Japanese author Shigematsu (Knife) offers a touching collection of linked stories about a Tokyo pet store that rents out cats for three-day terms. There are rules to follow: cats are not to be fed food other than the special kind the store supplies, and renters must never wash the cat’s blanket—though the penalties for not following these rules remain unclear. In “The Cat Who Sneezed,” Norio, 40, who’s unable to have children with his partner, Yukie, comes to realize that having a pet is hard, thankless work, after the cat they rented shows no interest in the tower they bought for it. “The Cat Who Knew How to Pretend” follows a woman named Hiromi who rents a cat to stand in for her family’s recently deceased pet tabby, a ruse for the benefit of her senile grandmother. Ryuhei, the recently unemployed protagonist of “The Cat Dreams Were Made Of,” hopes the cat he rents will keep his children happy as they prepare to move into a smaller home, but the gambit fails miserably. Shigematsu adds depth and intrigue by avoiding sentimentality, so that when a story does contain a happy ending or a moment of comfort for the characters, it feels genuine. Fans of “healing fiction” like Hiro Arikawa’s The Travelling Cat Chronicles will find much to enjoy. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

In the droll latest from Lipman (Ms. Demeanor), a woman takes over her family’s estate sale business. The company was called Finders, Keepers when it was run by Emma Lewis’s father and stepmother, and Emma ruffles feathers in their bucolic Massachusetts town by renaming it Estate of Mind. When a respected bed-and-breakfast is put on the market, Emma swoops in to handle its contents, but controversy ensues from revelations that the B&B doubled as a brothel. Dismissing any possible legal risks stemming from the property’s illicit use, she takes on the “sale of the century,” as a friend calls it. Emma, a self-styled matchmaker, also sets up her recently widowed employee Frank with the mother of police chief Luke Winooski, and starts dating Luke, despite worrying he might find a reason to bust her on the brothel’s estate sale. The reappearance of Frank’s stepdaughter, the unveiling of the brothel’s client list, and an accusation of theft further stir the pot. The plot chugs along through its many twists and turns and the dialogue is snappy and witty. Lipman’s fans and newcomers alike will be tickled. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

Ishizawa’s solemn if nebulous debut, set in Germany during the Covid-19 lockdown, centers on an art history student who convenes with two ghosts from her native Japan. The unnamed narrator is studying medieval iconography in Göttingen, “a city that blended over the seams in time.” There, she welcomes the arrival of the ghost of Nomiya, her friend who disappeared during the 2011 tsunami. She also converses with other “pilgrims of time, pilgrims of memory,” including a Japanese physicist from the early 20th century. The narrator is a perceptive flaneur, guiding readers through the city’s Planetenweg, a scaled replica of the solar system, and St. Jacobi-Kirche, a church “named for the saint that guides those on their travels.” Late in the novel, elements of body horror creep in—teeth grow on the narrator’s back—shedding light on how memories of disaster can manifest in the body. Though the story’s dreamy lyricism sometimes slips into imprecision (a woman’s face is “dusted with laughter like cake-crumbs”), Ishizawa sustains an incantatory mood, and she offers plenty of bewitching descriptions of artworks. This has its moments. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

The pulse-pounding second volume in O’Connor’s Roman Escape Line trilogy (after My Father’s House) follows Vatican monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty and his co-conspirators, known as the Choir, as they help Allied soldiers and Jews escape Nazi-occupied Rome in 1944. Gestapo commander Paul Hauptmann is bent on breaking up the group—his wife and two children are being held hostage in Germany by Heinrich Himmler until he hunts down and captures the Choir’s members, including Contessa Giovanna “Jo” Landini. The plot heats up when two escaped POWs and a wounded Polish pilot are trapped in Rome. The youngest Choir member, 19-year-old Blon Kiernan, risks her life to find a sympathetic doctor to operate on the Pole before he dies. Then, in a tense extended sequence, Jo and the Choir try to spirit the three escapees to safety right under Hauptmann’s nose. The suspenseful 1944 chapters are interspersed with snippets of BBC interviews with former Choir members in the 1960s and an unpublished memoir by Jo, which provide a layered historical perspective (“In those weeks, I saw many a strange and haunting sight, but none stranger than the starlit life many of the escapees made for themselves among the Eternal City’s rooftops,” the Contessa writes). O’Connor captivates with his vigorous portrayal of wartime Rome. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

The pleasing latest from talk show host Norton (after Forever Home) traces an Irishwoman’s circuitous journey toward self-fulfillment. Frankie Howe, an 84-year-old West Londoner, tells her life story to her young caretaker, with whom she bonds over hailing from the same part of Cork. Her story begins in 1950 when, at 10, her parents die in a freak accident and she’s sent to live with religious relatives, who marry her off to a man named Canon Frost. Naive and unhappy with her neglectful and philandering husband, she’s spied kissing another man and renounced by Canon after word gets back to him. She flees to London in 1960, where a childhood friend takes her in and introduces her to mercurial theater producer Van Everdeen, who hires Frankie as her secretary. During a trip with Van to New York, Frankie loses her job and return ticket thanks to Van’s temper, then lucks into a new romance and builds a life there, eventually becoming a chef at a French restaurant. Troubles ensue as the narrative extends to the AIDS epidemic, which plays a role in Frankie’s eventual return to London. Norton’s character work is top notch as Frankie perseveres through one challenge after another. Readers will be glad to go along for the ride. Agent: Melanie Rockcliffe, YMU. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 11/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

Higley (Cardinal) serves up a charming story of flailing characters and their intersecting deceits. When Ben gets laid off from his corporate accounting job in Chicago, he neglects to tell his wife, Tara, who runs a day care, preferring to wait until he gets hired somewhere else. Instead of applying for jobs, though, he becomes obsessed with landing a role on the reality show Big Shot, which follows a similar premise to Shark Tank. He brainstorms various investment ideas (“Who was the ideal person to invest in? A woman? A beautiful woman who needed money? That seemed like a possible version of right”) and comes up with the bizarre notion of pitching a fund to support Law and Order SVU star Mariska Hargitay, on the basis that she’s been attacked in some way and needs help. Other chapters follow Tara, who’s solely focused on getting pregnant and fabricates daily reports to parents at her day care, and Big Shot producer Marcy, who detests her job and lies about extravagant vacation plans to justify a request for time off. The strange logic works from the perspective of Higley’s quirky characters, and he raises the stakes as their stories entwine. The result is a delightfully offbeat tale. Agent: Monika Woods, Triangle House. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

Spanish writer Hernández makes his English-language debut with the macabre and stimulating story of a woman drawn into the world of mortuary photography. More than a decade after the untimely death of Dolores’s husband, Luis, she remains locked in grief, and she accepts a job at a funeral home out of a curiosity she can’t quite explain. Her elderly boss, Clemente Artes, wants to pass the baton now that his health is deteriorating. As he trains Dolores, her love of photography reignites, helping her better grapple with Luis’s death as she considers the nature of mourning and what it means to capture lost moments—and people—through photography. But as she digs into Artes’s past, unsettling suspicions arise that force her to question his passion for the work and, in turn, her friendship with him. Dolores’s uncanny feelings build as her town is plagued by floods, giving this exploration of grief a gravitas that edges on the gothic, even as Hernández’s style remains sober and satisfyingly understated. This will linger in readers’ minds. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

The beautiful latest from Seethaler (A Whole Life) revolves around the diverse patrons of a Viennese café. In summer 1966, war orphan Robert Simon, now 31 and tired of manual labor, decides to open a café. With encouragement from the local butcher and his elderly landlady, Robert leases a space. Soft-spoken and kindhearted, he finds his new role fulfilling, though as sole proprietor he’s overwhelmed, so he hires out-of-work seamstress Mila Szabica as a waitress. Together, they make the café into a neighborhood institution. Across a decade of accidents, illnesses, and romantic entanglements, the novel follows the fortunes of regulars like wrestling star Rene Wurm, who swiftly falls for Mila and marries her, as well as the tempestuous romance between cheese shop worker Heidi and painter Mischa. Meanwhile, Robert develops a bittersweet attraction to Jascha, a troubled young Yugoslavian woman, just as his landlady begins to descend into dementia. When the café eventually closes, readers will feel the loss as much as the characters do. Seethaler’s story bursts with empathy in its portrayal of a found family. This is a winner. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

This tender outing from Bohman (Drowned) chronicles the yearslong platonic relationship between two editors at a Stockholm publishing house. It begins in 2009, when Sofie Andersson is about to finish her internship at Rydén’s. Though usually quiet around her coworkers, she makes an offhand critical comment about a book on Rydén’s list to editor-in-chief Gunnar Abrahamsson, earning his respect, and he sets her on the unexpected path of becoming an editor herself. Their mentor-mentee relationship is one of mutual understanding; they bond over their appreciation for the books published under an erstwhile imprint that Gunnar started years ago, and the fact that they both value craft over commerce. After Sofie becomes an editor, she meets with Gunnar for drinks twice a month, and though their relationship never turns physical, the intimacy the two share increases over the years. Gunnar’s declining health leads to his retirement, and his negative attitude about the company after he leaves drives a wedge between the two. The subtly gorgeous prose highlights the affection between two like-minded individuals, both of whom are trying to preserve what they value the most. This is perfect for devouring in a single afternoon. Agent: Judith Toth, Nordin Agency. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 11/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

Kopacz’s uneven latest (after Shallow Waters) recasts Oya, the heroine of a Nigerian folk story, as a Cuban-born Black woman in 1872 New Orleans. Oya, who was born with magical powers, has had a devastating miscarriage, and to help her overcome her loss, her mother sends her to stay with famed voudon queen Marie. Besides mending Oya, Marie helps her manage her power to control the weather and generate powerful winds and rain. While in New Orleans, Oya witnesses a friend’s death at the hands of a racist, anti-Reconstruction mob. After befriending Ellen and Thomas, a wealthy interracial couple visiting from California, she decides to ride the train with them back west. Thomas, who is white, is “starstruck” by fellow passenger Jesse James, who’s in the custody of armed guards. Oya, however, is disturbed by James, and her intuition prefigures a dramatic and scary turn of events. Kopacz covers a lot of historical and mythical ground in a limited page count, though she too often bogs things down with encyclopedic details. Still, there are flashes of beauty, especially when Oya demonstrates her bravery and supernatural powers. The result is a fresh and welcome perspective on a troubled time. Agent: Ali Kominsky, Dupree Miller. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 11/29/2024 | Details & Permalink