C.S. Godshalk based her debut novel on the true tale of the White Rajah of Sarawak. Some 160 years ago this British sailor traveled far up the rivers of Borneo, and ruthlessly carved out his own kingdom. Through the eyes of the Rajah's 18-year-old bride, Godshalk shows us a lush world of missionaries, disease, ambition, imperial politics, and enormous loneliness. It's a difficult, gorgeous book that evokes both brutality and tenderness.

Molly McCall