Edith Wharton’s fresco of early 20th century New York high society often takes a scathing look at the opulence, appearances and social conventions that dictate people’s lives. Through the personal drama of one Miss Lily Bart, the writer reveals a relentless social mechanism with decidedly contemporary echoes.

In a small village in the Luberon, during a summer that seemed set to be like any other, an event shakes up a family in which disenchanted young people live alongside disillusioned parents. Summer of Reckoning is a harsh, dark novel with razor sharp writing that paints an uncompromising portrait of a suburban community closed in on itself.

The narrator of Checkout 19 is passionate about reading and literature. Throughout the novel, she revisits the highlights of her life, marked by books and other writings that have made her who she is today: a woman, a reader, an author. With an introspective approach, Claire-Louise Bennett explores the interconnectedness of life and art, all while questioning the appropriation of the self, and paying tribute to literary creation.

Intimacies is a deeply meditative novel in which the reader accompanies the narrator through her torments, her questions, her feelings, and her quest for a sense of belonging. When she is assigned to work on the trial of a former president accused of war crimes, her interrogations get another dimension. This novel demonstrates Katie Kitamura’s skill in exploring the fragility of language, the complexity of human relationships and the violence of otherness.