Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. This week, all three came from Susan’s Best of 2022 post.

Tides by Sara Freeman

Summary: After a devastating loss, Mara flees her family and ends up adrift in a wealthy seaside town. Mired in her grief, Mara detaches from the outside world. As her money runs out and tourist season comes to a close, she finds a job at the local wine store. There, she meets Simon and confronted with the possibility of connection with him, the reasons for her flight begin to emerge.

I’m thinking: Yes.

Zorrie by Laird Hunt

Summary: As a girl, Zorrie’s modest and hardscrabble home county of rural, Depression-era Indiana was the only constant in her life. After losing both her parents, she survived on odd jobs, sleeping in barns and under the stars, before finding a position at a radium processing plant. Indiana calls her home, and yet, as she tries to build a new life, Zorrie discovers that her trials have only begun.

I’m thinking: Maybe.

Marzhan, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp

Summary: A woman approaching the ‘invisible years’ of middle age abandons her failing writing career to retrain as a chiropodist in a suburb on the outskirts of Berlin, once the GDR’s largest prefabricated housing estate. From her intimate vantage point at the foot of the clinic chair, she keenly observes her clients and co-workers, delving into their personal histories.

I’m thinking: Yes.