BookTrib’s Bites: Four Fantastic Reads to Close Out Fall

(NewsUSA) – The Housekeeper’s Secret by Sandra SchnakenbergFor fans of stranger-than-truth stories, Sandy Schnakenburg uncovers rattling and unprecedented revelations in this powerful memoir of love, secrets, and survival.When Lee Metoyer is hired to be the new housekeeper, she has no idea she’s about to become the anchor to a family in an abusive patriarch’s home, setting a mystery in motion that will take decades to uncover. At 72, Lee falls ill and on her deathbed asks Sandy to write her story. The only problem is, Sandy doesn’t know the story.So Sandy takes an emotional and thrilling journey, unveiling shocking truths not only about her beloved housekeeper but also her own upbringing. She learns that Lee came to her family’s sprawling estate harboring a secret past. For decades, she’s been in hiding. But Sandy’s quest forces her to grapple with her own family history as well, and to confront the effects of the psychological abuse she suffered as a child. Purchase at https://bit.ly/4ewzcRO.Stealing Time by Tilia Klebenov Jacobs and Norman BirnbachFor fans of Back to the Future, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and Time and Again, here’s a smart, funny caper that will steal your heart.When there’s no time left, you have to steal it!New York, 2020. Tori’s world is falling apart. Between the pandemic and her parents’ divorce, what else could go wrong?Plenty! Like discovering that a jewelry heist 40 years ago sent her grandfather to jail and destroyed her family.New York, 1980. Bobby’s life is pretty great–until a strange girl shows up in his apartment claiming to be a visitor from the future. Specifically, his future, which apparently stinks. Oh, and did she mention she’s his daughter?Soon Bobby and Tori have joined forces to save the mystical gemstone at the heart of all their troubles. This time-travel jewelry heist will keep you guessing until the end. Purchase at https://bit.ly/4guShFH.The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone by Randy Susan MeyersSeven children. Five mothers. One idyllic commune. What could go wrong?Annabel Cooper wants to save the world. In 1964 she journeys to Freedom Summer in Mississippi, where the disappearance of her first love ignites a lifelong fight for justice. Years later, she, her husband, and four couples form a Boston political collective where they live together with their children in a rambling Boston house. As the era’s social upheaval intensifies, they move their children to a Vermont Eden, where they can remain safe; their parents continue their political work, taking turns traveling to Vermont to care for the children.But not all danger comes from the outside.This book delves into the intricate and nuanced dance of familial love and communal ties through the lens of sociopolitical upheaval from the 1960s to the present day, examining which sacrifices are worth the price. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3BANWkr.The Lafitte Affair by Norman WoolworthWhen burglars break into Hope Mausoleum and violate Crypt 1083-A where the remains of the former Girod Street Cemetery are housed, New Orleans property crimes detective Thibodeaux “Bo” Duplessis is confronted with three confounding questions: Who are the burglars? Why did they break into the crypt? What, if anything, did they take?In need of expertise he does not possess, Bo turns to his childhood friend Bruneau Abellard, a cranky, overweight antiques dealer with exacting epicurean standards and a font of historical knowledge. Together, the friends uncover a secret love affair between a famous antebellum actress, whose remains are contained in the crypt, and the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte. As their investigation deepens, they find themselves confronting two separate yet entwined mysteries 200 years apart. To solve the present-day crime, they come to realize they must first unravel a conundrum from the distant, murky past. Purchase at https://bit.ly/4dFl1J6.