SPEAK by Louisa Hall & The Girl From The Garden by Parnaz Foroutan

Two absolutely fantastic titles out later in the year are, 'SPEAK' by Louisa Hall, and 'THE GIRL From THE GARDEN' by Parnaz Foroutan.

Reviews will follow closer to the publication dates, but I am so excited about them that I couldn't wait to mention them.

SPEAK by Louisa Hall

Ecco, July 2015 (US)

Orbit, February 2016 (UK)

Rating: 5/5

Book Synopsis:

A thoughtful, poignant novel that explores the creation of Artificial Intelligence—illuminating the very human need for communication, connection, and understanding.

In a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the seventeenth century, to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, Speak considers what it means to be human, and what it means to be less than fully alive.

A wrenching and heartfelt debut novel

THE GIRL From THE GARDENby Parnaz Foroutan

Ecco, August 2015 (US)

Rating: 5/5

Book Synopsis:

Set in the Iranian town of Kermanshah at the turn of the twentieth century, THE GIRL IN THE GARDEN is the intimate, poetic, and brutal story of a young woman beholden to the schemes and strictures of a male world. In a cloistered household of wealthy Jewish merchants, at a time when a woman’s worth is measured only by the number of male heirs she can produce, Rakhel, a barren young bride, must do the impossible: produce a son and satisfy her husband Asher’s wild desire for preeminence. Their struggle slowly rends their family asunder, dividing Asher from his family and breaking the delicate bonds between the women of the house, which have grown like flowers in a garden as they battle impossible odds to save Rakhel and her place in the household.