Carol Goodman: The Stranger Behind You
I loved Goodman’s novel last year, The Sea of Lost Girls, and I love this one even more. It’s very of the moment, as it involves a powerful newspaper magnate who has been sexually harassing his female employees. Like last year’s novel, Goodman’s concern is the shame the women feel for something that is not their fault. She expands these horizons, making the book specific (an element in every successful novel, to my mind, is specificity) by tying the shame element to her two main characters as well.