The best fiction reads of 2018: the Monitor's picks
Books can be a haven, an escape, and a window into lives that are not our own. Monitor book critics were delighted by many this year, and these are the cream of the crop, perfect for a gift for a loved one or a treat for yourself. We hope you enjoy. To read the full reviews of many of these books, check out CSMonitor.com.
罢谤补苍蝉肠谤颈辫迟颈辞苍,听by Kate Atkinson
Little, Brown, 352 pp.
鈥淟ife After Life鈥� author Kate Atkinson returns with a novel about a young woman who works during World War II to transcribe MI5鈥檚 surveillance of British fascist allies.聽
Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen,聽by Sarah Bird
St. Martin鈥檚 Press, 416 pp.
This novel tells the true and almost forgotten story of Cathay Williams, a former slave who became part of a regiment of black 鈥渂uffalo soldiers鈥� after the Civil War.聽
Becoming Mrs. Lewis,聽by Patti Callahan
Thomas Nelson, 432 pp.
The novel focuses on the real-life romance of authors C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman, who started their relationship as pen pals and eventually married.聽
The Cloister,聽by James Carroll
Knopf, 384 pp.
In James Carroll鈥檚 tale, a priest and a Jewish Holocaust survivor encounter each other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art鈥檚 Cloisters in New York. As their separate tales unfold, each recognizes the need to forgive themselves for the past.
The Mere Wife,聽by Maria Dahvana Headley
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 320 pp.
鈥淏eowulf鈥� is reimagined in Maria Dahvana Headley鈥檚 novel, which takes place in a suburb where the sons of two very different women become acquainted.聽
Our Homesick Songs,聽by Emma Hooper
Simon & Schuster, 336 pp.
Emma Hooper鈥檚 novel takes place in a struggling fishing village in Newfoundland. Aiden and Martha Conner have remained in the town, but they find themselves facing a difficult choice when the government says anyone remaining should go.聽
Greeks Bearing Gifts,聽by Philip Kerr
Penguin, 528 pp.
鈥淕reeks Bearing Gifts鈥� is Philip Kerr鈥檚 latest (and one of his last, as Kerr died earlier this year) about Bernie Gunther, a detective working in Nazi Germany. In this story, Bernie becomes involved with a case about a former Wehrmacht soldier who may have been trafficking treasures taken from Jews.聽
鲍苍蝉丑别濒迟别谤别诲,听by Barbara Kingsolver
HarperCollins, 480 pp.
Vineland, N.J., in the 19th century and in the present day are the dual settings of Barbara Kingsolver鈥檚 new work. In the present, Willa inherits an old house. In the 19th century, a couple lives in what appears to be that same house with the wife鈥檚 mother and sister.聽
颁颈谤肠别,听by Madeline Miller
Little, Brown, 400 pp.
Madeline Miller鈥檚 newest novel, following the acclaimed 鈥淭he Song of Achilles,鈥� retells the story of Circe, who meets familiar figures including Odysseus.
Gateway to the Moon,聽by Mary Morris
Knopf, 256 pp.
鈥淕ateway to the Moon鈥� charts the story of a family, from members who escape the Spanish Inquisition and travel to America to their contemporary descendant, Miguel, who is intrigued to find out that a Jewish family he works for has similar traditions to his own.聽
All the Lives We Never Lived,聽by Anuradha Roy
Atria, 288 pp.
Anuradha Roy鈥檚 latest centers on Myshkin, who as an adult looks back on his earlier life during the late 1930s and early 1940s in India and his mother leaving the family.聽
Clock Dance,聽by Anne Tyler
Knopf, 304 pp.
Anne Tyler鈥檚 lovely new work tells the story of an older woman who is seeking purpose in her life and becomes a temporary caregiver to a mother and daughter.聽
The Map of Salt and Stars,聽by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar
Touchstone, 368 pp.
Two trips take place in this novel 鈥� one is an expedition in medieval times that aims to map the Arabic world using the stars and the other is that of 11-year-old Nour, who travels to Syria, the country of her mother鈥檚 birth.聽
