Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews

Heartwarming and thought-provoking, Where the Heart Is: A Homecoming by D.L. Norris is a novel in which love, parenthood, and family history intertwine, exploring the many-faceted legacy that new generations inherit from those who came before.

When Jenna and Marcus learn from Aunt Lee that Jenna’s father has passed away, they decide to move back to the old family manor house in Tilden, Nebraska. It’s a new life for all of them – 9-year-old Ben learns to grieve for his beloved grandad with a new maturity, 6-year-old Allie discovers a different style of life by bonding with an Amish girl, […]

A dramatic, dialogue-driven portrait of an imploding marriage, Maria Daversa’s Sweet Baby Mine intimately depicts the impact of mental illness and secrets on a partnership.

From the outside, Ana Storm and Tony DiSalvo might seem like the perfect American couple living in Paris. Caring, compassionate Ana runs a psychotherapy practice, while success-driven Tony teaches economics at a university. In reality, Ana suffers from borderline personality disorder, which clashes with Tony’s narcissistic tendencies. Their fraught marriage is overwhelmed by lies and bitterness, particularly surrounding their estranged eldest daughter, Chloe. When Chloe reaches out to Ana after seven years of silence, the […]

A swirling, language-bending journey through philosophy, psychology, and the bottom of a bottle, Heartbreak Epiphanies and Justified Lust by John Kruxhammer is a character-driven diatribe on love and purpose.

John Palmer is an angry young man with a bent towards nihilism, and a serious grudge against his father. He is also a sometimes student of philosophy under Leonard Wilson, a formerly disgraced academic starting his life over in California. John’s decidedly unprofessional therapist, Diana, is a “rain shower in a scorching desert,” but his obsession with her may drive him down a dark path, without any healing waiting at the […]