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    		•  March paperback releases offer good choices for reading groups

    REVIEWS BY JULIE HALE

    Cover Deep in the Shade of Paradise
    Dufrense's second novel is a quirky, fun-filled romp through the bayous of Louisiana. It's also a revved-up, modernized version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Grisham Loudermilk is set to marry Ariane Thevenot, yet neither is quite ready to submit to the bonds of matrimony. He's drawn to the independent Miranda Ferry, while she finds herself attracted to Grisham's cousin, Adlai. And that's only part of the plot. Ariane's mother is pursued by a priest. Adlai's mother dies, and a pair of Siamese twins named Tous-les-Deux have set their sights on Boudou, the 11-year-old boy who stands at the center of the novel. Blending old-fashioned romance with contemporary humor, this sequel to Louisiana Power and Light is a wonderfully innovative narrative. A reading group guide is available in print and online at www.penguinputnam.com.

    Cover A Multitude of Sins
    A master of contemporary fiction returns with a first-rate collection of short stories. This is classic Ford, in miniature. In narratives that reflect on our own lives, he explores the complexities of the human heart and the meaning of marriage. Infidelity is a central theme here, and stories like "Reunion" and "Abyss" reveal the disillusionment that can occur once the excitement of an affair begins to fade. "Dominion," a penetrating look at a woman on the verge of divorce, disturbs even as it illuminates. The author's style here is subtle, his insights remarkable. Melancholy, richly detailed and true, this expert selection of stories is sure to satisfy Ford fans until his next novel.

    Cover Enemy Women
    Jiles' compelling fiction debut tells the story of 18-year-old Adair Colley, a native of the Missouri Ozarks whose family is killed by Union militiamen. Orphaned with her brother and younger sister, Adair takes to the road, where she is accused by strangers of being a Confederate spy and arrested. In a women's prison in St. Louis, she is interrogated by Major William Neumann, an honorable commandant from the north. Against all odds, the two fall in love, and when Neumann decides to leave St. Louis, he plots Adair's escape and proposes marriage. Adventure and danger ensue, as Adair attempts to return home and find Neumann once she is free. Rich period detail and pitch-perfect dialogue make this an expertly crafted work of historical fiction. A reading group guide is available in print and online at www.harpercollins.com.

    Cover Atonement
    This national bestseller and Booker Prize nominee opens in 1935 in England, where the members of the well-to-do Tallis family—theatrical, 13-year-old Briony; Cecilia, her older, Cambridge-educated sister, and their sensitive, migraine-wracked mother—are preparing for the homecoming of son Leon, a successful bank clerk. When Briony observes a flirtation between Cecilia and Cambridge student Robbie Turner, who also happens to be the son of the family's cleaning lady, her writer's imagination gets the best of her, and she later accuses Robbie of a terrible crime—a charge that changes his life forever. Shifting perspectives and spanning decades, the novel—reminiscent, at times, of the work of Virginia Woolf—is a classic portrait of war-torn Europe that examines the writing process, the power of memory and the human capacity to forgive. A reading group guide is available in print and online at www.randomhouse.com/anchor/.


    Has your club recently read an excellent book that sparked good group discussion? If so, BookPage would like to hear about it. Contact us at reading@bookpage.com with a description of the book and the reasons for your recommendation. We'll pass the top choices along to our readers.

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