The Half Moon
Mary Beth Keane
Scribner, 2023, $29
We first meet Malcolm Gephart, the owner of a the Half Moon bar in the commuter town of Gillam, New York, on the eve of a historic blizzard. A storm symbolic, in many ways, of his failing marriage to Jess and the profound silence that blankets their relationship. Jess, a lawyer, hometown girl and his wife of 15 years, moved out of their house four months prior and has been living in the city with a friend from college. Their marriage has collapsed under the convergence of the weight of debt, fertility issues, misguided and secretive financial decisions, dashed dreams, and the complexities of getting older.
Even with an impending storm, the Half Moon is open, unlike other businesses in the neighborhood. From his car, Malcolm sees the bar's "squat, brown-shingled building at the bottom of the hill" with a faint glow spilling into the street from its facade. A thrill of hope and faith "in himself, in his town, in these people, in life, in destiny, in following one's intuition" overtakes him and for a moment he feels that is enough and that he will be okay. It's an example of his relentless optimism and cheerful demeanor that both infuriates and comforts the more pragmatic Jess.
Before buying the Half Moon, Malcolm had worked there for 24 years and knew every inch of it and everything about it (or so he thinks). He learned how to be a man there, how to fix things, how to engage with sales representatives, how to talk to anyone, how to find common ground, and how to deal with middle-aged women and "the things that came out of their mouths when they had too much to drink or if they'd been wronged by their husbands or boyfriends." When sharing his stories and shock at their behavior with Jess, she only responds with empathy; never wanting him to think badly of these women. She understands the crushing responsibilities of family life and motherhood. "But you still want a baby?" Malcolm asks. "Even knowing that." Without hesitation, Jess' answer is an unshakable "Yes."
When Malcolm buys the bar and the building on a handshake without consulting Jess or a lawyer, from Hugh Lydon, the previous owner, his mentor and former business partner of his father (who died when Malcom was just a teen), the very foundation of his life begins to crack. This act, which coincides with the end of seven years of failed, expensive, emotionally draining fertility treatments for the couple, becomes Malcolm's rationale for focusing on his "baby" now, the Half Moon, and not the lost baby that was the impetus for their marriage so many years ago.
As the week of the blizzard unfolds, Malcolm learns that Jess is in fact, back, but that she is dating Neil Bratton, a handsome, recently divorced lawyer with three small children who lives in a beautiful house in a wealthy part of town. And although this seems like an easy path for Jess to take and the pull for her toward Neil is certainly real, she is hesitant to move forward with him. They have both experienced transgressions in their marriage and Malcolm has resisted other women, the attractive bartender, Emma, in particular.
At the same time, Malcolm's obligations to Hugh are getting serious, the bar is in need of a major makeover, and one of his regular patrons, Charles "Tripp" Waggoner, has gone missing and is the prime suspect in a SEC investigation. When Jess and Malcolm reconnect, they scheme to find a way out of their current situation and a way forward with their marriage.
A surrounding cast of small-town friends and colleagues is the background for the complexities of Malcolm and Jess's relationship and personalities. The skill of the author lies in her ability to convey powerful emotions found in the ordinary, ever-changing, language of day-to-day life by sharing the couple's history in flashbacks from both perspectives. The pleasure in reading this book lies in the insightful unfolding of the personalities and stories of the main and consequential characters and the room allowed us to draw our own conclusions about them.
—Jane Kinney Denning
Our Hospital
Samuel Shem
Penguin Random House, 2023, $29
When the Covid-19 pandemic hits, four doctors are compelled to walk into the center of the storm, despite their previous decision to stop practicing medicine. They join together to help a small hospital in Columbia (modeled on the city of Hudson, where Shem lived for many years), where they experience the unimaginable struggles of fighting the pandemic. In this sequel to The House of God and Man's 4th Best Hospital, Shem further reveals the inner workings of our healthcare system, and what happens to its workers when it is put under immense strain.
The Memoir of a Female Soldier: Deborah Sampson's American Revolution
Jan Lewis Nelson
Massaemett Media, 2023, $19.99
When Robert Shurtlieff enlisted in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary war, he brought a secret with him that would eventually make it extremely difficult to receive a veteran's pension. This secret remained hidden through 17 months of service spent defending the Hudson Valley, at the end of which Shrtulieff's true identity was revealed. Deborah Sampson, alias "Shurtlieff," was really a young woman from Massachusetts who had left her home at age five and donned mens clothes to free herself of the societal limitations of womanhood. Jan Lewis Nelson's meticulously researched novel, published by her husband after her death in 2020, tells the story of one woman whose life of self advocacy paved the way for many women to come.
Echoes or, The Insistence of Memory
Tom Shachtman
Madville Publishing, 2023, $22.95
Ell, a millennial writer of European and Mexican heritage, finds herself trapped in a cycle of writer's block and recurring nightmares after a difficult break-up. Turning to her family history for answers, she traces a past involving madness, Civil War-era slaveholding, and a female Confederate warrior ancestor to whom her nightmares are connected. The longtime resident of Salisbury, Connecticut, Tom Shachtman, brings a compelling story of mystery, genealogy, and emotional discovery to his list of over three dozen published books.
The Livingstons of the Livingston Manor
Edwin Brockholst Livingston
New York Press, 2023, $27.95
Residents of Columbia County have undoubtedly heard of the Livingston Family, upon whose 160,000 acres of land they now live. Before his death in 1929, Edwin Brockholst Livingston wrote the extensive history of the fledgling nation and his family, whose influence shaped the early history of New York State and continued into the centuries to come. The Livingstons of Livingston Manor has recently been republished, with a new introduction by Edward Renehan.
Hedge
Jane Delury
Zibby Books, 2023, $16.99
Garden historian Maud Bentley gathers her daughters together to spend a summer resurrecting the garden of a Hudson Valley estate, and finds herself tangled in a consequential fling with her temporary neighbor. An unexpected secret from her daughters takes Maud into a future in which, years later, the experiences of that summer are not forgotten. Delury's second novel speaks to the complexity of managing a troubled marriage, a career, and motherhood all at once. Shocking twists folded into a tale of shifting priorities, passion, and responsibility, make for an excellently crafted page turner.
—Lily Anninger
