The Lace Reader
A bookseller got so caught up reading Brunonia Barry's The Lace Reader (July) one morning that she forgot to open her store, William Morrow editor Laurie Chittenden told the audience during the Editors Buzz panel at BEA, moderated by Sara Nelson of Publishers Weekly.
The Lace Reader was originally self-published and sold 2,000 copies, aided by Barry's appearances in the Salem, Mass., area, where she lives. Set in contemporary Salem, the novel's main character is from a family that can read the future in a piece of lace.
The story, said Chittenden, reminded her of books she loved while growing up: gothic tales like Rebecca and ones with strong women characters like The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Those who decide to delve into The Lace Reader, though, might want to pair up with a friend and read the novel simultaneously. After reading the ending, warned Chittenden, "You'll need someone to talk to."
The Heretic's Daughter
Another buzzed book is set in historical Salem, Mass.: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent (September). The debut novel is narrated by young Sarah Carrier as she witnesses the tragic fate of her mother, Martha, one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Puritan New England.
A 10th generation descendant of Martha Carrier, Kent spent five years writing the novel. One of her colleagues read The Heretic's Daughter, said Little, Brown editor Reagan Arthur, "and immediately started it again because she didn't want it to end."
Miles from Nowhere
Riverhead editor Megan Lynch presented another debut novel, Nami Mun's Miles from Nowhere (December), about a teenage girl on the run in New York City in the 1980s. "Mostly it's a story of survival," said Lynch, with "moments of unexpected beauty."
The author shares similarities with her main character, including being born in Korea, raised in the Bronx and leaving home at an early age. "The authenticity of emotion is what makes you connect with the character and the story," Lynch said.
Mun first came to Lynch's attention when a mutual friend tipped her off that Mun, a Pushcart Prize winner, was doing a reading at a bar in New York City's East Village.
The Flying Troutmans
"Pretty much every book I've done is one you wouldn't know," Richard Nash of Counterpoint and Soft Skull joked. He's hoping that Canadian author Miriam Toews' new novel, The Flying Troutmans (October), will not fall into that category.
After Hattie's sister, Min, is taken to a psychiatric ward, she sets off on a wild road trip with her 11-year-old niece and 15-year-old nephew to find their father in the U.S. "The energy of it is like Little Miss Sunshine," said Nash, "with three crazy people driving across the country in a van."
The author has three teenage children, and the command she has of these voices is mind blowing," Nash said. He also noted that the book will appeal to everyone from young to old and "will engender in a lot of readers a sense of joy and discovery."
The White Mary
Part mystery, part adventure, part love story and "suspenseful the whole way through" is how Henry Holt editor Sarah Knight described The White Mary by Kira Salak (August).
The White Mary is the story of Marika Vecera, a war reporter who travels into the remote jungle of Papua New Guinea. She's searching for a man she has admired from afar, Pulitzer-winning journalist Robert Lewis. Like everyone else, Marika presumes Lewis committed suicide--until a missionary writes to her claiming to have seen him in the jungle.
Salak was the first woman to traverse Papua New Guinea, an experience she recounts in the nonfiction work Four Corners and draws on for The White Mary. "I'm never going to Papua New Guinea. Who are we kidding?" said Knight. "But Kira put me in the heart of the jungle."
The Book of Animal Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong
Rounding out the spotlighted books was the sole nonfiction title, The Book of Animal Ignorance (September), the follow-up to The Book of General Ignorance. "It was a surprise bestseller for us," said Harmony Books editor John Glusman of the latter. The original book came out of a BBC quiz show and currently has 180,000 copies in print. Glusman touted the illustrated tomes--filled with "possibly useless but interesting information"--as good holiday gift selections.--Shannon McKenna Schmidt