Best Contemporary Women's Fiction: Six Novels

This collection brings together six novels by contemporary women writers in a single volume. The included works are: Almost by Elizabeth Benedict follows writer Sophy Chase as she processes the death of her almost ex-husband, who may have taken his own life on a New England resort island where she had left him months earlier. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum centers on Trudy, a professor of German history, as she uncovers her mother's past in WWII Germany. The narrative weaves together a doomed love story, depictions of wartime life, and a mother-daughter relationship. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss depicts a young woman with an exceptional ability to gentle wild horses and the meaningful connections that form between people and animals. The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones explores elite cuisine in modern China through an American food writer in Beijing who learns her late husband may have lived a double life. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell presents a gothic narrative involving family secrets, lost lives, and the liberation that truth can bring. The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett tells of a secretive magician's death and the self-discovery journey it triggers for his partner.