March 22, 2025
Four of the novels we highlight this week take a fascinating look at disasters and big nature: two involve earthquakes—one a debut, the other an Italian translation; a treasured Irish writer goes into the deep; and a favorite author satirizes contemporary life, prompted by an aerial accident. Another novel brings Harriet Tubman from the 1800s to modern day in an outstanding debut.
Happy reading,
Melanie Fleishman
Buyer, The Center for Fiction Bookstore
Featured Books
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The Night Trembles
By NADIA TERRANOVA
Published by SEVEN STORIES PRESS
Translated by Ann Goldstein
Just after Christmas in 1908, the worst recorded earthquake in Italy hit the city of Messina (the author’s birthplace) in Sicily and Reggio Calabria. The event gives Terranova the opportunity to sculpt a story of fate—each chapter begins with a Tarot card—and hope as two people from different cities navigate the ravaging event. Nicola, an eleven-year-old boy in Calabria, is kept prisoner by his abusive mother; Barbara, a young woman, has escaped to Messina to avoid an impending arranged marriage. Their lives intersect as they each contend with the aftermath of the disaster. It is a tale of resilience told in delicate prose, beautifully translated by the accomplished Goldstein, who brought Elena Ferrante to English-speaking readers.
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Hot Air
By MARCY DERMANSKY
Published by KNOPF
Dermansky has her finger on the pulse of characters who beg to be satirized. This time, she fixes her gimlet eye upon, among others, two couples and a Vietnamese American personal assistant. The story contrasts the haves and have-nots, what money can and cannot do, and what really makes one happy. It begins with a near-disaster as a hot air balloon crashes into a swimming pool. What ensues is wife-swapping, soul-searching, mostly mediocre sex, raging envy, and even a trip to Disney World. It is as clever and zany as Dermansky’s previous four novels, always acutely observant about social class and social climbing, and always entertaining.
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Twist
By COLUM McCANN
Published by RANDOM HOUSE
“I had begun to think that there might be something monumental here. A vague element of the mythical. The velocity of who we are.” As in Richard Powers’s contemplation of the magnificence of the seas in Playground, McCann is concerned with the power of the waters. His protagonist, Irish journalist Fennell, travels to West Africa to observe the repair of underground lines that carry our global communication system. The descriptions of this arduous task are truly compelling. As fellow Irishman Conway, the chief of the mission who fascinates Fennell in his single-mindedness and calm, says: “Everything gets fixed […] and we all stay broken.” A twist late in the story makes the novel even more profound.
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Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert
By BOB THE DRAG QUEEN
Published by GALLERY BOOKS
This wacky premise delivers an incredibly entertaining piece of fiction from an author known for winning a season of TV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race. Combining the reappearance of Harriet Tubman and the enslaved people she walked to freedom with a hip-hop extravaganza is hard to pull off, but Bob does it with gusto and heart. “For me, she is America’s first Black superhero,” says Darnell, a once-popular hip-hop producer (and an excellent character), whom Tubman specifically chooses to help her create a killer album. “When so many figures from the past started returning, I just kept hoping that Harriet would show.” As a bonus, listen to the author’s new song created to accompany your reading experience.
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Tilt
By EMMA PATTEE
Published by MARYSUE RUCCI BOOKS
Cataclysmic natural disasters are the subject of numerous novels these days, as authors cannot help but respond to climate change and world events. Pattee’s engaging debut puts a fresh spin on this theme with an intriguing setup: The story is narrated by a very pregnant woman shopping for a crib in IKEA and worrying about her future when a devastating earthquake hits. She is telling her story to her unborn child as she walks during one full day through the rubble of Portland. This is a book about many things: a marriage spanning two decades, impending motherhood and, not the least, the end of the world as we know it—with humor.
