SB Lit Fest Picks and More Stories

‘Ghalen’

The Santa Barbara Literary Festival is loaded with talented bestselling authors descending on Santa Barbara May 2-3. Many of them have new books published this month. For example, one of our keynote speakers, Walter Mosley, has his love story, Ghalen: A Romance in Black. A coming-of-age take on Ghalen, a brilliant young Black man, and the epic romance his mismatched parents share. The Devil in a Blue Dress author can really do no wrong in my book and continues to surprise and astound his vast readership

‘The Hope Keeper’

Another SBLF author, Heather Webb is back with The Hope Keeper – a work of  historical fiction set around Evalyn McLean; the owner of the infamous, and possibly cursed, Hope Diamond. A young jeweler is drawn into the glamorous world of socialites in Washington, D.C. in 1919. Webb’s prose is as seductive as the lure of this blue diamond, blending fact and fiction is this page-turning novel with secrets and danger lurking around every corner – and every fine-boned, diamond-adorned throat.

‘Take Me with You’

Another keynote speaker is Steven Rowley of Guncle fame who has a new one out with Take Me with You. A mysterious disappearance starts this one that involves a 30-year relationship and the questions left behind when one night Jesse’s husband vanishes in the desert. Rowley’s work is filled with humor and heart which makes him a favorite with readers of all ages.

‘Murder Most Delicious’

Danielle Trussoni, writing under the nom de plume Danielle Postel-Vinay is serving up a sumptuous cozy mystery set in Paris and you’ll be delighted with all the crumbs scattered across the 7^th arrondissement as the seemingly impossible crime slowly yields its inner workings. An American sommelier is grateful for a momentous second chance – until in the course of a life-changing job interview she finds herself witness to a murder. Murder Most Delicious has all the elements of a cozy, sexy Agatha Christie, with a cast of suspicious characters, a background that drops you into the heart of Paris, and plenty of questions as to who did it. Grab a glass of wine (or an espresso and croissant) and enjoy. 

‘The Mediator’

From authors who will not be present at the festival, we have some exceptional picks. Robert Bailey has a new thriller, The Mediator, teeming with ruthless characters that will do anything to win. Max was a hotshot attorney until an unfortunate accident left her addicted to pain killers. After being fired and doing a stint in rehab, she’s working her way back up, this time as a mediator. During negotiations at her old law firm, she receives the shocking news that her son has been kidnapped – and unless the case goes the way of one of her mediating parties, she won’t ever see him again. What follows are twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.

‘The Young Will Remember’

Eve J. Chung is back with another epic story, The Young Will Remember is set in 1950 during the “forgotten war” in North Korea. We follow a Chinese American journalist, Ellie Chang, who is caught in the mountains of North Korea when the passenger plane on which she’s traveling is shot down. What follows is the stirring story of three women with intersecting lives. Chung is a deeply moving writer; well researched history brims over in this one and I could not put it down. Like her prior novel Daughters of Shandong, the author explores the motives and mettle of women during conflict, and the resiliency that sustains them.