Editor’s Choice
Chicago, by Alaa Al Asway, $27.95. Egyptian author al Aswany (The Yacoubian Building) weaves a vivid tapestry of clashing cultures in post- 9/11 Chicago. The characters are beautifully realized and though their cumulative effect is muted, each of the story lines is individually compelling. Publishers Weekly
FICTION
To Siberia, by Per Pettersen, $22. This novel predates Pettersen’s acclaimed “Out Stealing Horses,” and has all of Pettersen’s haunted charms. The book builds up slowly, casting a spell of beauty and devastation that matches the bleak but dazzling climate that enshrouds (the protagonist’s) young life. Publishers Weekly
The Fire, by Katherine Neville, $26. Fans of Neville’s debut, “The Eight” (1988), which long before there was a “The Da Vinci Code” featured a complex historical setting, ciphers, conspiracies, puzzles and a hunt for an object that could change the course of the world, will welcome this stellar sequel. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Dark Water: Flood and Redemption in the City of Masterpieces, by Robert Clark, $26. A devastating flood hit Florence, Italy, in 1966, leaving destruction in its wake: Millions of books and records and tens of thousands of Renaissance art works were damaged or lost. Volunteer workers — “mud angels” — arrived from all over… Clark uses this riveting story to meditate on the communion that exists between artist and viewer and on the mortality of even the greatest art. Library Journal
Florence Nightingale: The Making of an Icon, by Mark Bostridge, $35. Bostridge presents a lengthy, well-researched and comprehensive biography of Nightingale, drawing heavily on letters, diaries and other primary sources in a successful effort to create a balanced and authentic portrait of the woman, not the myth. Library Journal
The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World, by John Demos, $25.95. Demos has devoted almost half a century to studying the European and American witch crazes, and his new book distills all he has learned. Succinct and lucid in his analysis, Demos offers vivid examples of the accuseds’ travails as well as probing the mind-sets of their tormentors. Library Journal
PAPERBACKS
Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, by Woody Holton, $15. Holton painstakingly locates all the key political figures of the era within the divisive, argumentative Continental Congress, including Washington, Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson and Madison, explaining how each was affected by the fiscal turmoil roiling the land. An eye-opening spotlight on the nation’s most enduring political document. Kirkus
Christopher’s Ghosts, by Charles McCarry, $13.95. Veteran McCarry (“The Tears of Autumn”) remains a compelling storyteller, as shown in his latest spy thriller, which chronicles the early career of his series hero, Paul Christopher. Publishers Weekly
Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer, by Tim Jeal, $18. There have been many biographies of Stanley, but Jeal’s is the most felicitous, the best informed, the most complete and readable and exhaustive, profiting from his access to an immense new trove of Stanley material. The New York Times
COMING UP
Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness, by William Bernhardt, $26. After taking down famed Mafia heavyweight Al Capone in Chicago, Bernhardt has him using his iconic image to clean up Cleveland where corpses keep piling up. (Jan.)
Mrs. Lincoln: A Life, by Catherine Clinton, $26.95. While Mary was the center of Abraham Lincoln’s life, historians often have ignored her. Clinton draws on historical research to flesh out the first lady’s mysterious life. (Jan.)
