The Books I'm Reading Now
Happy Halloween, bookworms!
I'm reading The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell's newest historical fiction, about a young duchess in Renaissance Italy; I'm listening to Nora Goes Off Script, Annabel Monaghan's light fiction about a divorced scriptwriter and mom who starts a relationship with a bona fide movie star; and I'm reading Kate Manning's Gilded Mountain (to be published tomorrow), historical fiction about a strong young woman and her mining community in 1900s Colorado.
What are you reading these days, bookworms?
01 The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
In The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet, turns her attention to Renaissance Italy to tell a story of a precocious third daughter of the grand duke.
Lucrezia is lucky enough to exist outside of palazzo scrutiny, free to follow her own pursuits and shape her own days. But when her older sister dies suddenly before her scheduled marriage to the ruler of Ferrara, the men involved are quick to thrust Lucrezia into her sister's place.
Suddenly her freedom is curtailed and her future is in jeopardy--unless she can produce an heir.
Constricted by the clothes, behavioral expectations, and duties of her new station, Lucrezia struggles to get to know her new husband--and to figure out how to exist in this new world.
02 Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
In Annabel Monaghan's light fiction Nora Goes Off Script, Nora Hamilton is a scriptwriter--an expert in crafting the perfect romantic storylines and happy endings, according to her tried-and-true formula.
Meanwhile, her own love life is a mess and she's reluctant to be vulnerable again (her ex was a selfish, immature, entitled jerk who isn't involved in the kids' lives anymore). Nora's focused on her work, her small-town life, her kids' sports and their school play, and her longtime friends.
But when the movie of her latest script is filmed at her house (side note: I'm not clear on how that sequence of events was meant to make sense), handsome movie star Leo Vance shows up--and upends everything Nora thought she knew about love.
03 Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning
Kate Manning's Gilded Mountain (to be published November 1) is set in 1900s Colorado.
Sylvie Pelletier leaves her family's mountain cabin to work for the affluent Padgetts, who own the marble-mining company that employs her father. Sylvie is quickly shocked by the excesses she sees--and by the sometimes stark disconnect between what the family members say and what they do.
The Padgetts' abominable treatment of their workers draws the attention of union organizers, a brutally honest newspaper editor, and Sylvie herself. With her own family's livelihood--and the local industry--in the Padgetts' hands, tensions threaten to explode the community.
I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Scribner and NetGalley.
If you like stories like this, you might also enjoy the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West.