A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Not a first book, but a first novel, a dark psychological drama.

It's 1907. A wealthy business owner from Wisconsin places an ad in a Chicago newspaper for a "reliable wife." The woman who answers it is not what she has pretended to be and sees an opportunity to marry the man and kill him in the near future so she inherits. Ralph Truitt has quite a story in his own past and plans of his own. He knows she's not what she's pretended to be from the moment she steps off the train, yet he marries her anyway. They each have secrets and secret motivations. As she begins to poison him with arsenic, the characters learn more about themselves and each other than you were expecting and as the days progress, the story unfolds in many delightful twisting ways.

Rooftops of Tehran by Majbod Seraji

This is a fascinating first novel, giving us a glimpse into the pre-revolutionary days of Tehran. It opens with a mystery (why is the main character in a hospital?) and with flashback catches up to the present, while then moving forward.

There is young love, political intrigue, and family drama, all full of beauty and brutality side by side. We're reading this for our book club and I will be eagerly awaiting everyone's discussion!

The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing

The happy couple in 1960's middle class England has planned on 6 children from the day they got married. The first four come in a whirlwind and without financial and physical help from their parents, they would have gone under. However, their home becomes the gathering place of multiple families, bringing together a diverse group and creating a haven.

From the beginning of the pregnancy with their 5th child however, their world tilts a bit. After the birth, it wobbles along a bit until everyone can see that the child is not normal. He seems to be a throwback to an earlier more primitive species, but how can that be? And regardless of what he is, how do you manage a child who's very presence threatens to destroy the happy family life they've created?

Oxygen by Carol Cassella

An anesthesiologist deals with the death of a child under her care. She questions her future and doubts her past, wondering what she missed and if she could be responsible somehow. At the same time, her personal life requires some attention and navigation through difficult waters as her aging father, from whom she's been estranged, is losing his sight.

This is a fine first novel, full of emotional waters and interesting characters, plus the glimpse inside a world hidden to many of us. Definitely a good read. It would make a good book club novel as there is plenty to discuss!