Pieces of Happiness by Anne Otsby

There's a certain kind of book that appeals to readers who are stuck in the daily grind. They feature characters who are of a certain age who are tired of life passing them by. 

NPR has called it "late life reinvention," and that is an apt description for these titles:

Backman, Frederik. Britt-Marie was Here. (2016)
Davis, Brooke. Lost and Found. (2014).
Evison, Jonathan. This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance. (2015).
Tyler, Anne. Ladder of Years (2010). 

Now, here's a new book that fits that theme, Pieces of Happiness by Anne Otsby. In Otsby's novel, a group of friends in their sixties move to a Fiji island and start a chocolate business. 

The Dark Dividing by Sarah Rayne

This hypnotic novel tells the story of a house, Mortmain House, located in the Welsh Marches, and the people whose lives intersect with its sad history.

Mortmain, means "dead hand," because the house was protected from taxation for its so-called charitable purposes. The house served as a workhouse and orphanage before it fell into disrepair.

When Melissa Anderson gives birth to conjoined twins in the 1980's, the prognosis for their separation is good. Since they are only joined at the shoulder and side, doctors expect they will be able to separate them. 

Their story is intertwined with another set of conjoined twins who lived at the turn-of-the-century, Viola and Sorrel, who faced vastly different prospects. 

Hopelessly entwined, Viola and Sorrel, are sent to Mortmain, the house for unwanted children. From there they are sold to Tom Dancy's freak show. 

The novel moves back and forth from the present to the past. Readers are given glimpses of  the the twins from the eighties, Simone and Sonia, and contrasted with their turn-of-the-century counterparts.

In one fateful moment, Simone meets her twin at Mortmain, whom she has never met before. After the eighties twins are separated, one of the twins, Sonia, is kidnapped by a woman who feels she is "owed a child."

She has an odd reason for believing that Melissa owes her a child--and its all goes back to Mortmain House.

A thriller, a mystery, and a gothic horror story, this is an intriguing novel about the power of secrets, telepathy and ghostly occurrences.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Tom Sweterlitsch

In the future,  everything, even murders, will be recorded in an Archive that researchers can search for clues.  

This sounds like CCTV, which already exists, except its more of a virtual reality experience. Individuals, like John Dominic, who lost his wife, can relive moments with their loved ones in an endless loop.  

All of the wiring for internet streaming is surgically implanted in their skulls, so no one needs a computer or device. 

John Dominic is not only obsessed with his deceased wife. He's also obsessed with solving a cold case, Hannah Massey, a woman whose body he finds in the Archive. 

Poetry, criticism, Adware, Internet streaming are all part of this eerie cyberworld. 

Framed for a crime, Dominic is forced to switch doctors and treatment plans. Previously, he had been a substance abuse addict. He is referred to a new doctor, Dr. Reynolds, who may be hiding a shady past. 

John Dominic has also been entrusted to find another woman who has disappeared from the Archive--the elusive Albion. Pursuing her will prove dangerous.

Soon to become a feature film, this exciting science fiction novel will please mystery fans and fans of Hugh Howey's Wool. 

The Gone World is Tom Sweterlitsch's latest novel.