The Evening Spider by Emily Arsenault

Emily Arsenault's The Evening Spider is the perfect blend of psychological thriller inspired by a true crime story from the 1880s. Told in alternating viewpoints and historical time periods, the story focuses on two young mothers.

It's 1885 and Frances Barnett has been sent to Northhampton Lunatic Hospital shortly after the birth of her daughter. Distrusting everyone around her, Frances begins to recount the early days of her pregnancy, as she shares her reluctance towards the possibility of becoming a mother. During the early stages of her pregnancy, Frances can't help but explain how she became enamored with the disturbing, yet captivating murder trial of a young woman at the hands of a local clergy member who was guilty of poisoning the young woman with arsenic. Frances, fascinated with the science behind the trial, admits in her journal that maybe her interest in the trial lead her to have horrible thoughts.

Fast forward to 2014, when young mother Abby Bernacki is slowly transitioning to motherhood. Taking a year sabbatical after giving birth to her daughter, Abby can't help but have odd dreams and hear suspicious sounds across the baby monitor in her daughter's room.Worried she's beginning to lose her mind, Abby begins researching their home. After finding out that the house belonged to the Barnetts, Abby cannot stop thinking about what might have happened in the house 150 years ago.

With a mix of humor, thriller, true crime, and history, Arsenault's book is sure to keep you turning the page.

The Annotated Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Edited by John Matteson

Little Women--it's the classic children's story of the March sisters living in Concord in the 1860-1870s, figuring out their place in a world dominated by men. If you haven't read (or seen any version of the movie), The Annotated Little Women might be the version you want to pick up. Not only does this rather large book contain all of Alcott's Little Women, but the margins of this classic are peppered with notes, observations, and interesting facts about the story. Included are images from the movies, photographs of some of the individuals Alcott mentions in the story, and interesting tidbits of history that even the brightest historian won't know. Fans or first time readers of this version of Little Women will be fascinated by the information contained in this book.

Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of this book is the introduction by John Matteson. He spends quite a bit of time explaining how Little Women became the classic that it is today. Much emphasis is given to the time period, and the fact that Alcott's father raised his daughters to be enlightened thinkers, a rarity for the time. Matteson's forward also sheds light on how much the members of the March family were modeled after the Alcotts. Filled with fascinating stories about Louisa May Alcott, this annotated version is for true Little Women fans.

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

Zee Finch, a respected psychotherapist, has a patient commit suicide.  She feels responsible and the death brings back memories of her own mother’s suicide.  Her engagement is also falling apart and her dad has late stage Parkinson’s.  As she tries to make sense of her life, she realizes she doesn’t know what she wants to do with her furture.  Zee is easy to relate to and her journey is compelling. Check out The Lace Reader as well, which features some of the same characters as The Map of True Places.

Woodsburner by John Pipkin

In 1844 Henry David Thoreau started a forest fire near Concord, Massachusetts, that destroyed 300 acres of woods and nearly destroyed the town. This book is about Thoreau, but also about other residents of the area, including a woman who has fled the famine in Ireland, an immigrant farmhand from Norway, a radical preacher, and a traveling salesman, in Concord just for the day. The author uses each character to illustrate life in 1840s Massachusetts in Woodsburner.