In this thought-provoking trio of new novels, Helen Phillips, Jo Baker and Chandler Baker immerse their readers in the dangers and anxieties inherent to modern womanhood.  

In The Need, Molly, a dedicated paleobotanist, works in a fossil quarry that yields baffling specimens, including unheard-of plant varieties and artifacts that are familiar yet utterly strange. The latter, which includes a Bible in which the text is recognizable with one unsettling difference, begin to draw tourists and conspiracy theorists to the site. At the same time, Molly is also an exhausted, nursing mother of two young children whose husband is out of the country on business. One night, Molly's world turns upside down when she discovers a masked intruder in her home who has a startlingly intimate familiarity with Molly's life.

Dabbling in the supernatural, Helen Phillips has created a fascinating plot through which she explores the deep, conflicting tensions surrounding modern motherhood, personal identity and the nature of our existence in the universe. Moreover, Phillips' novel will have a powerful, visceral impact on anyone who has parented young children. The Need will keep readers rapidly turning pages as Molly navigates conflicting emotions in a chillingly surreal landscape.

Jo Baker tackles a very different threat: sexual assault. In The Body Lies, a stranger attacks the unnamed narrator near her London home. Three years later, to escape the memory, the narrator seeks a university job in the isolated countryside north of London. Once there, she meets her creative writing students, including a troubled young man named Nicholas Palmer who insists he is writing experimental "art" in which he only writes "the truth." While struggling with an impossible workload, a young son and a strained marriage, the narrator becomes increasingly concerned for and disconcerted by Nicholas, as she becomes a character in his distorted version of the truth. All the while, a sense of danger and mystery pervades the novel in the form of a frozen corpse left in the countryside.

Baker (Longbourn) boldly and refreshingly insists on changing the narrative surrounding sexual assault. The Body Lies is not another story of a silent, naked, dead girl. Rather, Baker brilliantly weaves in Nicholas' concept of truth and shows how it plays out in his writing, so the narrator's ability to voice her own truth creates a powerful contrast. Indeed, this novel is the story of a survivor, not a victim.

In Whisper Network, Chandler Baker takes on sexual harassment in corporate America. Sloane, Ardie and Grace are in-house lawyers working for a Dallas-based athleisure apparel company. When the CEO suddenly dies, it becomes clear that Ames Garrett will most likely fill the role. Ames, however, has a well-earned reputation, whispered among female employees, for sexually harassing and assaulting women in the workplace for over a decade. Moreover, he shows no signs of stopping, if his actions toward the newest employee are any indicator. Sloane, Ardie and Grace must decide whether to bring Ames' actions to light before his promotion. Unforeseeable consequences of their choice soon threaten all three women.

Baker has written a bitingly funny yet insightful novel detailing the pitfalls of being a woman in corporate America today. Throughout this well-crafted novel, Baker tells the story primarily through dialogue but also employs deposition and police interview transcripts. This structure creates a delicious sense of suspense that will keep the reader guessing. It's the perfect choice for book clubs seeking an entertaining book that will stimulate thought-provoking discussion.

More than two years after the #MeToo movement took off, writers have shaped the resulting conversation about sexual harassment and abuse into meaningful fiction and nonfiction that are sure to spark further discussion. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey deliver a watershed work of investigative journalism with She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement. The authors, who broke the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault story for the New York Times, have crafted an eye-opening look at how #MeToo took off, sharing details about how they located sources and persuaded them to talk about Weinstein.

In Chandler Baker's novel, Whisper Network, Rosalita, Ardie, Grace and Sloane work under Ames, who is set to become CEO of Truviv, Inc. Ames has a reputation for making advances toward women, and his latest in-­office transgression leaves the four co-workers determined to take action. Writing with humor and poise about a sensitive subject, Baker introduces complicated topics that will spark plenty of conversation and spins a suspenseful plot full of surprises that book clubs will enjoy unraveling.

Susan Choi's novel Trust Exercise, which won the National Book Award in 2019, explores #MeToo concerns from the perspective of a group of students at a performing arts school who are manipulated by their elders, particularly their formidable drama teacher, Mr. Kingsley. The novel is at once a beautifully executed coming-of-age story and an unflinching account of lost innocence and idealism. It's sure to prompt deep discussions of gender and age dynamics, especially the power plays that occur between teens and those whom they idolize.

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators (Back Bay, $18.99, 9780316486644) by Ronan Farrow is an electrifying account of the fall of convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein and the difficulties Farrow faced in bringing the media mogul's story to light. Farrow also looks at abuses of power by Donald Trump, Matt Lauer and other high-profile figures as he creates—and sustains—a mood of suspense throughout the narrative. From ethics questions related to journalism to issues of gender discrimination, the book offers numerous subjects for conversation.

DEBUT The CEO of Truviv, a hot athletic apparel company, has suddenly died, and the firm's general counsel, Ames Garrett, looks to be the heir apparent. Sloane, Grace, Rosalita, and Ardie have worked for Ames for years, and each of the women has a different relationship with him. His reputation for sexual misconduct has long been whispered about among his reports, but no one has come forward to challenge him. However, with his likely takeover of the corporation, something must be done, so Sloane and her colleagues put their lawyerly heads together and file suit. What happens is horrific, very timely, and totally believable. VERDICT Attorney Baker's debut is a thriller, a murder mystery, and an anthem for any woman who has ever hit a glass ceiling, been the brunt of sexual innuendo, or felt harassed in the workplace. Smart, articulate, and witty, it will resonate with a huge audience. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 1/7/19.]—Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA

YA author Baker (Alive) makes her adult debut with an engrossing, bracingly funny thriller. For too long, fear of career suicide has kept the women of Truviv, a Dallas-based athletic apparel brand, quiet about Ames Garrett, the company's general counsel, known throughout the company as a sexual predator. With Ames's promotion to CEO imminent, three of Truviv's female attorneys—dynamo Sloane Glover; down-to-earth, recently divorced Ardie Valdez; and overwhelmed new mom Grace Stanton—inch toward finally taking action. Sloane starts by adding Ames's name to a high-visibility, supposedly anonymous online spreadsheet, the Beware of Asshole Dallas Men list. When a shaken Katherine Bell, the legal department's freshest hire, complains to the trio, also members of the department, that their boss has become sexually aggressive with her, Sloane persuades Ardie and Grace to join her in taking legal action. The women get more than they bargained for in the ensuing fireworks, which include a death and a lawsuit. Baker, a corporate lawyer and the mother of a toddler, clearly knows her protagonists' conflicting professional and personal worlds, though she goes a bit overboard with plot twists toward the end. This empowering novel is sure to resonate with many readers in the #MeToo era. Agent: Dan Lazar, Writers House. (July)