WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 31Review_FICTION
from The View cohost Hostin (after the
memoir I Am These Truths) chronicles the
relationship between Black power couple
Omar and Ama Vaux Tanner and their
goddaughters Perry Soto, Billie Hayden,
and Olivia Jones, each of whom the
Tanners began supporting as young chil-
dren in New York City. In their late 20s,
the three women continue to spend their
summers at the Tanners’ majestic house in
Oak Bluffs, the affluent Black community
of Martha’s Vineyard. After Omar dies,
Ama rekindles a connection with a former
lover and plans to pass on the house to one
of the goddaughters. Perry, who longs to
have a baby, has a fling while she figures
out whether to take back her often-absent
doctor husband, who hangs out with his
med-school party crowd. Olivia takes a
chance on dating a white comedian.
Biologist Billie debates whether to accept
a job that would separate her from her
girlfriend, Dulce. As Ama considers
which goddaughter will receive the house,
secrets are revealed about the Tanner mar-
riage and how the couple came to take
care of the three children. Some of the plot
points hinge on avoidable misunderstand-
ings, particularly between Billie and
Dulce, but Hostin nicely captures the
Vineyard’s social nuances. This messy
beach book packs plenty of drama. (May)
The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba
Chanel Cleeton. Berkley, $17 trade paper
(384p) ISBN 978-0-593-19781-3
Cleeton (The Last Train to Key West)
spins an enchanting historical novel based
on the story of Cuban rebel Evangelina
Cisneros. In 1896 New York City, jour-
nalist Grace Harrington, aspiring to be
the next Nellie Bly, wangles a job with
William Randolph Hearst’s publication,
the New York Journal. As Grace is settling
in as a “stunt girl” reporter, a parallel nar-
rative follows Evangelina in Cuba, where
she is imprisoned for refusing the advances
of an enemy Spanish soldier. The incident
prompts Hearst to turn Evangelina’s story
into a plea for American involvement in
Cuba’s fight for independence, and he
gives Grace the assignment. The Journal’s
go-between is Marina Perez, disowned by
her wealthy family after marrying a
farmer turned revolutionary and trying to
make ends meet for her and her daughter
by taking in laundry, which provides the
perfect cover for covert messaging between
Evangelina and Grace. Further intrigue
emerges when Grace turns out to be a spy
for Hearst’s rival Joseph Pulitzer, an alle-
giance she gives up after Hearst entrusts
her with the story. Cleeton skillfully
brings off the three strong women’s
heartbreaking stories with intriguing
twists and turns and a delightful finale.
With impeccable research and perfect
pacing, Cleeton makes the most of her
subject. (May)That Summer
Jennifer Weiner. Atria, $28 (418p) ISBN 978-1-
5011-3354-1
Weiner follows up Big Summer with
another emotionally charged drama, this
one centered on a #MeToo reckoning.
Diana Shoemaker has been known as
Daisy ever since marrying her husband,
Hal. But when she begins receiving
emails intended for another “Diana S.”
with a similar address—and when the two
Dianas strike up a correspondence—she
starts to wonder what her life might have
been like had she not fallen into Main
Line Philadelphia motherhood and a
modest culinary education business. A
parallel narrative follows the other Diana,
whom it turns out is intent on contacting
Daisy to confront her about her sexual
assault when she was 15 by a group of
boys on Cape Cod, including some with
connections to Daisy, whose family spent
summers there along with Hal’s. After
Daisy and Diana become friends, Daisy
learns their seemingly accidental online
encounter was anything but. Weiner’s
writing is infused with evocative depic-
tions of place, particularly year-round
scenes on the Cape. Some villains are
painted with overly broad strokes, and
while the plot hinges on more than one
coincidence, the account of a woman on a
deferred quest, nearly three decades after
an assault, feels emotionally honest.
Weiner’s legions of fans will applaud this
emotionally affecting and often surprising
story. Agent: Joanna Pulcini, Joanna Pulcini
Literary Management. (May)Count the Ways
Joyce Maynard. Morrow, $28.99 (464p)
ISBN 978-0-06-239827-7
Maynard (Under the Influence) shows her
mastery at pulling the heartstrings in herlatest family
saga. Doled out
in 100 bite-size
chapters, the
life of a woman
named Eleanor
unfolds over five
decades starting
with her solitary
childhood in
Newton, Mass.,
where she felt
like an intrusion on her narcissistic, often
inebriated parents, whose drunken
behavior of shouting matches and thrown
glasses Eleanor characterizes as trips to
“Crazyland.” The author reports on
Eleanor’s lonely teen years and fragile
emotional state that was exacerbated by
her parents’ deaths in a car accident, and
later her financial independence after she
sells a children’s book series. Other mile-
stones—buying a ramshackle house in
New Hampshire, meeting the love of her
life, and having three children—give way
to the dissolution of her marriage after
their four-year-old son almost drowns
while being unsupervised. Granted, the
many side plots start to feel contrived once
they’re added up (a minor character’s death
from AIDS, another’s dementia, a #MeToo
scenario, and a close friend’s refusal to
leave an abusive husband, to name a few),
but Maynard does a good job of devel-
oping Eleanor, making the perspective she
gains over the course of her life feel fully
earned. Despite the melodrama, Maynard
succeeds at pulling in the reader. (May)Mystery/Thriller
Jackpot
Stuarts Woods and Bryon Quertermous.
Putnam, $28 (320p) ISBN 978-0-593-18845-3
Bestseller Woods and Quertermous’s
busy fifth Teddy Fay novel (after 2020’s
Bombshell) takes the former CIA operative
to Macau, where Centurion Studios owners
Peter Barrington and Ben Bacchetti, who
employ Teddy in his guise as movie pro-
ducer Billy Barnett, need his help.
Someone is threatening to blackmail
Peter and Ben, who are in Macao for a film
festival, with a fake video showing them
cheating at a local casino. In his search for
the culprit, Teddy crosses paths with