The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
By Marie Benedict
In 1926 Agatha Christie is a 36-year-old mystery writer on the cusp of becoming a household name. Things with her husband Archie were extremely rocky and against Agatha’s wishes, they were spending the weekend apart. Late on a freezing December night, Agatha gently kissed her 7-year-old daughter Rosalind and got behind the wheel of her fancy new car. The following day the car is seen abandoned by a gloomy lake and Agatha is nowhere to be found. The woman who would one day become the world’s most famous mystery writer becomes the focus of her very own 11-day mystery. Only a few months after releasing her latest novel, Agatha has disappeared off the face of the earth, only to reappear with absolutely no memory of the time that had passed. Ingenious author Marie Benedict reimagines what might have happened during this puzzling disappearance with gripping and exquisite detail.
Faye, Faraway
By Helen Fisher
Faye and Eddie share a quiet life and happy home with two little girls they adore. As Eddie prepares to train as a vicar, Faye is terribly worried whether she can live up to her wifely duties. Faye lost her mum as a young girl and was adopted by an older couple. Although she had a lovely childhood, Faye has always longed for the mother she can hardly remember. While cleaning out the attic she discovers a box she recognizes from an old photograph. Faye climbs into the box to avoid stepping on glass and her life is transported to another time. Faye awakens in 1977, in the yard of her childhood home, her mum Jeanie in the kitchen and her younger self nearby. This terrifying leap leads Faye down a path of discovery she never imagined possible. She can finally get to know the woman she has yearned for all these years. Maybe she can change the trajectory of their lives. Love and a little bit of faith in time travel is all you need to go back to the future.
Better Luck Next Time
By Julia Claiborne Johnson
In the 1930s, Reno, Nevada was a symbol of hope for women looking for a quickie divorce. Remain in Reno for six weeks and the judge would grant you residency and divorce with assembly-line efficiency. No better place to stay than the Flying Leap Ranch, run with Margaret’s military precision and handsome cowboys to wait on you hand and foot. We meet Nina, a St. Louis heiress, back for her third time, and terrified Emily fleeing San Francisco and her two-timing husband. There is Ward, a Cary Grant look-alike trying desperately not to fall in love and fellow ranch hand Sam who is everyone’s protector. Post-depression, pre-WWII, most of America is struggling to survive as these wealthy women search for a freedom they aren’t quite sure they want. Told in a hilarious laugh-out-loud narrative, it is easy to imagine these oddball characters in the heyday of a Hollywood setting.
