Code Name Hélenè by Ariel Lawhon (Doubleday)
Nashville author Ariel Lawhon returns this month with her latest historical fiction novel. Nancy Wake, an enterprising young journalist in 1930s Paris, meets and falls in love with Henri Fiocca. Shortly after they meet, the Germans invade France, and Nancy is forced to take on different code names. As she transforms from journalist to leader in the French Resistance, the risk of exposure increases, threatening to harm her and the ones she loves. (Available April 7.)
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore (Harper)
After 14-year old Gloria Ramírez is brutally attacked in the Odessa oil fields the day after Valentine’s Day, the town divides. Some side with the alleged attacker, and others, including Mary Rose Whitehead, a young mother, and Corrine Shepard, a widow and recluse, side with the victim. When justice doesn’t arrive, issues of violence, race and class heat up in 1970s West Texas oil country. (Available April 7.)
There I Am by Ruthie Lindsey (Gallery Books)
In her debut memoir, Nashville resident and social media figure Ruthie Lindsey reveals a journey that took her from living in chronic pain and dependent on painkillers to weaning herself off the drugs that were stopping her from doing her best healing and finding joy. A story of the hard work optimism requires, Lindsey urges readers to embrace the wholeness that comes from unlearning stories of brokenness. (Available April 21.)
The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson (MCD x FSG Originals)
Miranda Crabtree’s father mysteriously disappeared when she was 11 years old. With the help of a bayou witch named Iskra, Miranda’s been running her father’s general store ever since, eventually moving drugs for the local, crazed preacher, Billy Cotton. When a request is made of Miranda that she knows she won’t do, a reckoning will come that will bring the darkest parts of their bayou life into the light. (Available now.)