The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela

 

As Andres, the gay son of Hispanic immigrants finds out, cookie-cutter suburbia smothers individuality. But in high school, rigid hierarchies twisted into helixes. When his father’s illness brings Andres back to Babylon, the small New York town where he grew up, he has to confront many unresolved issues. These include a lingering crush on a classmate and possible homophobia that mars another’s character. Describing classism and racism, Varela movingly illuminates the evolving suburbs as well. Their embrace of Trumpism while being forced to make room for assimilation over the years, leaves folks like Andres forever on the outside looking in.

Snow by John Banville

 

Winter is a living breathing presence in this whodunnit set in small-town Ireland and is worth the price of admission for that alone. Detective Strafford must solve the case of the apparent murder of Father Tom. Strafford is convinced that a member of the Osborne family in Ballyglass House has committed the crime but he gets swept up in their internal machinations. The savvy reader can see the sub-plot, which is not for the faint of heart, coming a mile away. Nevertheless, this is a winning portrayal of class and religious divides in Ireland, which even deep snow can’t smother.

When I'm Gone, Look For Me in the East by Quan Barry

 

The wide-open landscape of inner Mongolia, combined with life-affirming Buddhist philosophies, wraps the reader in a warm embrace in this stunning novel. Young monk Chuluun is tasked with finding the next avatar of a learned teacher. He joins forces with his twin, Mun, who renounced the path of monkhood and who instead makes his life as a tour guide in Ulaanbaatar. The saturated breath-taking landscape is a perfect backdrop for soul-searching questions that Chuluun slowly grapples with, including the primary vector for the narrative: What if you want to lead a life different from the one carved out for you?”