Waiting on Wednesday

(First paragraph from wishfuledings.com blog)

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here, at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. If you're continuing with WOW, feel free to link those up as well! Find out more here.

I am thinking that two books of 2020 per week might be much. I tend to feature books that I already have/own rather than something I don't have because I might get obsessed with it, which isn't good. I am crossing my fingers that I might get a few more 2020 releases so I can last until January when I will only feature one book per post. 

The first book that I am featuring is titled The Book of V by Anna Solomon which seems to deal with triple timelines (one story takes place in modern times, one in 1970s and one is sort of a retelling of Queen Esther and Queen Vashti.) I hadn't looked through the book (received it as a surprise ARC actually.) but from reviews and summaries it seems to compare women's places in these disparate times, which will be an interesting read, I can guarantee. 

The second book I am featuring is titled Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain. I am embarrassed to admit that I had only read one Diane Chamberlain novel titled The Good Father, which I've enjoyed and do think about it from time to time. When I read that particular novel, the only thought that went through my head is: I finally found an author that I wish Jodi Picoult could be. (I have tried reading one book by Jodi Picoult and I really, really didn't like the novel whatsoever... as I also learned, mine and Jodi Picoult's tastes in books are more disparate than not.) But aside from my Jodi Picoult story, this is a dual timeline story which takes place in 1940s and modern times and is focused on women's progress. 

The Book of V by Anna Solomon

Published Date: May 5th 2020

(From Goodreads:) Anna Solomon's kaleidoscopic novel intertwines the lives of a Brooklyn mother in 2016, a senator’s wife in 1970s Washington, D.C., and the Bible’s Queen Esther, whose stories of sex, power and desire overlap and ultimately converge—showing how women’s roles have and have not changed over thousands of years.

Lily is a mother and a daughter. And a second wife. And a writer, maybe? Or she was going to be, before she had children. Now, in her rented Brooklyn apartment, she’s grappling with her sexual and intellectual desires while also trying to manage her roles as a mother and a wife.

Vivian Barr seems to be the perfect political wife, dedicated to helping her charismatic and ambitious husband find success in Watergate-era Washington D.C. But one night he demands a humiliating favor, and her refusal to obey changes the course of her life—along with the lives of others.

Esther is a fiercely independent young woman in ancient Persia, where she and her uncle’s tribe live a tenuous existence outside the palace walls. When an innocent mistake results in devastating consequences for her people, she is offered up as a sacrifice to please the king, in the hopes that she will save them all.

Following in the tradition of The Hours and The Red Tent, The Book of V. is a bold and contemporary investigation into the enduring expectations and restraints placed on women’s lives.

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

Published Date: January 14th, 2020

(From Goodreads:) North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women's Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold—until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.

North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.

What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?

Which of these do you find exciting and are more likely to get?