It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother.
Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don’t know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.
If you liked The Goldfinch and Tartt’s intricate, charming storytelling, check out these indie treats:
If I Never Went Home by Ingrid Persaud
Sometimes the only way home is to leave the one you know.
Written in two distinct, alternating voices, If I Never Went Home follows ten years in the turbulent lives of two narrators, thirty-something Bea, an immigrant in Boston, and ten-year-old Tina in Trinidad, as they separately navigate devastating losses, illness and betrayal in their quest to belong.
Moving back and forth from the present to the past through flashbacks, this is the powerful story of how these women unearth family secrets that go beyond anything they could have imagined. Then unexpectedly their lives collide, and they are offered the chance to create a home. But can this gamble survive one last surprise about Tina’s real identity?
Something Like Spring by Jay Bell
Nothing in this world is permanent. Friends, lovers, even family, can all disappear in the blink of an eye. Without these anchors, it’s all too easy to find oneself drifting.
Jason Grant doesn’t have much, aside from a beat-up old guitar and knack for getting kicked out of foster homes. His latest placement is set to be just another in a long line of failures. Then he meets Caesar Hubbard, a handsome guy who lives down the hall. For the first time in his life, Jason wants to stay, which means learning to be part of a family, and not letting his feelings–or his actions–ruin his first real chance of falling in love.
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
A poignant and inspirational love story set in Burma, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats spans the decades between the 1950s and the present.
When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be…until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago, to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the reader’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.
The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
In the summer of 1976, recently widowed and childless, Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless old black man to mow her lawn.
The neighborhood children call him the Pee-can Man; their mothers call them inside whenever he appears. When the police chief’s son is found stabbed to death near his camp, the man Ora knows as Eddie is arrested and charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, Ora sets out to tell the truth about the Pecan Man. In narrating her story, Ora discovers more truth about herself than she could ever have imagined. This novel has been described as To Kill a Mockingbird meets The Help.
The Illusion of Secondhand Smoke by Janice M. Van Dyck
A hidden past has the power to consume you slowly, or to destroy you all at once when it catches you.
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll turn deadly in 1977 when a popular teenager, Tee DeLuca, is murdered because he’s rumored to be gay. A varsity football player is sent to prison. More than twenty years later, Tee’s sister, Maria, is a self-destructive motivational speaker struggling to be a better person. Mike Costello, her estranged husband, is a dying con artist with a lifetime of carefully spun secrets. He summons her and a few high school friends to his bedside, and together they finally uncover the missing pieces of the night Tee died. No one is innocent, and Maria’s life implodes. When the smoke settles, she’s face to face with her hidden past.
Each one of these impressive indies has something special, just like The Goldfinch. Enjoy your read by the fire with a nice mug of chamomile as winter wind whips through the eaves. Snuggle up and enjoy!