Coral Glynn/ Peter Cameron, New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012 (p.221)

A novel in the English domestic fiction genre with a twist. A young nurse, Coral Glynn,  in post-war WWII rural England arrives to take care of a sick elderly woman. The manor house also contains a moody, war injured son and calculating housekeeper cook. The reader is soon embroiled in a murder mystery. Not my cup of tea, but the writing is so engaging that I read this short novel in several long sittings.

Arcadia/ Lauren Groff, New York: Hyperion, 2012. (p.291)

A story told in thirds through the eyes of Bit, offspring of hippie parents of the 1970s. We see the world through Bit's perspective as toddler, a teenager, and as a grown man. The voice of child-Bit is the most haunting and compelling one to this reader. The novel chronicles Bit's life as it was formed by this idealistic rural community. He provides a lens of perception that is haunting, beautiful, and at times frightening. A book to be read in earnest.

The Monsters of Templeton/Lauren Groff, New York: Hyperion, 2008 (p.361)

If you like wacky stories with unusual characters and a historical overview, you will enjoy this novel by Lauren Groff. A young graduate student returns to her hometown to live with her mother in the house she grew up in and to take stock of her life. Sounds like a rather conventional framework for a novel but in the hands of Groff, it is anything but. Wilhelmina Sunshine Upton, the protagonists delves in to her family tree and the history of her town, loosely based upon the history of Cooperstown, New York. Interesting personal relationships and raging hormones of all kinds play a prominent role in this loopy and humorous story.