New Books By Boston-Area Authors
Tom Perrotta - The Leftovers
Available on August 30
Author Website
Bestselling author Tom Perrotta (Little Children, The Abstinence Teacher) returns with a powerful, highly anticipated novel many reviewers are calling his most ambitious to date. "The Leftovers" (St. Martin's Press) focuses on the small suburban town of Mapleton as it is caught up in the devastation of a mysterious, global event called the Sudden Departure. Is it the Rapture? If so, why are there many left behind? In this book that will surely have book clubs buzzing, Perrotta explores themes of love, connection and loss as the story follows the families left struggling to hold onto their beliefs, in the wake of grief and apocalyptic anxiety.
Robert Booth - Death of an Empire: The Rise and Murderous Fall of Salem, America's Richest City
Available on August 16
History buffs will enjoy Robert Booth's fascinating book about the dark episodes of Salem's maritime history--a history plagued by greed, scandal and murder, which eventually led to the downfall of one of the country's most important ports. Robert Booth, who is the curator emeritus of the Pickering House in Salem and serves on the boards of several history organizations, draws in characters such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Quincy Adams, and Daniel Webster, in this shocking tale of a little-known part of Massachusetts and American history.
Alice Hoffman - The Dovekeepers
Available on October 4
Author website
Set in ancient Israel, "The Dovekeepers" is already being called acclaimed author Alice Hoffman's tour de force. Hoffman's 23rd novel, "The Dovekeepers" is based on the story of the mass suicide of Jewish Zealots at Masada as recorded by the historian Josephus and is told from the perspectives of four Jewish women whose lives converge in the dovecotes of the rebel desert stronghold. Five years in the writing, the book has already been hailed by Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison as a "major contribution to twenty-first century literature."
Barbara Delinsky - Escape
Available now
Author Website
Have you ever woken up in a cold sweat thinking you're stuck in a life you don't want? Did you ever consider disappearing and ditching everything you've ever known and starting over again? That is the premise of Barbara Delinsky's new novel "Escape," which follows Emily Aulenbach, a New York City lawyer who's had enough of her life and takes off for the small New Hampshire town where she'd spent a life-changing summer 10 years earlier. Like with all Barbara Dellinsky books, "Escape" features unforgettable characters, and a relatable, timely story.
Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus
Available on September 13
Author Website
With so much buzz behind it, it's not a surprise that "The Night Circus" is already set to become a movie. Summit Entertainment (the powerhouse behind the Twilight movies) recently acquired the world rights to Erin Morgenstern's first novel about two young prodigy illusionists in the 19th century who fall in love while being groomed to battle out their fathers' age-old rivalry in an enchanted circus created just for their competition. The star-crossed romance will surely appeal to a young audience, but the story is more than a tale of romance or magic and fantasy. It's an epic, imaginative tale that has bestseller written all over it.
Erin Byers Murray - Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm
Available October 11
Author website
In 2009, writer Erin Byers Murray left her media job to work for a year at the Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, MA, and learn the business of oysters. "Shucked" explores her "oyster odyssey", and tells the dynamic story of a community of New England oyster farmers, and the oyster farming process. It's also a personal memoir of sorts, as Murray documents the lessons learned from slowing down in a fast-paced, tech-obsessed world.
