From the publisher:

From New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs, a wrenching but life-affirming novel based on a true story of survival, friendship, and redemption. Set in the turbulent Vietnam era in the All-American city of Buffalo, New York, six girls are condemned to forced labor in the laundry of a Catholic reform school.

In 1968 we meet six teens confined at the Good Shepherd—a dark and secretive institution controlled by Sisters of Charity nuns—locked away merely for being gay, pregnant, or simply unruly.

Mairin— free-spirited daughter of Irish immigrants, committed to keep her safe from her stepfather.

Angela—denounced for her attraction to girls, sent to the nuns for reform, but instead found herself the victim of a predator.

Helen—the daughter of intellectuals detained in Communist China, she saw her “temporary” stay at the Good Shepherd stretch into years.

Odessa—caught up in a police dragnet over a racial incident, she found the physical and mental toughness to endure her sentence.

Denise—sentenced for brawling in a foster home, she dared to dream of a better life.

Janice—deeply insecure, she couldn’t decide where her loyalty lay—except when it came to her friend Kay, who would never outgrow her childlike dependency.

Sister Bernadette—rescued from a dreadful childhood, she owed her loyalty to the Sisters of Charity even as her conscience weighed on her.

Wayward Girls is a haunting but thrilling tale of hope, solidarity, and the enduring strength of young women who find the courage to break free and find redemption…and justice.

https://amzn.to/4bvMJIU

Wiggs’s new novel (after The Twelve Dogs of Christmas) is compelling historical fiction set in Buffalo, NY, during the late 1960s. The story primarily takes place in the Good Shepherd Home for Wayward Girls, a reform school run by nuns, which operates like a Dickensian workhouse. The story follows a few young women who are there for various reasons, including perceived protection from abuse, sexuality, and family circumstances. The main character, Mairin, is sent there when her stepfather tries to rape her; her brother is being deployed to Vietnam, and her mother is a strict Catholic who thinks the nuns will protect her daughter. Little does she know about the harsh conditions the girls face, including forced manual labor in a Magdalene laundry, nightly confinement, and severe punishments for rule infractions. Mairin and a few of the girls become friends, and eventually, some of them escape. The book follows these girls throughout their lives, including the traumatic aftereffects of their childhoods and their subsequent pursuit of justice.

VERDICT Wiggs offers a poignant and enlightening look into a dark chapter of recent history in this powerful and unforgettable read. Readalikes include The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead and This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.

©Library Journal, 2025

7/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

WAYWARD GIRLS by Susan Wiggs. William Morrow (July 15, 2025). ISBN: 978-0063118270. 400p.

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From the publisher:

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani, a “dazzling” storyteller (Washington Post), and a “comedy writer with a heart of gold” (NYT), comes a novel about one woman’s quest to build her own life before it’s too late.

Jess Capodimonte Baratta is not living the life of her dreams. Not even close.

In blue-collar Lake Como, New Jersey, family comes first. Recently divorced from Bobby Bilancia, “the perfect husband,” Jess moves into her parents’ basement to hide and heal. Jess is the overlooked daughter, who dutifully takes care of her parents, cooks Sunday dinner, and puts herself last. Despite her role as the family handmaiden, Jess is also a talented draftswoman in the marble business run by her dapper uncle Louie, who believes she can do anything (once she invests in a better wardrobe).

When the Capodimonte and Baratta families endure an unexpected loss, the shock unearths long-buried secrets that will force Jess to question her loyalty to those she trusted. Fueled by her lost dreams, Jess takes fate into her own hands and escapes to her ancestral home, Carrara, Italy.

From the shadows of the majestic marble-capped mountains of Tuscany, to the glittering streets of Milan, and on the shores of enchanting Lake Como (the other one), Jess begins to carve a place in this new/old world. When she meets Angelo Strazza, a passionate artist who works in gold, she discovers her own skills are priceless. But as Jess uncovers the truth about her family history, it will change the course of her life and those she loves the most forever. In love and work, in art and soul, Jess will need every tool she has mastered to reinvent her life.

Fed by the author’s cherished Italian roots comes a bighearted, hilarious novel of the moment: the story of one woman’s determination to live a creative life that matters, with enough room left over for love. With a one-way ticket to Italy, Jess is determined to write a new story on her own terms–this time, in stone.

https://amzn.to/41zzi65

Trigiani’s latest, after The Good Left Undone, is a compelling story that masterfully weaves together themes of self-discovery and an Italian-American family’s unique cultural nuances and traditions. Jess is a young divorced woman struggling with family dynamics as she strives to find her place in the world, which leads her from Lake Como, New Jersey, to Carrara, Italy. Jess has worked for her uncle in the marble business for several years, and she inherited the business when he passed away. She also inherited another shell company, an FBI investigation, and a massive tax liability. While fully cooperating with the FBI and the IRS, she goes to Italy to learn about the family business and herself; in the process, she learns the importance of letting go of the past to embrace change and finds new family and love. This is the book Trigiani fans have been waiting for.

VERDICT Trigiani’s hallmark charm and love of family, along with a touch of romance, make this a captivating and memorable read. Recommend to readers who enjoy Dorothea Benton Frank, Lisa Scottoline, or Kristy Woodson Harvey.

©Library Journal, 2025

7/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE VIEW FROM LAKE COMO by Adriana Trigiani. Dutton (July 8, 2025). ISBN: 978-0593183359. 416p.

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From the publisher:

With a dash of magic and a cast of oddball, small-town characters, this feel-good novel explores forgiveness, family, and the sense of humor it takes to live with the ones we love the most.

Ebey’s End is a small town on an island off the Pacific coast, reachable only by ferry (assuming the gods are with you and it’s not a Tuesday). It’s a comfortable, familiar (but okay, fine, sometimes lonely) life for its resident grocer Anita Odom. That is, until fourteen-year-old July shows up on her doorstep.

Taking in the recently orphaned daughter of an estranged cousin had not been on Anita’s to-do list. In fact, it’s a terrible idea. Anita is ill-suited, ill-prepared, and absolutely certain the entire enterprise will end in disaster—for both of them.

From the moment she arrives, July seems to “know” what each customer at the Island Grocery needs. They’re small things: a housekeeping magazine slipped into old Mr. Daly’s basket or a coconut cream pie pressed into the hands of Pastor Chet. But one by one, these gifts start to change the lives of nearly everyone in town in ways much larger than they—or July—could have imagined.

It’s not long before secrets are exposed and questions emerge, and everyone in Ebey’s End has to open their hearts a little wider to make room for it all.

https://amzn.to/4j5KK0s

Ream (Before We Were Innocent) pens an engaging family tale tinged with magical realism. Set on Ebey’s End, a fictional small island off the coast of Washington State, it is home to quirky characters who love to gossip. Anita, the never-married owner of a local grocery store, becomes the unexpected guardian to July, a 14-year-old orphaned relative she never knew about. Anita is extremely observant; she parses out her customers’ lives based on how they shop and what they buy. July helps out in the store after school, and Anita quickly realizes that July has a remarkable gift: an intuition for providing customers with ordinary items, like magazines or pies, that somehow transform their lives. On her first day of school, July meets Malcolm, the pastor’s introverted son, and they form a friendship that helps her adjust to her new life on the island. July’s search for her birth mother leads her to take a DNA test with unexpected results and leads to a beautiful ending, while the undercurrent of humor lends lightness to the story.

VERDICT This poignant novel with fantastical elements should appeal to readers and book groups who enjoy Maria Semple, Anne Tyler, or Rachel Linden.

This is sure to make my best books of the year list. Don’t miss it!

©Library Journal, 2025

7/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE PECULIAR GIFT OF JULY by Ashley Ream. Dutton (July 1, 2025). ISBN: 978-0593853726. 416p.

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From the publisher:

A thoroughly uplifting novel about a neurodivergent young man who unexpectedly builds a community and saves a friend in need by following—in a way only he can—his mother’s words of wisdom.

Joe-Nathan likes the two parts of his name separate, just like dinner and dessert. Mean Charlie at work sometimes calls him Joe-Nuthin. But Joe is far from nothing. Joe is a good friend, good at his job, good at making things and at following rules, and he is learning how to do lots of things by himself.

Joe’s mother knows there are a million things he isn’t yet prepared for. While she helps to guide him every day, she is also writing notebooks of advice for Joe, of all the things she hasn’t yet told him about life and things he might forget.

By following her advice, Joe’s life is about to be more of a surprise than he expects. Because he’s about to learn that remarkable things can happen when you leave your comfort zone, and that you can do even the hardest things with a little help from your friends.

“Fisher portrays Joe with tenderness and grace, highlighting his genuine challenges, frustrations, and sparks of joy… Fisher’s latest is an utter delight.” ― Booklist

https://amzn.to/4j5KK0s

Joe-Nathan Clarke is a 23-year-old neurodivergent man who lives with his mother. He has a job at The Compass Store, stocking shelves. He’s been there for five years and has made some friends among the staff. Joe-Nathan also has OCD, and he has crafted routines that allow him to navigate both work and home life successfully. His mother, Janet, is an older mom, and he has lost his father. Janet emerges as a thoughtful guide, creating a detailed notebook filled with practical advice to prepare him for eventual independence, with things like recipes, how to light the gas stove, basic home repairs, etc. He refers to the blue notebook regularly, and later on, finds another notebook filled with more esoteric advice.

While he has built meaningful relationships with most colleagues, some still mock him—particularly “Mean Charlie,” who dubbed him “Joe-Nuthin.” Janet has always told Joe-Nathan that he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, and he desperately wants Charlie to see that. Despite warnings from others who have written Charlie off as irredeemable, Joe-Nathan remains determined to befriend this sullen coworker, setting himself on a dangerous path that threatens more than just his own well-being.

Told primarily through Joe-Nathan’s perspective, the narrative reveals a refreshingly simple logic to his thinking that feels both endearing and hopeful. Unlike most people who develop protective cynicism through life’s challenges, Joe-Nathan approaches the world without layers of defensive armor. This openness proves both refreshing and occasionally unwise in difficult situations.

The characterization of Joe-Nathan impressed me most, as his voice maintains dignity without falling into parody. The author skillfully distinguishes secondary characters through their unique voices, demonstrating exceptional storytelling abilities that bring each person to life authentically.

This charming story exceeded my expectations by delivering something profound yet accessible. While those around Joe-Nathan work diligently to prepare him for adult realities, he becomes the one teaching life lessons to everyone in his orbit. He takes their guidance seriously but isn’t afraid to challenge their perceptions when they conflict with his own moral compass.

By refusing to abandon Charlie, Joe-Nathan forces others to confront their hardened assumptions and discover hidden depths in someone they had dismissed. The result is a beautiful message delivered through a young man who defies conventional definitions of “normal” and proves that wisdom often comes from the most unexpected sources.

This book was unputdownable. I loved these characters and didn’t want to leave them. This is sure to make my best books of the year list – don’t miss it!

6/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

JOE NUTHIN’S GUIDE TO LIFE by Helen Fisher. Gallery Books (May 28, 2024). ISBN: 978-1982142704. 416p.

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