A Beautiful Loan, by Mary Costello (Norton). “I have been trying to account for certain events in my life,” Anna, this novel’s forty-five-year-old narrator, tells us by way of introduction. The events in question revolve around her relationships with two men: Peter, an older, aloof Irishman whom she met at nineteen and soon married; and Karim, a warm, devout Muslim from Algeria whom she dates after her marriage falls apart. The two couldn’t be more different, but Anna sees both as a means to freedom from “all the outer chaos.” Peter’s penchant for solitude and Karim’s commitment to Islamic rules each seem to offer Anna the buffer and order she desires, but not without a price. This psychologically raw record of one woman’s life explores the consequences of orienting oneself in relation to another.
Spoiled Milk, Avery Curran (Doubleday). The backdrop of this chilling début novel is the Briarley School for Girls, a regimented institution housed in an imposing English estate. “The bells governed our lives,” Emily, the teen-aged narrator, explains, as do the mistresses, who strictly impose propriety. The tragic death of a prized student, however, sets loose something wicked—food begins to rot, people start to disappear, and those who remain become unrecognizable. In search of answers, Emily and her friends find themselves consulting paranormal expertise, in the form of “mediums, and crystal balls.” Brimming with spiritualism and sensuality, this neo-gothic story navigates the terrain between life and death, and between childhood and adulthood.