Staff Pick
You really have to give some giant props to a novel that starts out, "Dear Osama." What follows is a searing portrait of a woman riven by grief, pain, guilt, and horror at the (particularly gruesome) death of her husband and child due to a terrorist attack. While Cleave sure knows how to plumb the depths of current events, he also creates characters who are flawed, duplicitous, and stupid: clearly all too real. Yet, they struggle through their crises with tender underbellies, which mark them as vulnerable and make their morally complicated stories beautiful. Bravo! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com