Legend has it that a doubting Jewish man reviled Jesus on his way to the Crucifixion. Condemned to live forever, he walks the earth without a family or home. As Princeton University historian Mintzker writes, this is the origin of the “Wandering Jew,” a figure reimagined in modern Europe to symbolize the supposed rootlessness of Jewish people. He became a sighting, an apparition coalescing fear and angst into a man of rags. He became a literary figure, inhabiting the corners of the Yiddish imagination. But he came, ultimately, to stand as “an allegory of the history of the Jewish people.” He lived a diasporic life, exemplifying “Jewish progress…and the future Zionist movement, which envisioned a linear path leading Jews out of Europe and into a better future in Palestine.” But for others, the Wandering Jew embodied all that was alien about a culture of exclusive faith and practice. German stories proliferated in print and were revived in the 20th century to give weight to antisemitic legislation. This book is rich with scholarly inquiry. But it is also rich with personal reflection. The author’s own life—from a family of immigrants to Palestine, to an Israeli youth, to an American academic career—takes on new meaning, as ghosts of friends and relatives haunt his dreams and the modern state of Israel betrays his hopes. Mintzker writes, “The estranged lover leads a life of exile, constantly on the lookout for a way back to a lost (real or imaginary) home.” Historical research grants insight into our desires, and we make sense out of love and loss by turning to the myths of culture. “Aren’t all our lives bound in intimate bonds of fiction?”

Tess Hawthorne would rather be home in Norfolk, even though she’s seen as the “scandalous spinster of Wiggenstow.” But she’s happy to have found a job, so she’s in London helping a rich woman catalog her library, until a run-in with a “tall, broad-shouldered madman” leads to her losing her position. Back home, she’s excited to learn that a rich American has agreed to finance a dig in her town that she’s longed to work on—then discovers that the rogue from the library will be running things on the funder’s behalf. Dominic Prince comes from a family of antiquarians, so Tess has to admit he’s ideal to lead the project. They make peace after Dominic apologizes and welcomes her on the dig, though she’s dismayed to hear that any discoveries aren’t likely to stay in England. Despite her misgivings, they fall into an easy pattern, which leads to an undeniable attraction that turns physical quickly. And though their connection only deepens from there, things get more complicated when the dig starts turning up unexpected treasures. The second entry in the Princes of London series is a charming, low-stakes romance with lots of fun archaeological details based in the actual history of the area (though with a few small tweaks to the timeline). Tess and Dominic have a kind, easy chemistry that will please readers looking for a cozy story, as their relationship is both spicy and straightforward. Though this is a fairly traditional Victorian romance in many ways, the focus on Norfolk over London is compelling, and Carlyle’s fans will love the clever heroine who prefers digging for ancient artifacts over digging into society drama.

Sam is in her early 30s, two years out of her English and Comparative Literature Ph.D. program, and, like many of her cohort, barely scraping by as an adjunct. When she lands a spot at Rosedale, an elite private college, as a last-minute replacement for an older professor, her problems seem temporarily solved. Sam is optimistic, even if her schedule is grueling and her salary minuscule; even if the classes she’s teaching—The Masculine Voice and The Campus Novel—are barely veiled attacks on the #MeToo movement; even if the person who hires her says, “I just need a live body.” Then, on her first day, Sam runs into another recent hire: Tom Sternberg, her grad-school adviser, with whom she’d had a complexly intimate relationship. Sam discovers Tom’s long-awaited new novel centers around an older professor “reckoning with his checkered past” as the “feminist movement sweep[ing] the nation” emboldens a bitter former student to publicize their affair. The premise sounds familiar to Sam, as does the female antagonist—and she certainly sounds familiar to Sam’s grad-school classmates, who close ranks against her. Reeling under Tom’s repurposing of their shared history as a springboard back into relevance, and stung by reviews lauding the book as “fiercely honest,” Sam begins a downward spiral that gains speed as she nears rock bottom. The harsh realities of Sam’s exploitation by systems that were meant to both educate and employ her are leavened by the character’s wry humor; however, the novel suffers at times from a reliance on expository info-dumps to underscore its critique of higher education’s abuses, which are more effectively explored in-scene. Regardless, this exposé of academia from the perspective of its most vulnerable residents offers a vital message at a time when it’s easy to forget what’s supposed to be at the center of all institutions: people—messy, unpredictable, and filled with fragile hope.

With overtones of both Predator and Lord of the Flies, Reintgen’s latest includes a power struggle and multiple secret agendas, which come into play after a storm-tossed disaster leads to a rapidly rising body count among the dwindling handful of survivors. The author’s proven flair for concocting unusual sorts and strains of magic is on full display too. The largely white-presenting human cast includes Marken Burke, a wizard who’s being transported in chains to be tried for mass murder, and Pearl Trask, a young pig keeper who proves to be nursing more secrets than just a sideline in trafficking deadly animals. Plus, in a terrifying embodiment of William Golding’s imaginary beast, there’s a cunning, murderous dragoness who escaped during the crash and whose ability to become virtually invisible by adopting anything she touches—from rocks and water to flesh—as a camouflaging “skin” leads to a thrillingly gruesome climactic battle. Whether Marken is a wronged character who’s worthy of sympathy or a conceited and manipulative crumb, Pearl at least can see right through him to the good heart beneath. By the open-ended finish, the two have found enough common ground for tender, budding romance and mutual respect.

Fourteen-year-old Mikayla Grebe is days away from taking the Fulfilled Genetic Potential test and proving she’s worth society’s investment. The fear of losing Elite status and becoming a Defective or an Expendable always looms. She knows that “you can lose everything in a moment”—like her friend Carmen, who vanished with her family one day. But shortly before the test, Mikayla learns her GRC is lower than she thought, sending her on a high-stakes journey, accompanied by her friend Garith Marquez, out of the Elite zone to see what’s been hidden from her all her life. The more Mikayla learns and the more people she meets, the more she questions her society’s priorities and starts to dismantle her own assumptions, many instilled in her by her brilliant and ambitious mother. The story’s countdown structure, starting six days before the FGP, enhances the tension and makes readers aware of the stakes as Mikayla’s test approaches, a beloved teacher disappears, and steely Dr. Ava, who runs the weekly lab assessment, targets her. Debut author Monders’ detailed worldbuilding includes just enough hints about the past to create a convincing dystopian world. Mikayla develops a strong moral core and inwardly declares “I can make a difference, just by being me.” Dark-haired Mikayla has “medium-light” skin, and Garith has light brown skin.