December 17, 2022
Our last book group meeting of the year was very special. We had read HONOR by Thrity Umrigar, and from there we had a terrific discussion. One of our book group members grew up in India, and her marriage had been arranged. Note that we had not known this before the meeting. She shared her own stories about being Hindu, the caste system and her takeaways from the book. She also brought a fabulous masala corn, which was very spicy! Another member of our group had spent three weeks traveling in India; she shared her experiences there and brought some delicious hummus. We talked about the book and why it resonated with each of us. When our discussion veered in other directions, as we typically do, we moved back to the book and its characters again and again --- the sign of a discussable book. What a great way to close out a wonderful year of reading.
Editorial Content for The Cloisters
Book
Teaser
In this haunting and magical debut novel, a circle of researchers uncover a mysterious deck of tarot cards and shocking secrets in New York’s famed Met Cloisters.
Promo
In this haunting and magical debut novel, a circle of researchers uncover a mysterious deck of tarot cards and shocking secrets in New York’s famed Met Cloisters.
About the Book
In this “sinister, jaw-dropping” (Sarah Penner, author of THE LOST APOTHECARY) debut novel, a circle of researchers uncover a mysterious deck of tarot cards and shocking secrets in New York’s famed Met Cloisters.
When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she expects to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval art collection and its group of enigmatic researchers studying the history of divination.
Desperate to escape her painful past, Ann is happy to indulge the researchers’ more outlandish theories about the history of fortune telling. But what begins as academic curiosity quickly turns into obsession when Ann discovers a hidden 15th-century deck of tarot cards that might hold the key to predicting the future. When the dangerous game of power, seduction and ambition at The Cloisters turns deadly, Ann becomes locked in a race for answers as the line between the arcane and the modern blurs.
A haunting and magical blend of genres, THE CLOISTERS is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Editorial Content for Gilded Mountain
Book
Teaser
Set in early 1900s Colorado, GILDED MOUNTAIN is the unforgettable tale of a young woman who bravely faces the consequences of speaking out against injustice.
Promo
Set in early 1900s Colorado, GILDED MOUNTAIN is the unforgettable tale of a young woman who bravely faces the consequences of speaking out against injustice.
About the Book
Set in early 1900s Colorado, GILDED MOUNTAIN is the unforgettable tale of a young woman who bravely faces the consequences of speaking out against injustice.
In a voice spiked with sly humor, Sylvie Pelletier recounts leaving her family’s snowbound mountain cabin to work in a manor house for the Padgetts, owners of the marble-mining company that employs her father and dominates the town. Sharp-eyed Sylvie is awed by the luxury around her; fascinated by her employer, the charming “Countess” Inge; and confused by the erratic affections of Jasper, the bookish heir to the family fortune. Her fairy-tale ideas of romance take a dark turn when she realizes the Padgetts’ lofty philosophical talk is at odds with the unfair labor practices that have enriched them. Their servants, the Gradys, formerly enslaved people, have long known this to be true and are making plans to form a utopian community on the Colorado prairie.
Outside the manor walls, the town of Moonstone is roiling with discontent. A handsome union organizer, along with labor leader Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, is stirring up the quarry workers. The editor of the local newspaper --- a bold woman who takes Sylvie on as an apprentice --- is publishing unflattering accounts of the Padgett Company. Sylvie navigates vastly different worlds and struggles to find her way amid conflicting loyalties. When the harsh winter brings tragedy, Sylvie must choose between silence and revenge.
Drawn from true stories of Colorado history, GILDED MOUNTAIN is a tale of a bygone American West seized by robber barons and settled by immigrants, and is a story infused with longing --- for self-expression and equality, freedom and adventure.