flight to Arras (it becomes a number-one best seller) and collects (a year late) his 1939 National Book Award for his Wind, Sand and Stars, a poetic account of his flying escapades over North Africa and South America (by the time of his arrival in New York, in early 1941, the book has sold 250,000 copies). To distract himself from his malaise about France and at being in exile, and at his publisher’s offhand suggestion, he begins work on a children’s story about a “petit bonhomme” in the Sahara Desert...

Nothing about Mig’s relationship with Saint-Ex is simple, not his turmoil and unhappiness about being in New York and grounded from wartime skies, nor Mig’s tempestuous sexual encounter with Antoine and the blurring boundaries of their artistic pursuits, ­or Saint-Exupéry’s wife who insidiously entangles Mig in her schemes to reclaim her husband. The greatest complication of Mig’s bond with Saint-Exupéry comes in the form of a deceptively simple manuscript: Antoine’s work in progress about a little boy, a prince, who’s fallen to earth on a journey across the planets...

An irresistible novel that brings to life the complex, now almost mythic Saint-Exupéry and the glittering life of wartime New York.

Learn more about the book and author at Ania Szado's website.

The Page 69 Test: Studio Saint-Ex.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Carrie Brown reading?

Today's featured contributor at Writers Read: Carrie Brown, author of The Last First Day.

One title she named:

Too Much Happiness. The long title story in a recent collection from the amazing Alice Munro uses the life of Sofia Kovalevsky, nineteenth century Russian mathematician (and novelist and memoirist) as inspiration for a strange and marvelous story that works like a spell, whisking the reader forward and back in time throughout Kovalevsky’s life, creating suspense by its habit of stealth moves; you never know where the story will go next. By accretion of disordered scenes and memories and journeys, an extraordinary life is revealed. Munro’s stories operate by their own internal logic. I find the effect of her stories, especially the long ones, like a thrilling scavenger hunt; you cannot anticipate your next destination, each discovery is a surprise, but in the end all is revealed and you are back where you began, but somehow...[read on]

About The Last First Day, from the publisher:

From the author of The Rope Walk, here is the story of a woman’s life in its twilight, as she looks back on a harrowing childhood and on the unaccountable love and happiness that emerged from it.

Ruth has always stood firmly beside her upstanding, brilliant husband, Peter, the legendary chief of New England’s Derry School for boys. The childless couple has a unique, passionate bond that grew out of Ruth’s arrival on Peter’s family’s doorstep as a young girl orphaned by tragedy. And though sometimes frustrated by her role as lifelong helpmate, Ruth is awed by her good fortune in her life with Peter. As the novel opens, we see the Derry School in all its glorious fall colors and witness the loosening of the aging Peter’s grasp: he will soon have to retire, and Ruth is wondering what they will do in their old age, separated from the school into which they have poured everything, including their savings. The narrative takes us back through the years, revealing the explosive spark and joy between Ruth and Peter—undiminished now that they are in their seventies—and giving us a deeply felt portrait of a woman from a generation that quietly put individual dreams aside for the good of a partnership, and of the ongoing gift of the right man’s love.

Learn more about the book and author at Carrie Brown's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Last First Day.

The Page 69 Test: The Last First Day.

Writers Read: Carrie Brown.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven top literary wedding themes

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Nicole Hill tagged seven favorite literary moments that could make a wedding shine, including:

The Lord of the Rings

The sheer scale of Tolkien’s trilogy presents ample opportunities for your big day. Plus, the whole ceremony can revolve around rings and The One! You’ll want to walk down the aisle with the grace of the elves, party hard like a hobbit on his 111th birthday, then drink yourself under the table with the dwarves. Vows, of course, would need to be said in the forms of riddles—or at least in Elvish, mellon nin. While I can’t suggest serving Lembas bread at the reception, a sumptuous feast like the ones at Lord Elrond’s table would be sure to wow any Fellowship. Aragorn’s Black Gate speech has the potential to be a powerful best man’s toast when paraphrased. And let’s not forget: Frodo’s got them moves like Jagger.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Lord of the Rings also made Charlie Jane Anders's list of fifteen moments from science fiction and fantasy that will make absolutely anyone cry, Elizabeth Wein's top ten list of dynamic duos in fiction, Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders's list of the ten sources that inspired the dark storytelling of Game of Thrones, Rob Bricken's list of 11 preposterously manly fantasy series, Conrad Mason's top ten list of magical objects in fiction, Linus Roache's six best books list, Derek Landy's top ten list of villains in children's books, Charlie Jane Anders and Michael Ann Dobbs' list of ten classic SF books that were originally considered failures, Lev Grossman's list of the six greatest fantasy books of all time, and appears on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best women dressed as men, ten of the best bows and arrows in literature, ten of the best beards in literature, ten of the best towers in literature, ten of the best volcanoes in literature, ten of the best chases in literature, and ten of the best monsters in literature. It is one of Salman Rushdie's five best fantasy novels for all ages. It is a book that made a difference to Pat Conroy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tom Leveen's "Sick," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: Sick by Tom Leveen.

The entry begins:

I don’t get out much anymore. There, I’ve said it. Who’s hot, who’s not? No clue. But here’s what I’d love to see happen with Sick, the movie:

Brian, played by a young River Phoenix. That would have been awesome.

Kenzie, played by Vanessa Marano or...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Tom Leveen's website.

Leveen is the author of Party, Zero, and manicpixiedreamgirl. Zero was named to YALSA’s list of Best Fiction for Young Adults.

My Book, The Movie: Zero.

My Book, The Movie: Sick.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four top romance novels

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Sara Brady tagged four of the best romance novels, including:

There’s a reason Nora Roberts has more than 400 million copies of her books in print: her writing is accessible, engrossing, and, to a longtime reader, as comforting as a bowl of soup and a mom-knit blanket. She also doesn’t get enough credit for writing some truly chilling thrillers, but that’s a rant for another day. With a catalog of 209 titles (and counting), it’s tough to know where to start with Roberts. My entry point was her 2002 standalone Three Fates, which tells the story of the Sullivan siblings, descendants of a survivor of the sinking of the Lusitania, who embark on a globetrotting pursuit of three priceless heirlooms. It’s sexy and speedy and includes a makeover scene and a stripper with a heart of gold. It’s basically perfect.

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Free book: "Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets"

Atria Books/Marble Arch Press and the Campaign for the American Reader are giving away a copy of Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets: A Real-Life Scottish Fairy Tale by Jessica A. Fox.

HOW TO ENTER: (1) send an email to this address:

(2) In the subject line, type Rockets.

(3) Include your name (or alias or whatever you wish to be called if I email you to tell you you've won the book) in the body of the email.

[I will not sell or share your email address; nor will I be in touch with you unless it is to tell you you have won the book.  I promise.]

Contest closes on Monday, September 30th.

Only one entry per person, please.

Winner must have a US mailing address.

Read more about Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets: A Real-Life Scottish Fairy Tale at Jessica A. Fox's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Kathleen Kent's "The Outcasts"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Outcasts by Kathleen Kent.

About the book, from the publisher:

A taut, thrilling adventure story about buried treasure, a manhunt, and a woman determined to make a new life for herself in the old west.

It's the 19th century on the Gulf Coast, a time of opportunity and lawlessness. After escaping the Texas brothel where she'd been a virtual prisoner, Lucinda Carter heads for Middle Bayou to meet her lover, who has a plan to make them both rich, chasing rumors of a pirate's buried treasure.

Meanwhile Nate Cannon, a young Texas policeman with a pure heart and a strong sense of justice, is on the hunt for a ruthless killer named McGill who has claimed the lives of men, women, and even children across the frontier. Who--if anyone--will survive when their paths finally cross?

As Lucinda and Nate's stories converge, guns are drawn, debts are paid, and Kathleen Kent delivers an unforgettable portrait of a woman who will stop at nothing to make a new life for herself.

Learn more about the book and author at Kathleen Kent's website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: The Outcasts.

The Page 69 Test: The Outcasts.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Matt J. Rossano reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Matt J. Rossano, author of Mortal Rituals: What the Story of the Andes Survivors Tells Us About Human Evolution.

His entry begins:

Two recently read books that have stuck with me are Thomas Wynn and Fred Coolidge’s How to Think like a Neandertal and Michael Tomasello’s Why We Cooperate. Both of them deal with the issue that I have been pondering in one way or another my entire professional life, which is – what makes us human? Wynn and Coolidge’s book addresses the question by way of comparison with our closest hominin cousins (Neandertals). While Tomasello’s book does it by comparison with our closest primate relatives (chimpanzees).

I see a broad convergence between the two in that the big, glaring intellectual differences that had once seemed so certain, such things as only humans have symbols or only humans have language, are nowhere near as certain as once believed. This is not to say that...[read on]

About Mortal Rituals, from the publisher:

On December 21, 1972, sixteen young survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 were rescued after spending ten weeks stranded at the crash site of their plane, high in the remote Andes Mountains. The incident made international headlines and spawned several best-selling books, fueled partly by the fact that the young men had resorted to cannibalism to survive.

Matt Rossano examines this story from an evolutionary perspective, weaving together findings and ideas from anthropology, psychology, religion, and cognitive science. During their ordeal, these young men broke “civilized” taboos to fend off starvation and abandoned “civilized” modes of thinking to maintain social unity and individual sanity. Through the power of ritual, the survivors were able to endure severe emotional and physical hardship. Rossano ties their story to our story, seeing in the mortal rituals of this struggle for survival a reflection of what it means to be human.

Learn more about Mortal Rituals at the Columbia University Press website.

Matt Rossano is head of the Psychology Department at Southeastern Louisiana University and the author of Evolutionary Psychology: The Science of Human Behavior and Evolution and Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved.

The Page 99 Test: Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved.

The Page 99 Test: Mortal Rituals.

Writers Read: Matt J. Rossano.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jojo Moyes' six favorite books

Jojo Moyes's new novel is The Girl You Left Behind.

One of her six favorite books, as told to The Week magazine:

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

A book I thought I wasn't going to enjoy about a subject I wasn't interested in. This novel showed me the value of research, of taking a reader somewhere new. If the characters are compelling, readers will follow anywhere.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Mark Larrimore's "The Book of 'Job': A Biography"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: The Book of "Job": A Biography by Mark Larrimore.

About the book, from the publisher:

The book of Job raises stark questions about the nature and meaning of innocent suffering and the relationship of the human to the divine, yet it is also one of the Bible's most obscure and paradoxical books, one that defies interpretation even today. Mark Larrimore provides a panoramic history of this remarkable book, traversing centuries and traditions to examine how Job's trials and his challenge to God have been used and understood in diverse contexts, from commentary and liturgy to philosophy and art.

Larrimore traces Job's obscure origins and his reception and use in the Midrash, burial liturgies, and folklore, and by figures such as Gregory the Great, Maimonides, John Calvin, Immanuel Kant, William Blake, Margarete Susman, and Elie Wiesel. He chronicles the many ways the book of Job's interpreters have linked it to other biblical texts; to legends, allegory, and negative and positive theologies; as well as to their own individual and collective experiences. Larrimore revives old questions and provides illuminating new contexts for contemporary ones. Was Job a Jew or a gentile? Was his story history or fable? What is meant by the "patience of Job," and does Job exhibit it? Why does God speak yet not engage Job's questions?

Offering rare insights into this iconic and enduring book, Larrimore reveals how Job has come to be viewed as the Bible's answer to the problem of evil and the perennial question of why a God who supposedly loves justice permits bad things to happen to good people.

Learn more about The Book of "Job": A Biography at the Princeton University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: The Book of "Job": A Biography.

--Marshal Zeringue

The ten best science fiction stories where humans are the villains

At io9 Emily Stamm and Charlie Jane Anders came up with a list of the ten best science fiction stories where humans are the villains, including:

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin

This novel explores the relationship between the natives of the planet Athshe and the humans from Earth who are attempting to colonize the planet and exploit its natural resources. The Terrans enslave the small, green, furry natives and treat them more like animals than people, despite their proven intelligence and advanced social structures.

We see the Terrans primarily from two points of view, Captain Davidson and Raj Lyubov. Davidson is a small minded, violent man who begins the war after he rapes and kills an important Athshean’s wife. Lyubov is an anthropologist, and one of the few Terrans who take the time to understand the Athsheans.

Through Davidson and Lyubov’s interactions with other Terrans we see the selfish, violent nature of the humans on the planet. They refer to the Athsheans by the slur “creechies” while trying to hide their mistreatment of them from other humanoid races. When Lyubov protests one man tells him, “You know the people you’re studying are going to get plowed under, and probably wiped out. It’s the way things are. It’s human nature, and you must know you can’t change that.”

Read about another novel on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Carrie Brown's "The Last First Day"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Last First Day by Carrie Brown.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the author of The Rope Walk, here is the story of a woman’s life in its twilight, as she looks back on a harrowing childhood and on the unaccountable love and happiness that emerged from it.

Ruth has always stood firmly beside her upstanding, brilliant husband, Peter, the legendary chief of New England’s Derry School for boys. The childless couple has a unique, passionate bond that grew out of Ruth’s arrival on Peter’s family’s doorstep as a young girl orphaned by tragedy. And though sometimes frustrated by her role as lifelong helpmate, Ruth is awed by her good fortune in her life with Peter. As the novel opens, we see the Derry School in all its glorious fall colors and witness the loosening of the aging Peter’s grasp: he will soon have to retire, and Ruth is wondering what they will do in their old age, separated from the school into which they have poured everything, including their savings. The narrative takes us back through the years, revealing the explosive spark and joy between Ruth and Peter—undiminished now that they are in their seventies—and giving us a deeply felt portrait of a woman from a generation that quietly put individual dreams aside for the good of a partnership, and of the ongoing gift of the right man’s love.

Learn more about the book and author at Carrie Brown's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Last First Day.

The Page 69 Test: The Last First Day.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Drew Karpyshyn reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Drew Karpyshyn, author of Children of Fire (The Chaos Born, Book One).

His entry begins:

Most of the fiction I read is speculative in some way: horror, sci-fi or fantasy. I read mostly for escapism, enjoyment and entertainment, and I usually find that in stories that I know couldn't happen in real life. I also think that sf/f/h books can be far more imaginative and amazing than movies in the same genre, because the author isn't limited by special effects or budget constraints. Give me a book with supernatural monsters, magic or highly advanced technologies, throw in some good characters and an interesting plot, and I'm hooked.

I tend to travel a lot, and I love to read while I'm on a plane or in a hotel room on the road. Having said that, it's hard for me to find stuff I like. I'm very particular about what I read, and I often become frustrated with the books I pick up. Fortunately, I've had a recent run of titles that I'd strongly recommend.

Let's begin with Elantris and Mistborn: The Final Empire. I'm a bit late to the Brandon Sanderson party, but I can see why he's become one of fantasy's most popular authors. Elantris focuses on a prince who is stricken by a very rare, very strange illness that causes him to be banished to a ruined wasteland...[read on]

About Children of Fire, from the publisher:

Drew Karpyshyn has made his mark with imaginative, action-packed work on several acclaimed videogames, including Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as well as in a succession of New York Times bestselling tie-in novels. Now Karpyshyn introduces a brilliantly innovative epic fantasy of perilous quests, tormented heroes, and darkest sorcery—a thrilling adventure that vaults him into the company of such authors as Terry Goodkind, Brandon Sanderson, and Peter V. Brett.

Long ago the gods chose a great hero to act as their agent in the mortal world and to stand against the demonic spawn of Chaos. The gods gifted their champion, Daemron, with three magical Talismans: a sword, a ring, and a crown. But the awesome power at his command corrupted Daemron, turning him from savior to destroyer. Filled with pride, he dared to challenge the gods themselves. Siding with the Chaos spawn, Daemron waged a titanic battle against the Immortals. In the end, Daemron was defeated, the Talismans were lost, and Chaos was sealed off behind the Legacy—a magical barrier the gods sacrificed themselves to create.

Now the Legacy is fading. On the other side, the banished Daemron stirs. And across the scattered corners of the land, four children are born of suffering and strife, each touched by one aspect of Daemron himself—wizard, warrior, prophet, king.

Bound by a connection deeper than blood, the Children of Fire will either restore the Legacy or bring it crashing down, freeing Daemron to wreak his vengeance upon the mortal world.

Learn more about the book and author at Drew Karpyshyn's website.

Writers Read: Drew Karpyshyn.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kathleen Kent's "The Outcasts," the movie

The current feature at My Book, The Movie: The Outcasts by Kathleen Kent.

The entry begins:

For Lucinda Carter, the main female character who is a young prostitute fleeing her miserable life for rumored gold on the Gulf Coast of Texas, I would cast Jena Malone (who was in Hatfield & McCoys). Jena is young, beautiful, and intelligent and I think she’d have the depth to portray a woman who would stop at nothing to make a new life for herself.

For Nate Cannon, the newly minted Texas State Policeman, I would cast someone young and athletic, un-jaded, handsome but not too “pretty,” like...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Kathleen Kent's website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: The Outcasts.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five great contemporary British-Asian novels

Sathnam Sanghera is a British journalist and author of Marriage Material: A Novel and The Boy With The Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton.

One of his best contemporary British-Asian novels, as published in the Telegraph:

[T]here is Gautam Malkani’s Londonstani (2006). There was a lot of hype about this book when it came out, hype which, oddly, distracted people from its originality and freshness. I reread it last year and was amazed at how it, uniquely, captured a particular phase of the British-Asian second-generation experience. People will look back at it and consider it a very important British novel.

Read about another novel on the list.

Also see Nikesh Shukla's top ten Anglo-Asian books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Lorrie Thomson's "Equilibrium"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Equilibrium by Lorrie Thomson.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the year since her husband died, Laura Klein’s world has shifted on its axis. It’s not just that she’s raising two children alone—fact is, Laura always did the parenting for both of them. But now her fifteen-year-old daughter, Darcy, is dating a boy with a fast car and faster hands, and thirteen-year-old Troy’s attitude has plummeted along with his voice. Just when she’s resigning herself to a life of worry and selfless support, her charismatic new tenant offers what Laura least expects: a second chance.

Darcy isn’t surprised her mom doesn’t understand her, though she never imagined her suddenly acting like a love-struck teen herself. With Troy starting to show signs of their father’s bipolar disorder, and her best friend increasingly secretive, Darcy turns to her new boyfriend, Nick, for support. Yet Nick has a troubled side of his own, forcing Darcy toward life-altering choices.

Exploring the effects of grief on both mother and daughter, Equilibrium is a thoughtful, resolutely uplifting novel about finding the balance between holding on and letting go, between knowing when to mourn and when to hope, and between the love we seek and the love we choose to give.

Learn more about the book and author at Lorrie Thomson's website, Twitter perch and Facebook page.

Writers Read: Lorrie Thomson.

The Page 69 Test: Equilibrium.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four top novels that may drive you to drink

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Melissa Albert tagged four books that "will drive all but the staunchest teetotaler to the nearest cocktail shaker," including:

Some Hope, by Edward St. Aubyn.

The third in St. Aubyn’s mordantly brilliant Patrick Melrose series, Some Hope depicts its newly sober antihero, Patrick, attending a glittering party of snobs and decaying relics of the British upper crust that spawned him. He reveals a painful secret to a friend, drifts through the party, experiences the stirring of hope promised by the novel’s title, and doesn’t drink a drop, having managed, at last, to give up the vices that almost killed him. But oh, does this book make you long for a drink. Something clear, quick, and cold, just to make St. Aubyn’s casual cruelties and painful revelations cut a little less deeply.

Read about another novel on the list.

Mickey Sumner is a big fan of the Patrick Melrose series.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Matt J. Rossano's "Mortal Rituals"

This weekend's feature at the Page 99 Test: Mortal Rituals: What the Story of the Andes Survivors Tells Us About Human Evolution by Matt J. Rossano.

About the book, from the publisher:

On December 21, 1972, sixteen young survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 were rescued after spending ten weeks stranded at the crash site of their plane, high in the remote Andes Mountains. The incident made international headlines and spawned several best-selling books, fueled partly by the fact that the young men had resorted to cannibalism to survive.

Matt Rossano examines this story from an evolutionary perspective, weaving together findings and ideas from anthropology, psychology, religion, and cognitive science. During their ordeal, these young men broke “civilized” taboos to fend off starvation and abandoned “civilized” modes of thinking to maintain social unity and individual sanity. Through the power of ritual, the survivors were able to endure severe emotional and physical hardship. Rossano ties their story to our story, seeing in the mortal rituals of this struggle for survival a reflection of what it means to be human.

Learn more about Mortal Rituals at the Columbia University Press website.

Matt Rossano is head of the Psychology Department at Southeastern Louisiana University and the author of Evolutionary Psychology: The Science of Human Behavior and Evolution and Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved.

The Page 99 Test: Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved.

The Page 99 Test: Mortal Rituals.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Lorrie Thomson reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Lorrie Thomson, author of Equilibrium.

Her entry begins:

I recently finished reading an ARC for T. Greenwood’s new novel, Bodies of Water. Absolutely mesmerizing, the love story left me aching for the characters long after I’d closed the book. T. Greenwood’s lyrical prose pull you into the lives of the lovers until their obsession is yours, until you taste their fear and worry. Until you appreciate all the sweet...[read on]

About Equilibrium, from the publisher:

In the year since her husband died, Laura Klein’s world has shifted on its axis. It’s not just that she’s raising two children alone—fact is, Laura always did the parenting for both of them. But now her fifteen-year-old daughter, Darcy, is dating a boy with a fast car and faster hands, and thirteen-year-old Troy’s attitude has plummeted along with his voice. Just when she’s resigning herself to a life of worry and selfless support, her charismatic new tenant offers what Laura least expects: a second chance.

Darcy isn’t surprised her mom doesn’t understand her, though she never imagined her suddenly acting like a love-struck teen herself. With Troy starting to show signs of their father’s bipolar disorder, and her best friend increasingly secretive, Darcy turns to her new boyfriend, Nick, for support. Yet Nick has a troubled side of his own, forcing Darcy toward life-altering choices.

Exploring the effects of grief on both mother and daughter, Equilibrium is a thoughtful, resolutely uplifting novel about finding the balance between holding on and letting go, between knowing when to mourn and when to hope, and between the love we seek and the love we choose to give.

Learn more about the book and author at Lorrie Thomson's website, Twitter perch and Facebook page.

Writers Read: Lorrie Thomson.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Mary-Rose MacColl's "In Falling Snow"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl.

About the book, from the publisher:

A bestselling Australian writer’s American debut and a heart-wrenching novel of World War I

Iris Crane’s tranquil life is shattered when a letter summons memories from her bittersweet past: her first love, her best friend, and the tragedy that changed everything. Iris, a young Australian nurse, travels to France during World War I to bring home her fifteen-year-old brother, who ran away to enlist. But in Paris she meets the charismatic Dr. Frances Ivens, who convinces Iris to help establish a field hospital in the old abbey at Royaumont, staffed entirely by women—a decision that will change her life. Seamlessly interwoven is the story of Grace, Iris’s granddaughter in 1970s Australia. Together their narratives paint a portrait of the changing role of women in medicine and the powerful legacy of love.

Learn more about the book and author at Mary-Rose MacColl's website, and follow MacColl on Facebook and Twitter.

My Book, The Movie: In Falling Snow.

Writers Read: Mary-Rose MacColl.

The Page 69 Test: In Falling Snow.

--Marshal Zeringue