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In the latest installment of Stephanie Barron’s utterly charming series of mysteries starring Jane Austen as sleuth, it is May of 1816 and Jane is feeling unwell. Her apothecary has recommended a trip to the Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to treat herself to a period of rest and reflection at the spa, in the company of her sister, Cassandra. The spa hardly turns out to be the relaxing sojourn Jane envisaged, and it is immediately obvious that other boarders at the Cheltenham guest house have stresses of their own—some of them deadly.
There are certain authors for whom I am always on the lookout for new releases. I talked about a few of them in a newsletter about my auto-read historical fiction authors a while back, and Taylor Jenkins Reid is without a doubt one of them. I mean just read any of her recent books, from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo to Daisy Jones and the Six to find out why. Her writing is atmospheric and evokes the time periods she writes about flawlessly. Not to mention, her character dynamics are to die for.
So suffice it to say, as soon as I heard there was a new Taylor Jenkins Reid book set to come out this year, I couldn’t add it to my TBR fast enough. And Carrie Soto is Back sounds like it’s going to have everything I love in a TJR novel.
Returning to a character we briefly met in Malibu Rising, Reid’s newest novel explores a comeback story for Carrie Soto. After a storied career as a tennis player and twenty Slam titles, Carrie has retired from her life as a record-shattering athlete. But six years after retirement, Carrie is sitting in the stands of the 1994 World Open as a young upstart overtakes her record. Now, at thirty-seven, Carrie’s ready to come out of retirement and reclaim her record–not matter what the sports media or anyone else has to say about it.
So far in Reid’s novels, we’ve gotten a tour of decades: the fifties in Evelyn Hugo, the seventies in Daisy Jones, and the eighties in Malibu Rising. Now with Carrie Soto, we’re getting the nineties. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping we might get a book for every decade of the twentieth century, but for now, I’m just content with knowing there’s going to be a new Taylor Jenkins Reid book in the not too distant future.
Carrie Soto is Back is currently slated for release on August 30, 2022.
Make sure to get your own Read Harder Book Journal from Book Riot to track your reading for the year!
New Releases to Look Out For:
Black Cloud Rising by David Wright Faladé
A lost story. A forgotten history. In late 1863, a newly formed group of formerly enslaved soldiers were tasked with tracking down the lingering threat of rebels in east North Carolina, newly taken by the Union. The African Brigade, led by an impassioned abolitionist general, hopes to prove that these men can be trusted as soldiers. But soldiers of the African Brigade like Sergeant Richard Etheridge are fighting for much more than that. They’re fighting for their future, and, for many of them raiding the very plantations which they so recently escaped, a chance to secure the future of their loved ones, too.
Release Date: February 22, 2022
The School of Mirrors by Eva Stachniak
In the court of Louis XV, teenage girls from all over France are sent to a secretive villa where they are trained as courtesans for the king. They are told the man they meet is a Polish noble, a cousin of the queen. But when one girl discovers the man’s true identity, she is sent away to give birth to a daughter in secret. A daughter who grows up to become a midwife, with no knowledge of her royal birth. And by the time she discovers the truth, Louis XVI rules France. And it is a dangerous time for anyone with royal blood.
Release Date: February 22, 2022
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That’s it for now, folx! Stay subscribed for more stories of yesteryear.
If you want to talk books (historical or otherwise), you can find me @rachelsbrittain on Instagram, Goodreads, Litsy, and occasionally Twitter.
Right now I’m reading Women and Other Monsters by Jess Zimmerman and The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston. What about you?