> NEW AND NOTABLE

Her Heart for a Compass, by Sarah Ferguson (William Morrow) If the advice is to write about what you know, Sarah, Duchess of York, has taken it to heart. While she’s had some acclaim as a writer of children’s books and non-fiction (a book about the Queen and a memoir), she has now graduated to a debut novel for adult readers. “Her Heart for a Compass,” set in Victorian times, is about a rebellious woman, Margaret, who rails against the strictures of high society (sound familiar?). We meet her fleeing from an arranged marriage and becoming an outcast from polite society. Clearly, the Duchess has taken inspiration from her own life — this is also the fictionalized story of her own great-greataunt, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott. The book is out under the Mills & Boon imprint in the U.K. and co-written with Marguerite

Kaye, a veteran romance writer who’s published dozens of books under the Mills & Boon flag.

Colorful, by Eto Mori (Counterpoint Press) As we are entrenched in the Tokyo Olympics, it seems the perfect time to be introduced to Eto Mori, who is a multiple-award-winning literary star in Japan. “Colorful” is her first book to be translated into English and has been done so by Jocelyne Allen, who lives in Toronto. The book features an unnamed soul who is given the chance to atone for his sins and get a second chance at life by taking over the body of a 14-year-old who has just committed suicide. The book is now more than 20 years old and has sold more than a million copies in Japan and around the world, where it’s already been translated into other languages, so it’s a surprise it’s taken this long to make it to English.

Nightbitch, by Rachel Yoder (Knopf Canada) As any woman who’s had a child is well aware, giving birth transforms your body and your sense of who you are. Not much of a stretch, then, to link motherhood to fairy-tale werewolf myths. Nightbitch, married to a well-paid engineer, has given up her low-paying arts job to take care of her child. She’s growing hair in strange places, her canines are getting sharper. As Nightbitch realizes how much of her self has been subsumed, she grows more feral by the day, sparking her creativity.

Not a Happy Family, by Shari Lapena (Doubleday Canada) Toronto-area writer and former lawyer and English teacher Shari Lapena has become one of the most anticipated writers going since her thriller debut “The Couple Next Door” was published in 2016. She’s sold more than seven million books since. In her latest, the Mercer family meets for Easter dinner — Fred, Sheila and their grown-up kids — setting the stage for something terrible to happen, which it does when the parents are later brutally murdered.

Deborah Dundas is the Star's Books editor. She is based in Toronto.