Book Recommendation: The Lotus Eaters

Looking for new voices?  I highly recommend the debut novel by Tatjana Soli The Lotus Eaters.  The novel follows Helen Adams, one of the few female photojournalists covering the Vietnam War.  The novel paints vivid and haunting images of Vietnam and of the war and Soli proves an outstanding researcher.  The characters succinctly drawn, and while the love stories that fuel Helen’s larger love affair with the country and with covering the story are often rushed and a bit overly romanticized, the novel offers a compelling vision of the past and a protagonist who feels real and complex.  This book is a strong debut from a novelist who will be worth watching.