We invite you to join us this week in revisiting our book club discussion of Morningside Heights, Joshua Henkin's quietly insightful novel of a marriage tested by unexpected challenges, just released in paperback.

You can also enjoy our Editor's Choice review of Leigh Newman's debut Nobody Gets Out Alive, a collection set in the rugged Alaskan wilderness, along with an excerpt containing the complete text of the story "Howl Palace."

We have the latest on current and upcoming discussions, plus a new Wordplay. And if you're a librarian (or know one), we would love for you to check out our free upcoming tour of BookBrowse for Libraries — see below for more details!

With best wishes,

Davina Morgan-Witts

BookBrowse Publisher

Last year, BookBrowse's book club discussed Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin. It received many positive comments, so we're revisiting it now that the book is released in paperback.

Morningside Heights is a sweeping and compassionate novel about a marriage surviving hardship. It's about the love between women and men and children and parents, about the things we give up in the face of adversity, about what endures when life turns out differently from what we thought we signed up for.

"I loved this gem of a book and its quiet poignance. We observe Pru and Spence navigating life’s milestones together, some more painful than others. Some of these challenges really resonated with me and I was glad to read Morningside Heights at this time in my life. The characters are so well-drawn and dialogue well-crafted, I felt like I was air-dropped into their home where I could silently participate in their daily lives. This was the first book I read by Joshua Henkin and will not be the last." - paulak

"I was somewhat hesitant to request this book because I didn’t want to read a depressing story. However, I was surprised by the manner in which Henkin approached his novel. This was so much better than I imagined and so much more interesting than I had hoped. It was a sad story but it was suffused with such compassion, growth, hope and complexity that I was entranced. The characters are so well developed and amazingly real that after finishing the book I still think about each of them and wonder what they are doing now." - gerrieb

"I liked the book. From the first page I was drawn to the character Pru. I loved the early days of the couple's relationship, it took me right back to college. Spence’s illness was very sad, and I came to understand more of what people with Alzheimer’s go through. This was a well-written book and I now want to read Joshua Henkin’s earlier work. A good book for book clubs to discuss." - Maggie

The discussion of Morningside Heights took place last fall, so the forum is closed for new posts at this time, but you can read the many comments, or explore more about the book, via the links below.

The eight stories in this collection reveal rugged characters tangled up in complicated relationships with each other and the wild terrain they inhabit. Stories mostly take place in the 49th state of Alaska, a region that looms large in the popular imagination. Its landmass is greater than the size of Texas, Montana and California combined, but its population is less than one million.

Author Leigh Newman, who grew up in Alaska, has a talent for exploring decades in the span of a single paragraph. She also has a fine eye for humorous, descriptive images. In "Howl Palace," the narrator, Dutch, prepares to sell her home: "…every good thing that had ever happened to me had happened in Howl Palace. And every bad thing too. Forty-three years. Five husbands. Two floatplanes. A lifetime. It felt as if I should honor my home, that strangers shouldn't come around poking through the kitchen or kicking the baseboards, seeing only the mold in the hot tub and the gnaw marks on the cabinets…" Things do not go as planned during the open house, but life rarely does in these stories... continued

Visit BookBrowse for more, including our full review and related Beyond the Book article, "Small Aircraft Transport in Alaska," and an excerpt providing the full text of the story "Howl Palace." More about this below.

For each book BookBrowse reviews, we also write a Beyond the Book article expanding on a subject related to the book and provide an excerpt so that you can read a few pages and decide if it's right for you.

Below, you can begin reading "Howl Palace" from Leigh Newman's debut short story collection Nobody Gets Out Alive, then click on the button to access the full story.

I am still puzzled as to why the word "teardown" upset me... continued

Solve our Wordplay puzzle to reveal a well-known expression, and be entered to win the book of your choice or a 6-month membership to BookBrowse!

The answer to the last Wordplay: I A J's W D, It's W D W

Meaning: Only make a commitment if you're prepared to do it wholeheartedly

The earliest known use of this expression is in a 1746 letter from Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield to his son, also called Philip Stanhope. It is just one of about 400 letters the prolific British statesman wrote to his illegitimate son... continued

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Among others, we're currently discussing The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson and Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. The discussion for Carolina Moonset by Matt Goldman opens on June 4.

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