LYNN M. ANDREWS

Isola is a novel based on a real woman, Marguerite de la Rocque, who was marooned on an island as punishment for falling in love with a man her guardian didn't approve of. This book wasn’t what I expected—its heavy emphasis on religion shapes nearly every part of the story. Characters are urged to submit to God and fear retribution for defiance. This reinforces the societal norms of the 1500s, where a woman’s place was strictly controlled: she was not to acknowledge her own

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak is an expansive historical fiction story woven together using an ancient civilization, one of the oldest poems in literature, two major rivers and a single drop of water as the threads.

A fiftyish word book summary and review.

This novel is a gothic thriller set in 1930s coastal California. Available June 24, 2025.

“‘What?’ He shouted. ‘What can you possibly want that we don’t already have? What?’ There was a pause, then the sound of a sob, choked...

Here is a great example of me seeing a book multiple times in multiple places, thinking “Eh” and being completely wrong about said book....

The author, Hannah Kent, imagines the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir who was found guilty, along with two others, and executed (beheaded)...