A Dangerous Business

Author : Jane Smiley

Price : `1,903 (Hardcover)

Jane Smiley is the author of this murder mystery. The story takes place during the Gold Rush in California. Since her husband was slain in a struggle, Eliza Ripple has been employed in a brothel. She now enjoys financial stability. Eliza is motivated by her reading and sets out to uncover the riddle of these murders and apprehend the perpetrator when the bodies of young ladies start turning up. Eliza does a great job of describing her own life and feelings as she learns about them thanks to Smiley. Eliza is a simple individual who hasn't had a lot of life experience. The book paints a fascinating picture of the port town and the variety of visitors and locals who pass through or live there. The town's ladies remain mostly at home, unobserved, except for performing errands, while the patrons of the brothel constitute a cross-section of the male population.

Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

Author : Bushra Rehman

Price : `2,110 (Hardcover)

Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion penned by Bushra Rehman, is a Literary Fiction novel. Razia Mirza grew up in a Pakistani-American family that she is quite familiar with. She develops a gap with her family after being accepted to a prominent school in Manhattan. Razia now needs to decide between her family, her beliefs, and her future because she has begun to feel something for Angela. This is a tale of a girl coming of age that begins when she was a young child and had complete naivety about the world. She expresses these profound perceptions of the world and how people perceive her. You get to see her transformation from the obedient child she once was to a rebel who understands how distinct she is from her family. The writing in this narrative was exquisite and had a nearly poetic quality. It contained lovely metaphors and succinct, powerful life experiences that wove a thread of Razia and her friends’ progress.

Author : Darby Kane

Price : `1,489 (Paperback)