Review by New York Times Review
GRANT, by Ron Chernow. (Penguin Press, $40.) Chernow gives us a Grant for our time, comprehensively recounting not only the victorious Civil War general but also a president who fought against white supremacy groups like the Ku Klux Klan and championed the right of eligible citizens to exercise the vote. GOOD ME BAD ME, by Ali Land. (Flatiron, $25.99.) This debut novel's teenage narrator is speaking to the mother she loves and misses. It's a one-sided conversation because her mother is about to go on trial for murder, and her daughter is the one who turned her in. THE RIVIERA SET: Glitz, Glamour, and the Hidden World of High Society, by Mary S. Lovell. (Pegasus, $27.95.) Full of gossip about what Somerset Maugham called a "sunny place for shady people," Lovell's narrative describes the entertainments staged by the various owners of a chateau in the south of France. THE ORDINARY VIRTUES: Moral Order in a Divided World, by Michael Ignatieff. (Harvard, $27.95.) This admirable little book, in which the author grapples with whether globalization is drawing us together or tearing us apart, represents a triumph of execution over conception. FRESH COMPLAINT: Stories, by Jeffrey Eugenides. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.) In his debut collection, written over three decades, Eugenides explores variations on the theme of failure - marital, creative and financial - while at times reprising characters from his novels "Middlesex" and "The Marriage Plot." WHY WE SLEEP: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, by Matthew Walker. (Scribner, $27.) The director of Berkeley's Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab makes the argument for why sleep is essential to our well-being: "to reset our brain and body health each day." GREATER GOTHAM: A History of New York City From 1898 to 1919, by Mike Wallace. (Oxford, $45.) A vibrant, detailed chronicle, almost 1,200 pages long, of the 20 years that made New York City the place we know today, with new bridges, the advent of Broadway and the opening of the first subway lines. COMPLETE STORIES, by Kurt Vonnegut. Edited by Jerome Klimkowitz and Dan Wakefield. (Seven Stories, $45.) Vonnegut used his early short fiction to test the themes that animated his later novels. For completists, these 98 stories (including five published for the first time) will be like a boxed set of a musician's first recordings. AKATA WARRIOR, by Nnedi Okorafor. (Viking, $18.99.) The longawaited sequel to Okorafor's "Akata Witch" is about a 13-year-old Nigerian girl whose mystical powers could save the world. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [January 6, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
This somber debut introduces Milly, née Annie, who's fostered to a psychologist and his family while she waits to testify against her killer mother. Readers know at the outset that Milly's mother has hurt at least one child, but the extent of her crimes and Milly's awareness of them are made clear only slowly, through the teen's flashbacks, night terrors, and testimony. In the meantime, her foster sister and other mean girls offer a second focus for reader animosity, and their eagerness for a comeuppance that may or may not be delivered. Milly's psychological state is precarious at best, making her the kind of unreliable narrator who has fascinated readers of The Girl on the Train and other such novels. Also, give this book to those who enjoyed Malin Persson Giolito's Quicksand (2017); both books skillfully present a gripping tale in the cutting voice of a teen antiheroine, though Land's writing gets clunky in a spot or two when she's hiding information that will be revealed later.--Verma, Henrietta Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
When 15-year-old Annie Thompson, the unflinching narrator of British author Land's chilling debut, tells the Devon police that her mother, Ruth, is a serial killer who preys on young children, the police arrest Ruth. Annie, who changes her name to Milly, moves in with the family of London psychologist Mike Newmont, who will help her prepare to testify at her mother's trial. Saskia, Mike's wife, knows Milly's true identity, but the couple's teenage daughter, Phoebe, believes that Milly is just an ordinary foster kid who's monopolizing her parents' attention. Milly attends the same school as Phoebe, who turns the other students against Milly in an effort to drive her away. Milly does her best to ignore the bullying, but the worse things get, the louder Ruth's hectoring voice rings in Milly's head, forcing Milly and the reader to question whether it's possible to overcome both nature and nurture. A deliberate pace and a skillfully woven plot conspire to create a visceral read that's at once a gripping psychological thriller and a devastating exploration of the damage wrought by childhood trauma. Agent: Sasha Raskin, Agency Group (U.K.). (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Land asks if we are doomed to repeat the sins of our fathersor, in this case, mothersin her assured, creepy debut.Fifteen-year-old Annie has a new home in Londonand a new name, Millynow that she's turned her mother in to the police. Psychologist Mike Newmont, his troubled wife, Saskia, and their daughter, Phoebe, have taken Milly in until her mother's trial begins in 12 weeks. Only Mike and a few others know who Milly really is: the daughter of a nurse who murdered nine young children. Mike will be overseeing Milly's therapy until the trial and is eager for her to fit into his family. However, Milly, who narrates the book, senses that something isn't right between Saskia and Phoebe, and Phoebe, along with her friends, immediately starts a campaign of terror against the newcomer, whom she sees as an intruder in her family. Milly does find a friend in a younger girl, Morgan, who obviously has family problems of her own, but as the trial looms, Milly struggles to be the good person she longs to be even as the voice of her mother pushes her to give in to her darker urges. Can Milly find her own way, or is she a slave to her upbringing? Land, a mental health nurse, puts her knowledge to good use in her portrayal of Milly, who was raised by a sexually abusive monster who recruited her to play a role in her unspeakable crimes. A sense of creeping dread drives the narrative, and that most fascinating of crime-novel subjects, the female serial killer, casts a formidable shadow. Milly wages a war within herself that she may or may not win. Readers will be more than happy to go along for the ride and may be surprised how they feel about the conclusion, proving the unmistakable spell that Land has cast. Sly, unsettling, and impossible to put down. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
