In Nigeria 1963, Isabel Hammond is an expat and former painter, having followed her husband Nick to Africa as part of the USAID program. While her husband is away for a project, she attends an event at her friend's house and meets a mixed, charismatic musician named Bobby Tunde. She is immediately entranced and gives… Continue reading Dancing Woman by Elaine Neil Orr
Miyoung is an 11-year-old girl living in Japan-occupied Korea in 1928. She lives with her mother and older sister Bohbeh on a farm/boarding house, dreaming of becoming a teacher one day. But under Japan occupation, her family’s finances are not as lucrative as they once were. So they send Bohbeh to Japan to marry. Miyoung hopes she can still fulfill her dream somehow, until her father reveals that he has similar plans for Miyoung. Facing the harsh gender inequality and lack of jobs available, her mother agrees to send her to live with her sister in Japan. But she soon notices the anti-Korean sentiments in Japan and decides to do her best to blend in. Changing her name to Miyoko, she gradually becomes immersed in Japanese culture, even though she loses a part of herself as the years go by. But Japan is still a growing power and increasing their militarism across the Pacific. And the Japanese government closely watches Korean immigrants and any resistance or activism brewing in the country. And as she gets older and more involved in her small community, she faces more obstacles than she had ever imagined. White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton is a historical fiction novel that explores the choices a young woman must make in order to save herself and those important to her.
In 1959 Southern Georgia, Cleo Woodbine is a reclusive painter in her 50s, spending her time foraging and jarring fruits and preserves from the land. She keeps to herself and brushes off the rumors about her. One day a man who saved her life nearly 30 years ago returns, reminding her of that fateful night in 1932. Then Frances Flood, a folklorist seeking a painting at the request of her recently deceased mother, comes to Cleo for answers. After all, her mother, Joanna Burton, was also there during the summer and left under notorious circumstances. Then local inn runner Audrey Howell shows up on her doorstep with an injured young Jimmy Walker, forcing her to get involved. While Cleo had avoided confronting the demons of her past, these visitors and an oncoming storm threaten to unearth the island’s secrets and change the natural landscape. The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock is a dual-timeline, multi-POV novel that explores how three women’s paths intertwine, and how folklore contains truths of the past.
