Who by Fire
by Diana Spechler
Published 2008 by Harper Perennial

Paperback, English. ISBN: 9780061572937

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Jacket Notes:

Impossible to put down, "Who by Fire" is a remarkable tale about fear and forgiveness and the bonds that hold a family together even as its members are falling apart--Aryn Kyle, bestselling author of "The God of Animals." Bits and Ash were children when the kidnapping of their younger sister, Alena--an incident for which Ash blames himself--caused an irreparable family rift. Thirteen years later, Ash is living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel, cutting himself off from his mother, Ellie, and his wild-child sister, Bits. But soon he may have to face them again; Alena's remains have finally been uncovered. Now Bits is traveling across the world in a bold and desperate attempt to bring her brother home and salvage what's left of their family. Sharp and captivating, "Who by Fire" deftly explores what happens when people try to rescue one another.

Publishers Weekly 07/14/2008

In her affecting debut, Spechler raises the question of whether, in rescuing others, we risk ruining ourselves. Thirteen years after the abduction of youngest child Alena at the age of six, the remaining members of the Kellerman family are still deeply damaged by their shared loss. The irresponsible oldest daughter, Bits, seeks out random sexual encounters with near strangers to fill the voids in her life. Son Ash, meanwhile, dabbles in a variety of compulsive behaviors before settling on Orthodox Judaism, cutting himself off from the rest of the family and moving to Jerusalem. The mother, Ellie, enlists the help of a charismatic stranger to help save Ash from what she views as a cult, and when Alena's remains are discovered, Bits determines to bring Ash home for their sister's long-overdue memorial service. Told in alternating chapters by Bits, Ellie and Ash, the narrative is notable in large part for how little these family members actually interact with one another despite the drama that confronts them all. Though the ending is overly tidy, Spechler's debut raises provocative questions about religion, violence and the resilience of families and individuals. "(Oct.)" Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman
by Nancy Marie Brown
Published 2008 by Harvest Books

Paperback, English. ISBN: 9780156033978

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Jacket Notes:

Five hundred years before Columbus, a Viking woman named Gudrid sailed off the edge of the known world. She landed in the New World and lived there for three years, giving birth to a baby before sailing home. Or so the Icelandic sagas say. Even after archaeologists found a Viking longhouse in Newfoundland, no one believed that the details of Gudrid's story were true. Then, in 2001, a team of scientists discovered what may have been this pioneering woman's last house, buried under a hay field in Iceland, just where the sagas suggested it could be. Joining scientists experimenting with cutting-edge technology and the latest archaeological techniques, and tracing Gudrid's steps on land and in the sagas, Nancy Marie Brown reconstructs a life that spanned--and expanded--the bounds of the then-known world. She also sheds new light on the society that gave rise to a woman even more extraordinary than legend has painted her and illuminates the reasons for its collapse.

My Enemy's Cradle
by Sara Young
Published 2008 by Harvest Books

Paperback, English. ISBN: 9780156034333

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Jacket Notes:

Cyrla has been warned that her neighbors know she is half Jewish--grounds for certain arrest in their Nazi-occupied town. A cruel twist of fate places Cyrla in a terrible dilemma in this page-turning debut novel. Cyrla's neighbors have begun to whisper. Her cousin, Anneke, is pregnant and has passed the rigorous exams for admission to the Lebensborn, a maternity home for girls carrying German babies. But Anneke's soldier has disappeared, and Lebensborn babies are only ever released to their fathers' custody--or taken away.And then in the space of an afternoon, life falls apart. A note is left under the mat. Someone knows that Cyrla, sent for safekeeping with her Dutch relatives, is Jewish. She must choose between certain discovery in her cousin's home and taking Anneke's place in the Lebensborn--Cyrla and Anneke are nearly identical. If she takes refuge in the enemy's lair, can Cyrla escape before they discover she is not who she claims?

Mining a lost piece of history, Sara Young takes us deep into the lives of women living in the worst of times. Part love story and part elegy for the terrible choices we must often make to survive, "My Enemy's Cradle "keens for what we lose in war and sings for the hope we sometimes find.