The General Fiction Shelf

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
J. Ryan Stradal
Pamela Dorman Books
c/o Penguin Group (USA)
www.penguin.com
9781984881076, $28.00, HC, 352pp

https://www.amazon.com/Saturday-Night-Lakeside-Supper-Club/dp/1984881078

Synopsis: Mariel Prager needs a break. Her husband Ned is having an identit=
y crisis, her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day, and = her mother Florence is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she's = been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in he=
r family for decades, and while Mariel's grandmother embraced the business,=
seeing it as a saving grace, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inheri= ted the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and=
daughter that never quite healed.

Ned is also an heir (to a chain of home-style diners) and while he doesn't = have a head for business, he knows his family's chain could provide a bette=
r future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastati=
ng tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the h= ard-won victories of each family hang in the balance. With their dreams das= hed, can one fractured family find a way to rebuild despite their losses, a=
nd will the Lakeside Supper Club be their salvation?

Critique: Original, entertaining, and with a very special appeal to readers=
with an interest in family fiction and the slow disappearance of the iconi=
c midwestern supper club and the 'colorful, vanishing world of relish trays=
and brandy Old Fashioneds', with the publication of "Saturday Night at the=
Lakeside Supper Club", novelist J. Ryan Stradal has created a memorable no= vel populated by honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they=
come to terms with love, loss, marriage, and legacy. While unreservedly re= commended for community library Contemporary General Fiction collections, i=
t should be noted for personal reading lists that "Saturday Night at the La= keside Supper Club" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kin= dle, $14.99).

Editorial Note: J. Ryan Stradal (http://www.jryanstradal.com) is the author=
of "Kitchens of the Great Midwest" and "The Lager Queen of Minnesota". His=
writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The G= uardian, Granta, The Rumpus, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

The Visibility of Things Long Submerged
George Looney
BOA Editions, Ltd.
250 N. Goodman St., Suite 306, Rochester, NY 14607
www.boaeditions.org
9781950774944, $17.00, PB, 184pp

https://www.amazon.com/Visibility-Things-Submerged-American-Reader/dp/19507= 74945

Synopsis: With the publication of "The Visibility of Things Long Submerged"=
, Boa Editions presents a new short story collection of short story fiction=
from poet George Looney featuring explorations of the essential nature of = faith while plumbing the gritty secrets of the human heart.

With swamps, alligators, revival tents, faith healers, sex, death, guilt, s=
in and snakes, Looney leads us through a dark landscape brimming with the m= iraculous and the peculiar alike. A man from a fire shows up on someone's d= oorstep, covered in ash and barely alive. One man's actions make an entire = town question its own violence. A healer is bitten in half by an alligator =
as a crowd looks on.

Comprised of nine short stories fairly dripping with Southern gothic, "The = Visibility of Things Long Submerged" gazes at the obscure and obscene. Thes=
e are stories that are densely populated with characters that know intimate=
ly the trials of life and the restorative powers of love. These are stories=
are filled with a deep longing for something beyond the restless disquiet.

Critique: Each of the nine impressively crafted short stories anthologized =
in "The Visibility of Things Long Submerged" is a literary gem and showcase=
s author George Looney's extraordinary storytelling skills. While especiall=
y and unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Cont= emporary Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal read= ing lists that "The Visibility of Things Long Submerged" is also readily av= ailable in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: George Looney (https://georgelooney.org) is the author of t= hree previous collections of fiction that have won the Leapfrog Press Ficti=
on Award, The Elixir Press Fiction Award, and the Elixir Press Fiction Chap= book Award. He has also published thirteen collections of poetry, including=
books that won The Bluestem Award, The White Pine Press Poetry Prize, and = The Red Mountain Press Poetry Prize. He is Distinguished Professor of Liter= ature and Creative Writing at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, where h=
e founded the BFA in Creative Writing Program and is editor of Lake Effect = and translation editor of Mid-American Review (where he began the ongoing T= ranslation Chapbook Series in 1983). With Phil Terman, he was co-founder of=
the original Chautauqua Writers' Festival.

The Promise of a Normal Life
Rebecca Kaiser Gibson
Arcade Publishing
www.arcadepub.com
c/o Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018
www.skyhorsepublishing.com
9781956763331, $26.99, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Promise-Normal-Life-Novel/dp/1956763333

Synopsis: "The Promise of a Normal Life" is a poet Rebecca Kaiser Gibson's = debut as a novelist in a literary work that is so evocative of life as live=
d that it transports her readers to a time and place they can practically s= ee, touch, and feel.

The unnamed narrator is a fiercely observant, introverted Jewish-American g= irl who seems to exist in a private and separate realm. She's the child of =
a first-generation doctor and lawyer (whose own stories have the loud grand= eur of family legend) in an America where Jews are excluded from the countr=
y club across the street. Her expectations for adulthood are often contradi= ctory. In the changing landscape of the 1960s, she attempts to find her way=
through the rituals of life, her geography expanding across the country, a= cross the ocean, and into multiple nations.

Along the way, she meets a glamorous hairdresser on a cruise ship to Israel=
, along with a cast of loopy tarot-card-reading passengers, and Alice-in-Wo= nderland lawyers in Haifa. Then there is a blue-eyed all-American college b= oyfriend, a mystified tourist agent in the Lofoten Islands, a handsome elig= ible rabbi in LA, a righteous and self-absorbed MIT professor, and a clande= stine, calculating lover in Boston. Eventually, she finds her own compass, = but only after being swept to several distant shores by many winds.

Critique: Fun, fascinating, exceptional, and original, "The Promise of a No= rmal Life" by Rebecca Kaiser Gibson is one of those works of storytelling l= iterature that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader long after = the book is finished and set back upon the shelf. While especially and unre= servedly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemp= orary Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading=
lists that "The Promise of a Normal Life" is also available in a digital b= ook format (Kindle, $17.99).

Editorial Note: Rebecca Kaiser Gibson (http://rebeccakaisergibson.com) is t=
he author of the poetry collections Girl as Birch and Opinel. Her work has = appeared in Slate, Agni, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Northwest Review,=
the Massachusetts Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Harvard Review, Green Mountain=
Review, Pleiades, and many other magazines. She taught creative writing at=
Tufts University for twenty-three years and has received writing fellowshi=
ps from MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, the Virginia Center for Creative = Arts, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Black Child to Black Woman
Cheryl Bannerman
Bannerman Books
https://bannermanbooks.com
9781735335209, $12.99, PB, 194pp

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Child-Woman-African-American-Coming/dp/1735335= 207

Synopsis: When twenty-four-year-old Tara Walker goes home for her brother's=
funeral, she discovers the secret journal she started when she was eight. =
As she reads, she is pulled back into her complicated, raw, and often frigh= tening childhood, where drug addiction, alcoholism and predators brought ch= aos into her privileged, middle-class home.

Through the love and guidance of her hard-working parents, Tara navigated t= hese threats and matures into a smart, strong, young woman. Yet, even as sh=
e celebrates small personal victories, she spirals into a dark depression f= rom disturbing family secrets and rejection. Through it all, she journals h=
er changing perspective on the world around her and continues to smile in t=
he face of adversity.

When it's time for Tara to become a mother herself, she must once again con= quer her traumatic past to discover the true meaning of life, happiness, fa= mily and unconditional love. Tara's gripping, raw and illuminating coming-o= f-age journey will captivate readers as they watch this intelligent black c= hild grow into an extraordinary black woman.

Critique: Original and compelling, "Black Child to Black Woman" by Cheryl B= annerman is a African-American coming-of- age novel. Exceptionally well wri= tten, this is one of those unique stories that will linger in the mind and = memory of the reader long after the book itself has been finished and set b= ack upon the shelf. While especially and unreservedly recommended for commu= nity Contemporary General Fiction collections, it should be noted for perso= nal reading lists that "Black Child to Black Woman" is also readily availab=
le in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99).

Editorial Note: Cheryl Bannerman (https://bannermanbooks.com/about-the-auth= or) is a multi-genre author of nine published works of fiction and original=
ly from New Jersey. After only five years of self-publishing various titles=
, she won the 2018 Book Excellence Award for her book of poetry, Words Neve=
r Spoken, a self-improvement book offering lines for journaling and healing=
from an abusive relationship.

It Could Never Happen Here
Eithne Shortall
http://eithneshortall.com
Corvus
https://atlantic-books.co.uk/corvus
9781838951870, $15.95, PB, 400pp

https://www.amazon.com/Could-Never-Happen-Here/dp/1838951873

Synopsis: Beverley Franklin will do whatever it takes to protect her local = school's reputation. So when a scandal involving her own daughter threatens=
to derail the annual school musical's appearance on national television, B= everley goes into overdrive. But in her efforts to protect her daughter and=
keep the musical on track, she misses what's really going, both in her own=
house and in the insular Glass Lake community -- with dramatic consequence=
s. Glass Lake primary school's reputation is about to be shattered!

Critique: Original, deftly crafted, compelling, entertaining, "It Could Nev=
er Happen Here" by author Eithne Shortall will have a very special appeal t=
o readers with an interest in women oriented family life fiction. While als=
o available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.49), "It Could Never Happe=
n Here" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal = reading lists and community library Contemporary General Fiction collection=
s.

Editorial Note: Eithne Shortall (http://eithneshortall.com) studied journal= ism at Dublin City University and has lived in London, France and America. = Now based in Dublin, she is editor of the Home magazine at the Sunday Times=
Ireland. Her debut novel, Love in Row 27, was a major Irish bestseller, an=
d the follow-up, Grace After Henry, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awar=
ds and won Best Page Turner at the UK's Big Book Awards. Her third novel, T= hree Little Truths, was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick.

Zieglitz's Blessing
Michael Goldberg
https://michaelgoldberg.us
Cascade Books
c/o Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 West 8th Avenue, Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401-2960
http://wipfandstock.com
9781666740073, $30.00, HC, 208pp

https://www.amazon.com/Zieglitzs-Blessing-Michael-Goldberg/dp/1666740071

Synopsis: From childhood, Rod Zieglitz questions the truthfulness of his He= brew name, which means "God will show mercy". Sometimes that name seems fit= ting. At other times, though, it strikes Zieglitz as a cruel joke. Only on = his deathbed, grappling with the challenges he's faced, does Zieglitz right=
ly understand the notion of God's blessing for the first time.

Critique: With the publication of "Zieglitz's Blessing", author Michael Gol= dberg has created that rare mix blending a religiously serious fiction with=
irreverent humor. Original, compelling, thoughtful and thought-provoking, = "Zieglitz's Blessing" is one of those novels that will linger in the mind a=
nd memory of the reader long after the book itself has been finished and se=
t back upon the shelf. Of special appeal to readers with an interest in Jew= ish Fiction and recommended for both community and academic library Literar=
y Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "= Zieglitz's Blessing" is also available in a paperback edition (978166674006=
6, $20.00) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Michael Goldberg (https://michaelgoldberg.us) has been a Je= wish Studies professor, management consultant, hospice chaplain, and congre= gational rabbi. Among his other books are: Jews and Christians, Getting our=
Stories Straight (1985); Why Should Jews Survive?: Looking Past the Holoca= ust Toward a Jewish Future (1995); and Raising Spirits: Stories of Sufferin=
g and Comfort at Death's Door (2010).

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promo= ting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no fund=
s from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these=
reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, inte= rnet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested indivi= duals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "Califo= rnia Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwat= ch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available=
for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview=
(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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