Literary Tourism: Washington, DC

The List

by Karin Tanabe

Ginger says: Media is a big part of life in Washington. The press is powerful, so when 20-something Adrienne gets a chance to be on staff at the fictional Capitolist (aka the List), she knows it’s the place to be and jumps at the chance, even though that means leaving her perk-filled job at Town & Country. Working 14-hour days and breaking political scandal stories, all of this humorous contemporary fiction novel was great fun to read and very DC; my favorite part was reading about her forays back to hometown of Middleburg. Middleburg is a small and somewhat sleepy historic town just outside the Beltway, but because of the mix of hunting and horse country vibes with high-tech company proximity, it is very much a part of the power structure of DC.

The First Ladies

by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

Ginger says: Victoria Christopher Murray and Marie Benedict joined us in the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club to talk about another D.C.-adjacent book, The Personal Librarian, so of course I want to read everything they’ve written now. The authors’ partnership produces work rooted in history and friendship. This historical novel is the story of a friendship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Civil Rights activist and educator Mary McLeod Bethune.

Heartburn

by Nora Ephron

Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes. The creator of Sleepless in Seattle reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter. Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. Audie Award Finalist.

The House of Eve

by Sadeqa Johnson

I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time! This historical novel is very much in the vein of Ann Patchett’s The Patron Saint of Liars and Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s Take My Hand. The story centers two young Black women in the 1950s: Ruby is an ambitious high school sophomore in a single-parent family of limited means in Philadelphia; Eleanor is a promising student at Howard University who, despite her working class upbringing, soon finds herself moving in the upper echelon of DC’s Black society. Both women have big hopes and dreams for their futures: they want love and marriage and family, as well as college degrees and satisfying careers. But shortly after each falls in love, big changes happen—and hard choices have to be made. A good story, well-told, with a satisfying ending. Be sure not to miss the author’s note!

Yellowface

by R. F Kuang

June and Athena first met at Yale and now are rival authors, though one has far outstripped the other in success and sales. When the brilliant, bestselling Athena chokes on a pancake and dies in front of June, June takes the opportunity to steal her friend's nearly-finished manuscript and pass it off as her own. June tells herself there are no victims here: it's not like her friend is going to use it. And if readers of the stolen manuscript wrongfully assume June is Chinese because of the story, she tells herself that's nobody's fault but theirs. As June gets in deeper and deeper with her lie, she grows increasingly crazed and desperate, going to jaw-dropping lengths to keep her deception secret. I could hardly wait to see exactly how this author would get her richly deserved comeuppance.

Cherry Blossoms: Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress

by Katherine Blood, Mari Nakahara

Ginger says: I’ll admit that The Tree Collectors by Amy Stewart led me to this title, as well as the fact that I coincidentally got to see both the famous cherry blossoms of Tokyo and Washington D.C. within a year. Dreamy! If either or both places are on your bucket list, you can visit vicariously through the pages of photographs, maps, and, my favorite, Hiroshige prints. If you’re giving this as a gift, pair it with the nonfiction title The Sakura Obsession: The Incredible Story of the Plant Hunter Who Saved Japan’s Cherry Blossoms. The best part is you can celebrate the friendship that has literally blossomed between Japan and the U.S. in any season, no allergy pill required.

Personal History

by Katharine Graham

Ginger says: If you’ve seen the excellent political thriller The Post, the story of The Washington Post’s publication of the classified Pentagon Papers, you might have wanted to learn more about the powerhouse woman behind Meryl Streep’s character. I immediately dashed out and bought this memoir. This would be an excellent nonfiction counterpoint to Heartburn, since Graham presided over the Washington Post as it broke the famous Watergate scandal, which made Carl Bernstein famous. (It’s a small, big town.)

The Cave Dwellers

by Christina McDowell

Ginger says: This is the psychological litfic novel I rarely recommend even though I took it down in practically one unputdownable gulp. Here’s why: this book is salacious and shocking. There’s a rough and ugly core papered over with public gentility. The Cave Dwellers follows the lives of privileged teens and their families as they socialize, power-grab, and deal with the aftermath of a murder in their midst. It grapples with hard topics like class and is positively filled with unlikeable characters, which is kind of like this city sometimes. Have I talked you out of it? Don’t let me. For all that, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I read it years ago. Even so, mind your (many) triggers. It’s not going to be for every reader.

Never Saw Me Coming

by Vera Kurian

Ginger says: DC meets DA? Yes, please. I have a thing for DA (Dark Academia), so I picked this up for the premise of a clinical study of psychopaths on a college campus. I was DC-lighted (too punny?) to find all the District details sprinkled throughout. The author’s note made clear that Washington D.C. is her “city of my heart” and the mentions of Old Ebbitt Grill, Logan Circle, U Street, Logan Circle, and I-95 (ugh… the traffic!) throughout the story made it even clearer.

Digital Fortress

by Dan Brown

GingerGinger says: Yes, Dan Brown. Many of his stories take place, or at least start, in the capital. But this one is underrated and too often forgotten in favor of his more popular titles that take place in Washington, The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol. This spy novel delves into national intelligence and coding. There’s a whole etymological exploration of the word “sin-cere” that was just good nerdy fun. The perfect page-turning distraction if you need a break from politics.

The Hopefuls

by Jennifer Close

Ginger says: Power is the currency in this town: name dropping, security clearances, how many degrees of separation you are from the top jobs. There are acronyms galore and polite questions that are really code and it’s all a study in anthropology, especially for someone observing who doesn’t work in politics like me. That’s the situation for Beth in this smart and funny literary fiction. Beth is, like me, both horrified and fascinated by the ambition, competition, and… the traffic. So much traffic.

Rachel to the Rescue

by Elinor Lipman

Ginger says: This political satire is on my TBR because I hear it's darkly humorous with a playful cast of charming characters. The premise sounds believable: a staffer gets fired after firing off a critical email of a certain politician. As she’s leaving the building, she’s involved in an accident that leaves her recovering while surrounded by well-meaning parents and roommates. A new job and a new love interest should keep this light, gossipy, and fun.

Literary Tourism: Washington, DC

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