America's best stories crave love but often seek it in a frozen past.

Reading Swedish crime maestro Håkan Nesser is like riding a double-layered carousel.

When an author seeks identity, beware the heights, and the plumbing.

Michael Moore goes back in time to the 1960s Midwest that made him tick.

Emma Donoghue's "The Sealed Letter" packs a salacious Victorian punch.

An architect draws London's Thames while a memoirist digs into the cliffs of Liguria.

Michel Houellebecq literally and figuratively buries himself in his latest novel.

Lucretia Grindle's newest Italian foray makes "Be back Monday" into a terrifying scrawl.

Jennifer Egan's acclaimed novel honors the changing face of modern language.

Allan Hollinghurst's "The Stranger's Child" may close out the 'country house' novel.

Colm Toíbín's "Brooklyn" focuses on immigration and the anxiety of choice.