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of the legendary actor. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Susanna Lea Assoc. (Apr.) Permanence Sophie Mackintosh. Simon & Schuster, $28 (224p) ISBN 978-1-6682-0652-2 An adulterous couple wakes up one morning in a strange new land with the freedom to enjoy their illicit rela- tionship in this ethereal outing by Mackintosh ( Cursed Bread ). Clara, a young and spirited gallery reception- ist, has been dating Francis, a married art history professor and father, for a year, but she never spent the night with him until now. ey wake up to nd themselves in an apartment stocked with their favorite books and clothes, surrounded by a city lled with golden light, music, and other happy cheating couples. ey begin to settle into what they call “the city of impermanence,” until they have a ght, triggered by Clara’s sadness over not having Francis to herself if they return to the real world, and exacerbated by Francis’s confession that he hopes to go back. Mackintosh invests more e ort in exploring the characters than develop- ing the speculative conceit. As a result, the novel feels more like a situation than a story, which might frustrate some readers. Still, she writes with deli- cate precision about Clara’s yearning (“In the city there was time for all of this, and more. Time for the ordinary, to which we normally give little value”). It’s a dreamy meditation on the power of love. Agent: Gráinne Fox, UTA. (Apr.) e In nite Sadness of Small Appliances Glenn Dixon. Atria, $27 (224p) ISBN 978-1-66809-726-7 Dixon ( Bootleg Stardust ) spins an enchanting speculative story of a sen- tient Roomba vacuum cleaner who develops a relationship with her human owner. Retired couple Harold and Edie Winters still live in their family home, where Edie, a piano teacher, is dying of cancer. A er she’s gone, Harold’s daughter, Kate, whom he hasn’t seen in years, is summoned by “the Grid,” an AI-driven entity of “algorithms and data” that controls all facets of human
of Annie, now a 50-year-old divorcée who moved on from her adolescent fandom years ago. Still, she books a cabin on the cruise for herself and her younger sister, Katherine, who’s still a “rabid” fan. Katherine cancels at the last minute, however, leaving Annie alone at sea with the superfans. During a photo op with group member Keith, “the nicest one,” Annie asks if he’s okay, and her genuine interest causes him to break down in tears a moment later in the bathroom, overcome with emotion at the decades he’s spent as “a three-dimensional cardboard cutout” for adoring fans. Straub stu s the narrative with a crowded cast and extraneous subplots, including two involving a lovelorn event producer and another Boy Talk member’s life coach, and fails to bring much depth to a story about the ravages of aging and fame. Meanwhile, the eventual romance between Annie and Keith depends entirely on tropes. It’s a miss. Agent: Claudia Ballard, WME. (Apr.) e Original Priya Parmar. Ballantine, $30 (384p) ISBN 978-0-593-98413-0 Parmar ( Vanessa and Her Sister ) brings to life 1930s Hollywood with
this revealing biographical novel about Katharine Hepburn. Daughter of a prominent Connecticut su rag- ist and a physician, Kate is devas- tated at 13 by her older brother Tom’s death by suicide. Eventually, she manages to move forward, graduat- ing from Bryn Mawr, marrying her college sweetheart, and embarking on a theater career in New York. A screen test for RKO Pictures leads to an o er for a part in the lm A Bill of Divorcement , and Kate accepts, leav- ing for Los Angeles with her friend Laura Harding. As she and Laura try to hide their romantic relationship from the press, Kate embarks on an a air with her agent, Leland Hayward, while maintaining a friendship with producer David Selznick’s wife, Irene, and megastar Cary Grant, who dispels rumors about his romantic relation- ship with Randolph Scott by marrying a starlet. Parmar sensitively explores Kate’s sexuality, which she keeps hid- den throughout her career, as well as her vulnerability following Tom’s death and her quest to remain true to her artistic vision despite pressure to adhere to the Hollywood image of a female star. Historical ction fans will be drawn to this immersive portrait
The Left and the Lucky Willy Vlautin. Harper, $25.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-334663-5
rock guitarist named Donny. Eddie does his best to keep Houston alive and working, if not sober, and to tune out Cordarrel, while new hire Donny tries to prove himself despite dealing with a tooth infection. e author
★
VLAUTIN ( e Horse ) delivers a surprisingly upli ing tale of neighbors helping neighbors while eking out a living in Portland, Ore. Connie works nights as a stripper while rais- ing her two sons, Curtis and Russell, neither of whose fathers live with them. Curtis, 15, bullies his undersized eight-year-old brother, who copes by taking long walks by himself. eir neighbor, Eddie, a kindhearted house- painter, makes sure Russell has good, hot meals to eat, and gets to school each day. A er Curtis steals and crashes Eddie’s new car, he’s locked up in juvenile detention, and Russell is ooded with relief. Eddie’s caring and patient nature also extends to his paint- ing crew, which includes frustrating but endearing alcoholic Houston, pompous nonstop talker Cordarrel, and a young punk
imbues the novel’s gritty setting with radiant light, especially from the perspective of the intrepid Russell, as when he bravely bikes through an industrial wasteland in search of Houston. With genuine a ection, Vlautin captures his characters’ humanity and long- ing, showing, for example, how Russell daydreams about escaping to an island where he can live without fear. Readers will fall in love with this ode to a struggling community. Agent: Lesley orne, Aitken Alexander Assoc. (Apr.)
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