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The Main Line area is hot bed for budding authors and poetic genius. With dozens of colleges, universities and institutes of higher learning, the fire of literary tradition in the region has burned for centuries in our corner of America. Amid the sand and surf at the Shore this spring and summer, support Main Line-based figures and indulge in the latest releases from the Philadelphia area’s hottest-selling local authors. Here are some of the most anticipated novels on our summer reading list.
The Truth About the Devlins by Lisa Scottoline
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Based out of her farm in the Philadelphia suburbs, Scottoline is a New York Times bestseller and one of the region’s foremost experts on justice and fiction. In fact, she taught a course by that name at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, her alma mater.
The Truth About the Devlins follows charming disappointment TJ Devlin of the Devlin legal empire. After his release from prison and rehab for alcoholism, our hero is thrust into a conspiracy when he finds out his brother murdered a client, an accountant embroiled in an embezzlement scheme. Soon TJ finds himself forced into a web of deception and murder, a mission for which he seems wholly unqualified. Can this family letdown save the ones he loves, or will the truth break him first?
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore
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Award-winning journalist, former lawyer and local author Ashton Lattimore lives with her husband and sons in Philadelphia’s suburbs, where she spun the web of her debut novel. The plot follows the paths of three young black women in pre-Civil War Philadelphia and the unexpectedly dangerous collision of their stories.
After Charlotte escaped from decrepit White Oaks plantation and made her way up north, she expected freed life to feel different in the birthplace of American liberty, but her time as servant to her white-passing father isn’t dissimilar to life as an enslaved housemaid in the antebellum South. Soon she meets Nell, a budding abolitionist who aims to help free Charlotte’s friend Evie when her master visits Philadelphia. But stuck in a city enveloped in riots, attacks on abolitionists and racial struggles, Charlotte and Nell find their quest for Evie’s freedom might cost them their own emancipation.
The Hunter by Jennifer Herrera
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Fans of Delco-based mini-series Mare of Easttown will love the debut novel from local author and literary agent, Jennifer Herrera. Readers will be caught in the suspenseful dive into the dark history of a small town, as protagonist Leigh O’Donnell heads from bustling New York City to sleepy Cooper Falls. The devils of her past reckless behavior always at her heels, O’Donnell must uncover the uncomfortable secrets of a dreary town and, in doing so, unravel the tangled emotions and truths that haunt her subconscious.
The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza
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National and international bestseller Jo Pizza is based in Philly, but her story is a far-flung journey through the annals of European family history. The Sicilian Inheritance follows Sara Marsala, failure in both marriage and business, as she tries to uncover a disputed inheritance and a family secret that someone may have already killed to protect. This twist-filled adventure takes Sara through some of the world’s most romantic landscapes across the Italian countryside all while embroiled in a deadly game. As Sara probes deeper into her family’s past, she only finds herself closer to danger. This page-turning delight will have you melting under the sandy sun, longing for more daylight to enjoy this enthralling story.
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