Warmer weather is on its way, and with it, a set of incredible new books from Algonquin! Meet your next favorite in this lineup, all hitting the shelves in the coming months.

Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel by Matti Friedman

This is the true story of four outsiders who risked everything to help launch a new nation. Award-winning author Matti Friedman tracks real-life spies and the paradoxes of the Middle East in this intimate story with global significance. The four spies at the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as the Arab Section, conceived during World War II by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in Palestine. Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage and assassinations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the Arab world and could thus easily assume Arab identities. While performing their dangerous work undercover in Beirut, these men were often unsure to whom they were reporting, and sometimes even who they’d become. Coming March 05, 2019.

A People’s History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian

A People’s History of Heaven centers on five young women in Heaven, a slum hidden between high-rise apartment buildings and technology companies in Bangalore, one of India’s fastest-growing cities. In Heaven, you will come to know a community of people constantly struggling against the city government who wants to bulldoze their homes and build yet more glass high-rises. These families, men and women, young and old, gladly support one another, sharing whatever they can. Together, the five best friends wage war on the bulldozers that would bury their homes, and, ultimately, on the city that does not care what happens to them. Coming March 19, 2019.

Courting Mr. Lincoln by Louis Bayard

The page-turning and surprising story of a young Abraham Lincoln and the two people who loved him best: a sparky, marriageable Mary Todd and Lincoln’s best friend, Joshua Speed. Told in the alternating voices of Mary Todd and Joshua Speed, and rich with historical detail, Courting Mr. Lincoln creates a sympathetic and complex portrait of Mary, unlike any that has come before; a moving portrayal of the deep and very real connection between the two men; and most of all, an evocation of the unformed man who would grow into one of the nation’s most beloved presidents. Louis Bayard, a master storyteller at the height of his powers, delivers a page-turning tale of love, longing, and forbidden possibilities. Coming April 23, 2019.

A Craftsman’s Legacy by Eric Gorges 

The host of TV’s A Craftsman’s Legacy makes the case that the craftsman’s way — the philosophy, the skills, and the mindset — can provide a helpful blueprint for all of us in our increasingly hurried, mass-manufactured world. Eric Gorges, a metal shaper, taps into the hunger to get back to what’s “real” through visits with the fellow artisans he has profiled for his popular public television program. In this book, he tells their stories and shares the collective wisdom of calligraphers, potters, stone carvers, glassblowers, engravers, wood workers, and more while celebrating the culture they’ve created. This is a book for seekers of all kinds, an exhilarating look into the heart and soul of modern-day makers — and how they can inspire us all. Coming May 07, 2019.

  Prairie Fever by Michael Parker

Set in the hardscrabble landscape of early 1900s Oklahoma, but timeless in its sensibility, Prairie Fever traces the dynamic between two sisters: the pragmatic Lorena and the fanciful Elise. Their connection to each other supersedes all else, until the arrival of a schoolteacher sunders the sisters’ relationship as they both begin to fall for him. With poetic intensity and the deadpan humor of Paulette Jiles and Charles Portis, Parker reminds us of how our choices are often driven by our passions. Expansive and intimate, Prairie Fever tells the story of characters tested as much by life on the prairie as they are by their own churning hearts. Coming May 21, 2019.

  The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason

It’s June 1860 in London, and within moments of each other, an assassination attempt is made on Queen Victoria and a petty thief is gruesomely murdered. Chief Detective Inspector Charles Field quickly surmises that these crimes are connected to an even more sinister plot — a shocking conspiracy in which the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species has set off a string of murders, arson, kidnapping, and the pursuit of a diabolical madman named the Chorister. As the investigation takes Field from the dangerous alleyways of London to the hallowed halls of Oxford, the list of possible conspirators grows as the body count escalates. And as he edges closer to the Chorister, he uncovers dark secrets that were meant to remain forever hidden. Coming June 11, 2019.

  A Death in the Rainforest by Don Kulick

Renowned linguistic anthropologist Don Kulick first went to study the tiny jungle village of Gapun in New Guinea over thirty years ago to document how it was that their native language, Tayap, was dying. But you can’t study a language without settling in among the people, understanding how they speak every day, and even more, how they live. A Death in the Rainforest takes us inside the village as Kulick came to know it, revealing what it is like to live in a difficult-to-get-to village of two hundred people, carved out like a cleft in the middle of a swamp, in the middle of a tropical rainforest. Finally, though, this is an illuminating look at the impact of white culture on the farthest reaches of the globe — and the story of why this anthropologist realized that he had to leave and give up his study of this language. Coming June 18, 2019.

  The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McLean

Part mystery, part darkly comic coming-of-age story, The Van Apfel Girls are Gone is a page-turning read — with a dark, shimmering absence at its heart. Tikka Malloy was eleven and one-sixth years old during the long hot summer of 1992, living in an Australian suburb with her sister and their three best friends. That summer was when the Van Apfel sisters, Ruth, Hannah, and the beautiful Cordelia, mysteriously disappeared. Did they just run — far away from their harsh, evangelical parents — or were they taken? While the search for the girls united the small community, the mystery of their disappearance was never solved, and Tikka and her older sister, Laura, have been haunted ever since by the loss of their friends. Now, years later, Tikka has returned home to try to make sense of that strange time, of the summer that left her frozen in the past, of the girls that she never forgot. Coming June 25, 2019.

  The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele

The global economy has collapsed and the electrical grid has gone down. In this new world, Carson, on the East Coast, is desperate to find Beatrix, a woman on the West Coast who holds his heart. Working his way along a cross-country railroad line, he encounters lost souls, clever opportunists, and those who believe they’ll be saved by an evangelical preacher in the middle of the country. Meanwhile, Beatrix and her neighbors begin to construct a cooperative community that suggests the end could be, in fact, a bright beginning. Without modern means of communication, will Beatrix and Carson reach each other, and what will be left of the old world if they do? Coming July 09, 2019.

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Algonquin Spring Preview Sweepstakes Rules

Official Rules

NO PURCHASE REQUIRED TO ENTER OR WIN.

1. Eligibility: Algonquin Spring Preview Instagram Sweepstakes (the “Sweepstakes”) is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States (and the District of Columbia), 18 years and older at the time of entry. Employees, officers and representatives of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, and children) and household members of each such employee, officer or representative are not eligible to participate. The Sweepstakes is subject to all federal, state, provincial, and local laws and regulations. Odds of winning in the Sweepstakes will depend on the number of eligible entries received for the drawings. VOID IN PUERTO RICO AND WHERE PROHIBITED.
2. Sponsor: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Post Office Box 2225, Chapel Hill, NC 27515
3. Agreement to Official Rules: By participating in the Sweepstakes, each entrant fully and unconditionally agrees to and accepts these official rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding. Failure to comply with any of these rules may result in disqualification from Sweepstakes.
4. Timing: Begins on March 1st, 2019, and ends March 4th, 2019.
5. How to Enter: Follow the instructions on applicable @AlgonquinBooks Instagram post. No purchase, entry fee or payment is necessary to enter the Sweepstakes. No mechanically reproduced entries will be accepted. Limit one (1) entry per person/Instagram account. Entries must be received by 12pm Eastern, March 4, 2019. Entries are limited to individuals only; commercial enterprises and business entities are not eligible. Sponsor is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry of information by entrants; lost entries or transmissions; interrupted or unavailable network, server, or other connections; scrambled transmissions or other errors or problems of any kind whether mechanical, human, or electronic, technical malfunctions of the computer hardware, software, or any combination thereof; or problems associated with any virus or any other damage caused to entrants’ systems. Incomplete entries will be voided.
6. Selection of Winners: 1 (one) Grand Prize winner will be chosen at random in a drawing conducted on or about March 4, 2019, from all eligible entries received for one advance review copy of each of our Spring 2019 books, hereafter referred to as THE GRAND PRIZE: A Craftsman’s Legacy by Eric Gorges; A Death in the Rainforest by Don Kulick; A People’s History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian; Courting Mr. Lincoln by Louis Bayard; The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McLean; The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele; Prairie Fever by Michael Parker; and The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason.
7. The winner will be notified by Instagram direct message by March 5, 2019. If the randomly selected winner does not respond to the Instagram direct message by 12pm Eastern on March 8, 2019, a new winner will be randomly selected from the original entries.
8. Sweepstakes Prizes: 1 (one) Grand Prize: Retail value of The Grand Prize is $0.
9. For all prizes:
   No cash or other substitution, assignment or transfer of prizes permitted except by Sponsor, which reserves the right to substitute a prize or prize component with another of comparable or greater value. Winner is solely responsible for any taxes or similar charges associated with prize receipt and/or use.
10. Publicity: Except where prohibited, participation in the Sweepstakes constitutes winner’s consent to Sponsor’s use of winner’s name, likeness, voice, opinions, biographical information, hometown and state for promotional purposes in any media without further payment or consideration.
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13. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: IN NO EVENT SHALL ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL, ITS AFFILIATES AND RELATED COMPANIES, OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS COLLECTIVELY HEREIN, PARTIES BE LIABLE FOR: (I) TECHNICAL FAILURES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE MALFUNCTIONING OF ANY COMPUTER, CABLE, NETWORK, HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE; (II) THE UNAVAILABILITY OR INACCESSIBILITY OF ANY TRANSMISSIONS OR TELEPHONE OR INTERNET SERVICE; (III) UNAUTHORIZED HUMAN INTERVENTION IN ANY PART OF THE ENTRY PROCESS OR THE SWEEPSTAKES; (IV) ELECTRONIC OR HUMAN ERROR WHICH MAY OCCUR IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES OR THE PROCESSING OF ENTRIES; (V) ANY INJURY, LOSS, CLAIM, DAMAGE, OR SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOST PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS), WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ENTRANT’S COMPUTER, HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE, WHICH MAY BE CAUSED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, FROM ENTRANT’S PARTICIPATION IN THE SWEEPSTAKES, OR RECEIPT OR USE OR MISUSE OF THE PRIZE. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOUR USE OF THE SITE SHALL BE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
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15. Winners List: Sweepstakes results may be obtained after March 30, 2019, by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Marketing Department, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Post Office Box 2225, Chapel Hill, NC 27515
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