Cat’s table a novel by Michael Ondaatje.

“As always, Ondaatje’s prose is lyrical, but here it is tempered; the result is clean and full of grace”

Many stories have been written about journeys at sea, but it is less common to see such a journey combined with a coming-of-age tale. This is exactly what Michael Ondaatje has done in his latest book, THE CAT’S TABLE. This story, though fictional — and very imaginative— is drawn from Ondaatje’s own life; he took the very same voyage at the same age. Through a number of characters that our reviewer Harvey Freedenberg calls “colorful and enigmatic,” Mynah begins to learn about how the adult world works. Harvey says the book “is a tale Michael Ondaatje someday was destined to tell. It’s a pleasure for us, his readers, to share in that telling.”

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The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri.

“Barbieri’s mix of fairy tale and family drama in a picturesque seaside resort makes her third novel a terrific beach read.”

Nora Keane’s carefully constructed life falls to pieces when she — along with the rest of the world — learns that her husband, a prominent Massachusetts attorney general, has been cheating on her. Heartbroken and humiliated, Nora takes refuge with her maternal aunt on Burke’s Island in Maine, a place where superstition and magic are carried on the ocean winds, and wishes and dreams wash ashore with the changing tides.

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See the full reading list at bookreporter.com