Our Most Anticipated New Book Releases of March 2021

The Rose Code 
Kate Quinn 
Kate Quinn is back with another enthralling novel set in 1940’s London. The Rose Code centers on three women who were once closer than sisters but have been ripped apart by betrayal and misunderstanding. Osla, Mab, and Beth are forced together to solve one last puzzle, with the country’s security hanging in the balance. For lovers of historical fiction, but also lovers of simply good books in general.

Eternal 
Lisa Scottoline 
Lisa Scottoline proves her prowess for powerful storytelling in her entrance into historical fiction. Written with her trademark fast-paced, captivating style, she tells the story of a love triangle between lifelong best friends caught in the throes of Mussolini’s dangerous rise to power in Rome. Brilliant, heartbreaking, and moving, Eternal’s characters will stand the test of time in this gripping novel of love, friendship, and courage in the face of unimaginable circumstances.

Sunflower Sisters 
Martha Hall Kelly
The much-anticipated new novel from Martha Hall Kelly, Sunflower Sisters serves as an enthralling prequel to Lilac Girls and tells the story of Georgeanna “Georgey” Woolsey (the ancestor of Caroline Ferriday) and her search for a sense of self during the turbulent Civil War. A story of women defying the odds in a war-torn and racially divided landscape, Sunflower Sisters is ultimately a novel of hope and healing.

What’s Mine and Yours 
Naima Coster 
A multi-layered drama about the long-lasting consequences of crime and the effects of school integration on two different families. The universal fear of failure and the strength of a parent’s love thread throughout this novel and are buoyed with dynamic characters and unforgettable phrasing. A beautifully woven, heartbreaking work.

Life After Death 
Sister Souljah 
After 20 years, readers finally get a chance to return to the tumultuous life of Winter Santiaga. Action-packed and unexpected, and in true Winter style, Life After Death will keep you guessing until the very last page. Join us as we welcome Sister Souljah for a live virtual event on Monday, March 15 at 3 PM ET to discuss Life After Death. You must purchase a ticket on Eventbrite to join this event. Please click here to learn more.

The Lost Apothecary  
Sarah Penner
An avenging woman in the guise of a quiet apothecary takes center stage in this propulsive historical fiction debut. In 18th-century London, women come to Nella when they need to act against the abusive men in their life. Soon, the very young Eliza is involved with an act gone wrong, and a modern woman’s search for meaning, in the present-day, becomes irrevocably tied with the past. With immersive storytelling, a dark, gothic atmosphere, and unforgettable characters, this is a subversive debut that should not be missed.

Of Women and Salt 
Gabriela Garcia
Beautiful and tragic, Of Women and Salt follows five generations of women in Cuba, Mexico, and Miami. A story about immigration, mothers and daughters, and the choices women make for their families.  “Gabriela Garcia captures the lives of Cuban women in a world to which they refuse to surrender, and she does so with precision and generosity and beauty.” —Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist 

Brood 
Jackie Polzin 
Jackie Polzin’s Brood is a powerful debut novel that sets Polzin up as a strong new literary voice and one to watch. The unnamed narrator has thrown herself into taking care of chickens in the wake of an unimaginable tragedy, and while the entire novel is framed around the chickens’ well-being, it is the heartbreaking, small snippets around her miscarriage and its aftermath that are brutally poignant. An honest take on internalized versus externalized pain, Brood is a beautiful novel with real staying power.

The Lamplighters: A Novel 
Emma Stonex 
December 1972: three lighthouse keepers on a remote island mysteriously vanish. All the doors are locked from the inside, dinner is laid out, and the clocks have stopped at 8:45. Their disappearance leaves only questions and feelings of betrayal and loss behind for their wives to grapple with even 20 years later. Think you have an idea of where this book is going? Think again. Emma Stonex’s debut novel is all at once a mystery and a haunting and heartbreaking story of how we seek truth and resolution, the stories we tell ourselves, and the lasting effects of loss and loneliness.

The Windsor Knot
SJ Bennett 
If you are as much a fan of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman as we are then you are going to fall in love with The Windsor Knot. Wry, witty, and full of charm, you are quickly engrossed in finding out “who did it.” Luckily for us, Queen Elizabeth II has some ideas and challenges everyone else’s notions. Even with a mysterious death at Windsor Castle, you’ll beg to be invited for a “dine and sleep” there before the novel’s end.

How Beautiful We Were
Imbolo Mbue 
An unforgettable novel about the devastatingly lasting effects of greed, manipulation, and environmental destruction of vulnerable people, Mbue’s How Beautiful We Were tells the story of one community’s determination to save their ancestral land. The small African village of Kosawa has long been exploited by an American oil company, leading to infertile farmlands, toxic water, and ultimately the death of its inhabitants. This is a story of the power of standing up for what’s right in the face of unbelievable odds.

Black Girl, Call Home 
Jasmine Mans  
If the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, then Jasmine Mans moves from her heart to her pen to your heart. Womanhood, daughters, mothers, family, and neighbors all come together in Mans’ succinct and deeply sincere poems. And while her path is clear, sometimes it is the map (of society) that is complicated. We are fortunate to have Jasmine Mans as our navigator.

The Soul of a Woman 
Isabel Allende 
With a liberated perspective and knowing wisdom that certain age and retrospection can bestow, Soul of a Woman is an opinionated, embracing, and compassionate look at a big full life, its experiences savored, its lessons lived and lessons learned. For Allende, feminism is central to life, a world view, and the thread that binds her past to her present, young self to older, daughter to mother, human to human. A memoir with enormous spirit and heart.

Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage  
Anne Lamott
“Help and humor save us. Goodness and courage are how the divine presents itself so often — whether in drag, as close friends, or as EMTs.” Anne Lamott is back with a collection of beautifully written essays. Her goal here is to illuminate how we can go on despite all that is difficult. Her voice is wry, humorous, and laden with wisdom. I lost count of the number of quotes I circled. This is the book we need from a voice we love.