The Christie Affair, by Nina de Gramont, is a historical novel published in 2022. The novel takes place in the early part of the 20th century, focusing on mystery author Agatha Christie’s real-life disappearance in 1926. De Gramont draws from historical sources and highlights iconic events of the time, such as World War I and the influenza pandemic of 1918, while creating her own fictional world and characters.The novel explores themes of motherhood, family, and... Read The Christie Affair Summary

Ellery Lloyd is the pen name for the couple Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos, and The Club (2022) is their second novel together. The best-selling psychological thriller was selected by Reese’s Book Club. The Club investigates various aspects of the celebrity experience. Its title refers to both the exclusive membership club at which events take place and the metaphorical club to which celebrities belong, which has a strict internal hierarchy.This guide refers to the e-book... Read The Club Summary

The Downstairs Girl (2019) is a work of young adult (YA) historical fiction by Stacey Lee. The unusual coming-of-age story features 17-year-old Jo Kuan, a Chinese American girl trying to assert her identity in the context of racist and gender-based biases in 1890s Atlanta. Jo’s life is turned upside down when she decides to moonlight as a secret advice column writer, while working as a lady’s maid by day. Dispensing radical and witty advice that... Read The Downstairs Girl Summary

The Giver of Stars (2019) by JoJo Moyes is a work of women’s fiction that can also be categorized as historical fiction. Not long after its publication, The Giver of Stars became embroiled in controversy when another author, Kim Michele Richardson, noted similarities between her book about the WPA Pack Horse Librarians, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, and Moyes’s novel. Moyes is the bestselling author of Me Before You, and The Giver of Stars... Read The Giver of Stars Summary

The Guest List by Lucy Foley is a contemporary murder mystery novel published in 2020. Foley, an English author, weaves a tale of intrigue, secrets, and betrayal upon the backdrop of an isolated island in West Ireland. Foley is also known for the thrillers The Hunting Party (2018) and The Paris Apartment (2022), among others. Often likened to Agatha Christie, Foley’s novel is a slow-burn whodunit.Plot SummaryMany perspectives compose The Guest List; each chapter jumps... Read The Guest List Summary

The Henna Artist (2020) is a novel by Indian American author Alka Joshi and the first book in The Jaipur Trilogy. The story takes place in 1950s India and follows 17-year-old Lakshmi as she escapes an abusive marriage and moves to Jaipur to become a henna artist. The protagonist is based on the author’s mother, who was not able to choose her own path in life but was determined that her children would have that... Read The Henna Artist Summary

The House of Eve is a work of historical fiction written by Sadeqa Johnson and published in 2023. The novel, which is set in the 1940s-1950s, follows two protagonists, high school student Ruby Pearsall and college student Eleanor Quarles Pride, in alternating chapters—with Ruby’s story being told from the first-person perspective and Eleanor’s being told from the third-person limited perspective. Both stories explore second chances and the ways in which gender, racism, and poverty affect... Read The House of Eve Summary

The Island of Missing Trees (2021) is a best-selling novel written by Elif Shafak. Set against the 1974 Greek and Turkish conflict in Cyprus, the book spans multiple timelines. It follows the love story of Greek Cypriot Kostas and Turkish Cypriot Defne, their eventual migration to London, and the impact of their past and their history on their daughter Ada, whose only connection to Cyprus is the fig tree in her garden. Elif Shafak is... Read The Island of Missing Trees Summary

Megan Miranda’s best-selling novel The Last House Guest (2019) is a murder mystery that navigates unlikely friendships and the nuances of grief. As protagonist Avery Greer works to uncover the truth behind her best friend’s death, the narrative examines the tension between appearance and reality, the nature of justice, and the divisions between classes in a small seaside town in Maine.This study guide references the first edition Simon & Schuster trade paperback published in April... Read The Last House Guest Summary

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine, first published in October of 2017, is a psychological thriller that examines the lives of rich, East Coast socialites. “Liv Constantine” is the pen name of sisters Lynn and Valerie Constantine, who have backgrounds in marketing and English. The Last Mrs. Parrish is their debut novel. It was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection, a People Magazine Best Pick, and an international bestseller. Netflix acquired the rights to... Read The Last Mrs. Parrish Summary

The Last Story of Mina Lee is a 2020 novel by Los Angeles-born author Nancy Jooyoun Kim. It tells the story of a woman’s investigation into the death of her mother. The novel alternates between third-person narrations featuring Mina and Margot at different times in their lives. Kim explores themes of immigration, the limits of the American Dream, and the shortcomings of language, racism, and family dynamics. The Last Story of Mina Lee was a... Read The Last Story of Mina Lee Summary

The Last Thing He Told Me is a New York Times #1 bestselling mystery-thriller by American author Laura Dave, who also wrote The First Husband, Eight Hundred Grapes, and Hello, Sunshine. Eagerly anticipated by Dave’s large fan base, the novel was published by Simon & Schuster on May 4, 2021, was chosen as a Reese Witherspoon Book Club novel, and was adapted into a 2023 Apple TV+ series starring Jennifer Garner. Like Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl... Read The Last Thing He Told Me Summary

Susan Orlean, longtime staff writer at The New Yorker and best-selling author of The Orchid Thief, returned to narrative nonfiction with The Library Book (2018). Through the story of the Los Angeles Central Library, Orlean provides a history of libraries, examining what we stand to lose as the world’s base of knowledge transitions into the digital realm. Orlean received a Goodreads Choice Awards nomination for Best Nonfiction and a place on Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine... Read The Library Book Summary

Sharon Cameron is the best-selling author of The Light in Hidden Places, a YA historical fiction published in 2020. The protagonist, Stefania Podgórska, was a real-life person who hid 13 Jews during the Holocaust. Cameron spent years researching Stefania’s life, speaking to those close to her, including her son and sister, and reading her unpublished memoir. Thus, Cameron is uniquely qualified to turn Stefania’s life into a literary work. Stefania’s narrative centers on themes of... Read The Light in Hidden Places Summary

The Light We Lost, published by Penguin Random House LLC, is a novel by New York Times bestselling author, Jill Santopolo. The novel is a contemporary romance in which Lucy Carter reflects on her relationships with two men: Gabe Samson, a photojournalist, and Darren Maxwell, a banker. The novel takes place over 13 years, with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as the starting point and the Gaza City War in 2014 as the... Read The Light We Lost Summary

Four women become trapped in their own web of deceit in Ruth Ware’s psychological thriller, The Lying Game (2017). A text from their old school friend, Kate, sends Thea, Fatima, and Isa to the coastal village of Salten where the body of Kate’s father, Ambrose, surfaces on the beach. The problem: The four girls hid the body 17 years ago and told no one. Now, their lies are catching up to them. Ware deftly moves... Read The Lying Game Summary

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo was published in 2020. Like Choo's debut novel, The Ghost Bride (2013), The Night Tiger is a mixture of genres, including mythology and historical fiction, and it is a New York Times bestseller. The Night Tiger chronicles the period between May and July of 1931. The setting is colonial-era Malaysia, or “Malaya.”Plot SummaryChinese house servant Ren, is a 10-year-old orphan who’s mourning the death of his master, Dr. MacFarlane... Read The Night Tiger Summary

The Other Woman is a debut psychological thriller by British author Sandie Jones. The novel examines the mechanics of manipulation in close relationships while highlighting protective maternal relationships. Upon its 2018 release, The Other Woman was a New York Times bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon book club selection.This guide refers to the 2018 eBook edition published by Minotaur Books, an imprint of Macmillan.Content Warning: Sections of The Other Woman describe verbal, emotional, and physical abuse... Read The Other Woman Summary

Miranda Cowley Heller’s debut novel The Paper Palace is an emotional, romantic mystery told through two alternating storylines from Elle Bishop’s life. One storyline is the present day, and the other is Elle’s childhood through to the present; this gives readers a sense of Elle as an adult, as well as the events of her life that have shaped her personality. Heller is the former senior vice president and head of drama series at HBO... Read The Paper Palace Summary

Introduction American writer Alice Hoffman wrote The Rules of Magic (2017) as the prequel to her acclaimed 1995 novel Practical Magic. It forms part of the four-part Practical Magic series of books, which tell the story of the magically gifted Owens family and the curse that binds them and their lovers over successive generations. The Rules of Magic narrates the youth of Frances and Jet, the aunts whom Practical Magic protagonists Gillian and Sally are... Read The Rules of Magic Summary