The Almond Picker

The Almond Picker 
by Simonetta Agnello Hornby  (translated by Alastair McEwen)
 

The child of poor farmers, La Mennulara became a maid for a well-to-do local family when she was only a girl; by dint of hard work and intelligence, she became the indispensable administrator of the family's affairs. Still, she was a mere servant, and now (as this story begins) she is dead.

As the details unfold about this mysterious woman, The Almond Picker assumes the witty suspense of a thriller, the emotional power of a love story, and the evocative atmosphere of a historical novel. Set in Sicily in the 1960s, a violent, complicated society in the midst of tumultuous change, The Almond Picker is the story of a woman who negotiated for her freedom as no one else dared.

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Maude Brown's Baby

Maude Brown's Baby
by Richard Cunningham

Orphaned by the hurricane that wrecked Galveston, Texas, in September 1900, aspiring photojournalist Donald Brown has all but abandoned hope of learning who his parents might have been. He exploits what most consider a handicap: his nearsightedness. With extraordinary close vision he discovers clues to his origins in the photo of himself as an infant. He helps find a missing photographer by analyzing film from a damaged camera, and he gains the friendship of a young woman in distress.
Donald's quest begins on September 8, 1918, anniversary of the Great Storm. War in Europe drags on, and he must soon register for the draft. Meanwhile, his friend Jake needs help finding a news photographer who is missing after an assignment in Galveston. Jake, a mercurial and ambitious womanizer, has ties to the island's nascent mafia. Donald finds himself more involved as clues point to murder.
When Donald's new friend, Clara, reveals a cache of photos that survived the storm, he discovers both the tragedy of his family and the source of his passion for photography.

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