Review_FICTION Review_FICTION44 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
Reviews
Elizabeth Berg’s The Confession Club is a
tale of reinvention that continues the author’s
Mason series (reviewed on this page).The Glittering Hour
Iona Grey. St. Martin’s/Dunne, $28.99 (480p)
ISBN 978-1-250-06679-4
A nine-year-old child pieces together
clues to her mother’s wild past in this
slow-building but dramatic historical tale
of love lost and familial secrets uncovered
from Grey (Letters to the Lost). In 1936
England, Alice Carew is sent to live with
austere grandparents after her parents
leave for Burma. Her only entertainment
is her correspondence with her mother,
Selina, who sends her clues to a treasure
hunt that gradually reveals the story of
Selina’s life before Alice was born. In 1925,
Selina Lennox was one of the “Bright
Young People” whose outrageous behavior
often featured in gossip columns. Though
Selina’s parents urged her to settle down
with staid former soldier Rupert Carew,
bohemian artist Lawrence Weston captured
her heart. Told in a series of extended
flashbacks, their romance is vividly
drawn and heart-wrenching. Together,
Alice and the reader come to understand
that Alice’s origins are not what they
seem—but that’s not the only secret the
family is keeping. The novel’s final twist
is a devastating blow that more than
makes up for some plodding plotting
during the buildup. This sweeping history
is sure to be a tearjerker. Agent: Deborah
Schneider, Gelfman Schneider. (Dec.)Mary Toft; or, the Rabbit Queen
Dexter Palmer. Pantheon, $27.95 (336p)
ISBN 978-1-101-87193-5
In his follow-up to Version Control,
Palmer brilliantly fictionalizes the true
story of Mary Toft, who in 1726 perplexed
England when she gave birth to dead
rabbits. John Howard, the only surgeon in
the small town of Godalming, and his
14-year-old apprentice, Zachary Walsh,
find their relatively quaint medical consults
disrupted by a call from farmer Joshua
Toft, who says his wife, Mary, is ready to
give birth, despite having had a miscarriage
fewer than six months earlier. John andZachary are further surprised when Mary
gives birth to a dead rabbit—and then
another, and then another. Soon, word
spreads and surgeons are sent from London
to study the case. As Mary continues to
give birth to a rabbit every few days,
she’s brought to London for additional
inspection, accompanied by John and
Zachary, where the answer to the mystery
finally comes to light. Palmer evocatively
captures the period, from the sleepy
matters of Godalming to the noise and
danger of London (a violent show in a
back alley is particularly memorable).
But more impressive are the novel’s
inquiries into the human concerns of
wonder, denial, and belief. “And so I am
becoming, not myself, but a mixture of
the dreams of others,” Mary thinks.
Palmer skillfully and rewardingly delves
into the humanity at the heart of this true
historical oddity. (Nov.)The Confession Club
Elizabeth Berg. Random House, $26 (304p)
ISBN 978-1-984855-17-6
Berg (The Story of Arthur Truluv)
returns to Mason, Mo., for this feel-good
testament to taking risks, falling in love,
and reinvention. Here, the focus is on the
irrepressible members of a monthly club
of eight women ranging in age from 20s
to 80s, who bare their fibs, sins, and shame.
“They knew they were mostly silly,” Berg
writes. “They enjoyed being silly, because
sometimes you just needed to take a load
off.” But the heart of this story belongs to
cooking school teacher Iris, who’s “cominginto my fifties,” divorced and childless
when she falls in love with John, 66, a
homeless Vietnam War vet still haunted
by the war and the wife and child he left
behind. Berg effortlessly wraps her arms
around this busy universe of quirky
characters with heartbreaking secrets and
unflagging faith. “We forget how ready
people are to help,” 47-year-old “stout
and practical” club member Toots says,
adding: “To say those words to yourself or
another, ‘I forgive you’? Most powerful
words in the world.” Readers new to Berg’s
Mason will be dazzled by this bright and
fascinating story, and fans will be cheering
for the next volume set there. Agent:
Suzanne Gluck, WME Entertainment. (Nov.)The Worst Kind of Want
Liska Jacobs. MCD, $26 (224p) ISBN 978-0-
374-27266-1
Jacobs’s intoxicating second novel
(after 2017’s Catalina) is a love letter to
Italy and an evocative study of grief and
desire. Forty-three-year-old Priscilla
“Cilla” Messing jumps at the chance to
trade Los Angeles for Rome, leaving the
bedside of her demanding mother, who is
rehabilitating after a fall. Cilla’s 15-year-
old niece, Hannah, who lives in Rome, is
still reeling after the death of her mother,
Emily, Cilla’s sister, a year earlier, and is
exhibiting concerning behavior.
Hannah’s father, Paul, hopes that Cilla
will have a calming effect. In Rome,
Cilla soon falls into a routine of after-
school walking tours with Hannah and
17-year-old Donato, the son of Paul’s
writing partner and the object of
Hannah’s affection. Donato is an eager
tour guide and his innocent flirtation
awakens something dangerous in Cilla.
Eventually, Cilla and Donato are stealing
moments alone, and their liaisons begin
to consume Cilla, leading to devastating
consequences. Jacobs threads a vein of
low menace throughout the dreamlike
beauty of Rome, signaling the inevitable
result of Cilla and Donato’s doomed
affair. As their dalliance intensifies, Cilla
reflects on her aging body, her complex
relationship with Emily, her death, and a
life lived at the expense of her own needs.
Jacobs’s haunting portrait of one woman’s
transformative and, ultimately, tragic
summer will linger with readers. (Nov.)Fiction
Reviews
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