Enjoy these recommendations from our friends at Bookish, Fort Smith, Arkansas’ only independently owned bookstore located in the Bakery District.
The Forgotten Girls
by Monica Potts
This story, part memoir, part investigative journalism, hits a little too close to home, but it’s a story that needs to be told. Monica and Darci, two gifted yet economically disadvantaged girls, forged a profound friendship over a shared love for reading and learning, all in the backdrop of a dwindling Arkansas town. Monica successfully broke free and pursued a career in journalism, and Darci became a single mother battling addiction, unemployment, and near homelessness. Potts’ memoir is her quest to uncover the forces behind the stark decline in life expectancy for poor white women in Arkansas.
The Heiress
by Rachel Hawkins
One of our favorite thriller writers is back with a look at the ties that bind us even beyond the grave. When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she is super rich and famous. She survived a kidnapping as a child and has had a full, and sometimes scandalous, life. However, her adopted son and daughter-in-law want nothing to do with the money as they work to create their own lives and dodge the secrets of their pasts. As the story unfolds in gothic glory, we find Ruby’s legacy is not as inescapable as they hoped.
The Vulnerables
by Sigrid Nunez
Nunez, New York Times bestselling, National Book Award–winning author, brings her singular voice to a novel about modern life and connection. The Vulnerables is an exploration of contemporary life through a mix of reflection and comedy. Nunez reflects on existence in today’s world, finding solace in humor and connections with others, including a Gen Z member and a parrot named Eureka. The novel spends most of its time in Covid lockdown in New York City as Nunez skillfully intertwines a search for understanding on critical issues with an exploration of the nature and purpose of writing.
Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves
by Sidney Thompson
In the first book of the trilogy that the new Paramount series is based on, we see Bass Reeves before he became the most successful 19th-century American lawman. Reeves, a former slave, honed his marksmanship skills during his childhood of cotton picking. His journey involved love, heroics, war, and determination for freedom, ultimately leading to a legendary career as a deputy U.S. marshal in the perilous Wild West. This is a work of fiction, but Thompson’s research is evident as he presents Reeves as an American hero, weaving his exploits into the tapestry of the 19th-century frontier.
