The remarkable blend of memoir and fiction in this week’s new books is sure to enthrall, inspire, and move. From John Irving’s epic historical drama Queen Esther to Oyinkan Braithwaite’s compelling examination of familial curses in Cursed Daughters, readers might lose themselves in vividly imagined settings. While Heather Gudenkauf creates tension with The Perfect Hosts, Satoshi Yagisawa’s Days at the Torunka Café offers cozy moments and subdued disclosures. Additionally, two renowned storytellers—Antony Hopkins and Margaret Atwood—share personal, enlightening memoirs that shed light on the lives behind the art.
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
When Eniiyi is born on the day her cousin Monife is buried, her uncanny resemblance to the dead woman sparks a family’s conviction that she is Monife reborn—destined to repeat her tragic fate. Eniiyi has to confront love, loss, and the secrets of her lineage to decide whether she will acquiesce to the curse or shatter the cycle that has plagued the women of Falodun for generations. Hidden and knowing will always track you down.
Queen Esther by John Irving
Esther Nacht was born in Vienna in 1905. By the time she is able to call America home, she has lost both parents. Taken in first by Dr. Larch and then by the kind Winslow family of New England, Esther is raised in the in-between. Between worlds—Jewish and gentile, orphan and protector. Spanning continents and decades, Queen Esther is John Irving’s masterful exploration of love, faith, and belonging, once more demonstrating his remarkable ability to capture the profoundly human, and the achingly timeless.
Days at the Torunka Café by Satoshi Yagisawa
This heartwarming story, written by the globally acclaimed author of the Morisaki Bookshop novels, is set at Tokyo’s Torunka Café, a warm refuge where wandering people can find connection and comfort. Small deeds of kindness among its regulars—a woman with a secret, a wistful tourist, and a heartbroken teen—brew silent miracles. The inspiring tale of Satoshi Yagisawa serves as a reminder that hope and warmth are always accessible, even in the most isolated times of life.
The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf
When a planned explosion kills a visitor at the Drakes’ lavish “pistols and pearls” gender reveal, the party turns deadly and reveals a web of secrets hidden beneath the couple’s flawless exterior. Agent Jamie Saldano’s investigation reveals secrets, resentments, and hidden betrayals that rock the tiny community to its foundation. Pistols and Pearls is a darkly humorous, twisty, and suspenseful novel that demonstrates that some revelations are best kept secret.
Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood traces her remarkable journey from a wild Quebec youth to international literary prominence in her much anticipated memoir, turning her powerful storytelling inward. She reveals the beginnings of her most famous works as she humorously and openly examines the relationship between the living woman and the writer. Margaret Atwood’s Book of Lives is a brilliant meditation on imagination, love, and resiliency that depicts a mind that is constantly moving.
We Did OK, Kid by Sir Anthony Hopkins
In We Did OK, Kid, Academy Award–winner Sir Anthony Hopkins reflects with searing honesty on his turbulent childhood in postwar Wales, his rise from “hopeless” schoolboy to one of the world’s greatest actors, and his lifelong pursuit of redemption. From Hamlet to Hannibal Lecter, Hopkins reveals the brilliance, pain, and persistence behind his craft—and the hard-won sobriety that ultimately brought him peace, purpose, and self-understanding after decades of darkness.
