Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post readers, to share their mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email bellis@denverpost.com. – Barbara Ellis
‘What Rose Forgot,’ by Nevada Barr (Minotaur, 2019)
What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr, SPL book review
Rose Dennis is a 68-year-old whose dementia has prompted confinement in an upscale memory care unit. Or has it? Buddhist, recently widowed, and a successful artist, Rose is ditsy and rather eccentric, but is grounded by a 13-year-old step-granddaughter. Mel is bright and perceptive, and they make quite a team. As Rose grapples with the gaps in her memory, the two encounter danger and violence. An addictive blend of thriller and slapstick, this novel is an absorbing and quick read, or listen. (The audio is performed by Kate Burton.) Note: Barr is best known for her Anna Pigeon mysteries set in national parks, anchored by a compelling character with deep talents and deeper flaws. It will be released as a TV series on USA Network in August. — 2 1/2 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker
‘A Hymn to Life, by Gisele Petico (Penguin Press, 2026)
Petico gained notoriety as the French woman whose husband of 50 years routinely drugged her to unconsciousness, dressed her in seductive lingerie, then raped her and allowed other men to rape her – 50 men in all, over a period of several years. Once her husband was arrested for another sex-related crime, a search of their home and his computer revealed videotapes of those assaults. The men were identified and tried, along with Petico’s husband. This is her story – the effects of the assaults on her and on her children (who might have experienced abuse as well) and her struggle to cope with this new reality: the loss of her home, her marriage, her ordinary life. It is a memoir of sorts, tracing the history of the marriage relationship, but focuses primarily on the aftermath of the assaults and Petico’s decision to make the trial open to the public, believing that “shame has to change sides.” A powerful, disturbing read. — 3 stars (out of 4); Jo Calhoun, Denver
‘A Better Life,’ by Lionel Shriver (Harper, 2026)
A rather ham-handed examination of immigration issues, with all viewpoints on this hot topic being spouted by one character or another, like boxes being checked off a list. The plot pivot point is based on a real proposal (but never actualized) to pay New York City homeowners to shelter migrants in their homes. Cultural and political divides deepen in the community, and even within the same household, when a woman brings a single migrant woman into her home. Idealism confronts reality, with lasting consequences, though it all has a smirking, “I told you so” feel. — 1 star (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
‘Crazy Genie,’ by Ines Cagnati, translated by Liesl Schillinger (New York Review of Books Classics, 2026)
CRAZY GENIE, a novel by Ines Cagnati, translated from the French by Liesl Schillinger, New York Review of Books Classics, 2026
Cagnati, daughter of impoverished Italian immigrants in mid-twentieth-century France, wrote four prize-winning books. In this novel, originally published in 1967, the sense of feverish pursuit and longing starts on page one and does not let up. Marie and her mother live in a shack under the willows by a river. The mother spends her waking hours working on other people’s farms and performing tasks the neighbors prefer not to do themselves. Cast out by her family, referred to by the French villagers as “Crazy Genie,” she rarely speaks, and when she does it is to push tiny Marie away so she can work. It’s why Marie, “with a crazy heart,” scrambles to catch up with her mother and spends hours peering through mist and darkness for a glimpse of her. The only thing Marie wants is her mother’s love, but is that even possible? With spare, gripping sentences, Cagnati tells a sobering tale of suffering and tenderness. — 3 stars (out of 4), Michelle Nelson, Littleton
‘Watching Over Her, by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, translated by Frank Wynne (Simon & Schuster, 2026)
A beautifully told story of one man’s life, depicted in flashbacks from his deathbed, but also the story of 20th-century Italy, with its wars, political swings, natural disasters and the overarching power of the Catholic church. The “hero” is a dwarf, abandoned by successive relatives. He makes his own way through good times and bad, living life to the fullest. Eventually, against many odds, he becomes a renowned sculptor. The throughline of his life is his on-again, off-again friendship with, but also his steadfast love for a neighbor girl of the upper class, who challenges him repeatedly to become his better self. The many-layered meanings behind the title will stay with you long after you turn the last page. (Andrea won the Prix Goncourt when this was originally published, in 2023.) — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
