Helen Simonson's new novel is a gently charming portrait of a small British town in the last, fraught moments before the outbreak of World War I.

Book cover design and more - Part 2

From the moment they meet in New York's Brighton Beach neighborhood, Vaclav and Lena make magic together. Each envisions a lifetime at the other's side — and then, one day, Lena disappears. Their story of love and assimilation sits at the heart of Haley Tanner's debut novel, Vaclav & Lena.

I own a picture of a young Ethiopian girl whom I have started to call Hirut. She is in her teens, and her hair is pulled away from her face and hangs down her back in thick braids. She wears a long…