Making Connections

A totally different type of book from Ridgway’s, yet also composed of linked storylines and sly humor, Kupersmith’s debut novel draws on her personal history as a Vietnamese American. The story is set in motion as an American woman goes missing after escaping to Saigon to stay with a great aunt she’s never met. Two decades prior, another woman, escaping her father, disappears into the countryside. Combining Vietnamese history and folklore with elements of a ghost story, the author weaves a spell on the reader. Her primary characters are strong women—in search of their place in the world, fleeing from abuse, lost—and their stories ultimately connect in this haunting novel of revenge.

How does one choose between two perfect lives? Elle faces a decision that has been brewing for three decades when her life reaches a turning point one night at the Paper Palace, the family summerhouse. Amid the gorgeous landscape of outer Cape Cod, Elle unearths buried secrets as she attempts to make this defining choice. Heller’s previous incarnation overseeing drama at HBO (The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire) has clearly contributed to her skill creating this sexy, beautifully paced novel. When you start reading you simply cannot stop.

The Black Writers Collective, an online community founded in 1998, links Black writers worldwide with each other as well as with opportunities and resources. They’ve lent their support to this spectacular anthology featuring emerging and established writers including W.E.B. Du Bois (“The Comet”) and founding editor Temi Oh (“Almost Too Good to Be True”) who also writes the foreword. This is an important addition to the fast-growing genre of speculative Black literature and will surely appeal to already ardent fans, while connecting new readers to these extraordinary invented realms.