“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hild by Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27.00)

St. Hilda of Whitby grew up in pre-Christian 7th century England and, while little is known about her, Griffith creates her life and times with imaginative authority and a poetic vision. When her father died, her mother pushed her toward the role as advisor to her uncle, the King. Hild’s talents as a seer create tension and a certain leeway in her life; she has a freedom that other girls in her era do not, but also feels the weight of responsibility. As she parries staves with her cousin and explores the countryside, Hild also exerts influence on the future of her kingdom and the new religion trying to push out the old gods. As NPR reviewer Amal El-Mohtar noted, Hild destroys the myth that women were not of import in Medieval history. A remarkable woman for her time, she was made so by the women who surrounded her — her ambitious mother, the weavers, servants and relatives who showed her the value of hard work and community. Fans of well-researched and vivid historical novels will devour this tale and wait impatiently for the sequel.

The Boy Who Shot the Sheriff: The Redemption of Herbert Niccolls Jr. by Nancy Bartley (University of Washington Press, $24.95)

In 1931 in Asotin, Washington, 12-year-old Herbert Niccolls Jr. shot the town’s sheriff, John Wormell. In prison, Herbert surprisingly found better care and education afforded to him than with his family; he was kept separate from the older inmates and forged a relationship with the prison librarian. Unbeknownst to Herbert, Father Flanagan of Boy’s Town, a priest with wide media attention at the time, petitioned to free the boy so he could reform him and offer him a chance at a better life. Father Flanagan pled the boy’s case with Washington State’s Governor Hartley but found it “the bitterest campaign of his life.” Herbert’s life behind bars, and the political machinations behind the scenes, illuminates the way that the judicial system has shaped how we view crimes committed by minors. By delving into one of the bloodiest periods in America’s prison system, Bartley shares a thought-provoking story that will encourage readers to read beyond the headlines for the true crux and cost of crime and punishment.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (A Marian Wood Book/Putnam, $26.95)

Rosemary Cooke was 5 when a seismic event shook her family. In the 1970s, the Cookes were one of many families that signed up to raise chimpanzees as if they were children. Fern, a chimp, and Rosemary were raised as sisters for five years. So why was Fern eventually taken away and where did she really go? Years later, in college, Rosemary begins to try to piece together the truth. Rosemary revisits, via her faulty memory, the family that fractured in ways subtle and overt in the wake of Fern’s mysterious departure. Delving into childhood psychology, Rosemary begins to understand the mistakes and misunderstandings that led to the family’s loss. An enlightening and heart-felt coming-of-age novel, the book portrays a young woman’s road to understanding and reconciliation with the past.