Great writing, even when an author sets a story in early 20th century Maine or during ancient uprisings, often sheds light on our own era. From a novel starring a sentient gale-force wind, on to a memoir from a leading African American writer, this month\u2019s titles provide illumination as we lose daylight.<\/p>\n
FICTION <\/p>\n
Helm: A Novel<\/a> U.K. inhabitants of Hall\u2019s native Cumbria region have grappled for centuries with a wind known as \u201cThe Helm.\u201d Different eras have deemed it a measure of divine anger or human sin, and more recently, as one of earth\u2019s vital signs. Helm\u2019s narration alternates with chapters from perspectives including an astrologer, an astronomer, a Crusader, an herbalist and a climatologist, each adding to the strength of the immortal force.<\/p>\n Palaver: A Novel<\/a> As in his first two novels \u201cMemorial\u201d and \u201cFamily Meal,\u201d Houston-based Washington weaves scenes of Americans at home and in Japan with exquisite attention both to queer culture and to emotions. \u201cThe mother\u201d and \u201cthe son\u201d are never named; her Jamaican origins affect his upbringing, as well as his identity. When she makes an unannounced visit to see him in Japan, the title\u2019s gentle irony becomes apparent.<\/p>\n Queen Esther: A Novel<\/a> Readers will recall Dr. Wilbur Larch from \u201cThe Cider House Rules.\u201d Here he is the 1919 go-between for Esther Nacht, a 14-year-old Jewish refugee whom he places with the Winslow family as an au pair. Like so many women through the ages, that role results in a different kind of labor for her, one that turns this most Irving-esque (wrestling! sex!) book into writer Jimmy Winslow\u2019s origin story.<\/p>\n The Silver Book: A Novel<\/a> The 1975 murder of Italian subversive film director Pier Paolo Pasolini forms the tortured heart of Laing\u2019s first historical novel. In 1974 protagonist Nicholas Wade leaves England and lands in Venice, where he meets Danilo Donati, costume designer for Pasolini as well as Fellini and others. Their relationship reflects those auteurs\u2019 themes, especially those of fascism\u2019s rebirth in Pasolini\u2019s \u201cSal\u00f2, or the 120 Days of Sodom.\u201d<\/p>\n The White Hot: A Novel<\/a> Noted playwright Hudes pens a stunning debut novel that rends conventional notions of motherhood. Years after disappearing from her child\u2019s life, April Soto writes her daughter Noelle a letter to read on her 18th birthday. Less apology than explanation, and less explanation than soul-searching screed, this novel has a huge voice, a woman\u2019s attempt to create meaning from the depths of family trauma.<\/p>\n NONFICTION Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts<\/a> Only Margaret Atwood could write a debut memoir at age 85 and make it significantly different from her previous work while at the same time infusing it with her droll wit and many passions, literary, environmental and familial. While she has always combined public and private in her acclaimed and groundbreaking novels, essays, and poetry, this volume beautifully fuses Atwood the person, and Atwood the writer.<\/p>\n Front Street: Resistance and Rebirth in the Tent Cities of Techlandia<\/a> Barth, a freelance journalist, spent time in three different Bay Area encampments of unhoused people, including Oakland\u2019s Wood Street Commons, and, as Gov. Gavin Newsom moves forward on a new task force targeting these areas for removal, he argues that solutions to homelessness should come from the ground up, with the involvement of those most affected.<\/p>\n Without Consent: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime<\/a> Until the 1970s in most states, a married woman could not legally refuse to have sex with her husband. The 1978 Oregon trial of John Rideout for marital rape of his wife Greta \u2014 despite his then-acquittal \u2014 raised awareness of this legislation and led to Rideout\u2019s conviction for rape and sodomy nearly four decades later in a case involving two other partners. Weinman (\u201cThe Real Lolita\u201d) writes with energy about a case with present-day ramifications.<\/p>\n
By Sarah Hall
Mariner Books: 368 pages, $30
(Nov. 4)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
By Bryan Washington
Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 336 pages, $28
(Nov. 4)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
By John Irving
Simon & Schuster: 432 pages, $30
(Nov. 4)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
By Olivia Laing
Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 256 pages, $27
(Nov. 11)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
By Quiara Alegr\u00eda Hudes
One World: 176 pages, $26
(Nov. 11)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
By Margaret Atwood
Doubleday: 624 pages, $35
(Nov. 4)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
By Brian Barth
Astra House: 304 pages, $29
(Nov. 11)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
By Sarah Weinman
Ecco: 320 pages, $32
(Nov. 11)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n