Group Reads
Wench
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
In 1850s Tennessee, 13-year-old slave named Lizzie is taken on by the plantation owner as a sexual mistress, a practice common to the time. Lizzie’s master even takes her along with him to a spa resort in “free” Ohio when the Southern summer heat becomes too much to bear. There, Lizzie meets two other young black women caught in a similar form of bondage, and the three begin considering a break for freedom–an act that would mean abandoning everything in their life they know as home. A disturbing and engrossing historical novel, WENCH addresses many of the unspoken complexities and bizarre social permutations brought about by the atrocity of slavery.
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Baltimore Blues
by Laura Lippman
Losing her job as a reporter, Tess Monaghan accepts a friend’s request to follow his fiancee. Utilizing her journalist’s instincts, Tess learns that the woman is a kleptomaniac and may be having an affair with her boss. After revealing her findings, the boss is murdered and Tess’s friend is accused. Now it is up to Tess to learn the identity of the real killer.
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Ladies’ Choice Group Read
Virgin River
by Robyn Carr
Wanted: Midwife/nurse practitioner in Virgin River, population six hundred. Make a difference against the backdrop of towering California redwoods and crystal-clear rivers. Rent-free cabin included.
When the recently widowed Melinda Monroe sees this ad she quickly decides that the remote mountain town of Virgin River might be the perfect place to escape her heartache, and to reenergize the nursing career she loves. But her high hopes are dashed within an hour of arriving: the cabin is a dump, the roads are treacherous and the local doctor wants nothing to do with her. Realizing she’s made a huge mistake, Mel decides to leave town the following morning.
But a tiny baby, abandoned on a front porch, changes her plans…and a former marine cements them into place.
Melinda Monroe may have come to Virgin River looking for escape, but instead she finds her home.
